Service Site Update

Hello friends and family. I apologize for the extended period of time without an update! Life is still great. Service at the children’s home is fun as always. Simpiwe recognizes me I am pretty certain. When I arrive he crawls over to me so we can get started on his standing and walking skills. Nizole, a baby who’s probably six months old, was adopted. It was so heartwarming to see the family interacting with him and loving him. I know he is going to have a really great life with two loving parents and an older brother. The adoption also gave me hope for all the other little munchkins. I had a difficult day of service last Tuesday when I was moved up to the older age group for the day. These kids are four and five years old and come from the same situations; abusive, overcrowded, or unhealthy homes where they may have been abused. When I am working with the babies I sometimes forget their background, but with these bigger kids it is hard to forget. They were out of control. I think ninety percent of them had behavioral problems. They were kicking and fighting with each other. They refuse to share. I did not feel like I could play with them because I was constantly breaking up fights. There are twenty five of these kids and they all spend most of their days together. It is truly every kid for themselves. I felt totally hopeless at the end of the day. The future for those children is not bright. At this point it is going to be very hard for them to get adopted, because families just prefer younger children that they can bring up from a young age. So these older kids are going to spend the next few years of their life in homes where all they have to interact with is each other. It is a very sad situation that is not unique to South Africa. Needless to say I am very happy that I work with the babies on a regular basis. It was good to see the other part of the organization, but I was exhausted in every sense by the end of the day.

Life and School Update

I have started my fifth class for the semester called International Institutions. I really enjoy the class because it is a smaller, upper level course and very much related to what I am most interested in studying. Thus far we have talked about the legacy of colonialism and its role in the underdevelopment of Africa. We have also talked about the erection of different institutions that are trying to unify African countries, unsuccessfully I might add. It is a difficult situation because individual countries in Africa are not equipped to participate and thrive in the global capitalist system. It is necessary that at least regional unity is reached in order to advance countries developmentally. However different countries have different types of governments and different allegiances to post-colonial powers. My professor already knows my name and he is a very interesting lecturer. I am doing well in the class and enjoying it as well. In Women and Gender Studies we have been talking a lot about masculinity and violence and the legacy of apartheid on South African society. It is very interesting stuff that I am able to apply to the United States as well in terms of a violent culture that is perpetuated by poverty. In my ethics class we are into heroes and villains of human rights such as Martin Luther King Jr and Hitler. That class is very straight forward and at times a little tedious, but every so often I stumble upon good bits of information. In class last week we were discussing Mo Tzu and Moism. His philosophy stemmed from Confucianism about 400BC and teaches that there should be mutual love between all in society and we would all live well. Therefore the problem with the violent world is that some do not love as they should. I think it is a good philosophy, but I need to read more of it. It sounds a lot like Jesus Christ and his teaching to “love one another as I have loved you.” Life otherwise is very good. I am starting to get stressed or sad or something about how little time I have left in South Africa. I am very grateful that I still have eight weeks because I am nowhere near ready to come home. There was a good moment today when I was walking around our neighborhood and had to remind myself that I was in South Africa, because it truly feels like home. We have had some birthdays in the house and it is really fun to celebrate with everyone. It is actually incredible how well all twenty one of us get along. The other students in this program are all very cool people, unique and I learn much from each of them. 

Namibia

Over the Easter weekend we all went on a rafting trip in Namibia. We spent two day of travel (there and back) and three days and four night on the river. It was a tough trip in the physical sense. We were paddling hard and for a long time. It was beautiful as well. Actually I was reminded of rafting in Colorado. The climate and the scenery were very similar with mountains extending up on either side of the river. We spent the nights under the stars. It was so beautiful. The moon was full our first night there and continued to be bright and beautiful throughout the trip. The best part of the trip was all of us being together and eating and drinking around the campfire at night. My rafting partner and I were having a bit of trouble keeping our boat on a straight path. We named our raft the “USS Spin Out” because of a signature move where if we were turning to far to one side, we would just continue in a circle until we were pointed the right direction again. It was a very fun trip besides being totally exhausting. I did miss attending all the Easter festivities like Good Friday mass and Easter Vigil at home. On the Thursday night before we left a few of us went to the feet washing service here. It was really cool. They picked twelve men from the congregation to represent the apostles, but these men were everywhere from Black to White and very young (maybe ten years old) to an older gentleman. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I will not forget that lineup. It just seemed to represent the inclusiveness that Jesus was aiming for.