Monday, October 6, 2008

What happens next? October 2007 Day 1

Today was rainy and cool, like much of today where you are, we understand. Spring and fall…cousins headed in two different directions!
The staff of NOAH (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity www.noahorphans.org.za) came to Refilwe today to learn more about the Infinite Family program. They listened attentively and nodded appreciatively in all the right places…and then they began to ask very insightful questions. “What will happen to these children and families when they grow very close to one another?” “What will happen when the children grow older and move on? Will the relationships end?”

These are questions we can not answer. The answers lie ahead of us.

We walked through an “informal settlement” today called Joe Slovo after one of the anti-apartheid movements freedom fighters. Joe Slovo is a very small community of corrugated tin one room shacks which can house up to 8 people. Roofs are held in place by stones hanging down from the eaves, tree limbs and an odd assortment of broken big wheels, doll houses and old tires placed strategically to keep everything from blowing away. After the torrential rain we experienced just a few hours earlier, we wondered at how these dirt floor shanties set into a hillside could have possibly stayed in place. Our next group of 15 children all live in these neat and tidy homes. No electricity, no heat and little hope for a better life, these children will be introduced to the love of strangers almost 8000 miles away.

How will these relationships affect these children’s lives? How will the world outside of their rough, rural experience impact how they see themselves and their chances for a happier future?

These are questions we can not answer. The answers lie ahead of us.

And the answers have a lot to do with you.

We are ever grateful and thankful for your willingness to walk the road with us, ask the questions with us and live into the answers with us.

And with that gratitude, we close….

Dana

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