This last week in Gugulethu was an emotional roller coaster for me. Living with a new family I’ve never meet in conditions I’m not used to and in a place I’ve never been. Getting to hear from so many indiviuals experiencing things that I can’t even imagine what it must be like, and yet seeing so many happy people who were so thankful and appreciative of everything they had even when they are in the worst of situations. Trying to pick just one thing that impacted me most is impossible because everyday something new changed me. What I think will have the longest impact on me will be my experiences with all of the children.
We went to Noxie’s school and got to see how thing go in a typical school. Then we went to the school for children with special needs and knowing that they were just as happy about things and cheerful when singing for us brightened my day. I also loved helping the kids in the afterschool program because some of them talked with me about things giving me a child’s perspective. Some of the kids I worked directly with received food parcels and they weren’t ashamed like some people in the states are when they need to go to a soup kitchen, but so grateful. I have a ton of younger kids and made all my money as teen by babysitting so working with kids is one of my passions, and I’m so glad that we got to interact with them so much during the week. They always tell it like it is, which I appreciate. I also was then able to do a lot of comparing and contrasting from the children here and those back home. What sorts of toys they preferred, songs they sing, jokes they tell, and lives they live. Also the way that they interacted with there elders. I noticed that the majority of kids tend to feed their parents or help their parents feed the guests before they themselves eat. Typically back home we feed the kids first to get them to sit down and be quite, which also pointed out to me how much more control and respect typically all of the parents and elders of this community get from the kids than do kids back home in the states.
On the topic of community I noticed that the strongest one I’ve seen in Gugs is the one at JL Zwane. Typically because of tradition women can’t preach, but Fundi preaches and the church accepts her. Or when we were doing food parcels on Tuesday; when our group took a break members of the community jumped in without being asked and helped. The biggest strength of this community is just how accepting they are. When Charlie came in and spoke to us about his experiences with the church I was so moved because that is unheard of both in the US and here in South Africa. The community is so strong that people experiencing such issues that can cause huge friction are accepted and appreciated for who they are.
Reverend Xapile being the Reverend is one of the biggest leaders in this community, but not the only one. He organizes and makes sure all is right with the groups that JL Zwane has, such as the Rainbow After School Program, the AIDS support groups, and also planning and implementing new groups the church can offer. The reason why I say he’s not the only leader I saw in action in this community is because I was blessed with the opportunity to get to talk with Nombeko. She’s a woman who was gang raped and contracted HIV from it. She’s been positive for quite a while now, but she has a more positive outlook on life then she originally did. She is in charge of the HIV/AIDS support groups that the church offers. She goes into the community and encourages those who have been infected to come in and in a private and welcoming area speak with others also infected. They share their stories and the challenges they have overcome hoping to help each other. They give advice on where to go to receive the drugs they need if they can’t afford them, and also provide just a listening ear to those who want nothing more than to share there stories. Organizing all of this takes great amounts of time commitments, organization skills, patients and more than anything passion. She’s also in charge of deciding which people infected with HIV/AIDS gets to receive a food parcel. She has to make difficult decisions that go with being a leader, but because she is so strong in the community people accept her decisions.
When we were at Siyaya the director said that when people are in buses driving around Gugs they have a look on their face that screams shame or pity, but when your on the streets everyone is happy and doing good. This is the only way of life that they know so they are content with it. I keep trying to remind myself of this when I encounter difficult situations or reflect back on them because it’s true. So much happened this last week in Gugs that it’s really hard to summarize all the events into a few words, but it was challenging and life changing.
