Through my Eyes

The first week of orientation has finally come to a close and what a week it has been. A week full of learning and digging deeper to understand to the fullest Hands at Work. We got to experience three very different communities and their CBO's (community based organization) within them. Coming from Zambia to South Africa has taken a bit of adjustment. There are things here in South Africa that are much more stigmatized then they are in Zambia, in terms of health care and a male presence. Male care workers are typically non-exsistent here in South Africa in comparison to Zambia where there are at least 2-3 in every community. The second day we were in a community that is in the Bushbuck Ridge region. There we went on holy home visits in the community. Holy Home Visits are the chance for the care workers to go into the community to visit the children in their homes, and just check up on them and have that opportunity to catch up with the children on what is going on in their lives...

I am now in South Africa, my new home for the next little while. My last week in Zambia was actually quite a busy week. We had two teams staying at the farm, a kids camp, and Maranatha Celebrations that were all going on at the same time. So it made for a little chaos. I was asked by Prag and Ashley to help run the kids camp alongside of Rita and Gideon because neither Prag nor Ashley would be able to be there due to Marantha Celebrations. The kids that were here for the camp, are from one of the Luanshya communities Maposa. As a result of the team only being 5 people, the number of the kids is less making it only 20 instead of the normal 30. They have been such a joy to have around the farm, always laughing, and smiling, simply enjoying the opportunity for this type of vacation. The team that was running the camp, were incredibly creative with the kinds of activities that they did with the children. From baking bread (story of the feeding of the five thousand), to making t-shirts that...