So there is a quote from a Dispatch song, well before the song actually starts that says "the people with the least are the ones that teach you the most". That is exactly how i feel about the past 24 hours.
The past 24 hours have been somewhat of a walk a day in someone else's shoes experience for me. I planned a sleepover event for the people in my political science class that is connected with volunteer at the Ubuntu Crisis Center Orphanage that i have been working at all semester.
Spending 24 hours living in an orphanage with girls that have absolutely nothing and doing all the things they do in a day was eye opening. I know it wasn't a typical day because we were there and supplied meat for a BBQ and eggs for breakfast when they usually have some sort of porridge concoction and a half loaf of white bread, and i know they don't usually stay up late watching movies, but everything else was shockingly similar to a day in their life.
We arrive around 2pm yesterday and started play and paint the sign outside of the center. The sign painted on a slab of concrete originally said "Edendale drop-in center" from a medical facility that used to be there over 5 years ago. I primed the concrete earlier this week and then we painted it with bright yellow, red lettering and decorated with hundreds of little colorful hand prints. It looks amazing. We played all afternoon. The little girls and i sang Zulu songs and did some dancing. My friends in the residence halls here had taught me this dance (it's name has a click in it so i won't bother to type it here) and they always ask me to to do it, it is somewhat of a popular cultural dance. They all dance and sing spectacularly. Even the littlest girls really have a lot of rhythm. We took walks around the township (A township, according to wikipedia is "the (often underdeveloped) urban living areas that, under apartheid, were reserved for non-whites, principally black Africans and Coloureds in the periphery of larger cities. I really can't explain it, but i have some pictures i can post up when i get that figured out. There mostly mud huts there and shacks, but some concrete buildings.) 
At night we supplied meat, which is a huge treat to them and celebrated the success of our event outside around the BBQ. They informed us it was the first BBQ they had since they opened. (A BBQ, which they call a braai is the traditional way south Africans celebrate EVERYTHING, they can not even process the thought of being a vegetarian, it isn't even a word in Zulu for it).
We watched A Toy Story on their TV, popped popcorn and all fell asleep pretty early. Those girls have a lot of energy but they really wear you out. They sleep in some beds about 8 little girls in a full size bed. It is the cutest/sadest thing you ever saw.
The next morning i woke up to the cutest little girl, the one that i hate to admit it is my favorite crawling on my sleeping bag. Its hard because you can't really be mad at a cute little girl like that. We went outside to play and watched my friend Kerry work on the mural she is painting on the side of the building. After i cooked 8 dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast for everyone and about 10 loaves of toast. Who knew feeding 35 little girls and 20 volunteers would be such an undertaking, i can't imagine doing it three times a day, i need a nap just after cracking all the eggs.
Then most of the volunteers left, all but four of us because we were invited to go to church with the girls. Religion is very big here, like involved in all parts of life and although it made me a little uncomfortable i went, because it is a once in a lifetime cultural experience. Getting all those little girls into their church clothes was pretty adorable, the older girls ironed everything (ironing is surprisingly big here, like everybody irons everything. i am not participating) and we cleaned up the place. Then all of us walked about a half hour up a hill to the primary school where most of the girls go to school. In one of the classrooms was the "church" with all the girls and about 20 other people, mostly woman, a few children.
It was very different from the other church that i went to here a couple a weeks ago. Different groups of women got up to sing songs and there was somewhat of a rotating leadership. The songs were beautiful and their voices were amazing. There was no pastor type person there and when one of the woman wanted to say something they just got up and did it. Because they knew we were coming, some of the younger girls from the orphanage had prepared a song in English that they sang for us and thanked us. It was very nice. The spoke a lot about mothers because it was mother's day which made me a little uncomfortable knowing that most of the girls did not have mothers, but caregivers whom they call mothers. They prepared food for us four Americans and also all of the mothers which we ate together at a table after church.
It was really nice, and i felt really welcomed in this area where less than 15 years ago i would have been hated for the color of my skin. I loved giving the girls individual attention and i am really proud of the sign that we made out in front. It was a treat for me and for the kids to be able to spend so much time together and my Zulu skills definitely improved, although i wish i study my question words that i learned on Thursday a little harder before i went. I think i did a lot of mixing up whos/ whats/ wheres and whys, but eventually i got my point across.
Living the life of an orphan in South Africa for just twenty-four hours made me realize how lucky i am and how resilient and brilliant each one of these girls is. They never complain or ask "why me?" they take care of each other and they appreciate everything they are given and don't have a dime to their name. I want to live with the mind set they have. One day at a time.
The past 24 hours have been somewhat of a walk a day in someone else's shoes experience for me. I planned a sleepover event for the people in my political science class that is connected with volunteer at the Ubuntu Crisis Center Orphanage that i have been working at all semester.
Spending 24 hours living in an orphanage with girls that have absolutely nothing and doing all the things they do in a day was eye opening. I know it wasn't a typical day because we were there and supplied meat for a BBQ and eggs for breakfast when they usually have some sort of porridge concoction and a half loaf of white bread, and i know they don't usually stay up late watching movies, but everything else was shockingly similar to a day in their life.
We arrive around 2pm yesterday and started play and paint the sign outside of the center. The sign painted on a slab of concrete originally said "Edendale drop-in center" from a medical facility that used to be there over 5 years ago. I primed the concrete earlier this week and then we painted it with bright yellow, red lettering and decorated with hundreds of little colorful hand prints. It looks amazing. We played all afternoon. The little girls and i sang Zulu songs and did some dancing. My friends in the residence halls here had taught me this dance (it's name has a click in it so i won't bother to type it here) and they always ask me to to do it, it is somewhat of a popular cultural dance. They all dance and sing spectacularly. Even the littlest girls really have a lot of rhythm. We took walks around the township (A township, according to wikipedia is "the (often underdeveloped) urban living areas that, under apartheid, were reserved for non-whites, principally black Africans and Coloureds in the periphery of larger cities. I really can't explain it, but i have some pictures i can post up when i get that figured out. There mostly mud huts there and shacks, but some concrete buildings.) 
At night we supplied meat, which is a huge treat to them and celebrated the success of our event outside around the BBQ. They informed us it was the first BBQ they had since they opened. (A BBQ, which they call a braai is the traditional way south Africans celebrate EVERYTHING, they can not even process the thought of being a vegetarian, it isn't even a word in Zulu for it).
We watched A Toy Story on their TV, popped popcorn and all fell asleep pretty early. Those girls have a lot of energy but they really wear you out. They sleep in some beds about 8 little girls in a full size bed. It is the cutest/sadest thing you ever saw.
The next morning i woke up to the cutest little girl, the one that i hate to admit it is my favorite crawling on my sleeping bag. Its hard because you can't really be mad at a cute little girl like that. We went outside to play and watched my friend Kerry work on the mural she is painting on the side of the building. After i cooked 8 dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast for everyone and about 10 loaves of toast. Who knew feeding 35 little girls and 20 volunteers would be such an undertaking, i can't imagine doing it three times a day, i need a nap just after cracking all the eggs.
Then most of the volunteers left, all but four of us because we were invited to go to church with the girls. Religion is very big here, like involved in all parts of life and although it made me a little uncomfortable i went, because it is a once in a lifetime cultural experience. Getting all those little girls into their church clothes was pretty adorable, the older girls ironed everything (ironing is surprisingly big here, like everybody irons everything. i am not participating) and we cleaned up the place. Then all of us walked about a half hour up a hill to the primary school where most of the girls go to school. In one of the classrooms was the "church" with all the girls and about 20 other people, mostly woman, a few children.
It was very different from the other church that i went to here a couple a weeks ago. Different groups of women got up to sing songs and there was somewhat of a rotating leadership. The songs were beautiful and their voices were amazing. There was no pastor type person there and when one of the woman wanted to say something they just got up and did it. Because they knew we were coming, some of the younger girls from the orphanage had prepared a song in English that they sang for us and thanked us. It was very nice. The spoke a lot about mothers because it was mother's day which made me a little uncomfortable knowing that most of the girls did not have mothers, but caregivers whom they call mothers. They prepared food for us four Americans and also all of the mothers which we ate together at a table after church.
It was really nice, and i felt really welcomed in this area where less than 15 years ago i would have been hated for the color of my skin. I loved giving the girls individual attention and i am really proud of the sign that we made out in front. It was a treat for me and for the kids to be able to spend so much time together and my Zulu skills definitely improved, although i wish i study my question words that i learned on Thursday a little harder before i went. I think i did a lot of mixing up whos/ whats/ wheres and whys, but eventually i got my point across.
Living the life of an orphan in South Africa for just twenty-four hours made me realize how lucky i am and how resilient and brilliant each one of these girls is. They never complain or ask "why me?" they take care of each other and they appreciate everything they are given and don't have a dime to their name. I want to live with the mind set they have. One day at a time.
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