The defining moment in my life that shifted the way I was thinking...and brought me to ubuntu.
Great question. Tough to answer.
In the sense of living and breathing and working and playing.
This morning we were doing "Alien Invasion" -- getting rid of the black wottle plants that are all around the conservation and are really, really bad for the animals and the earth here. While we were in the middle of that, Nyawira from ZOTE called. We've been emailing back and forth about the supplies I want to get up to the schools in Venda. I'm meeting her and the Chief (her husband) on Wed. at 3:00 p.m. at the Pretoria Mall. She's said that English dictionaries, Learning Guides for all ages and the basics - pens/pencils etc. are what they need most. I will meet with them Wednesday and then they'll send pictures once the supplies arrive at the school that is most needed. I am so ecstatic! If even one child reads a book that makes a difference to him or her, we've made a huuuge difference in someone's life!
I was talking again with Mary (who has been up there) and about the different stories that touched her while she was there. She talked of one little girl, who was extremely shy, but very bright and well behaved, her "english" name being Carol. Mary paid close attention to helping this one little star shine a bit brighter, and one day in the middle of class, Carol's mother waltzes in with her baby on her back, looking for Mary. When she found her, she said, we have to exchange addresses, Carol talks so highly of you all the time and we need your address. So Mary was a bit taken aback at the timing of this, but was ultimately touched and they exchanged addresses...then on the last day of school Carol's father had a huge gift basket put together for Mary with homemade arts & crafts, with a thank you note for taking an interest in Carol and making her feel that she deserved so much more out there....made me cry hearing this. The humanity in that and the appreciation in her parents are huge lessons.
An example of the way of life up there was shown when one day, her host father (Eziekul) piled 8 kids in the "bakkie" (this is what they call a truck here) and they went off to the hospital in the next town. Apparently a 12 year old girl was in the hospital with 2nd or 3rd degree burns and so they went to visit. Mary had to stay in the bakkie with the 4yr old host child so when the father and the rest of the kids returned, she asked how the girls parents were. Eziekul explained that it was just her 13 year old sister there with her, as her parents were in Johannesburg and they left the girls for weeks at a time to live by themselves. So, the electricity at the house had gone out and not knowing how to get it back, the 12 yr old lit a candle and was badly burned when she fell asleep beside it and it caught the bed on fire. Mary was amazed that they would leave these little girls alone to live, but as Eziekul said, it's just how we do it here...
My favourite story that she's told me so far is of this little boy who was very badly behaved and couldn't speak English at all. One day he came to school with just a white cloth tied around his foot and when Mary took a look under it, she realized it was a huge open sore that looked very infected. Because he was so badly behaved, no teachers took the chance to even look and they refused to send him to the clinic because "that's just how we do things here." So everyday, Mary cleaned this boys foot until finally, 3 weeks later, it healed. One day she felt a tap on her shoulder and it was the little boy. He pointed to his foot and exclaimed, "Thank you! Thank you Mary!" -- he had learned Thank You in English so that he could show his appreciation in her kindness...when Mary told me about that moment, she welled up and I completely and totally felt all of the humanity in it. She said something I often think, "I knew I wasn't going to change the world by doing this, but to know that you've made a tiny difference, a glimmer of kindness or love in another's life, it was truly amazing..." We both had a little cry, a good cry, haha! I am so loving meeting these people and hearing their stories.
And that school is where our books will be going! So thank you again to everyone who has done anything to contribute and soon we'll get pictures of myself handing off the items and then the children that they go too!!!!!!
LOVE!
I was talking again with Mary (who has been up there) and about the different stories that touched her while she was there. She talked of one little girl, who was extremely shy, but very bright and well behaved, her "english" name being Carol. Mary paid close attention to helping this one little star shine a bit brighter, and one day in the middle of class, Carol's mother waltzes in with her baby on her back, looking for Mary. When she found her, she said, we have to exchange addresses, Carol talks so highly of you all the time and we need your address. So Mary was a bit taken aback at the timing of this, but was ultimately touched and they exchanged addresses...then on the last day of school Carol's father had a huge gift basket put together for Mary with homemade arts & crafts, with a thank you note for taking an interest in Carol and making her feel that she deserved so much more out there....made me cry hearing this. The humanity in that and the appreciation in her parents are huge lessons.
An example of the way of life up there was shown when one day, her host father (Eziekul) piled 8 kids in the "bakkie" (this is what they call a truck here) and they went off to the hospital in the next town. Apparently a 12 year old girl was in the hospital with 2nd or 3rd degree burns and so they went to visit. Mary had to stay in the bakkie with the 4yr old host child so when the father and the rest of the kids returned, she asked how the girls parents were. Eziekul explained that it was just her 13 year old sister there with her, as her parents were in Johannesburg and they left the girls for weeks at a time to live by themselves. So, the electricity at the house had gone out and not knowing how to get it back, the 12 yr old lit a candle and was badly burned when she fell asleep beside it and it caught the bed on fire. Mary was amazed that they would leave these little girls alone to live, but as Eziekul said, it's just how we do it here...
My favourite story that she's told me so far is of this little boy who was very badly behaved and couldn't speak English at all. One day he came to school with just a white cloth tied around his foot and when Mary took a look under it, she realized it was a huge open sore that looked very infected. Because he was so badly behaved, no teachers took the chance to even look and they refused to send him to the clinic because "that's just how we do things here." So everyday, Mary cleaned this boys foot until finally, 3 weeks later, it healed. One day she felt a tap on her shoulder and it was the little boy. He pointed to his foot and exclaimed, "Thank you! Thank you Mary!" -- he had learned Thank You in English so that he could show his appreciation in her kindness...when Mary told me about that moment, she welled up and I completely and totally felt all of the humanity in it. She said something I often think, "I knew I wasn't going to change the world by doing this, but to know that you've made a tiny difference, a glimmer of kindness or love in another's life, it was truly amazing..." We both had a little cry, a good cry, haha! I am so loving meeting these people and hearing their stories.
And that school is where our books will be going! So thank you again to everyone who has done anything to contribute and soon we'll get pictures of myself handing off the items and then the children that they go too!!!!!!
LOVE!
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