A Time to Learn
As orientation has now finished, I have been placed here in South Africa, where I will be working with the Hazeyview Service Centre Team. What this means... I don't really know yet. I haven't quite figured that part out. All I've been told is that I'm to build relationships with the individuals that work within the service centre and encourage and support them with the work that they are doing. If they need help with some work, then I will help, but most importantly I am to follow them in what they do and to learn from them. I think that the reason that we are not told much is that they don't want people to go into this time with the Service Centres with high expectations and also they dont want people to go in thinking that they know everything. We are told to have "big ears, and small mouths." This next 5 weeks will be a time of learning, and gaining more insight into the work that the Service Centre does on a regular basis.
One of my favourite moments of this past week was the chance to meet Rose*, a eight month old baby girl who is adorable. As soon as I walked into the care point at Syiathutuka, I was immediately drawn to this little baby sitting in her baby seat, smiling up at me. I picked her up and held her while we sang worship, and prayed as a group. The team from the UK, that I was with, were going on home visits and because there was not enough care workers for all of us to go, I volunteered to stay behind. Rose's* mom Nombile* came up to me and handed me the bottle to feed her baby and then left with the rest of the care workers and the team to go on the holy home visits. Never when I was planning on coming to Africa, did I think that I would have the opportunity to babysit, yet once again I was surprised. By the time that the mom came back I had fed her the bottle, and she was fast asleep against my chest. The feeling of having a baby fall asleep against you is so special. I felt honoured that Nombile* trusted me enough to leave her baby in my care while she went away. She trusted me with her little baby, a child of a care worker who gives her life to the care and protection of the most vulnerable children within her community. What a blessing.
Things that happen here in Africa continue to surprise me the longer that I am here, yet at the same time these things have started to become normal. Cows and goats crossing the road whenever they feel like it, when you are going 80km/hr and have to stop for them, has become normal. People staring at you wherever you go just because you are a "mulungo" - white person - is starting to become normal. The heat is also starting to become normal, although I don't think anyone can ever get to used to having their pants stick to them whenever they sit down and then stand up again because of how hot it is. However one thing that never ceases to surprise me, is the amount of poverty that exists in this country. What surprises me and frustrates me the most about it, is the fact that just down the street from one of the most vulnerable communities is a complex of several mansions. I've wondered many times how people can live in these big fancy houses, when down the street there are kids that starving to death, and getting raped on a daily basis. It just doesn't make sense to me, how some people can just drive past without even a second glance.
Recently as a Hands family we have been talking more and more about church mobilization, both the church here in Africa, as well as the international churches in the countries that we have our international offices based. There are many international churches that support what we are doing, but not all of them have actually come and seen what is happening here. To see the poverty and despair that lies within the borders of Africa. A chance to understand and experience what being an advocate of the children that we support really means. So I challenge people, what is your local church doing to help support the plight of the children here. Are they sending people off with a word of prayer and then thats that, or are they becoming heavily invested in the work that Hands is doing, changing the lives of the children across Africa, one at a time.
One of my favourite moments of this past week was the chance to meet Rose*, a eight month old baby girl who is adorable. As soon as I walked into the care point at Syiathutuka, I was immediately drawn to this little baby sitting in her baby seat, smiling up at me. I picked her up and held her while we sang worship, and prayed as a group. The team from the UK, that I was with, were going on home visits and because there was not enough care workers for all of us to go, I volunteered to stay behind. Rose's* mom Nombile* came up to me and handed me the bottle to feed her baby and then left with the rest of the care workers and the team to go on the holy home visits. Never when I was planning on coming to Africa, did I think that I would have the opportunity to babysit, yet once again I was surprised. By the time that the mom came back I had fed her the bottle, and she was fast asleep against my chest. The feeling of having a baby fall asleep against you is so special. I felt honoured that Nombile* trusted me enough to leave her baby in my care while she went away. She trusted me with her little baby, a child of a care worker who gives her life to the care and protection of the most vulnerable children within her community. What a blessing.
Things that happen here in Africa continue to surprise me the longer that I am here, yet at the same time these things have started to become normal. Cows and goats crossing the road whenever they feel like it, when you are going 80km/hr and have to stop for them, has become normal. People staring at you wherever you go just because you are a "mulungo" - white person - is starting to become normal. The heat is also starting to become normal, although I don't think anyone can ever get to used to having their pants stick to them whenever they sit down and then stand up again because of how hot it is. However one thing that never ceases to surprise me, is the amount of poverty that exists in this country. What surprises me and frustrates me the most about it, is the fact that just down the street from one of the most vulnerable communities is a complex of several mansions. I've wondered many times how people can live in these big fancy houses, when down the street there are kids that starving to death, and getting raped on a daily basis. It just doesn't make sense to me, how some people can just drive past without even a second glance.
Recently as a Hands family we have been talking more and more about church mobilization, both the church here in Africa, as well as the international churches in the countries that we have our international offices based. There are many international churches that support what we are doing, but not all of them have actually come and seen what is happening here. To see the poverty and despair that lies within the borders of Africa. A chance to understand and experience what being an advocate of the children that we support really means. So I challenge people, what is your local church doing to help support the plight of the children here. Are they sending people off with a word of prayer and then thats that, or are they becoming heavily invested in the work that Hands is doing, changing the lives of the children across Africa, one at a time.
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ReplyDeleteYou rock Celine! I'm so glad that you are where your heart wants you to be, and I know that you are making a difference in all the lives you interact with! We think often of our time there, and wish it could have been longer. I am so proud of you that you are following God's path for you, and we think of you often, praying for your continued safety. You are much braver at your age than I was, and in some ways even now-keep up the great work!
DeleteKeep speaking the truth of what god places on your heart. We as gods people need to more actively care for and love the poor and vulnerable. God doesn't just ask us to do so; he commands us to! Keep sharing the truth. So proud of you.
ReplyDeletesorry, the only way to edit my post was to delete it. I missed the words I was, so it may not have made sense before.
ReplyDelete