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Hi all - sorry for the lack of updates in the last two weeks! Tyler and I were traveling a bit throughout SA. We started off flying to Cape Town for 5 days, then went to the opposite side of the country to the St. Lucia wetlands area, then to Durban for a few days and back to Richmond. It was really fabulous and I'll put a few photos up here soon. Just wanted to post that we're home now, and it's freeeeeezing compared to SA! I'm still a little bit in shock that it's almost November, that fall is pretty much gone and that I have to get used to it being below zero (celcius) every morning.

If anyone is still out there checking this, I'll post some pictures soon!

appreciation

I really think that everyone should work in a poor area at some point in their life. Even if it’s for only a week, or only an hour away from where you live. It’s these experiences that really make us appreciative of what we have, what we may have always had access to and assume will always be available to us.

Walking to the soup kitchen, I regularly pass a collection of run down homes, with visible holes in the walls and roof, most without doors or possibly a large piece of cardboard covering the entrance. I’ve been invited in to some of the homes and it amazes me how families can survive on so little, with so few belongings. There are so many things I miss back in Canada – the luxury of having the internet at my fingertips and TV and my car and the ability to go to the store and purchase anything I need. I’ve never been motivated by money (otherwise I wouldn’t have pursued social work...!), but thinking of all the things I have and still want while working here makes me feel greedy when I’m visiting a mother who just gave birth to her 6^th child, all living in a tiny room with one bed.

The first time I experienced heart-breaking poverty was not overseas but while working in West Virginia. One community I worked in was made up of extremely poor families living in trailers that didn’t have plumbing systems. This meant that their waste from the toilet would just run off into the yard... It smelled terrible and I was afraid to step anywhere, but it was reality and opened my eyes to what poverty really is without even leaving the United States. Now, having seen striking poverty in a number of countries, I’m still amazed by what little people can live on and also how I continue to seem to need more.

So, I know not everyone has the same passions as me, and not everyone wants to spend their vacation time working in a poor area, but I do believe it could be a valuable experience for anyone. Tyler and I have always donated to charities that we believe do good work, and while donating is important, seeing the need with your own eyes can help you better grasp the great necessity of aid work in poor areas. I actually wrote this post a few weeks ago, before reading the book I recommended below, so I was happy when I came across something the authors state that sum up what I believe: “Whether the project is in Cambodia or New York City, the most effective supporters will donate not only their money but also their time, by volunteering on the front lines. If you care about poverty, you must understand it, not just oppose it. And understanding poverty comes from spending time observing it directly.”

And that’s what I’ve done, in this part of the world that is new to me. This is my last week working in Richmond. I really can’t believe I’ve been here for 6 weeks! Thanks once again to everyone who reads this and is supporting the work being done here. It is good to know that this little community of Richmond has people who care for them all the way on the other side of the world. :)

Good news - Tyler arrived safely in South Africa Monday night! It’s really great to have him here and I have to give a big shout out to some of the people who sent donations with him for the hospice. Before I left for my trip back in August, I was a frazzled mess. I was trying to get ready for the trip and at the last minute had to make a trip back home for a funeral, and when I was trying to get back to Ottawa 4 days before I was supposed to leave for South Africa, my flight was cancelled due to the impending hurricane on the East coast. All that to say, between finishing up my internship in August, preparing to be away from my job for 2 months and going to Minnesota at the last minute, I didn’t have a lot of time to pack and it didn’t cross my mind to bring anything with me other than my personal belongings.

Fortunately Tyler and I are surrounded by generous people and between all of our coworkers, he was loaded up with an extra suitcase full of medicine, toiletries, clothes, formula, coloring books, AND money to buy even more supplies for the hospice when he got here. I was blown away by the fact that he didn’t even ask people for donations – we are lucky to work with people who genuinely care about others and asked if they could help in some way. So THANK YOU to everyone who gave Tyler donations, it means so much to me and even more to those here who you are helping.

Tyler has been working with me here this week and has been very useful to some projects going on at the hospice. He hasn’t traveled a whole lot, so it’s exciting to see how he takes in the culture here and I think he is enjoying being able to see what I’ve been talking about since the beginning of September. We also have the pleasure of celebrating our anniversary today, and I plan to take him out to eat at the nicest restaurant in town: KFC. I’m not joking, it is pretty nice inside and the only American chain that has made it to Richmond. This weekend we will wrap things up here and head off to Cape Town for a few days. Can’t wait!

Talking to people about HIV/AIDS is difficult. The fact of the matter is, I’m told ¼ of the people I meet here in this province are infected – that’s an incredibly high rate, but the illness is still highly stigmatized. It is this stigma that makes what can be a manageable illness worse for the person infected – they often don’t want others to know, which makes them less likely to receive treatment, or in some cases some people may not even want to be tested and know whether or not they are infected. It’s hard to imagine not wanting to know if you have an illness that could eventually kill you, but it all comes back to stigma and what others will think of you. So even though the disease is common, the stigma makes it even more difficult for children to deal with the disease and death of a parent. Around the world these children still seem to be viewed as “AIDS orphans,” somehow different from a child who loses their parent to some other illness. Sadly, the children typically do not receive an outpouring of public sympathy. And for these children, after the death of their parent or caregiver, they are faced with a daunting question: what will happen to me now?

I’ve been working with a child here named Njabulo. He is quite possibly one of the most adorable children I’ve ever met, and for some reason he started clinging to me from the first day he was brought to the hospice. He lost his mother to AIDS, and was being cared for by his grandmother. When she passed away, his aunt took care of him, but isn’t able to take care for him permanently. Not knowing what to do, she brought him to the hospice a few weeks ago. Njabulo has adjusted surprisingly well, but as I mentioned earlier, he has become my little sidekick. He follows me around and gets jealous when I am with other children. If there was a way to bring him to Canada I would, but it’s not that easy; so he – like some of the other children – will be living at the hospice indefinitely. It’s hard to think about what he’s gone through (and the thousands of other children like him) but I have to say that it makes me grateful that a place like the hospice exists, where they are willing to not only care for adult patients but to take in children who have nowhere else to go. And I’m happy to be one of the adults in his life who can show him love and give him attention... I’ll just feel terrible when it’s time to leave! But I take comfort knowing that he will continue to get the care he needs here, with no stigma attached.

I love kids singing

Half the Sky

Last year for Christmas I received a book from my brother that he thoughtfully selected based on my interests. I was really excited when I opened it because it is exactly I something I would pick up in a bookstore, and now that the craziness of grad school is over I finally have time for leisure reading. I brought the book with me and read it last week and I have to make a recommendation here. If you are interested in women’s rights and the developing world, you have to read Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The authors have traveled to numerous third world countries documenting the struggles that women face and coming up with suggestions for “turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide.” Some of the personal stories are difficult to read and heartbreaking, but you can’t deny the fact that things like sex trafficking, rape, maternal mortality, and lack of education are keeping women and girls from being able to take care of themselves and be successful in parts of the world. Even if development and poor countries is not something you’re usually interested in, I think everyone would learn something from this book and maybe at least be inspired to donate to aid organizations working to help in these areas. If you do read it, let me know what you think!

food delivery

On Wednesdays we pack a truck and trailer full of food to deliver to a very poor area here called the squatter camp. As we pull up to the community, the children come running and know what’s happening – usually for them we have lollipops, which of course they get more excited about than bags of rice. It was shocking to me the first time we went to the squatter camp; most of the kids don’t have shoes, and many weren’t wearing anything below the waist. I guess it’s a forced solution if you can’t afford diapers (or pants, for that matter). I really enjoy this process and I’m impressed by the organizing of the distribution. Not only do we pack up all of the food (rice, eggs, milk, beans, cabbage, oranges, etc.) into the vehicle to bring it to this area, but we also go and physically get the food if someone is willing to donate it to this cause (grocery stores and local farmers donate). This means that I have also found myself out in a field cutting and collecting cabbages from a farm in the rain... but I enjoy the physical labor knowing that in the end this food will go to someone who can’t afford it on their own.

Quick update on my post about the soup kitchen and lack of gas – for the last week we’ve been cooking the giant pots over a fire. It takes forever and has been quite difficult with the rainy weather, but again, I’m impressed by how hard the women here work to get stuff done and provide for others. We made a fabulous bean soup on Friday and even though I was cold and wet tending to the pot while it cooked, I also think some foods taste a little bit better cooked over a fire. :)