*if you are squeamish, you may not want to read this, or
skip Wednesday and Saturday’s entry :)
I don’t even really know where to start with this entry. I
have been staring at the screen for too long, and I just figured I would start
typing and hope that this all makes sense. I have had a total sensory overload
this week, but it’s been great.
This past week has been an incredible one, but it has also
had its difficulties. It was our last really busy week because this week now is more of the wrap up and "good-bye" week. I have learned so much about serving others, through
readings in class (even though I forget this is a study abroad program), and
through my own personal experience this week. I guess I’ll just start from the
beginning and hope it all makes sense.
Monday: We were
assigned a soup mom to be paired with. I was in a group with 3 other girls that
I love and we were given a bag of rice and lots of vegetables to make stir fry
for the mom and her family for dinner. We drove out to Sir Lowry’s Pass, a
township about 45 minutes outside of Cape Town, and were greeted by hundreds of
kids who swarmed our bus. They were all smiles and seemed so happy to see us.
They greeted us like this every day, despite the bad weather that came later in
the week. There were about 50 of us and I think everyone had about 4 or 5 kids
latched to their arms and legs- not a bad feeling at all. I think it’s safe to
say we all felt very loved. The mom I was paired with was Ms. Vanessa. She has
been married to her husband Shane for 10 years, and he has to work all the
time. They have 3 beautiful girls, Casey (who is around 8 or 9 years old),
Shevanah, (either 4 or 5 yrs old), and Shana, (around 3 years old). I loved
being with a family of all girls because hey, that’s normal for me. There were
plenty of friends running in and out of the house all afternoon, and I laughed
with Ms. Vanessa that her household was very similar to mine. My dad always
says he doesn’t feel like he has 4 girls, he feels like he has more, because
there are always extra friends hanging out at our house. The three other girls
I was paired with and I rotated making dinner, getting to know Ms. Vanessa, and
playing outside with the children. We played all sorts of games in the street, including
dodge ball, random hand games, and this one game that involved running and
jumping over sticks. Again, it made me think of growing up at home in Atlanta.
Obviously, I grew up halfway around the world from this community and in
different circumstances, but I made a connection with these kids because I grew
up playing some of the same games as them (for example: boom, snap, clap).
Serving dinner went well. I honestly felt like we were feeding the 5,000
because we planned on feeding Ms. Vanessa and her 3 girls, but ended up feeding
about 25 people in all and thankfully had plenty of food.
Tuesday and Thursday:
I’m putting these 2 days together because they were so similar. Both days
were rainy and both days we were supposed to have “Camp Global LEAD” outside,
but it was all moved into their Community Center, which I was very thankful
for. We were already so soaked, so a roof over our heads was a blessing. As you
can imagine, like children anywhere, being cooped up inside because of rain gives
them even more energy, so it was a mad house. I was in charge of the “education
station” both days, which meant I got to have kids sit in my lap and read them
stories, give them stickers, and color. It sounds cute and peaceful, but having
a kid stay in your lap for more than 5 minutes was a record breaking
achievement. As hectic as it was, it truly was such a joyful event. After camp,
we all went back to our mom’s houses and hung out with them. On Tuesday, we watched
one of the girl’s favorite movies, (yes, they have a TV and DVD player- I was
surprised), and talked and got to know them better. On rainy days, everyone
pretty much stays inside, especially since it is their winter here. On
Thursday, I helped Ms. Vanessa prepare dinner and some of the other girls I was
paired with played with her girls.
Wednesday: We
didn’t go back to the township, but instead we went to this place called The
Amy Biehl Foundation. We helped them pick up trash in their recess field behind
the school, we entertained the kids, and then we sat in on their after school
activities and they asked us questions about our lives. Well it’s funny how God
works, really and truly. This whole week we were being challenged by our
teachers here in Cape Town about what service really is and if we are actually
helping people if we come for a week and then leave, something I had never thought
of before. We read several articles in class that provided very real evidence
that random outside help may not be super beneficial, and that service should
be more of a 2 way street for both the giver and the receiver. I don’t think I
fully grasped this until Wednesday afternoon, when I had a little incident. I
was watching all of the hundreds of kids chase all our Global LEAD boys around
the field. It was funny watching them chase our guys, but what was funnier was
seeing them catch the guys and then tackle them to the ground. Well, it was all
fun and games until the boys decided to send all of the little kids after me… I
took one step to start sprinting away from all these kids because I had seen
what they were doing to the boys, and all of a sudden I had the most excruciating
pain run through my leg that I had ever felt and I heard a pop. It was a cold
day, and all of a sudden I was burning up, dizzy, and incredibly nauseous. I
fell to the ground truly writhing in pain. The kids of course caught up to me
and it was all I could do to send them after someone else before asking for
help up. I thought I had just pulled my quad muscle, but I was in SO much pain.
I couldn’t even walk. I had to be carried back to the bus, thanks to one of the
guys on this trip, and the rest of the night I iced, elevated, and relaxed. (I
promise, this has a point).
Friday: This was
our final day in the township and it was one of my favorite days on the trip.
Despite the pain in my leg, I was able to participate in Field Day. It was
raining again, so Field Day was in the community center. I got downgraded from
my job as Team Leader to Station Leader because I couldn’t walk. I got to color
with all of the kids instead, which as you can imagine, was crazy! Then we went
back to Ms. Vanessa’s house one last time, and oh my goodness, we had a party.
All the girls and their friends, after doing all of our hair-doos, put on a
fashion show for us and it was one of the greatest things I have ever seen.
These girls have some sass, and were dancin up and down the room in their
dresses from their uncle’s wedding, school uniforms, and anything else they
could find. I filmed the whole thing, and once again, was brought back to my
childhood, (and early teens even), putting on fashion shows with my 3 younger
sisters. I felt more connected to them in that moment, than any other day of
the week and I truly wish we could have continued going back for the next several
weeks. Thankfully we will all get to see our families one more time this
Wednesday for a “final celebration”. The rest of my Friday was spent in the
hospital getting a doctor’s diagnosis on my leg. My leg had continued to be
swollen and painful, and while I kept insisting it was just a really bad pulled
muscle, there was a purple lump on the top of my thigh that just didn’t seem
right. Well, if we didn’t already have enough reason that I shouldn’t be a
doctor, here’s more: I hobbled onto the little bed in the hospital and when the
doctor asked what had happened, I told him to his face what my diagnosis was: I had a badly pulled quad
muscle, but the Global LEAD staff were all making me come to see him… Well he
had another diagnosis, and he wanted me to come back Saturday morning to get an
ultra-sound on my leg. Not gonna lie, that concerned me a little. [I want y’all
to know, I am not sharing this to get pity or to worry anyone. I promise I am
fine. The medical help over here is wonderful, and the Global LEAD staff has
been very on top of making sure I have everything I need, down to scheduling
follow up appointments with the doctor here and continually asking me how I’m
feeling and how my parents are doing.]
 |
| Little Shana |
Saturday: I had a
hot date in the hospital bright and early at 8:00 am with my friend Joe who had
a purple, black, and blue ankle. I’m not kidding, it actually looked like
someone had painted on his foot. He was getting an x-ray, I was getting an
ultra-sound. His diagnosis was “severe ankle sprain with torn ligaments”. Mine
was “ripped quad muscle with hemorrhaging of the muscle”… so gross, and so much
worse than I expected. Again, I am not saying this to concern anyone. They are
taking very good care of me, but I am sharing this to show you very vividly how
the Lord is working in my life. I was given crutches (yuck), tons of pain meds
(ew), and instructions to lay low and have a follow up appointment soon (…). I
HATE being helped and I HATE when the attention is all on me. Well guess what,
with crutches and a severe limp, people are gonna ask. Joe and I had such a
great laugh over the fact that once we got to the Old Biscuit Mill, (yes we
went there after the hospital- I’m 4 for 4 by the way), not one Global LEAD
student there didn’t ask “oh my gosh, what happened?!”. No one seemed to notice
he was limping too, but we hobbled around and got some delicious food. The rest
of the day I spent posted up on the couch, again, my least favorite thing to do,
but here is another cool part of the story. I made a friend early on in the
trip who instantly became a close one. We have a lot of the same interests and
views on life. She is a strong Believer and has been such a great encourager to
me throughout the trip of continually pursuing Christ even while on “vacation”.
Well, the moment she heard I was on crutches, she told me “Tell me when you get
to Old Biscuit Mill, and I’ll be by your side helping you for the rest of the
day. You don’t have a choice”. I of course argued with her telling her I was
fine and was not going to suck away her day, but true to her word, Taylor was
there when I showed up, and she took SUCH good care of me all day. She walked
in front of me so that people wouldn’t bump me with crutches, she held the sack
of clementine’s I bought, she walked with me as I fell behind every group of
people I walked with, she came and sat with me in my apartment, and she forced
me to rest and take my meds. I could have written pages before Saturday about
what a great friend she has been to me and so many others already on this trip,
but after the way she acted Saturday, I could write a hundred more. She has a
servant’s heart and lives for the Lord, and her actions are such a reflection
of what she believes. I am so incredibly thankful for her and that she took
care of me, because I guarantee you, I wouldn’t have been so self-disciplined
or so careful without her. I could talk about so many other people as well.
Truly almost everyone has extended their hand to me and offered to help in some
form or fashion. I have been carried more times than I would like to admit, and
have definitely been giving these boys a workout with the amount of incredible
food I have eaten down here, (sorry I’m not sorry). Again, I hate all of the
attention being on me, but God is working through all of this.
This is what the Lord
taught me firsthand: Service must involve a relationship with someone. I have a hard enough time anyway
accepting help from others, and if they didn’t already have a relationship with
me, I would hate it even more. I know part of it may be a pride issue because I
don’t want to be seen as “weak”, but I also genuinely hate all the attention
being on me. I constantly have the feeling that I owe people back for the
energy they are expending on me, but because I know the people who are so
kindly serving me, I know that isn’t what they want. The same rings true with
missions work. No one, no matter how poor they are, wants to be seen as a
charity project, a one and done kind of deal. If my friends just came to serve
me for one day and then I never heard from them again, I would honestly be
angry and think their service was not genuine. I know sometimes, it may not be
possible to do that, but it should be attempted as often as possible. This past
week has totally reaffirmed my belief in life long missions and being a
missionary, and it is interesting that being here would open that option back
up in my heart again. It has at least made me realize that I want to expose my
own children to long term missions work as they grow up. One of the only
advantages to having crutches- all the cute locals want to help you out and
that turns into a conversation of what happened, why am I here, etc., so maybe
I’ll fall in love with one of those guys and have a family that grows up here
doing missions work in Sir Lowry’s Pass (I’m kidding mom and dad… but not
totally). You just never know what the future holds, and you never know what
life events the Lord is going to use to teach you incredible, life changing
lessons.
