How do we get to a greater good?

So I know that I have not been blogging for a while, but such is life.  I just want to quick update you all on just a small part of a HUGE experience that I currently am still trying to process.

~ We left for our township work and stay on Monday, not even knowing how  much this would impact us and shape the rest of our experience. 

~ We had an array of speakers giving talks on subjects from HIV/AIDS, apartheid, community, township life, family and life

~ The early afternoons were primarily filled with service projects.  We went and made food and played santa with some children at a woman named Pricilla’s house, volunteered at a school that provides assistance to children with special needs, and tutored kids in the rainbow after-school program. 

~ Lunch every day consisted of huge amounts of homemade food, and these fried dinner rolls that everyone consumed in mass quantities. 

~ Each evening we would be transported to different host mother’s houses and have home made potluck style dinner with all of our new mommas.  It also was practically mandatory for an after dinner dance party with everyone. 

~ Late evening me and Laurie would go bak with momma Tete and have after dinner tea and chat and get to know our mom and sister, make sense of culture, share stories and get cozy in our new homes. 

That is just a very brief explanation of my last life changing week! This past week and challenged me, strengthened me, created realities, broke down expectations, scared me and above all filled me with love and passion that I never knew I could have! 

On Tuesday morning we as a group organized the mass amount of donations that all of us students acquired from our extra suitcases. The huge piles of clothing, medical supplies, school materials grew so large that we all were just gitty with excitement.  Later in the afternoon we participated in house visits to donate some of the items, and the gratitude and appreciation that was expressed from the community could move mountains. It blew my mind that something as small as a few pair of socks could provoke tears from some families. Some of these people are literally living in shacks and nothing but a small tarp provides a roof for them, so you can imagine what these items mean to this community. For me it is hard to think of anything to complain about when I see the conditions that this community lives through everyday. 

  Tuesday was the first time I started to understand the harsh and somewhat scary realities of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. I am learning to invite and embrace the unwanted realities and accept them as truth. Above all I have realized that HIV/AIDS within this community has a direct relationship with the severe state of poverty. Whether it is not having the resources or abilities to get tested or educated about the pandemic, or the disease already has manifested to a point where children are left parent-less  or homeless.  The government also provides a grant for those whose blood cell count is too low as a result of the progression of the disease and some purposely get their count low or infect themselves to to get money to just live! To be perfectly honest HIV/AIDS in South Africa did not become such an extreme issue until 1994 and then it spread like wild fire and the community has not yet been able to recuperate from the devastation. No matter what we can not deny the fact that HIV/AIDS is a big problem here (at least in the eyes of an American) Many of the community treat the disease as a simple flu, and if you have it then no big deal, but what is failed to be acknowledged is the fact that the spread of it can and should be minimized and the power to do this can lay in our hands and be as simple as providing an education to specifically address the issue. HIV/AIDS is more then a health crisis, it is a social issue and injustice more then anything. 

I am inspired by one of our speaker Yvonne. She does a lot of the JL Zwane community center and even though her job is difficult I do not think I heard her ever complain once. I want to be a hand holder, and find a way to give what I am capable of, listen when it’s time to not speak, withhold judgments, and make sure that I can look to the next day with hope and help even just one person to do the same.  This is just one step towards the greater change I want to be a part of. 

I have a lot more to say, but am fighting to keep my tired eyes open and have to be up at 5 in the morning tomorrow. I am really looking forward to sharing a bottle of wine and verbally expressing these experiences as it is hard to convey the extreme emotions that are attached to them!

all my love

peace