The women and children of Esther House have really wiggled their way deep into my heart—I don’t have any clue how they managed to become as impactful as they have in just the last 4 weeks. I went in with the purpose of making a difference in their lives, but the joke was on me. They will never be forgotten by me.
Our community engagement professor came to talk to the workers there earlier this week, and he told me how amazed they were by our team. He said that there are APU teams that come and go and it’s no big deal, but that this team will always be remembered. They said that we came in humble, and because of that, the women were willing to connect with us. They said that you couldn’t even tell from the way we were interacting who was American and who was South African.
The day before our last, we brought the women and children to AE for a celebration. We had pizza and cake, hung out at the waterfall, took lots of pictures and took the women to the movies. The best part of the day for me was presenting the women with gifts. Many of these women have never received a gift in their lives, and their reactions made me so happy that we could do this for them.
We bought each woman a Zulu Bible and made journals for them. I had the privilege of decorating a journal for Thulile (or Thuli), the mother of Sbu, the 3-year-old boy who has captured my heart. There was a picture of the women and our group on a day where we literally sang and danced up the driveway to leave on the front. I wrote Thuli’s name, 1 John 3:16 and drew some decorations on the front before laminating it. On the inside were several more pictures, a note from the team and a note from me. When I gave her the Bible and journal, she literally didn’t have the words to express her thanks, but her face and her hug told me how much it meant to her.
She wrote a note for me which brought me to tears after Sbu delivered it for her. Here's a piece of what it said:
"Sbu loved you a lot and enjoyed to be stayed with you. So yesterday he was cried cried for go back to you. We really love you so please don't forget us. Hilary you know, sometimes it feel like I'm lonely and I always cry and feel guilty and I ask myself why god creating me for all things bad lucks and there's one question about my baby who can take care of them without me. So I trust God whatever happen now in my life I will pray and praise God because you told us about God."
Like I said, it is so hard to leave, but we have planted seeds that God will nourish.
Since I’m still trying to figure out what the experience has meant to me, I’ll share some pictures from Esther House with you. For more pictures, see http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051552&id=1037910026&l=7d0eae625d
Hilary this post made my eyes swell with tears. You're blog and willingness to write about your adventures is making me SO EXCITED for my semester in South Africa. Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.
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