A month and a half into my journey in KwaZulu Natal, I have finally settled into my home here at Lily of the Valley Children’s Home. Life here is extraordinary. The window to the little house I share with two other volunteers overlooks a compound of 22 houses filled with 114 orphans. Our property backs up to Tala Game Reserve so from my window I can see herds of Wilderbeast and Giraffe! About 90% of the children here have HIV, and another good portion of them have suffered from TB. They are very sick, but you would never know it. They act just like normal, perhaps even more joyful, kids. Each has a unique and equally devastating past, but I often have to remind myself of this, as they are so resilient, are rarely let you see their pain. Only when their immune systems fail them, or they have a moment of anxiety or angry outburst am I truly aware of their reality. I have so much to learn from them, and feel so blessed to get to spend my time with them.
My duties here change day to day, but I have found myself doing more activities, which resemble teaching than I planned. Every weekday afternoon we hold “homework club” in which we help the children with their homework and/or work with them on basic math and English skills. A lot of our children are behind in school because of illness or their turbulent past, so it is our goal to get them caught up to their grade level. I have never possessed the gift of teaching, but after discovering just how far behind our kids are when compared to children back home I have found a new motivation to cultivate my teaching skills. I am now an expert on my times tables, phonics, and basic addition facts!
Here’s a list of some of the things I have learned here thus far:
• The power of touch: It is amazing how much anger and hurt can be melted away with a warm hug, or a good tickle war. Several of the little girls will not speak to adults, and put on a hard demeanor with everyone whom they come into contact. However, after several days of hugs after Homework Club, they have begun to smile at me, and seek me out when they have a problem.
• To sew by hand: I have become the resident seamstress. Years of cross-stitching and quilting at Grandot’s house is paying off, as children now daily bring me their holey worn clothing to mend or resize for them. We do not have a sewing machine, but I am learning to patch everything by hand, and even how to dye my own string using tea, lipstick, or whatever I can find around the village.
• What a blessing running water is: We often have water shortages in this area. The main pipe line that runs to the village goes through another rural township called Mophela. When the locals do not feel like walking miles to get water, then they improvise by breaking the major pipelines that run in front of their house. This means that on the days following their lethargy, we will not have water. Going without water for days at a time is not fun! Needless to say, the drip of water from the tap has become music to our ears!
• Basic Zulu: At the village community center, Zulu classes are being offered twice a week. I am getting the basics down, but have only mastered three of the twelve “clicks” in the language, so I am not sure I will ever manage to speak properly.
• How caring and helpful our kids are here: From the moment I got to Lily, the kids have bent over backwards to make sure that I can get from place to place. Whenever I get stuck in the mud or need to go up a big hill, children come running. Even ones who I have yet to meet or who are shorter than my chair itself come to help. Last week two six year old boys tried to pick me up when I was getting into my wheelchair from the floor. They seem to always be eager to lend a helping hand. One 12 year old boy, Stambiso, who is generally filled with a lot of anger, for some reason has chosen me to be nice to. Last week he came running up to met to inform me that he had been researching “healers” for me and he found a great one in Jo-Burg that I must go to immediately. Although I had to explain to him that my body is healed and that God is working through my disability, I was touched that he wanted to help in any way he could. Despite the terrible things in these children’s lives, they turn around and are ready to serve me!
• The need for and power of prayer: Both because of the love and because of the pain that radiates from our Lily kids, it has been impossible for me to ignore the faithfulness and ever-nearness of God. I am constantly reminded of my need for him as I attempt to serve in an environment that is always overwhelming. Prayer is beginning to be a constant conversation between the Lord and I, instead of a once a day chore that I do so that I will fulfill my duties as a “good” Christian. I am learning that if I try to do this without prayer and constant reliance on Him, I am going to fail miserably.
I would love to have you all partner with me in prayer. Here are a few prayer requests for the time being.
Prayer Requests:
• That I and the other volunteers would have the motivation and strength to serve to the best of our abilities.
• The health of our HIV+ children who are daily struggling with their health.
• For the two new children D and B, who came to Lily today, that their transition would be smooth and that they would come to feel safe and at home here.
• For the leadership at Lily, that they would be able to make wise decisions about the future growth and plans for this place.
Also if you are a fan of snail mail I would love to hear from you via:
Lily of the Valley
ATTN: Palmer Harston
PO Box 185 Gilitts 3603
KZN South Africa
Or if you are more of a skype fan my cell number here is:
+27 72 982 3676
That’s it for now!
Blessings,
Palmer
“For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4: 11-13
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Two weeks down...
As of today, I have been in South Africa for two weeks, and although I have yet to even start my main job here, I have already experienced and been challenged by a lot. For the last few weeks I have been working for World Changers Academy, volunteering at Shepherd’s Keep Home for Abandoned Babies, writing law school essays, studying for the LSAT, and trying to survive in a house that has 30 people living in it. Each day has brought a new challenge, a new emotion, and a new lesson. Although I have enjoyed my time so far, I am greatly looking forward to next Wednesday when I begin living and working at Lily of the Valley, because I am desperately longing for some routine and consistency.
Living in a foreign country by myself has allowed me a lot of time alone with my thoughts. This is the first time in my life that I have had to face the frustrations, curiosities, and thrills of a completely different culture alone, with no one else to turn to for reflection. It has been a huge time of growth in my life as I have wrestled with quandaries of faith, politics, and culture on my own. Not to mention, I have endured much ridicule for my strange “Yankee” accent with no one to back me up that it is indeed “y’all” not “you all.” Yet through this struggle, I have learned to cling to the foundational principles of my faith, as without those I truly would be on my own. In truth, I am thankful for this time of inward struggle and discovery, as I am confident that perseverance through challenge yields strength. If these first two weeks are any indication, I am confident a great deal more personal growth derived from trials is in my foreseeable future.
Today was somewhat of a paradox for me. I woke up to President Mbeki’s announcement that he would resign as South Africa’s president after allegations of political manipulation from his equally corrupt political opponent Zuma. The government, which has been in shambles for years, is finally beginning to show its true colors on the international stage. If something of this magnitude had happened in our country, the nation would have been in an uproar. Yet in this country that has become disillusioned and apathetic towards the status of their government due to years and years of corruption, no one seems to have even taken notice that Mbeki has left. Frustrated at the hopelessness that seems to be hanging in the air here, I drove to Shepherd’s Keep Orphanage, the NGO with whom I have partnered the past two summers. There I held a tiny three-week-old baby, who had been found abandoned in a bush on the side of a highway. Although her chest wheezed with each breath from a life-threatening infection that has set in, I couldn’t help but find hope in each labored breath. She has a fight left in her. There is a reason she was delivered to this high-care center, instead of dying on the side of the road along with the 2,000 other babies who are abandoned in this province each month. As I looked at her I realized that the work that is being done in the NGOs, churches, charter schools, and others who have joined the cause is not in vain. There is still hope for her and the rest in her generation that things can be turned around. I am so privileged to get to work with such innocence, because I am becoming convinced that it may be the only way to escape the ever-growing disillusionment festering here.
In the book “Mountains Beyond Moutains,” (which I highly recommend you reading) the author tells of an old Haitian proverb, which essentially says that beyond the mountains there are more mountains, meaning that when we overcome one obstacle there is certain to be another equally as challenging obstacle waiting for us on the other side. At first glance this may seem like a depressing thought, but the author goes on to explain that victory then may not necessarily come in the defeat of the obstacle, but may instead come in the perseverance. We succeed because we refuse to give up trying. It is with this mindset that I am excited to begin working at Lily of the Valley Children’s village next week.
Look for more substantive and detailed posts in the weeks to come as I get to know the children and stories that make up Lily of the Valley…
Living in a foreign country by myself has allowed me a lot of time alone with my thoughts. This is the first time in my life that I have had to face the frustrations, curiosities, and thrills of a completely different culture alone, with no one else to turn to for reflection. It has been a huge time of growth in my life as I have wrestled with quandaries of faith, politics, and culture on my own. Not to mention, I have endured much ridicule for my strange “Yankee” accent with no one to back me up that it is indeed “y’all” not “you all.” Yet through this struggle, I have learned to cling to the foundational principles of my faith, as without those I truly would be on my own. In truth, I am thankful for this time of inward struggle and discovery, as I am confident that perseverance through challenge yields strength. If these first two weeks are any indication, I am confident a great deal more personal growth derived from trials is in my foreseeable future.
Today was somewhat of a paradox for me. I woke up to President Mbeki’s announcement that he would resign as South Africa’s president after allegations of political manipulation from his equally corrupt political opponent Zuma. The government, which has been in shambles for years, is finally beginning to show its true colors on the international stage. If something of this magnitude had happened in our country, the nation would have been in an uproar. Yet in this country that has become disillusioned and apathetic towards the status of their government due to years and years of corruption, no one seems to have even taken notice that Mbeki has left. Frustrated at the hopelessness that seems to be hanging in the air here, I drove to Shepherd’s Keep Orphanage, the NGO with whom I have partnered the past two summers. There I held a tiny three-week-old baby, who had been found abandoned in a bush on the side of a highway. Although her chest wheezed with each breath from a life-threatening infection that has set in, I couldn’t help but find hope in each labored breath. She has a fight left in her. There is a reason she was delivered to this high-care center, instead of dying on the side of the road along with the 2,000 other babies who are abandoned in this province each month. As I looked at her I realized that the work that is being done in the NGOs, churches, charter schools, and others who have joined the cause is not in vain. There is still hope for her and the rest in her generation that things can be turned around. I am so privileged to get to work with such innocence, because I am becoming convinced that it may be the only way to escape the ever-growing disillusionment festering here.
In the book “Mountains Beyond Moutains,” (which I highly recommend you reading) the author tells of an old Haitian proverb, which essentially says that beyond the mountains there are more mountains, meaning that when we overcome one obstacle there is certain to be another equally as challenging obstacle waiting for us on the other side. At first glance this may seem like a depressing thought, but the author goes on to explain that victory then may not necessarily come in the defeat of the obstacle, but may instead come in the perseverance. We succeed because we refuse to give up trying. It is with this mindset that I am excited to begin working at Lily of the Valley Children’s village next week.
Look for more substantive and detailed posts in the weeks to come as I get to know the children and stories that make up Lily of the Valley…
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