16 Days: Fragments from South Africa

I just finished A Moveable Feast, and Hemingway just writes in interesting, but mostly unrelated chapters, so this is what this will be. I feel like I haven’t written as many blog posts from SA, and I think it’s just because so much has happened, and I’m only beginning to process little pieces of it. So here are some of those partially processed pieces.

How can it be that there are only 16 days until we’re home? I have a pit in my stomach just thinking about the cold of Calgary and actually having to make school a number one priority. To be honest, I’m surprised at how much I love South Africa and don’t want to go home. I’ve always fancied myself a Europe girl, and I think I am, but I also love so much about this place. The sun, the people, the history, the ocean, the languages and the singing are all amazing and I will miss them dearly.

If you’ve been reading my family’s blog, you’ll know that last week was a rough week. There was the hoe visit, and the little boy Sezwe who touched us, but gave us heavy hearts for the children of this community and this country. Then, on the 24^th, we received the news that a boy in the community, well known by the Seed of Hope staff was stabbed to death the day before on his 18^th birthday. It broke our hearts all over again, and the staff and even some of the kids who knew him were pretty shook up. So many of these young men aren’t making it past 25 because of all of the hate and violence that goes on in these communities. It’s not just HIV that’s killing people here, its hate. I look at the teens in Musa’s after school class, and the little boys on the playground, and I hope that the center has touched them in a way that will cause them to live in a way that is different than the example that has been set for them by the older boys in the community. I pray for the boys every day, and hope that their generation will be a strong one that will be a shining light in their community.

The young people I’ve met at the Seed are amazing. They’re so much fun, and so full of life and energy, and I hope they put their whole hearts into doing something amazing with their lives. In Musa’s class one day when the team was here he had us all go up one by one and take questions about ourselves from the class. For the common question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” many of them answered things like doctors or lawyers, and it made me sad because even for me, someone saving money for post-secondary, with decent marks in school and determination, those jobs seem like a lot of work to attain. Kids from Bhekulwandle aren’t going to have the resources to follow their dreams, whatever they may be and it makes me so sad. With my own graduation fast approaching, I still have no idea what I want to do or how I’ll get there, but no matter what I do, I’ll be able to have the resources to support myself and live comfortably my entire life, which unfortunately, might not be the case for many of these future adults that I see every day. These kids have such awesome spirits, and the people at the Seed of Hope are teaching them well, so I hope they make it.

Last week was the last week of children’s programs, which was sad because we’ve loved getting to know the kids and play with them every day. I’ve become good friends with some of the girls, and they have fun playing with and braiding my hair, while I try not to cry and remind them that my hair is in fact attached to my scalp. The girls are so fun, and I have a couple who will come hold my hand, or turn over my arm to trace the veins in my wrist, or play with my arm hair (they don’t have any, and they’re totally weirded out by it). I’ve also really enjoyed getting to know the 11-15 year olds in Musa’s after school class. They’re such a solid group of kids, and they choose to use their own time to come to this class to learn life skills, which is cool to me, because back home, no kid would ever do that. My guess is that it’s not really the “cool thing” to do here either, so that just makes them coming all the more awesome in my eyes. They genuinely respect Musa, and want to improve their English and their futures through coming to the classes. I guess the thing I find the coolest is the fact that they’re such great friends, and I hope that they can stick together and hold one another accountable for the things they’ve learned and just be a new generation of youth and eventually young adults in Bhekulwandle. They inspire me, and I hope that they’ll do the best they can with what they have someday.  

Tonight while Adam and Lauren went to a youth dinner with our friends Jeremy and Abby, me, mum, dad, Heather and Dan went for dinner at the Galleria Mall. I love listening to Seed of Hope talk that is too mature for me, because I get an inside scoop and I’m constantly taking mental notes, and when it’s appropriate written notes, in order to remember crazy facts and pieces of South African culture that are so interesting to me. (Derek’s dad Abe called me a “Culture Vulture” once and I love it, because I’m truly loving seeing different cultures on this trip) Heather is full of stories about when the Seed started, and of the things her and Derek did in Calgary, and about all of the amazing people they’ve met. Although I only knew Derek when I was very young, it makes me wish he was here to see my parents and their family in Africa, and laugh at our Westernness and take us on wild adventures. He is dearly missed every day, but continues to be an inspiration to so many, and he lives on through his legacy in the community, and through his son Caleb.

This week flew by so fast, and it was full of school and Christmas party prep. I’m beyond excited for the long awaited party. We decorated the center today, and I got assigned the much coveted position of being in charge of the parachute games, SCORE! It’ll be fun, and I’m excited to see the kids again after a week of having to hang out with adults. I’m not mature enough for that…

So yes, 16 days left and it’s stressing me out. On one hand I’m excited. There are so many dear friends back home that I’ll be overjoyed to see, and then it’ll be Christmas, and everyone will be jolly and happy and together… So that’ll be fun until January and the cold, home schooling, everyday life of Calgary will settle in along with a crippling depression.

So I’m gonna live these last days up!!!

xo

Alanna

Adam and I doing some Christmas prep.