Last week has been like every other week- very busy and eventful. Firstly we found out that one of our newer little baby boy’s is HIV negative. His brother who is also here is positive so it really is a gift from God that the little one is negative. Praise God! Also I made some real progress with the 4 year old little boy that I’ve talked a lot about in recent weeks. One day in baby crèche I lay down and plonked him on my chest. He sat on me and played with his cap and then lay on my chest and cuddled in. I said nothing, did nothing, just let him lay there. A few minutes later he started chatting away to me. His words made no sense but he was communicating- a real first for him. He usually only speaks to the little boy he lives with. He then sat up and gave me a high five and then lay down again and cuddled. I had tears in my eyes as he lay. Finally some emotion from this little boy, finally some form of communication. In a way I feel like my work is done now. I know it sounds stupid but I’ve spent so much time with this little boy trying to encourage him to accept his new surroundings and express himself that having him cuddle in properly and communicate was such a huge thing for me. It seems to have made these 6 months even more worthwhile. It’s moments like these that will stay in my heart forever. No matter where I am in the world or what I’m doing this little boy will always be in my prayers. Unfortunately this high didn’t last very long as I’m very sad to say that the little boy is back in hospital with not one, but 4 different infections- a sign that he is in the final stages of AIDS. He has mastoiditis, and ear infection, gastroenteritis, TB and possibly hepatitis as he’s a bit jaundice. I’ve been to see him as often as I can. Each time I go he is in a different bed and as soon as he sees me I see slight relief in his eyes and then a desperate longing for me to pick him up and just hold him. His breathing is very laboured and he is in so much distress. All I can do though is love him. I walk around the ward with him and sing to him. There’s nothing else I can do but try to give him at least some comfort during all this. His pain is visibly horrific and the only form of pain relief is paracetamol. Guys again this boy is in dire need of your prayers!
Another special thing that happened last week came from one of the staff who runs the baby crèche. I was helping her out tidying and sorting stuff in the crèche and we were just chatting away as we usually do. We got onto the conversation about me leaving and she was asking if and when I would be back. I’m not sure what God has in store for me yet, but I do know that I’ll definitely be back to Rehoboth in the near future. Whether it is for just a little holiday, 3 months, 6 months or a lifetime I don’t know, but I do know I’ll be back. She was very pleased to hear this as she said that I treated her and the rest of the staff with so much respect. She said that I always asked her to do something not demand it, and that I always said hello, asked how she was and thanked her for her work. I didn’t treat her any differently than I would a white person. I have been brought up to treat people as I would expect them to treat me. I have been taught that manners are free. Saying please and thank you doesn’t cost anything no matter who it is. It was so lovely to hear her say these things to me as I came out here wanting to treat all people as equals in a country where everywhere else that doesn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not intentionally trying to criticise this country. Unfortunately due to a whole host of factors there is little equality here due to a whole heap of things that happened in the past. I cannot pretend that I know or understand everything that happened in the history of this country. What I do know is that no matter where I personally am in the world I will treat all people with the same amount of respect, as that’s what I’ve been taught not just by my parents but also by the big man himself, God! Amen, that’s all I’m going to say on that one!
For our last weekend in South Africa we went up the coast to stay in Durban for a nice well-earned relaxing weekend. We went with one of the management couple and their two most beautiful and amazing children (man am I going to miss this family!!!). We spent time with their friends and had so much fun. These are the type of people that I would be friends with back home, so even though I didn’t know them very well I could just relax and be myself which is just what I needed. We went to a big rugby game on the Saturday night. They’re in the middle of the Super 14 tournament involving teams from South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia so there is some high class talent on show. It was a really entertaining match and we won which was of course a bonus. We watched the match from the stands but got to go in a corporate box after the match (free drinks-woo!). It was a fantastic evening just chatting about rugby and other stuff, made me feel so close to home.
I’ve had two experiences in the community these past few days. Firstly last week I went to a crèche that is run by the Methodist church in the community. There are 63 children that go and only 2 ladies who run it most days. The children are amazingly well behaved, speak English and Zulu and seem to be quite bright. They attend this crèche as their parents work and siblings are at school. They get breakfast and lunch provided which is such a blessing to these kids who live in one of the poorest areas of KwaZulu Natal. They are so eager to learn and are so polite. They all stand in a queue for lunch so patiently, even the ones right at the back don’t complain and are grateful for their food even though most of the other kids are finished by the time they get theirs. The crèche usually finishes around 2pm and the kids get picked up by siblings how attend the local school. Without this crèche these children would literally be homeless for the day. Their parents would go to work and lock them out of their houses. They would just wander around which is just so unsafe. The work the women do to keep that crèche going is amazing; God is truly at work there. Please pray that God would continue to bless that crèche not just financially but with loving women to run the place and give the children some hope.
We also painted the outside of one of the housemother’s houses last week. It was such a small gesture from us but it made such a huge difference to her life. All we had to do was give the small house (two tiny rooms- no bigger than your lounge probably at home) a coat of primer and then a top coat of light green paint. It was baking hot while we were painting but it was enjoyable nevertheless. The house is near a local government school so when school finished there were lots of children walking by. They all looked so stunned- I’m sure they were quite confused as to why white people were painting a black persons house. We waved and said hello to as many as we could and they all eventually waved back after they were over the initial shock of seeing us. It served as a good final reminder of what I leave behind and the fact that I return to a society where equality is so much more real.
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