South African Journey

    Just recently I have begun to spend time at an orphanage here in Alexandra. I was introduced to the supervisor by a friend at church just the other week. She was kind enough, and excited, to agree to me coming a few days a week to lend a hand around the place. The orphanage is home to about 20 kids age 8 months to 11 years old. During the school year they also open their doors to local community kids and run a day care. It’s not a big place but 50-70 kids are in a place that they can feel safe. The kids are referred to the orphanage by the local police department and the government. The name of the orphanage is Thuthuzela Aid Community Centre. It is a home for orphaned, vulnerable, neglected and children who are HIV positive. The supervisor is amazing, but more about her later! I have only spent 3 full days there but I have come to see how special the people are that work there.

    I have been arriving at Thuthuzela around 9 in the morning. From my home in Kew walking through Alex to the complete opposite side takes about 45 minutes. I arrive at the brightly painted fence and can hear the sound of kids singing, laughing, crying, running and of course hitting each other, they’re still kids. As the gate door rolls open revealing the play area and brick home I am greeted by yells of mlungu (white guy). Followed by getting bombarded with kids using me as a jungle gym. After a few minutes the excitement of a visitor, a white one at that, dies down…a little. Since school is not in session right now there’s not a structured daily program. As far as I can tell the schedule goes something like this, breakfast around 7:30, free time, lunch at noon, baths for the smaller ones around 2pm, free time, then dinner is about 6pm. Monday and Tuesday both followed this schedule for the most part. Tuesday afternoon I had a chance to speak with the supervisor a little bit. I explained more why I am in South Africa and how long I’d be around. She’s excited for the extra set of hands and I’m happy to be able to help, wherever needed. As our conversation continued she asked if I could come to the clinic tomorrow (Wednesday). I of course agreed.

    Two of the kids haven’t been feeling real well lately so we were to take them by the clinic on the other side of Alex, closer to where I stay. We arranged that I would just meet her and the kids at the clinic around 8:30 the next morning. When I arrived at the clinic it was already packed with people. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to meet them, but I soon saw a familiar face. I was shown into another building where the little kids wait to see their doctor. I have never seen a waiting room(s) like this before. I turned the corner and there was a hallway over 50 yards long with chairs on either side, each chair filled…this was the queue. Chair by chair we moved closer to the front of the queue. After a good 2 hours we made it to the front and were shown into a different room. In this much smaller room, the size of a typical waiting room in the US, the kids temperature was taken and each was weighed. There were only 18 chairs here but the wait to see a doctor was another 75 minutes.

    At roughly 11:15am we were finally speaking with a doctor. This meeting took only 5 minutes. The conversation was in Zulu so I didn’t catch anything past the greetings. We left the office and exited outside to head to the building where shots were given. Just our luck, lunch break for those in charge of giving the shots. 12:55pm rolls around and we can finally get the one shot needed for our 2 year old boy…in and out in under 3 minutes. Another building awaits us and more waiting occurs. An IV drip is needed to pump some fluids into this tough boy and at 4:25 in the afternoon we are walking out the front gate.

    I share this with you not to complain about all the sitting and waiting we went through but to give you an idea of what Thuthuzela’s supervisor goes through. We had a chance to speak more while the IV was being given. I learned that she started the orphanage in 2005 because she saw a need for kids to have a safe place to grow up. She cited that she wants to help kids have a safe place because of her own rough childhood. Even after she spent nearly 9 hours at the clinic today, tomorrow wouldn’t be a day to relax. Thursday it was off to court and Friday it was back to the clinic for the youngest child at the orphanage, an 8 months old boy.

    It is people like Thuthuzela’s founder and supervisor who make a difference in communities around the world. Many never get the recognition they deserve for the hard work they do. I thanked her for what she does, but she didn’t want to accept my thanks without me knowing that she did it because she cares. If she gets a Thanks along the way that’s great; but knowing that she was able to give a child a better home and a chance is all that matters to her.