Day Sixteen, Seventeen, & Eighteen

We spent Monday night at Helen's home, so that we could film one of her typicalevenings. Lynette joined us to help with navigation, as Helen's house is in the middle of a maze of other homes, fences, and barely distinguishable roads. After spending several minutes trying to find our way, we spotted Helen, who helped to direct us to her home on foot. Several women and their children sat at Helen's house trying to enjoy the evening, including her grandmother. Helen showed us into her room, which was one of only two areas in the house. The tiny, grey room included but two things: a clothesline on which several old, tattered items hung, and a small pile of blankets on-top of plastic pad that Helen uses as a bed. The whole area was lit by a barely glowing light bulb, hardly keeping the thick darkness at bay.


After Christian finished filming, we gave our profuse thanks to everyone for letting us film them. We apologized for invading their privacy, confirmed that they understood what we were doing with the footage. It was made apparent that they knew exactly what was happening, though, as they returned our thanks with their own, in the form of a large bag of sweet potatoes. Joanne attempted to graciously refuse (we were all thinking of how many dinners those potatoes could have made) but Lynette explained that we must accept their gift. It is part of the philosophy of Ubuntu, which is said to not be able to be defined, but is a representative of a person's essence, humanity, and morality. The literal translation of an explanation of Ubuntu is that a person is only able to be a person through others. The gift of the sweet potatoes represented the reciprocity of the relationship: it was not merely that we were giving to them, but also receiving so much. These potatoes were a symbol of the perspective, self-contemplation, and worldliness we gained from spending time with Helen, her grandmother, and their neighbors.

Nearly the entire group rose to accompany us through the darkness, and we each gave Helen a hug before re-entering the car. It was surprising the way she held us, as it felt more as if she was reassuring each of us than the other way around. Her hands, though nearly skeletal in nature, grasped us firmly and tightly. Our ride home was spent in practical silence. I , for one, was deep in thought, contemplating the experience.

When we arrived back at Zuleika we met up with Ivan, a man currently living in South Africa who is interested in working with A Spring of Hope. We contacted Ivan through Mr. York, a board member of ASoH and Biology teacher extraordinaire. Ivan was a former student who moved to South Africa to work on his father's farm. He was accompanied by his girlfriend, Mel, who is also interested in working with us. Both are wonderful, and we are incredibly excited to have them with us.

The following day we visited a local private school, called Southern Cross, which focuses on environmental conservation and using nature as the most important educational tool. We toured the campus, and even encountered two wild warthogs as we were walking. It is an awesome place, and we were all terribly disappointed that they only go up to the 10th grade next year. By 2011, though, the school will have all grades, from three year olds through 12th. We are hoping to start A Spring of Hope chapter at Southern Cross once the students return from break.

We then drove to Beretta to show Ivan and Mel our flagship school, and also to film Stanley's evening routine. The next morning, Christian and Joanne woke up early to return to Stanley's for a bit more filming, and then to Spar and Pick 'n Pay to grab supplies for both Stanley and Helen. When they returned, we bid adieu to Ivan and Mel, as they needed to return home.

That afternoon, we decided to take a bit of a recreational trip to visit Jessica, the only completely tame hippo in the world. We were lucky enough to get to feed her and watch her drink her daily tea, as well as pet her. She has had many starring roles in her young life, and even has her own website. It was a lot of fun to get up close and personal with an animal that is supposedly incredibly dangerous, especially one that is so sweet.

Overall, it was an incredibly eventful few days. We're all looking forward to our remaining days, in which we will set up the library, have a day of games with the kids, and deliver all the supplies to Stanley and Helen. We're having a great time, but also missing everyone at home! Lots of love to all.