Having been home for 3 weeks now and settled back into everyday life I feel it important to reflect on my 3 month South African stay. Before my trip started I had many expectations. I expected to meet some new people, cuddle some babies, experience a new culture and maybe learn a little bit about myself along the way. I never expected to find something that had been absent from my life for all my 21 years. Something I didn't even know was missing...a purpose.
Obviously I'd had goals in my life before...passing school exams, getting into university, studying for my degree...but nothing I have ever achieved until this point fulfilled me the way my work in Munsieville did. For the first time in my life I felt true happiness just solely from the work I was doing. I didn't even think that was possible before. To think that something I was doing could potentially change the lives of some of the Munsieville children, something that didn't even feel like work, is an unparalleled feeling and I am so blessed to have had that opportunity.
I may have given the people of Munsieville 3 months of my life but they have given me something that I will continue to cherish for the rest of my years. My experience changed my life in so many ways.
To the inspiring people of Munsieville,
Thank you for letting me into your lives and becoming my South African family,
Thank you for teaching me so much, not just about the township but about life in general,
Thank you for giving me the confidence to be me,
Thank you for showing me that no matter what life throws at you, no matter how big the struggle, anything can be overcome and there are better days ahead.
Thank you for helping me grow and better equipping me for the challenges I will face in the future.
Thank you for the best 3 months of my life.
I am truly blessed to have met you all and you have enriched my life in a way I can't even explain.
It's not goodbye, it's just "see you soon"!
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
One Key Ingredient For A Successful Creche
Over the past 10 weeks I have visited 10 Munsieville creches, all of which have had one very evident thing in common: a shortage of resources. Some had more than others but for the most part these centres seriously lack the basic ingredients that in more developed societies, would be deemed essential for a child's development and welfare. Old, torn and tattered books (if any), a few broken or dirty toys, no flushing toilet, no running water, a shortage of staff, a serious lack of space. These are just a few of the obstacles that the creches of Munsieville face every day. Yet somehow, in the majority of cases, these creches work in a unique and heart-warming way.
Out of the many things I have learnt from the wonderful people of Munsieville over the last couple of months, the thing I admire most is their amazing ability to take what little material things they do have and turn them into something great. One of the creches I visited which took place in a metal "shack" did not have any form of insulation for the cold winter months so Tsingo, the principal, fixed thick cardboard to the walls to keep in the heat (which worked a treat!) and then painted it beautiful bright colours for the children. Another lady showed me how she'd made various toys such as pretend cookers, cars and telephones out of old cereal boxes. She had done a fantastic job and the children loved play time with these toys! In other creches the children were taught to identify colours using everyday objects or things in nature and taught basic maths using the number of children in the class not with fancy posters and books.
I think there is one reason why the lovely ladies that I've been so blessed to meet recently manage to make their creches work so well. No they don't have fancy toys, brand new colouring pencils or shiny books but they have such a passion in their heart for children that it pulls them through the tough times when there just isn't any money or when the neighbouring creche gets jealous so steals all your toys (yes this has happened to one poor lady). This passion enables them to conjure up ideas for activities and for making their environment safer or more exciting using minimal resources and it allows them to forge a bond with the children in their care so strong that even if their is no loving parent figure in their life, these children can come to creche and feel safe and loved.
Munsieville may be a scary and unsafe place for young children, no one can deny that, but having spent time with the children, got to know the staff and listened to the stories of their heartaches and achievements I can tell you that in a lot of cases, Monday-Friday 8am-4pm there is no happier place for these gorgeous babies to be.
Out of the many things I have learnt from the wonderful people of Munsieville over the last couple of months, the thing I admire most is their amazing ability to take what little material things they do have and turn them into something great. One of the creches I visited which took place in a metal "shack" did not have any form of insulation for the cold winter months so Tsingo, the principal, fixed thick cardboard to the walls to keep in the heat (which worked a treat!) and then painted it beautiful bright colours for the children. Another lady showed me how she'd made various toys such as pretend cookers, cars and telephones out of old cereal boxes. She had done a fantastic job and the children loved play time with these toys! In other creches the children were taught to identify colours using everyday objects or things in nature and taught basic maths using the number of children in the class not with fancy posters and books.
I think there is one reason why the lovely ladies that I've been so blessed to meet recently manage to make their creches work so well. No they don't have fancy toys, brand new colouring pencils or shiny books but they have such a passion in their heart for children that it pulls them through the tough times when there just isn't any money or when the neighbouring creche gets jealous so steals all your toys (yes this has happened to one poor lady). This passion enables them to conjure up ideas for activities and for making their environment safer or more exciting using minimal resources and it allows them to forge a bond with the children in their care so strong that even if their is no loving parent figure in their life, these children can come to creche and feel safe and loved.
Munsieville may be a scary and unsafe place for young children, no one can deny that, but having spent time with the children, got to know the staff and listened to the stories of their heartaches and achievements I can tell you that in a lot of cases, Monday-Friday 8am-4pm there is no happier place for these gorgeous babies to be.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
One Young Lady To Remember This Women's Day
An early memory for me is the first time I saw my mum
unwell. I was 5 years old and my family and I had travelled to Bosnia to
support my dad’s work with humanitarian organisation, Novi Most International.
The unclean water had made my mum sick and although it lasted only a few days
and wasn’t serious I was very aware that something was not right and this was a
feeling so alien to me at that stage in my life that I have remembered it, as
clear as day, ever since. I have been blessed with a mother who has been a consistent
source of strength and support to me so at my young age to see her in this
vulnerable state shook me, instilled a sense of fear in me and made me feel
sick with worry.
Last week I heard the tragic story of the 12 year old girl from
Munsieville whose mother died of aids whilst they were sharing a bed. The
girl’s father is a truck driver so is rarely at home. To add to this she has a
younger brother who is now reliant on her as his caregiver. The loss of your
mother at such a young age is something so heart-breakingly, soul-destroyingly
tragic that I will never be able to truly relate to, let alone your mother
dying as she lies beside you in bed.
As I think back to how shaken and scared I felt seeing my
mum unwell my heart breaks for this little girl. The scale of my fear all those
years ago cannot be compared to the emotions her young heart must be feeling
right now or for the last years of her mother’s life, as she watched her
gradually deteriorate - the deep sadness, the confusion, the trauma. A mother
should be a source of strength, as mine has been, not a weak, shadow of a
person dependant on strength from her young daughter.
That girl needs a mother; she needs comfort when she’s sad; someone to hold her hand when she’s feeling lost; someone to laugh
with during the good times and cry with during the bad; she needs support and
guidance through her teenage years and her adult life. She deserves a mother
and now thanks to this vicious disease that has killed millions of others she
doesn’t have one.
A huge problem, not just in Munsieville but across the world,
is the stigma attached to this horrific disease. People witness HIV/AIDS
sufferers being victimised, bullied and treated inhumanely and as a result they
are often either too scared to get tested in case the result comes back
positive or too embarrassed of what might be thought of them. This leads to
those who need it not receiving treatment and dying prematurely. It is an
ongoing challenge for Project Hope UK and The Thoughtful Path to reduce this
stigma and stop premature deaths like that of this Munsieville girl’s mother.
Today is National Women’s Day here in South Africa. A day to
remember the brave ladies who marched to Pretoria in 1956 to fight for their
right to enter the “whites-only” areas implemented under the Apartheid regime. A
day of celebration for most females in Munsieville but no doubt a reminder to
this precious 12 year old girl of the one woman she can no longer have and the
one woman she needs the most.
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Never Judge A Book By It's Cover: The Beauty of Munsieville
Before my visit to the country I was very aware that I would be exposed to a different way of life and a level of suffering I had never previously encountered. In the weeks prior to my arrival in South Africa I had tried my best to prepare myself for the things I would witness and how it would make me feel. Well, the first very evident lesson I learnt was that there could be no 'preparing myself' for the things I would see and the plethora of emotions I would feel for the township of Munsieville.
On my first week I was taken on a tour of the township. As we made our way through I realised the diversity of the place in terms of wealth and living conditions. On the outskirts of Munsieville I was surprised to see some reasonably large and well-kept houses as well as some smaller ones, however as we got deeper into the heart of the township we saw a very different scene indeed. Tiny one-room shacks made from rusty corrugated iron, often home to whole families; piles upon piles of rubbish at the side of the road; unhygienic and unsafe communal toilets; tiny children running around barefoot without an adult caregiver in sight.
At the end of my first week I felt shell-shocked - confused and saddened on a different level than I had felt before. My view of Munsieville was one dimensional - it was a dangerous, depressing, ugly place and no one should have to live there. Well this one dimensional view would soon change when I met the people of the community and heard their stories...
South Africa has some of the most beautiful sights on Earth...vast landscapes, buzzing cities, game parks, amazing rare animals. None of these can be found in Munsieville. To find Munsieville's beauty you have to look much deeper, past the piles of rubbish and rotting corrugated iron. It's the laughter of a child that feels safe and loved at crèche because of the sheer passion that their caregiver has for their well-being. It's the 'Mama's' (or ladies) of the community who, in their later years rather than settling into retirement like most their age, have stood up and taken action because they have faith in a brighter future for their township. It's the single mother who barely earns enough to feed herself or her children but who welcomes newly-orphaned children into her home and shares everything she has with them, purely out of love. The beauty of Munsieville isn't something you can necessarily see with your eyes, rather it's something you can't help but feel in your heart when you meet the people, hear their stories and experience the love and warmth that this community has to offer.
On my first week I was taken on a tour of the township. As we made our way through I realised the diversity of the place in terms of wealth and living conditions. On the outskirts of Munsieville I was surprised to see some reasonably large and well-kept houses as well as some smaller ones, however as we got deeper into the heart of the township we saw a very different scene indeed. Tiny one-room shacks made from rusty corrugated iron, often home to whole families; piles upon piles of rubbish at the side of the road; unhygienic and unsafe communal toilets; tiny children running around barefoot without an adult caregiver in sight.
At the end of my first week I felt shell-shocked - confused and saddened on a different level than I had felt before. My view of Munsieville was one dimensional - it was a dangerous, depressing, ugly place and no one should have to live there. Well this one dimensional view would soon change when I met the people of the community and heard their stories...
South Africa has some of the most beautiful sights on Earth...vast landscapes, buzzing cities, game parks, amazing rare animals. None of these can be found in Munsieville. To find Munsieville's beauty you have to look much deeper, past the piles of rubbish and rotting corrugated iron. It's the laughter of a child that feels safe and loved at crèche because of the sheer passion that their caregiver has for their well-being. It's the 'Mama's' (or ladies) of the community who, in their later years rather than settling into retirement like most their age, have stood up and taken action because they have faith in a brighter future for their township. It's the single mother who barely earns enough to feed herself or her children but who welcomes newly-orphaned children into her home and shares everything she has with them, purely out of love. The beauty of Munsieville isn't something you can necessarily see with your eyes, rather it's something you can't help but feel in your heart when you meet the people, hear their stories and experience the love and warmth that this community has to offer.
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