OMW (Wade version of OMG)

So last night Sophie and I were lying in our beds chatting before falling asleep. The lights were already out and we were just about to go to sleep. Keep in mind that we both sleep tucked under mosquito nets - not so much because of the mosquitoes but because of all of the other possible animals in our rooms (bats, gecko poo, rhino beetles, toads, snakes, various bugs, etc)

Suddenly, we heard a whirling noise very close to our heads. I thought it might be a rhino beetle but it was suddenly silent and we didn’t hear it again. After a few minutes, Sophie said to me, “Does it make you nervous that we cannot hear it anymore?” I said yes and then noticed a large shadow directly to my left. I called out, “Sophie, I think it might be on my net but I don’t know if it is inside or outside.” Keep in mind that I was trying very hard not to scream at this point. Sophie asked if she should shine a light on it. I mentally prepared myself (for a one inch rhino beetle) and said yes. From under her net, she picked up her torch and directed it at me. 

All at once we both began screaming, there was a 4-5 inch long beetle type thing right next to me and clinging to my mosquito net. Sophie realized it had been living in our room as she saw it once before in the rafters. Then very seriously, with her polite German accent, Sophie said, “We must destroy it.” I started laughing and hyperventilating all at once. Because of the flying ability of the bug, we had to be plan carefully. What happened next was a detailed military-level operation that involved our water scooper, my net, a lot of mosquito spray, and a shoe. In the end we took care of it – sorry to any of you that may be offended by our “taking care of it” but I would have left today if I thought there was a chance it would be in our room again.

A picture of the intruder. Please bear in mind the pictures do not do justice to the trauma.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Last week had its ups and downs. Tuesday was, by far, the hardest day I have had since I arrived (see my last blog post) but there were some lighter moments as well.

This is our new community vehicle. Yes, that’s right. Come rain or shine, this is the vehicle we get in each morning and drive 45 minutes into the community (it's not actually that far away, it's just that the roads are that bad). 

The Good:

On Thursday, we got to spend time with the rhinos and then best of all we spent at least 45 minutes with the lions. It was fantastic!! 

The North Pride

I have to admit this unnerved me a little bit!

The cubs!

And my new roommate Sophie!

We have been friends since we arrived but this week we were allowed to share a chalet together (don’t let that word fool you, it is not as fancy as it sounds!) Sophie is intelligent, extremely creative, talented, and she has the ability to speak truth right into the heart of the matter.

The Bad:

This was a tooth brushing demonstration that went awry as evidenced by my face. My dentist (and family friend) would be horrified. But I have a good excuse that I will explain to him when I get home. Also my friends have been really laughing over the photo so it was worth it.

 The Ugly:

Here is a picture of me from Tuesday (my rough day) that only begins to tell part of the story. I have to admit we all laughed quite a lot at my ridiculous outfit that day, and we needed the levity. I have a new rule to try and look as ridiculous as possible on any given day. 

A Thin-Skinned Day

This blog is going to be a long one without any pictures, so if you want to read on, be prepared. 

Tuesday was a rough day. I was sharing what happened with Sophie (my roommate) and expressed I was surprised by the emotions I experienced on Tuesday as I have been surrounded by all of this for the last three weeks. She told me that her friend calls it a “thin-skinned day” and I thought this was a perfect description. 

 As many of you who have worked with children will know, there are a range of disturbing images you may see. Here are a few things I have encountered so far: the little boy with scars - lash marks evident all over his back, the little girl with a severely burned arm, a finger that was broken but not set correctly, and perfect 5 inch square burn marks - two on each leg, the shoes that are too big or too small or falling apart or no shoes at all, and teeth that are so rotten it is good they are baby teeth and will fall out. 

Then there is the food situation. In the area where I am working, food is provided by the government to the creche (school for 2-5 year olds where I work) and in turn the creche feeds the children with that food. Despite this system, there are times when the creche does not have food to feed the children, perhaps the government is slow to process the application, etc. 

The creche will notify the families if they do not have any food. If the parents have the ability to provide food for their children, they will typically send them to school with a simple lunch – maybe a few slices of bread with butter or a slice of meat, a piece of fruit, and maybe a small amount of a puffed snack food. If the parents cannot provide food, the children come without it. 

Last week, we encountered this situation at the Etshaneni Creche - no food for the children. During the food break, the children with food sat and ate what their parents provided while the children without food just sat and watched. Coming from a culture where too much food is one of our biggest health issues, this was impossible to watch – so we ran to the car and got our lunches and spread it out over the children who did not have food. 

The next day was the same - only there were more children that didn’t have food. As I ran to the car to get our lunches again, I said a little prayer that just as Jesus fed the masses with 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish, we would feed the children with our lunches. And thankfully, we did. 

Then there was Tuesday. We were told the food was on its way from the government, yet when we arrived Tuesday, no food. On this day all we had to give the children was a loaf of white sandwich bread. I went around the room and gave each child a slice of plain white bread - nothing on it to make it taste better, nothing nutritious or filling. As I walked around to each child, they cupped their little hands to receive the bread as if it was a sacrament. After I finished, I stood back along the wall and watched as the little boy who owns my heart at this creche gratefully ate his one piece of bread. And I suddenly realized I was not handling it well. As tears filled my eyes, I walked through the door and went behind the building. I tried to compose myself, but every time I thought about the one slice of white sandwich bread I got choked up again. It took me about five minutes to gather myself and go back in with a smile. 

As we were leaving, we ran into a woman from the Department of Social Welfare who provides the food to the creches and explained the situation. She promised to look into it and get back to us. We are hoping for food next week, but if not, I’ve already said I won't go back without food. The good news is that Cassandra agrees and we should be able to do something, but I will let you know how it turns out.

Introductions of important people

Cassandra

This, family and friends, is the woman whom I am most thankful for in all of South Africa. She is fun, good-humored, competent, confident, and fearless - all of the characteristics I most admire in women.

Cassandra is the community project volunteer coordinator and the person who accompanies and leads the volunteers into the local community. When I first met her, she told me she was as nervous as I was to go out into the community, and it made me feel better immediately. She wasn’t originally assigned to this project but had to cover for another volunteer coordinator who is not able to arrive until later this year. I would not have been able to manage this without her and have let her know I am pretty sure God sent her to me on purpose.  

Sibu

Sibu works for African Impact as the Community Liaison. He helps us to understand more about Zulu culture, and he also translates for us when necessary. I quickly realized how valuable Sibu would be to our team, particularly after we sat through Zulu meeting after Zulu meeting. He was the man to get things done. He loves his community and dreams of helping create new economic opportunities for his people.

Moment of the week - My little old man

This is my picture of the week – for no other reason than the subject of my picture. I like to think of him as my “little old man.” He moves slowly; he walks with the gait of an 80 year old man. His pants hang low and sometimes he falls asleep in his chair. I am pretty sure he may have some developmental issues. When I first met him, he didn’t smile, he didn’t interact, he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.

This is five days later. He grabbed my leg, spoke, and laughed. It made my week. 

And then the rains came

Since I arrived, the days have been sunny, hot, and dusty but Monday we awoke to our first rain. And it rained and rained…

Cassandra, Sibu, and I loaded up in the Land Rover and headed up to Etshaneni Creche. Though we had been to the school before, this was our first visit with the kids, and we were excited to get started. The school sits on the top of the mountain, through rough terrain and dirt roads. With the fog rolling in it was a bit difficult to get there but the Land Rover did its job and we were so excited to start the day. 

Because of the rain, only six children made it to school. Those who did were quite wet from the rain and had to take off their clothes to dry out, so they were sitting huddled in blankets. The roof of the creche is tin with a seam running down the middle and the windows do not have glass so the wind and rain were whipping through the small room.

When I first arrived, the kids stared at us with big, round eyes so I made my way over to them and crouched down. I began smiling and talking to one of the boys. He was so scared of me, he literally began to shake and he sank as far into his chair as possible. I was determined to win him over. This is that boy…

Since there were so few children, we decided to pull out the fun stuff - we got out tennis balls and began to toss them back and forth which brought out a lot of smiles. Then the good times kept rolling because we had bubbles. That caused serious excitement - popping them and letting them touch their skin. And finally we blew up a bunch of balloons and hit them around the room. 

The comment of the day - one of the local adults stopped by on his way to a meeting and saw us playing with balloons and he said, “this is like Christmas.” Something as simple as a balloon, something almost any child in our lives would have access to whenever they wanted and probably be bored of playing with after 30 seconds. 

By Wednesday, the rains were over and we went to our other school - Mama Grace's Creche and we had 37 children attend. By Thursday, word had spread that we were coming and 57 children came to school that day. It was a bit overwhelming. 

One of the things that is most striking (other than the fact that the children are extremely well behaved) is that most of these children walk themselves home at the end of the day. 

I discover a hundred humbling moments like this one every day.