I love Africa

I’ve been here for a few days and my experience so far has been absolutely amazing! Tonight was the first night for our team to eat with two of the families at Bethesda. Oh my goodness, it brought my heart such joy. When we were all waiting for the food the kids sang songs, danced, and quoted scripture, all with such enthusiasm and joy. They all call me Auntie Kat. It’s adorable. Oh and this little girl Bussie (I have no idea how to spell her name) keeps asking me to roll my R’s and I can’t. She gets the biggest kick out of it. I have loved bonding with the kids and there is so much more to come.
For the past few days, we have been working here at Bethesda. We (the woman) have cleaned two of the school classrooms. I didn’t realize how much work went into cleaning floors over here in Africa. At home I would normally use a mop and a buffing machine to clean and polish the floors. Instead, we got buckets of water, a washcloth, and steel wool to clean the floors, and then we got on our hands and knees again to polish. Working here isn’t necessarily about efficiency. Instead, it is about a job well done. That we achieved with joyful spirits. It would have taken Dora, the cleaning woman over 2 weeks to complete what we did in a couple of days. I was so glad we could help her.
Another afternoon, we picked up trash outside the Bethesda property. There are places along the side of the road that look like a dump. Trash is everywhere. As we were picking up the trash, a man who lived across the street came over to help. That was neat to experience. Michelle, the lady in charge said normally people do this so they can ask for something in return, but he didn’t. Instead, he wanted to let us know when we would be out again so he could come and help.
The poverty and the HIV/AIDs epidemic here is high. Bethesda is surrounded by townships, which are poverty stricken areas. Blacks were forced to live in these townships during the apartheid. Right across the street is a township. In this township are shacks made out of tin, the size of my bedroom and it’s not just one person living in that house, it’s a family. In one of these townships we visited, a woman had a beauty shop inside an abandoned boxcar. As the gate opened for us to get in I saw a little boy walking toward the drinking faucet outside. He seemed really thin to me and he was walking with only one shoe. It made me wonder if that was his first sip of water for the day. I believe next week we are going to another organization in the area. This organization provides hospice care for people of all ages. Children – adults – grandparents. That will be a hard day. I’m so glad this is not a glamorous vacation. Instead, I am able to see how life is for the poor.