Descriptions of the Four Service Cites I've Visited

Service sites:
Each of the four service sites APU serves alongside are a half an hour from the AE campus in all directions in Pietermaritzburg. The first 20 minutes of the drive you forget you’re in South Africa because it’s so industrialized and nice, then you turn a corner and feel like you’ve entered a new country because you see poverty stricken hills glazed in mud and tin houses and streets and buildings that are in complete shambles. But the poverty here is different from Mexico’s; it’s hard for me to see them as ‘abjectly poor’ when they live in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen and when they live in close-knit communities who sing and dance and cuddle all throughout the day (literally, the kids and adults here are constantly hugging each other and cuddling, it’s so cute). SA is prettier than Mexico, and when you’re in the slums, it sometimes escapes your mind these people sometimes don’t even have food in their home to give each child a meal thrice a day. Townships like these don’t have a good, established school system and are in the Kuazulu-Natal Province which has the largest AIDS epidemic in the world, leaving behind millions of orphans and broken families. The black people are so lively here, and as you drive by you see Grannies sitting on their mini porches in plastic chairs gossiping about the neighborhood and watching their grandkids kids play in the grass or play soccer with rocks. It is something you truly have to experience for yourself. I haven’t done a home visits to homes of dying AIDS victims yet, but my friends who have said they will never be the same. I’ve only seen the really good part of the townships and I know inside some of these dark homes are bodies withering away rapidly who are being eaten by flies and deprived of medicine that could help them.

First service site we visited was Etembeni, and it was situated in the country side, across from a gorgeous lake and a field blooming with sunflowers (like the ones Mom and I saw in the trains in Italy). One would think they were on their way to a top-notch resort. The township was incredibly impoverished though, and over 60 kids went to Etembeni after school because they didn’t have parents to come home to. Etembeni would help with homework, feeding the children and young adults, teaching computer skills, and I think loving them to the best of their ability. It seemed to function like an orphanage, except the kids sleep at home to keep the property in their family’s name. I loved being there because I saw true servants at work. The only white worker there was from England, she said once she visited she couldn’t get it out of her mind so she just moved there and has loved it ever since. While waiting for rides to pick us up, I helped chop strange vegetables in the kitchen with some Zulu women. I kept trying to learn Zulu words, and I was incredibly goofy (I think they may have been frightened I was laughing with a knife in my hand) so that made things worse, because when I get in those goofy moods my body goes limp. But the Zulu women are just FUN to be around! Man, they know how to laugh! I actually saw a lot of sadness in their eyes, but I also saw determination and hope. People say you can see ones soul through the eyes, and I think that has a lot of truth in it. What I see in the Zulu women’s eyes, I’ve never seen in anyone else’s. These women have been through so much, so much death and abuse and all sorts of things, yet they are so strong. I admired these women I was cooking with, and I could tell they loved it I was trying to learn their language even though I was totally butchering the strange clicks they use. Their sanitary precautions are definitely lower here, dishes more just get rinsed than cleaned. Is it bad that I kinda like that?

Second one we visited is called Ithemba, “A place of hope,” and that’s the one I was placed in for service cites (it was my first choice). This cite was very westernized and located in the nicer part of town. This non-profit organization is run by a western white couple and the difference between Ithemba and the other ministries is night and day. I think it’s similar to Door of Faith and all the other orphanages; this one just seems extremely successful and efficient. At first I was like, “uuhhh this doesn’t look like a service site” but it was; they do their business here, but their main time is spent in the township called “Sweet Waters.” The staff gave an impressive slideshow presentation on what they are all about, the white girl leading it was an ex-American college graduate (surprise surprise) and the others helping out were native Zulus. Their system was organized and had a clear mission statement: “To be a place of Hope for shaping future leaders by striving for continuous improvement in education, excellence in parenting, lifting the awareness of high risk behaviors and through dedicated team work always putting the needs of the children first.” They seek to improve the education system in SA because it really SUCKS, in a sustainable way. So unlike the other organizations, they don’t want to do all the work for the community because that won’t do much and it won’t last. Their whole drive is the raise up leaders from the community who can then teach others, and support the teachers by providing them with some supplies, listening to their dreams and supporting the teachers in that instead of just saying ‘this is what you need.’ Just recently they started a community garden where they grow the starter plants and the community can buy the starters and they will teach the people how to garden for themselves. It’s really cool and I think it’s a perfect model for development. They even do advertising in the US.

I was drawn to this site because they raise up mentors and teachers to help lift the children out of the poverty cycle, which is totally up my alley, but I thought, “nah I shouldn’t go to this one, it’s obviously too perfect”. How silly I can be. I loved their power point and the leadership seemed solid (you know when you go to places and they do things in the name of God, but you get a little check in your spirit, like something is not right? I didn’t get that feeling here). Then we hopped in the cars and drove to the township because it was drizzling, and walked down and up the dirt streets. This was the first time I’d walked extensively around one instead of seeing them from the freeways. I saw poverty like I’ve never seen it before. So anyways, as I was walking around there and an Itemba leader was describing the Bible studies that go on every day there (each Ithemba leader leads a house group once a day in different parts of the community, and each sees about 30 to 60 kids!!) (oh and it was so cute because the kids would see him walking down the road and would just follow him. He’s probably their only good male role model) I was silently praying, “Lord, if you have anything to teach me through what I’m seeing here, please teach me. My ears are open, I want to learn. Show me what you will.” I felt a sense to pray like this, to stop and take a step back and learn from them, rather than walking around and thinking of ways I could get proper roofing on these homes. I didn’t feel an urgency to fix things, even though everything needed to be, but I felt an urgency to learn. So we walked to the local kindergarten Ithemba kinda supports. The whole school was one large room. I was in the back, and so the group was trickling in and out to make room for others. I was among the last to enter, and I started talking to one of the teachers there. She was a large Zulu lady and had a child on her hip. I could see deep sadness and grief in her eyes, but when I talked to her I saw joy in them (again, the strength of these women). So I engaged with her and told her how I am planning on becoming a teacher, and how I think she is spending her life so well teaching these kids, and how I want to spend my time here on earth well, etc. And I asked her what the hardest thing about teaching was, and she said she doesn’t get paid very much anymore because the parents don’t have money, they can’t even afford to send the kids with sack lunches to school. So she said she doesn’t want to sit at home and do nothing, so she serves here and teaches them, but it’s stressful because she doesn’t know how to make a living. I was shocked, and I sensed the Holy Spirit totally enter our conversation. So after talking for a bit, I asked if we could pray and she said yes please. So I just laid hands on her and prayed a nice prayer for finances and grace, then afterwards I just looked at her and out of NOWHERE completely burst into tears. My eyes flooded my vision. And the next thing I know I’m standing in the corner of the room, shoulders shaking, head bowed, crying for no apparent reason in front of a stranger. She immediately placed the child on a table and hugged me, my head in her bosom. She was stroking my hair, whispering ‘everything is going to be just fine.’ And so I just relaxed in her arms and she swayed me back and forth, and it was sublime. After I composed myself I mumbled through gasps of air something like “I’m so impressed with you, you are such a servant. Good job, I want to learn from you, etc etc .” And she asked for my phone number but I obviously don’t have one. And since I was in the corner of the room, the group left me behind, so I thought, “huh, I’m stranded here.” But then Baba Philip, our driver, came in the room with a big stick in his hand, pointed at me and said, “Naughty naughty.” He speaks broken English, but everyone completely ADORES him. He calls anyone naughty for being late for the bus, putting on a bad song, etc. So I left with him, said my goodbyes, and walked out of that place way more encouraged than I gave encouragement. It was quite an experience! Here this woman, who lives in extreme poverty and doesn’t know how to make ends meet but still wants to help these children out, is comforting a stupid white American student who doesn’t even have a grid for suffering. Interesting moment huh? I don’t know what fell over me, I just feel like I want to live my life differently than what is expected for an average Californian. There is so much more to life than I’ve seen for the past 19 years. I don’t want to spend my life sipping coffee and reading books all day and doing nice pleasant things, well actually I do, but I want those to be rest days from gruesome, headachey, frustrating days of hard work. I want to go to bed exhausted, dying to be alone to pray for strength. I want to be broken, and demolished emotionally, and I want to learn more. These are just some new thoughts, we will see what comes to fruition. I just feel so aware that there is more to life than what I’ve been planning for myself.

After this day new thoughts have been percolating my mind. I started thinking, what if I go to college, get my degree in education, do Teach for America for two years, get credentials and experience and an pinch of money, then start a school somewhere? This leaves me ripe for marriage around 27 years old! That’s weird.

Third service site we visited is called Rev Life. I was there for the shortest amount of time. It was like an after school house, and they served the community and did home visits to AIDS patients. The children there were FREAKING ADORABLE. They did a dance for us, and it was by far the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I remember really liking the leadership there too. Two guys ran it, and seemed to have great wives. One of them is expecting twins any time. One guy was Indian, and the other from Zimbabwe (note: the two leaders are not from SA). This is the one that Sarah is serving at. She says the poverty in that township is so bad and basically every house has people dying from AIDS. I heard a horrible statistic the other day: one in every three children in these townships is infected with HIV. They all have coughs! I wonder if that has to do with anything…

Fourth: We went to Walk in the Light Service site and saw how this organization is really impacting the community. The numbers they gave us of the impact, such as driving AIDS victims to the doctors, helping people receive money from the government, planting gardens, etc. were really minuscule in the grand scheme of things, but they are still making such a difference. What was so different about this organization from the other ones is that the man who founded it is an Afrikaner who was convicted by the LORD to start doing something. He couldn't reconcile the fact he was so wealthy while others were suffering so near to him, he even moved his home to be closer to the townships. This man reminded me a lot of my dad. I was encouraged that a South African had it on his heart to start something like this, and it makes me wonder why more don’t follow suit. {Lord, bring more to follow suit. Convict my heart on areas where I’m neglecting the poor}.