Africa Day 3

Again, I met the bus group at 9AM after catching some breakfast on the ship. Today’s trip was called Operation Hunger. This organization works to provide information about malnutrition in children and to provide food for them. Our task for the day was to weigh approx. 100 kids so that the organization could pair the weights with the birthdates and create a chart for data. We didn’t get to learn too much about the end product of the work, but being able to play with the kids, sing with them, and make them smile was enough to make the trip worth while. We were taken, first, to what would be a day-care center in America, but in this township it is a very small shack with three rooms and a kitchen. There were probably about 100 kids in this small, small shack. Getting them tagged and weighed was like herding sheep. Like children do, they love to run where they aren’t supposed to and they don’t always do what it is you want them to do. Some were crying, some were careless, and some just loved the attention. I have lots and lots of beautiful pictures of the children. I couldn’t stop taking them, and again, they LOVE to see themselves on the camera. They also love to take the cameras when you aren’t looking. J The kids sit in this center all day while the parents are working. They sing songs, take naps, and don’t eat because there is never enough food or money to feed all of their little mouths. As a group, we left the child care center for lunch at a gas station (we were given boxed lunches from the ship). We ate outside, but then many of us went inside and bought foods, diapers, wipes, drinks, fruit, snacks, etc., to donate to the facility. Before returning, we stopped at a nearby high school and were able to talk with some students who are one year away from attending universities. They too were very excited to see us; moreover, they were excited to talk to Americans because they felt that much closer to America. We exchanged email addresses with some of them, took pictures, and gave gifts (I had things my university donated for me to give to people along the way). They loved our gifts, seeing their pictures on our cameras, and meeting with us. It’s funny to think that I left America to travel and see the rest of the world without really thinking that would mean sharing myself, my culture, my experiences, or America with people who only dream of going there. We left the high school to return to the child care center. We returned to play with the kids a bit longer and to see the graphs that were developed from our work in weighing the kids earlier in the day. However, as we carried in our bags of food and donations, the man from Operation Hunger asked us to formally present our donations as a gift from the group to the principal of the children. One guy and one girl each volunteered to say something on the behalf of all of us. I got goose bumps, just then, thinking about what they were saying. We couldn’t possibly leave all those kids in their condition to go eat our lunches that were given to us and not even consider what we were experiencing. The extremely low level of poverty that these kiddos live in, with their families, is unimaginable. We were just hit in the face with it and then chartered to a location away from it all to eat lunches that we were given. (As I recall the days’ events in this manner, it just goes to show that the experiences I am encountering on this voyage are truly ones of the “I guess you had to be there” nature.) The principal responded with words of thanks as she cried in appreciation of what we brought. She promised us that, although our donations seem small now, they really would go a long way. I tried really hard to hold back the tears as they welled up in my eyes. It was very emotional to feel the want to make a difference from the students, as well as the appreciation felt from the principal. On day 3 in South Africa, I think I have finally learned what it means to truly give from your heart.
After I returned to the ship, some girls and I rushed down to the Green Market near Long Street to do some shopping. I bought a few things in a hurry because the all the vendors were packin’ up shop for the day. We thought they were open until 6pm, but they closed at 5pm. It was a short shopping trip, but it came with a quirky twist. I was able to open the eyes of a girl who just needed a little lesson in kindness. She came up to me and said that there was a homeless man who wouldn’t stop following her. She pointed him out to me and he was staring at us both. She said she tried to give him money but he wouldn’t take it, and instead asked her if she would just use the money to buy him something to eat. She was asking me what I thought she should do. I suggested that she invite him to walk around with all of us for a bit and if we decide to sit down and eat somewhere then we could all pitch in and buy him something too. She was so appalled at my suggestion that she blurted out at me, “WHERE ARE YOU FROM?” I explained to her that if he didn’t even want her money, rather he asked for food instead, he was probably legitimately homeless and really wanted some food. I assumed he was less likely to be up to something if he didn’t even want her money. She kept acting like she wanted to buy him something but I told her that she shouldn’t do it if she was just trying to “get rid of him” and make him stop following her. She eventually walked off to look for some food but went into a place that ended up being more of a smoothie shop rather than an eatery. We walked back out to the street, where he was still following us and expecting something. I started talking to him and he didn’t really say much. I tried asking him what he would like to eat and he just said that he would really appreciate anything we gave him. Anything. He would really appreciate anything. We took him into a fish fry fast food place that we were standing right in front of. We ordered him a chicken sandwich and let him pick out a drink. As we waited for the food, we tried to initiate a conversation with him by asking his name, age, where he was from, etc. He answered our questions and offered nothing more. He was very quiet and reserved. When his food was ready, we handed it over to him, I gave him a hug (I figured he may be more in need of one of those over a chicken sandwich and a coke) and he said thank you. When we crossed the street back to the market, the girl stopped dead in her tracks, and thanked me for helping her. She explained that she didn’t grow up being taught to trust people like that and that she just didn’t know what to do. She realized he was human and just needed something she had the means to provide. It’s not that I run around feeding homeless people all the time or anything, it’s just that she needed to be handed a clue that we are all human. I feel like its one of the many things you can get out of this voyage. I’m still getting it myself.