A New Perspective

It has been a great three months of volunteering at the Missionvale Care Centre.  Last week was our last time and it was an emotional day.  Since I last blogged about Missionvale, a lot has happened and it has definitely been a roller coaster.  There were many times where we just did monotonous tasks in the kitchen or walked around with the caregivers all day doing nothing.  For some people, it did not feel like they were making a contribution.  There was also a great deal of frustration regarding communication with the staff.  I was the group’s key communicator and it was a challenge.  The staff is so extremely busy with very important things, but I really needed to talk to them, so it was an unfortunate situation.  

Luckily, I saw the positive aspects to what we were doing.  Observing and learning was the first step in beginning to make a difference, and unfortunately since we were the first St. Ben’s/St. John’s group to come, we would be doing a lot of that.  One of the students in my group even decided to leave and go to Pendla Primary School to switch volunteer cites.  It had been a struggle. However, we eventually found our project and began to feel like we were making a difference when we started working in the gardens.  Our group became much closer after overcoming these obstacles and we felt like we persevered.  

Citizens of Missionvale sign up to get a chance to work in the gardens at the care centre.  There are around 30 different plots and there is a waiting list to use them.  When a person is granted a lot, it stays in the family until they give it up.  Unfortunately, some of the lots were very visibly overgrown and not being used.  So, our project was to clear them out and get them ready for new families to come and use them.  We cleared a total of five plots – that is five families, probably 25 new people we helped feed.  

Gardening is also very sustainable, so it was something we felt good about contributing to.  Working in the gardens was also something that we enjoyed because we could see direct results of our hard work.  Looking at before and after pictures of some of the plots is just mind blowing.  In one plot in particular, the weeds had grown up to three feet high.  We put our blood, sweat and tears into those gardens.  It is something I am extremely proud of.  Just a week after our first plot, Bishop (the staff member in charge of the gardens) told us that someone was already using it.

 

Our group on the last day with caregiver Ronelle on left and Bishop in the middle.

All of us at 'tea time' in the staff room.

Along the way we also met the other gardeners and created friendships with them.  Our favorite was Ruben; he was always so nice and told us about what he was growing.  We found out later that he was born in 1932 and was 79 years old!  We could not believe it.  Whenever we went to recess and would take a quick break in the staff room, Ruben always yelled “tea time!”  It was touching.    

Ruben standing in front of the gardens at Missionvale.

Throughout the gardening process we purchased work gloves to use and then leave there and also bought a new rake and hoe with the money we fundraised.  Gardening was also a great time of bonding for us.  We made weekend plans, talked about Missionvale and had some good laughs with what we found in the gardens.  At one point we found enough random vegetables to make a salad, ran into some small snakes and enough garbage for two bins.  I really enjoyed using the hoe and hacking away at the weeds.  Raking through the debris was also a good challenge to get as much as we could.  Then we would wheelbarrow the weeds to a giant pile outside of the gardens.  It was a great project for us.  We only wish we would have known about it sooner and we could have done even more plots.

Another one of the projects that began at the beginning of the semester was working with the internet website and making improvements to their social networking.  We helped Linda (the marketing head) with a Missionvale Facebook page.  The website already had some improvements made after our first feedback meeting.  It looks much more up to date.  One thing in particular that we took charge of was interviewing and writing stories about different people at Missionvale.  These stories would go on the website and act as ‘Missionvale profiles’.  

Thelma, a caregiver

I got the chance to interview one of the caregivers named Thelma.  She had an amazing story.  Single mother of three daughters and after losing her job, she moved to Missionvale and joined the bread and soup line.  Then one day she met Sister Ethel who gave her a job in the Children’s Library.  Eventually she applied to be a caregiver and got the position.  She loves being a caregiver because she gets to listen to people and help them.  Being a caregiver is more than just taking care of physical health, but emotional as well.  Thelma wakes up at 5 am everyday to get her kids ready for school and comes to work.  Listening to Thelma tell her story was inspirational.  She spoke so softly, but so intelligently.  She had so much hope for the future and was grateful for what the care centre has given her.

Just goofing off with some of the caregivers!

At one point throughout the semester, I got the chance to sit down with Linda for a one-on-one.  As a group, we were in the process of debating what to do with our money and where to put it.  So I asked her questions about each unit and where money could possibly go.  I found out a lot about what was going on at Missionvale recently, both positives and negatives.  For one, the place where they need the money the most is the nutrition unit, because they are literally in a crisis right now.  If they do not receive anymore more money or food, they will run out in July.  At one point, they had to begin taking people off the food parcel list.  It is really devastating.  The reason that food is so important is because you need to take ARVs with food.  (ARVs = antiretroviral drugs used to fight HIV viral infections).  Missionvale has done some studies in the past that demonstrated a correlation between food intake and CD4 count, which is a number indicating your white blood cell level.

One great thing that has been happening within the school that I was super excited about, was the introduction of e’Pap.  A while ago, a couple from the UK came down and noticed that the kids at Missionvale were falling asleep in class and were hungry throughout the day.  They always ate their sandwiches at 10 a.m.  So, they did a trial run of e’Pap, which is a powdery substance that has 30 nutrients in it.  Every morning, the students at Missionvale had e’Pap for breakfast.  They saw amazing improvements.  Students were no longer falling asleep in class and they also wanted to wait till noon for their sandwiches.  So, the couple decided to donate enough money for e’Pap for a year.  These small things really can make big differences sometimes.  It was great to hear about it. 

Playing with the kids at recess!

Our last day at Missionvale was definitely one of the best.  Over the course of three months, I fell in love with each and every one of the kids that we played with at recess.  I established relationships with a number of them as well.  Learning their names was great too, especially trying to pronounce them.   The girls I spent the most time with them were named Jessamine, Boppi, Disa, Moresha, Goshal, Chamila, Rachelle, Sanita and Michelle. 

One of my favorite pictures from recess.

Even though we probably are not allowed to have favorites, Jessamine was for sure mine.  She was just 5-years-old, one of the smallest kids there, but definitely had one of the biggest personalities.  Every time I walked into recess she just ran up to me and jumped on me.  Jessamine was always smiling, loved being tickled and taught me some hand games.  Some days it was hard to handle all of the kids, because they would get jealous if one person was getting more attention than the others, so we tried to be as fair as possible.  Sometimes they would even fight each other to get to be lifted up or something, so I had to work those situations out. 

Jessamine on the left, Boppi on the right and Rachelle in the front.

I did a variety of things at recess with them, including singing Justin Bieber, dancing, playing games like follow the leader and tag.  They loved doing my hair.  This however sometimes got a little crazy, especially when there was more than one girl.  My favorite quote came from the last day.  I asked them what they wanted to do or play.  They just screamed “JUMPING!” so we just jumped up and down for a few minutes.  They thought it was an absolute blast.  It was wonderful to see that the simple things in life, like jumping up and down, were ways to make these kids happy.  I was glad I could be part of their day and make them smile. 

 

Playing ring-around-the-rosie with the kids.

On our last day we recorded the “Waka Waka” dance with them.  They knew it so well they did not even need to practice.  Then we rang the bell five minutes early and they lined up to go in.  One of the teachers made an announcement in Afrikaans telling them that it was our last day and we loved them very much – something along those lines.  Then we passed out cookies that we bought them as a going away present.  They each got three!  Some of them ate them right away, but others saved them for lunch later.  I am not quite sure if they really understood that we would never be coming back.  It is a hard concept to grasp for some kids.  I think it will be even harder at the other service sites where they spend majority of their time with the kids.  I left recess on the verge of tears.  Those kids left a mark on my heart and I pray that they find their way out of poverty.  It is sad to know that some of them might have HIV/AIDs or might not even graduate high school.  Hopefully our time together was meaningful to them as well.

The kids standing patiently and quietly in line waiting for their cookies!

Me and Heather with Dorothy, head of nutrition unit

Our last hour was spent with Paul and Linda in a meeting to discuss our experience.  We gave some feedback on things they could do to improve Missionvale.  How do we break the cycle of poverty?  I don’t know.  I don’t think anyone will ever truly know.  But in the meantime we can do our best to give our all to these people who were born into the terrible cycle.  We left the meeting and were greeted by the caregivers and staff members.  They waved goodbye to us as long as our bus windows would allow me to see.  I will be forever thankful for what the people of Missionvale shared with me, what I witnessed and what I learned.  It gave me entirely new perspective on life, one of which I hope to keep with me forever.