On Monday, we had orientation to the program and to Cape Town. 104 students in a crowded room, still jet-lagged was pretty interesting at like 9:00am. Following the 2 hour orientation, we had a whirlwind tour of the city. The weather wasn't the best for us, but the sites were still beautiful. My pictures will be uploaded to my photobucket, which I will put the link up when they are ready for your viewing pleasure. Believe me... they will be a pleasure! The sites are beautiful!
On Tuesday, our class was titled "Power of Living."We watched a movie called "Darius Goes West" which is about a boy who has Muscular Dystrophy. He had never left his county before in his life, and him and 12 of his friends take a bus to Los Angeles to try to get MTV to pimp his wheelchair. It's awesome, very awe-inspiring and will change your life. Speaking of changing your life....
Not more than 10 minutes following that video, Garret, one of the creators of Global LEAD, stood up and told us to pack spare clothing and our toothbrush because we were going to spend the night in a South African township. A little fyi about townships: they are South African slums and most of the people that live in these townships live off less than $1 a day. So it was our turn to experience life off $1 a day.
My first thought: hell yes. My second thought: holy crap. I was so nervous but more excited than anything. So we traveled 45 minutes away to land ourselves in Sir Lowery's Pass. My host mother, Ms. Hannie, greeted my group as soon as we hopped off the bus with a big hug. She is such a wonderful woman and I am so lucky as to ever have met her!
My host family consisted of 5 children (we only met 4 because the oldest lives with the grandmother) and two parents. Nicolas, 19, is studying civil engineering in college; Ree-Anne, 17, is in her 12th year at Gorden High School (she is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in my life); Clayton, 14, is a soon to be rugby star in high school; and little Miss Nicole, 9, is one of the most amazing girls in the world. Nicole was shy, and at first, we thought she was a boy (oops). But when she opened herself up, she is so funny, so sweet, and so wonderful.
We were shown their comfy house, then taken to Ms. Hannie's mother's house where we played in the street with about 60-70 children until nightfall. Returning to the house, Mr. Nikki (the father) returned home from work at the library. We had a special meal of spaghetti mixed with rice made by Ms. Hannie. The family then sat around and we laughed and learned some Afrikaans (their language) until we were so tired and all fell asleep. Our family offered their beds for us to sleep in, but we refused and the 5 of us (Allie, AK, Megan, Andrew, and myself) all slept in the living room. I slept very well and woke up with the kids the next morning as they got ready for school.
On Thursday we returned, but it was our day of service. We set up shop at the library where Mr. Nikki works. I painted spiderman, flower, and butterfly faces for a while, then turned to helping children make bead bracelets. When the arts and crafts area closed up shop (the nailpolish station was the hit of the day) we moved outside where a little girls named Victoria showed me some African handclap games. Children played soccer and rugby around the block. I kid you not when there was well over 100 kids playing with our group. Truly a rewarding experience.
And today (Friday) we returned after a morning of class with the assignment of us cooking an American meal for them. Well, on the first night, Mr. Nikki told us he wanted "juicy American burger." And that is exactly what he got! I never ate a burger so big! Andrew and I made them extra large! AK worked on fries and melting marshmallows for rice crispy treats, and Megan was all over the salad. BEST BURGERS OF MY LIFE.
Eating with the family and seeing how grateful they were for burgers and fries brought so much joy to my life. We also bought them toilet paper, a can opener, toothpaste, notebooks, pencil cases, etc. and they were so thankful for what we gave them. All they said was, "You are spoiling us." And I knew in my heart, they deserved more, which made every penny we gave worthwhile.
We have one more visit with the family in a week and I cannot wait to see them already. Leaving was so sad, we were having such a great time with one another. I will miss the family this next week. Though the other half of the group went on adventure week this week, I think it was a blessing that this week was my service week.
A few things I learned while at Sir Lowery's township:
- These people laugh more, love more, and live more than any one person I know in the US of A. It truly was life awaking seeing how these people live, how much they laugh, and most importantly, how much they love. Yes, they may be poor to you, but these are the richest people I know. They barely have things to call their own, but they have more than that, they have love in their hearts and friends and family by their sides.
- They do not want your pity, they want another friend. They did not want to tell us sob stories about all they could afford. They wanted a listener to hear their passions in life. When I took notice of Ms. Hannie's plants, she lit up and told me how to speak to the plants every day. Or how some of the children never have anyone to play with and being their to light up there day was one of the most rewarding experiences.
- Life is not something to wait for tomorrow for. Today is the day to start living and to live in the moment. The right now!
- I learned what the word community truly means. It's not those fancy suburbs with the fancy houses. It's when a child wanders into a house and the mother makes sure that child is taken care of (even is she has no idea the child's name). There were soup kitchens everyday in the community. And my family fed about 15 people the night they had fed us. They took care of one another regardless of... anything.
- Women are the strongest human beings. Do not dare argue this with me. What I saw 15 miraculous women do in 3 days, you cannot convince me otherwise. These women gave EVERYTHING they have for everyone else. Do you do that? Do you give all your money, all your time, all your heart everyday to make others' lives better regardless of how small or large? The women in these communities are what is keeping them alive.
Yes, I learned much much more, but for now, this is plenty I am sure.
If you haven't heard, I was sick for a few days, but feel up to pace again. I will try to blog more frequently so that they are not as lengthy. I hope you enjoy my stories. I have so much more to add to these, but honestly, I hate blogging. So enjoy what you get!
Oh! By the way, on Wednesday a large group of ladies went eat at Mama Afrikas, a famous african restaurant where I tried OSTRICH for the first time.... it was delicious! A must when making it to CT! We had a great night out and met alot of people. But this week was all about the service!
(FYI that's me on the beach watching the sun set over Table Mountain.)
Love and miss you all!
Melissa
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