Africa Day 4

After a late night of clubbing and “acting my age,” it was another early day with another trip. I almost didn’t go on this trip because I was trying to fly to Johannesburg to visit the Leadership Academy for Girls, but they never responded. Instead, I kept my plans for day 4 and made the bus at 8am (after only 2 ½ hours of sleep!) for my first, and long awaited, Habitat for Humanity experience. The organization is one that I have always been supportive of and have been interested in helping with. I guess I could say the right opportunity just hadn’t come along yet. However, this one was worth pathetically dragging myself out of bed for. We rode in a bus to the house that had been worked on all week by other day-trip groups of Semester at Sea students. There was supposed to be two houses for our large group of people, just as there had been all week. However, upon arrival, we were informed that an incident had happened at one of the houses. We were informed that all of us would be working at one house, despite being crowded. Details of the incident were not exclosed but it was mentioned that what had happened was an unfortunate reality of living in a township (that can be one of so many unfortunate things). We worked hard all morning and it was very hot outside. The more time passed, the more we realized that there just weren’t enough jobs for everyone to do since we were only supposed to have half the number of people we ended up with. So… the site manager took a small group of us on a walking tour through a small section of the township. We even got a quick walk through the community clinic. After we returned to the job site, we went back to work. About 30 minutes later some of us were sitting around again and the site manager asked a group of us if we wanted to go visit some of the recently completed houses that Habitat had done in that same township. We offered that trip to some of the students who were working, thinking they might want to take a break for a while. We were wrong. They didn’t want to give up their jobs because they didn’t want to be sitting around with nothing to do when they got back. So a small group of us hopped in the back of the guy’s pick up truck and headed out. We were able to tour two houses that were basically completed. We met one homeowner who had already moved in and made the house her home. She was so proud to let us in and see her place. We drove through the township and were able to talk to some people and interact with some kids. Aside from seeing some other Habitat houses, it was really awesome to be off of a tour bus and actually feel like we were in the township. I thanked the guy when we returned for giving us that opportunity, because I really hated being on the tour bus. I’ll describe that more later. It was almost lunch time when we returned to the site the second time. Ethel, the homeowner, prepared lunch and tea time, with the help of her friends and neighbors. The food was incredibly delicious, even with the wind blowing sand all over it. It was so good. After lunch, we were instructed that our task was now to clean up the site and prepare for the dedication ceremony. Because Semester at Sea was building the house in 4 days, today was the last day. Hence, it was the day to give the house to Ethel.
I hesitate sharing this story because it means so much to me. The experience of this dedication ceremony was so profound and so emotional, that words just will not do it justice. I’ll make an attempt though…
The dedication ceremony started by all of the students and staff from Semester at Sea, the Habitat site manager, Ethel, and her friends and family standing arm-in-arm in a circle. The site manager explained that he would pass the keys to Ethel’s front door around the circle and asked each person to say something to Ethel when they keys got to them. So we did. When the keys got to one of Ethel’s friends, she gave a very elaborate speech to her dear friend (in Xhosa, a language none us understood), then presented her with two gifts that she placed at her feet. To see her friend, coming from such a poor background of her own, place these housewarming gifts at her friends feet was enough to make me cry, as well as a few others. Ethel was even crying. As the keys continued to make their way around the circle, people congratulated Ethel on her new home and wished her and her family more blessings and cheers to a new and brighter future. When the keys made it back to the site manager, he presented them to Ethel and asked her to let her friends, then us, be the first guests in her new home. As she wiped the tears from her face, she left our circle and marched through her front yard, up to her door. As she marched, with her baby strapped to back, she sang. She sang an African song that I could not interpret, yet it was the most beautiful moment I will even remember. Her friends, still in our circle, began singing with her and slowly left the circle to enter Ethel’s home. We each made the march through Ethel’s front door, crying with her, as she welcomed us each into her house. Another girl and I presented a Bible as a gift to Ethel. Most, if not all, of the Semester at Sea students and staff had signed the Bible throughout the day. It was an honor to hand it to her as she and her friends sang another song. In return, we all sang to Ethel. We sang Amazing Grace and Ethel cried. We all cried. Some of her friends knew some of the words and sang it with us. We then passed around a cake that everyone took a bite of. We congratulated Ethel one more time, hugged her, and left. It was such an incredible experience to be a part of; I don’t even know how to explain it.
It seems so simple to say, “It was a great day to see a woman who owned a shack with a tin roof become a homeowner. We gave her the keys and cried tears of joy.” Of course it was great. Of course we were happy for her. And of course they were tears of joy. But experiencing it with her is something totally different. Pictures and words are nothing. It was truly a moment, an experience, that I will never forget, and it still brings tears to my eyes to tell the story over and over again.
It was great to see the work that students can do. Habitat is a great organization and I will plan to work with them again. The last day of the project had to be the best one though. I am sure that the people who worked on the house all week had a great time and as well as great experiences. But being there on the last day had to be the best experience of the week.
I returned to ship, took a shower and nap, and then went to dinner and a pub with some friends. It was the best day in Cape Town.