No Green on St. Patty's Day.

March 17, 2011

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!!

There was literally no recognition of this holiday here, which leads me to believe there are not very many Irish immigrants in South Africa… I wasn’t hugely upset by this, because I didn’t have anything green to wear! Phew! Safe on that one!

Today at the service site, there was this tiny African baby. He never cried. I have seen him quite often. But I have never seen him cry. It’s not because he’s happy… he is always frowning and never laughing.

In class, Francis talked about the poorest of the poor. His friend went and visited orphanages. Instead of laughter, noise, and singing filling the air, there was nothing. The children were filled with silent sorrow. They don’t make noise because no one helps them when they express pain or sadness.

I saw this first hand in this baby, named Samthanda. He doesn’t cry because there is no one to hear him cry.  

That was heartbreaking. I played with him for a bit. He held onto my hands desperately. I don’t know what his home situation is like or who he lives with. But I can’t imagine it is healthy if he holds so tightly to me.

I am GOING to adopt an African child. There is no longer an option or a “maybe.”

Today, there was the annual Ethembeni meeting. The head honcho, Grant, asked us to “do something” for the meeting. We decided to sing our song, So Loved! I was so excited. When we played, the entire Ethembeni staff sang along! They enjoyed it! That pretty much made my day…

After the meeting, Grant came up to us and told us they were going to add it to their song repertoire!!!

Then, Hlaga, Tyler’s social worker, decided he was going to take us to the museum. The problem? We were walking, not driving.

“Is it a long walk?” I ask.

“No, it’s very short!” he assured me.

“Will I be able to make it?”

“Oh yes. We will go slow for you.”

So we start walking. And my arms are KILLING ME from my crutches! My foot is fine… I’m just going slower than everyone else. So I decide to one-crutch it, and use Shayna as a replacement crutch. She is quite a convenient height for arm-resting!

It was a lovely walk. Don’t get me wrong—it was HARD. There is NO uneven ground! I was afraid for my life many a time. But Mpophomeni is beautiful. I truly love it. The mountains look like they’re from Lord of the Rings! There was a super cool mist resting on those glorious mountains. There are people, goats, cows, and cars roaming the road leisurely. I have never seen anything like it. All of the children are in uniforms of maroon and white or navy and white. Most girls have their hair very short like a guy in order to “cut” (haha- hair humor!) down on hair maintenance.

Something else I’ve noticed about African culture? The people are either so quiet, they barely speak above a whisper and you can’t hear anything they say. Or, they are SO PREVALENTLY LOUD AND THEY DON’T CARE THAT YOU’RE RIGHT THERE AND YOUR EARS ARE BEGINNING TO BLEED!! There is not much of a balance. I like it though… you know, all or nothing type thing? J

When we FINALLY got the museum, we were quite dismayed to find that it was currently being DEMOLISHED. Like, they were chucking wood EVERYWHERE. I nearly was smacked in the head! WARNING SIGN!

To my somewhat (but not really) dismay, we decided to go to the library instead. “Come on, arms! YOU CAN DO IT!” We made it to the library. It was PACKED. All the kids were so excited about the books. It literally looked like the “cool” hang out.

Their book selection was not to be envied. The books were either of the Meg Cabot variety or textbooks. How are minds to be challenged and stimulated if there are no classics? I feel like they are grossly underestimating their children. Perhaps it is appropriate, as their English is not completely polished… but how will they grow if they are not challenged with great literature?

Back at the Family Centre:

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^The kids are super excited about my laptop. They left me the above message J.

Back at campus, we had Zulu. Hurrahh. It was the last night for the week. Wooo!!!

Tomorrow should be a good day. I would tell you about it, but… I’d rather keep you in suspense. :P