Big Days

Hey folkss -

We have arrived at a time share in South Africa (courtesy of the Kliens, thank you soo much) and I just purchased some wireless internet access, so let me tell you about the last few days...

Yesterday (Friday) we made the trek to Hazy View, South Africa to stay in a time share for a couple days. However, along the way we stopped to see a few missionaries named Kay and John West that do work through a local church with orphaned children in a squatters community. We learned about Kay and John through a friend at our Quaker Church back in Tucson, and thought that they might be able to show us a little more of the different sides of Swaziland.

Wow.

You know how when you don't finish your meal at a restaurant or something, some smartass always says, "You should finish that, there are starving children in Africa..."

Well, John and Kay took us to see them. And it was.. intense.

Among the infinite sugarcane fields in Swaziland, there is a place called Section 19. John and Kay took us to see this community. Like I said before, it's a squatter's community, and most people there lived in huts made of mud and rocks. Almost everyone appeared to be malnourished, the area is surrounded by sugarcane so pretty much all the food in the community does not contain important nutrients, but rather, empty calories. It was a really shocking sight.

So we went in to the community with John and Kay and handed out candy to the numerous children, who all came forward with cupped hands when they saw the bags of goodies. Mom bought a couple inflated balls in town, all about the size of a children's soccer ball, and gave them to the children. Boy, did they like that. Everyone's face lit up bright when they saw the toys, and immediately the children began to play with the gifts.

However, what made me SO happy about the community was that these people with nothing, like really nothing, still knew how to smile, laugh, and play. I swear, these are the friendliest people you'll meet - a woman even offered my dad some food, despite the fact that she had none. It made me think of the lyric by India.Arie - "There's hope, it doesn't cost a thing to smile, you don't have to pay to laugh."

It sounds weird to say that I "liked" Section 19, because it's not totally the case - rather, I appreciated the community and the people. Coming in to Section 19 and looking at it at first, I was very sad and upset by the conditions that these people had to live in. I felt the same way upon leaving, even more so after exploring the community, but I also felt like there was hope for these people. I know it may sound tacky.. but whatever. Someday I wanna be a part of the solution to this raging poverty.

Here are some pictures of Section 19:

Everyone was very eager to have their picture taken.

Me pretending to have a difficult time picking up the child. Slash, me pretending to be constipated. 

We thought this girl might have cerebral palsy. We took her some candy, and the crowd and treat seemed to make her very happy. 

After we stopped at Section 19 we continued to drive to Hazy View, which is near Kruger National Park. Along the way we were stopped by the police and almost got a ticket for R1500 (~$220) for failing to obtain an international driving license.. scary. But we were able to talk ourselves out of it (no, we did not bribe them).

We got to Hazy View kinda late, it began raining and rained all night (!!!), and today we went out shopping for some school and dorm supplies that I couldn't bring with me for lack of space. We're looking to go back out to get a few more things tomorrow, plus maybe Kruger.

Oh! And now that I'm on better internet I can post some pictures. So check out one of my older posts if you want to see some pictures of the school.

I think that's all for now.. I'm glad I could get this all down. Being able to write about Section 19 helps me to reflect on my experience, and I'm sure it's something I'll never forget.

More in the coming days.. Move in is only 3 days away!

Love,
Eli