Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Port Elizabeth is a coastal city of southern most South Africa. It is the home of the Graham family--through whom I was able to connect with the Eden Family and serve in Malawi. The Grahams work with a local church and do crusades in other parts of Africa. More about them in a post to come.



Port Elizabeth has two beatiful beaches and a thriving tourist industry. It also has some of the most poverty sticken areas I have ever seen. The Grahams drove me around and allowed me to see the best and the worst, the rich areas and the heartbreakingly poor, the beautiful beaches and the trash strewn alleys. Downtown I was offered drugs because we were driving slowly and I had my window down. Everywhere in Africa I saw the expected extreme poverty but in this city I saw concentrations of it. There are several neighborhoods similar to this one. Some of them have no electricty or water and have thousands of people living shed like homes make of tin, tar paper, plywood or plastic or a combination of these materials and cloth. The unemployment rate is unbelievable. In the nicer areas of town I felt like I could be in a costal city in the US but in the slum areas the contrast was marked.














Port Elizabeth is a working port and the city leaders have plans to greatly expand the port in the next 10 years which will bring a great deal of revenue to the area--I only hope that the income does not go to the already rich as it usually does in Africa.



It was winter and about 37 degrees Farenheit when I flew into Port Elizabeth in August but a few days later there was an unusually warm day when the mercury climbed to around 75 and I swam, shivering in the Indian Ocean. I love the power and passion of the ocean. There is nothing like it.

I stayed eight days with the Grahams in their guest room in Port Elizabeth following 2 1/2 weeks in Malawi. I am so grateful for the impact of their friendship made back in Springdale, Arkansas in 2004.