My date in South Africa
Now, before any of you jump to conclusions, my date was with a sweet little 7 year old. We had a play date. Sorry if you clicked on my link thinking that maybe I went on a “real” date here in South Africa. Dating here is actually very rare. It’s very expensive for young people to get married, so most skip the commitment, have a child, the father leaves and the mother is left raising the children on her own. Most people I have met here have never met their fathers, including the sweet little 7 year old I had as my play date. This amazing young boy was raised in a “squatter camp”.
A squatter camp is a little village where homes are made from trash found on the side of the road. They have little to no electricity, no running water, consist of one room and are the size of a small boat. On average about 4 people live in one little home. The closest thing these children have to a playground is an open field next to their small school where they play soccer and the Transkei life project runs games for them.
The small town of Umkomaas is in need of more programs like the Transkei Life Project. This organization not only helps with the children’s education inside and outside of school, they give each of their students a piece of land the size of a door and teach them to grow and tend to their own garden. Transkei Life Project is a small organization with a large mission. What they are doing is commendable and should be replicated to help communities just like this squatter camp here in Umkomaas.
My team was so impressed by what they were doing that we took our ministry vacation days to drive 4 1/2 hours from our site to see their program and help with the kids. This is how I was set up with my sweet little date. Part of the program is taking the kids out of their environment and giving them a chance to enjoy things that their community can’t provide to them, simple things like playgrounds, ice cream, a play date buddy who will show them all the attention they need and small water parks. It was easy to see this was the highlight of my sweet boy’s year. Any time we would be separated for a short time, I would hear him excitedly yelling, “Where is my date? I must find her!”
He held my hand as much a he could all day. Anything I did he repeated. How easy it was to make him smile and how hard it was to watch him walk off into the slums at the end of the day. I will probably never see him again, at least not in this life. But I will often think of him; of his joy, his smile and his ability to not take anything for granted.
Till next time!
Lyndi
