Transparent Time

Just before I left for Mthatha, I sat down for dinner with both of my parents at our kitchen table that has the giant legs which make for excellent footrests and the worn spots on its center from years of dishes being placed upon its grain. That table has been my kitchen table for all twenty-three years of my life, and gathered around it were the two most important people to me. We sat and ate and talked like we had many times before when I was younger, and honestly there was no better way for me to spend my time before leaving. A meal shared together was one of our last acts as a family before my year in South Africa began.

In thinking back over these seven months, meals shared together stand out as a theme. Whether it be lasagna night at Jenny's on Wednesday, lunch on a hot Sunday afternoon in a one room church, gathered around a table with eleven of the most remarkable young men I've met at Sabelani Home, or a braai (Afrikaans term for a BBQ) with other volunteers as a storm rolls in, these times shared together stand out. Here I feel nourished both my the food we consume, but also by the conversations that unfold. Around these tables of various shapes and sizes, there is time to decompress, to laugh, to share, and to learn a new part of someone's story. These are moments of transparent time.

"A sacrament is when something holy happens. It is transparent time, time which you can see through to something deep inside time....Needless to say, church isn't the only place where the holy happens. Sacramental moments can occur at any moment, any place, and to anybody. Watching something get born. Making love. A high school graduation. Somebody coming to see you when you are sick. A meal with people you love. Looking into a stranger's eyes and finding out he's not a stranger. If we weren't blind as bats, we might see that life itself is sacramental."

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

So, about those 35 days...

Is it really March 1^st? My calendar on the wall tells me it’s true, but I'm finding it hard to believe. February has been a very full month on this end, and every day is an adventure.

Example: Wednesday of last week Jenny told me in her wonderful British accent and with her kind demeanor that there was, “possibly a bit of an emergency,” and asked if I would mind going to pick up a woman who was in labor to drive to the local OB clinic at Ngangalizwe. I grabbed the keys, and Megan, my new neighbor and a very welcome addition to Team Itipini, grabbed a pair of gloves. Megan has worked in an Emergency Room for two years since graduating from college and said to me, “Well, I did deliver a baby in EMT class on a plastic mannequin a few years ago. So yeah…” Compared to my experience and in my mind this made Megan an expert. So, we nervously and excitedly jumped in the truck.

The young woman in labor is the daughter-in-law of one of the ladies who works at Itipini named Makiwa. Makiwa rode up front with us while Victoria, another mama from Itipini, rode in the back. Our ride to the house was pretty hilarious. Megan sat in the middle straddling the gearshift, while Makiwa sat next to her speaking solely in Xhosa and giving hand gesture directions. Many of the roads in Mthatha are a maze of potholes and test drivers’ abilities to dodge pedestrians, livestock, and other vehilcles, but ladies and gentlemen, we may have succeeded in finding the worst road in Mthatha. The dirt road through fields and into the neighborhood left us nearly vertical at a couple of points and bouncing along most of the way. However, we made it without a tire puncture or tipping over, and supplied Makiwa and Victoria with comedic relief for the next few weeks.

We walked into the house, and while I may not know much about being in labor and having babies, I could tell this young woman was not into the serious stages of labor. She was very pregnant and soon would be, so maybe they figured the car ride back would help get her water to break? It was a pretty exciting and funny adventure all the way around. Also, Megan and I have decided that expeditions such as this warrant us our own TV show, “Amazing Race: Mthatha.” Days such as this we consider as good training for our series premiere…

This month I’ve also been working more closely with Itipini Junior Secondary School, where we have over 100 kids from Itipini in grades 1-9. Afterschool tutoring with high schoolers has also started up again, and both of these endeavors are testing my math and science recall…let’s just say I’m very happy to have Megan’s help and the ability to Google things in between sessions. Education is a key component of the support we try to provide at Itipini Community Project. In this region it is a real struggle for many kids to have the resources to attend, and then when they are at school the supplies and personnel there are often lacking. Yesterday I was assisting Principal Madikizla at Itipini J.S.S., who also teaches Geography. The grade 8 classroom was packed with 70+ students and between them there were only six protractors in hand to complete the worksheet on bearing. Well, and in grade 9, there are 83 kids in the classroom! Throughout my education from kindergarten through Sewanee, I think 32 was my maximum class size, so this has put things in a whole new perspective.

Outside of work, I’ve been spending time with the great new crew we having living at Bedford and exploring some of the options Mthatha weekends have to offer. Highlights include getting a tour of Walter Sisulu University courtesy of Adam Carpenter (a third year medical student), tasting the culinary delights of the new McDonald’s in town (yes, it tasks eerily the same), walking Jenny’s dogs/small horses, attempting to learn the rules of cricket by watching the ICC Cricket World Cup, and hanging out with some of the highschoolers from Itipini. I also had a nice weekend away with two volunteers Jai and Olof where we went on a game drive and visited Chintsa, which is on the coast and is absolutely beautiful.

It’s been a very full month, and really does feel like it has flown by. I’ve also bid farewell to three wonderful new friends this month Tom, Meredith, and Ben who I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know and work with since October. A big thank you to all three for some excellent times together, and good luck in new adventures.

Thanks for stopping by, and there will be more to follow soon.

Peace.

Whirlwind...

Greetings from Mthatha. This is a long overdue post, but that’s mostly due to the fact that there’s been quite a lot happening in the past month. Here are a few more pictures from adventuring in Cape Town, and some updates from this corner of the Southern Hemisphere…

I am so thankful for the two weeks I was able to spend in the "Mother City" of Cape Town. Being able to share Christmas and celebrate the start of the New Year with good friends was truly wonderful. Amanda and Ann who are YASCers in Cape Town were gracious hosts and great tour guides to Jessie, who flew down from her YASC post in Maseno, Kenya, and myself. I arrived on the 23^rd, just in time for Christmas Eve preparations and to share the holiday cheer in a new place with some familiar faces. We had a tasty and unique Christmas Eve experience when Mari, one Amanda’s co-workers at HOPE Africa, invited us over for a traditional Finnish meal. We shared some delicious food, danced, swapped gifts, and laughed a lot. Then we journeyed over to the St. George’s Cathedral for their midnight mass. Sitting there as the service started, I couldn’t help but miss my family and the late night service that would be taking place a few hours from then at St. Paul’s in Chattanooga. This was my first Christmas away from my homes in Chattanooga, Los Angeles, and Sewanee, and I felt the absence of the traditions that each place holds. However, I realized sitting there in the candlelit darkness of St. George’s and singing “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” what a truly a miraculous event we were celebrating in community worldwide in a way that I never have before.

We all spent the night in the cozy home of Rev. Suzanne Peterson (and her wonderful pup Thembi) who has been living and working in South Africa for over a decade. Her house became holiday central on Christmas Day. We spent most of the day cooking, eating Jessie’s monkey bread, listening to music, trying to master the paddle ball that Amanda’s mom sent to her, and just being together. My role in all of the cooking was mainly to chop this or wash that, so I can’t really take much credit, but we ended up with quite a feast for Christmas dinner with Ann’s leg of lamb as our center piece (check out the picture from my last post to see more of our delicious spread).

The rest of our time together in Cape Town was spent exploring and sharing with one another. One of our first adventures was to the top of Table Mountain via the cable cars on a very windy day. We also made our way out to Boulder’s Beach where we could hang out with some penguins, and dip our toes into the verrrry chilly waters. Wine tasting was also a must, and a fun evening out with the staff of HOPE Africa made for many memories including a midnight visit to Clifton Beach. We also ventured to the Castle of Good Hope and the District Six Museum, which the history nerd in me loved. The District Six Museum stood out especially as a place where stories are preserved, honored, and shared in a very community driven way. I appreciated this and how it pushed me to think about memory, storytelling, and the power of the human voice in new ways. Our time together also allowed us to share our stories with one another and talk about where our journeys this year are taking us. I felt so much joy being there with Jessie, Amanda, and Ann. Ringing in 2011 with these amazing young women will not be forgotten, and I’m so grateful we had the opportunity to share this time together.

Flying back to Mthatha, I was filled with happiness both from the memories of Cape Town, but also in feeling that I was coming a home. I was coming back to people and places that are no longer so new and unfamiliar. Getting out of the truck on our first day back at Itipini, I was greeted by Wee Mama, who has one of the best smiles, and engulfed by a big hug and “Molo Sarah! Unjani?” (“Hello Sarah! How are you?”). I was happy to be back and hear how everyone was doing. It was good to see the kids and some of our regulars in the clinic. My first day back and these first few weeks since our holiday break have such a different feel to them than my first days in Itipini. I’m so very glad to be back.

School started last week, and a lot of our time has been spent helping sort out their registration fees and paperwork. It’s a busy time, and I’ll have more to share soon. Thanks for reading, and let us walk together.

Peace be with you.

p.s. To learn more about what Amanda, Ann, and Jessie are doing in Cape Town and Maseno, please click on their names and you’ll be taken to their blogs.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas greetings from Cape Town! More to come on how we celebrated together in Cape Town, but I wanted to share a few images from my past two days here. I am so thankful to share this time with Amanda, Ann, and Jessie. We've celebrated, laughed, decorated, cooked, sung, cried, given, and received together. It has been a good Christmas so far, and I look forward to the rest of our time here.

Merry Christmas, and let us continue walking together.

Peace be with you.

"Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

"Slow down. Quiet. It's Advent."

Advent greetings from Mthatha. This is a season of expectant waiting, preparation, and one of my very favorite times of year. In Sewanee we used to have, “Slow down. Quiet. It’s Advent,” signs up around All Saint’s. As it was then with the busy nature of the end of the semester, these past few weeks have been full of preparations for the end of the year at Itipini...

We had a World AIDS Day program at the beginning of the month. The older kids designed and painted posters for the day, the choir sang, and Yoliswa, who has been my language tutor, was our guest speaker. We also had an AMM staff lunch outing last week. It was great to have everyone together outside of work to share a meal. Probably the biggest event of the month though has been preschool graduation. Last Friday, twenty-two very eager five and six year olds proudly received graduation certificates from Itipini Preschool. It was a pretty exciting day to say the least.

I’ve also tried to decorate my rondavel with a bit of festive cheer, and we’ve had two very successful braais (Afrikaans for barbeque) here at the hospital to take advantage of the warm weather this time of year brings to South Africa. The picture from the coast was taken in Chinsta where I travelled with three AMM volunteers for a weekend to relax. Not a bad view from our room, huh? This past weekend, it was also great to have a visit from Travis, a fellow YASCer, who came up for a visit from Grahamstown.

While it has been hard to be away from home at a time when that seems most familiar, I’m enjoying spending this season in a new context. I’ve been trying to slow down, find moments of quiet, and get ready for the joy of Christmas. I’m also excited for an upcoming trip to Cape Town next week, where I’ll get to see three of my fellow YASCers and celebrate some new-to-me Christmas traditions. Enjoy the pictures, and thanks for stopping by. Peace be with you.

That is a what? Oooh... a turkey.

"Walkin' the line between faith and fear"

These past two weeks have been two of the most challenging. There has been a combination of things that lead me say this, which include short bout with a stomach bug, tough cases at the clinic, and missing family and friends. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better and have a little more perspective with which I can look back at those situations. At the clinic, three cases in particular have stood out. Ones that have caused me ask a lot of “Why is this happening?” questions. One involved a three-year-old boy who was for all intents and purposes abandoned by his mother. For two weeks he passed between relations who live at Itipini. When we heard about his situation at the clinic, a social worker was contacted, he received a much-needed bath, some new clothes, and treatment for his ringworm. He’s now gone to stay with a grandmother out of town, but seeing this little boy toted around and talked about like an object rather than a child was difficult. When he left, more of his personality had started to come out and he was playing with the other kids, but I know his future is still very uncertain. I also realize he is one of many children like this at Itipini, in Mthatha, and the world.

Another case involved a woman in her late thirties who has AIDS. She was carried in one day on a stretcher, severely dehydrated and unable to stand. Ben, another volunteer, and I took her to another clinic to receive IV fluids. We brought her home at the end of the day, but the following morning as we drove into Itipini, we were stopped by people telling us she had suffered seizures in the night. We took her to the emergency room, along with her sister. Seeing her and how poorly she looked was scary. I don’t think there’s another word for it. Walking out of the emergency room, I honestly thought she might die. We have since received word that she has gone with another sister to a hospital closer to her homeland in another part of the country.

Finally, this Thursday a young girl, an older woman, and a tiny newborn baby came up to the clinic just as we were packing up to leave. After talking with Jenny and Sister Dorothy, we learned that the young girl of just thirteen had been raped and had just delivered the baby a few days before in the hospital. They all came back Friday to open a new file for the baby, talk about breastfeeding, and how they were all doing. All three of these lives have changed dramatically.

I still have no answer for the “why” questions for what is happening in the lives of all these people. I have been able to see some hope in all three situations though, in that there appear to be family members who are there to help--a grandmother, sisters, and a mother. These individuals have also showed me how important our work at Itipini is whether it’s getting people to the hospital, counseling new mothers, offering a hug to a little boy, or being present with people during times of great pain. We’re doing what we can as best we can, and that is something.

To help balance out these difficult experiences at work and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’m thankful to hear updates from family and friends. Conversations, meals shared together, and listening to some good music here at Bedford have also been very welcome. Plus, as you’ll see in some of the pictures there have been many happy times at Itipini too-- including the futbol team posing with their new jerseys, checking out new books in the library, and lots of playing. These have been challenging weeks. Ones that have shown be moments of great pain and love.

Thank you for reading, and peace be with you.