At the end of July I headed off to see Dan and Jen Waspe who are working with Hands at Work in South Africa. After a slight traumatic experience getting to the airport, which meant almost missing the flight and running through security to the gate, I was delightfully upgraded to first class. Good ol' British Airways. What an experience that was!
The first week I was mainly around the Hands community. Catching up with Dan, Jen and the boys, meeting some very special and amazing people who work at Hands and being involved in every day goings on. Mornings tended to start early, mainly due to the gorgeous Sonney waking up anytime from 5.30am. There are various prayer meetings and the like from 8.00am which I went along to, in a dozed half asleep manner. Managed to gatecrash both a 30th birthday and a surprise 60th birthday party in this first week too.
The middle two weeks I spent a lot of time in a local community called Siyathuthuka. Here local women voluntarily give up their time to be care workers for orphans and the vulnerable on their own doorstep. They have a very basic building which they work out from, literally four walls, and go out on a daily basis in pairs serving those around them. I could tell you loads about these amazing women and what I did whilst I was there but I will tell you just this one story....
On a hot Thursday afternoon, Maria, one of the care workers said to me "are you ok with climbing a mountain?". I of course replied "yeah, no problem!". To be honest I thought she was joking and maybe just exagerrating a hill for a mountain. She wasn't. So in flip flops that were falling apart and a long skirt we navigated this steep, dusty, rocky mountain. We were not alone in our hike - we had goats, chickens and the odd stray dog as friends along the way. Our destination was a house at the top. I say house, but it was the size of a garden shed, with no complete roof, one bed for 6 people and very damp and dusty. Here a women of about 75 years old cares for her grandson because both his parents have died from Aids. Now we were due to visit the boy, but he wasn't there. So in my selfish, short sighted mind I was thinking, "we just climbed this mountain for nothing!"
We sat for a while talking to this Gogo (grandmother) as she shared she'd not seen her grandson for a few days and that he was being very naughty. To be honest, if I lived at the top of the mountain, I don't think you'd see me for a few days either. We prayed for her and then left.
Now this is not unusual, this is what home based care looks like. If I'm honest I struggled with it. In a space of 3 hours we met two people. We prayed for them and that was it. I didn't really feel like we'd done anything and that maybe my time could have been spent better. But that's the point - what could be better than showing someone you care for them by climbing a mountain to ask how they are? Does that Gogo feel cared for and loved, despite the fact she's living in horrid conditions? I reckon.
I experienced some pretty shocking things in Siyathuthuka which maybe I'll fill you in another time but my mountain climbing experience is what changed my thinking.
The final week in SA gave me the opportunity to see what a beautiful country it really is. I spent 12 hours in Kruger Park, which was immense. Visited canyons, waterfalls, rockpools and mountains. It truly is a wonderful place.
At times it was tough and confusing. I struggled to understand why my God would bless me with a first class flying experience where I had access to this fully stocked kitchen, to then see children eating one meal a day if they were lucky. And I don't really have an answer for that, but what I do know is we have an opportunity to serve those around us and to be served in return by them.
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