First Time

On Thursday we had the privledge of being the first volunteer group from Living Hope to serve in the informal settlement of Mfuleni.  It was far on the opposite side of Cape Town from where we are staying.  This community had a much different feel than Masiphumelele.  It seemed less crowed and calmer.  The settlement actually had a good amount of commerce albeit from shacks or storage containers.  The mood seemed lighter and not so heavy.  People seemed to have purpose in their movement throughout the neighborhood.

We assisted with a mobile health screening.  While we provided the typical services of blood pressure and TB screenings, blood sugar testing, and bmi checks, the primary purpose of this screening was to test for HIV.  One of my roles was to invite people througout the neighborhood to attend the screening.  It was necessary for me to inquire as to their HIV status which was difficult.  If they were positive there was no need to be tested again.  If they were negative, but hadn't been tested in more than three months we encouraged them to test again.  Some people had never been tested so we encouraged them to be tested as well.  It was so strange to me how their HIV status is a part of their identity.  Several people I approached knew their status and chose not to be tested; I believe most of them were positive except those who had been tested in less than three months.  There we some others who said they did not know their status and did not want to find out.  This was so frustrating.  Don't they realize the risk in which they are putting themselves and others?  We prayed with one young gentleman (18 years old) who was afraid to take the test.  He sat there for quite some time contemplating the idea; hopefully he chose to find out after our team had left for the day.  It is so scary how people are either in denial, are irresponsible, or just don't care.  It is no wonder there is such a high rate of HIV.  I do realilze it carries a strong stigma in this community.  I am praying that through edcuation progress in preventing, identifying, and treating HIV will be made.

Things we don't usually see back home:  a large crowd was waiting at a corner when a small pick-up truck pulled up.  Jeremy encouraged us to go check out the 'meat truck'.  Ah, the unrefrigerated meat truck loaded with all kinds of sheep parts - hooves, intestines, organs...the works  There may have been other animal parts in there as well.  I'm sure some of it tastes just fine; it's just a little out of my comfort zone.  It was also hard to see the people load the meat into large paint-type buckets to carry away.  One woman brought her bucket over to the screening and left it sitting outside uncovered.  Isn't this a health risk???

For lunch Jeremy took us high up on a hill in the middle of the informal settlement of Khayelitsha.  This is the biggest settlement I have seen.  The population is around 2.5 million people.  This community is much more like a town, with businesses and newer conveniences.  They even have a visitors center. There are sturdier government-built homes, but there are also a great number of shacks as well.  We saw one set of shacks nicely aligned that looked like Tuff Sheds that we put in our backyard.  Still so hard to comprehend.  Jeremy mentioned that some communities have larger houses with three bedrooms.  However one family occupies each of the bedrooms!   From atop our perch we could see the entire community.  I am not sure how many square miles it is, but it is big.  And, just beyond the hill where shacks form a border you can see the skyline of a city.  Then in the other direction you can see the majestic Table Mountain.

Silly note:  We got Jeremy to try a peanut butter and banana sandwhich.  He loved it!!!!

After lunch we headed back to Masi for our final afternoon at Kid's Club. It was hygiene day.  When we arrived there was a little bit of a buzz outside the church.  There was a group of unfamiliar people and among them was a man who looked a lot like Jesus.  The children were all around him.  As it turns out they are filming a movie about Jesus here.  I will have to research what that is all about.  Before Jacki made it into Kid's Club some of the LSEs offered Jacki a taste of a smiley outside…Jacki was brave and had a bite of the tongue.  She said it wasn't bad, but I made sure not to go outside.  Hygiene day was a little disorganized (from my perspective) and got off to a late start, but once we were underway we cleaned little ears, faces, hands and feet. When getting the event underway I had to step back from how I do things and trust God to work this out the way it needed to be worked out. Eventually everything came together and went well.  The kiddos loved it. This was our last day working with the kids and that makes me sad, but it was such a blessing to have four fun Jesus-filled days with them.  I felt especially sad saying goodbye to Patience.  She blew me a sweet kiss goodbye. I will be specifically prayer for her and a boy named Lalani (sp?) as well as all the children in Masi.  We had prayed over the children the day before on on this day we prayed over the teens before bidding them a fond farewell.  I pray they will be strong in their faith and achieve their dreams.

Once again we were exhausted from the day's activities.  We headed back to the Team House for dinner with Jeremy.  He is a fantastic guide and he is amazing man of God.  He shared so much knowledge and insight with us and is an incredible blessing.  He did this not only at dinner but when we were driving from one location to another and to another.  I didn't post last night and was able to get to bed by 10 p.m.  I fell asleep listening to Pastor Farmer's podcast from this past Sunday.  Needless to say I'll need to listen to it again.  It was another great day.  Cheers!