A list of sorts.

I feel like it is next to an impossible task to write something that will sum up my time in Africa, but I will have to be satisfied with giving you some highlights and I will be absolutely excited when you run into me and ask for more stories. I'll bombard you I promise.
Most unsure moment... Leaving Michael and my Dad in the Toronto airport. They handed me my suitcases and I was so nervous I got tangled up and ended up walking backwards passed the first security point. Walking away and leaving all of everything that seemed familiar I began to think, “Why am I here again?” I remember really wanting to go to Africa, and trying to convince everyone under the sun to come with me, but I don’t even remember actually deciding to go. I felt like it was something that just happened to me, which I guess is kind of neat.

First memory in South Africa... I stepped off the plane and met Anne, Ruth and all the kids. I was so nervous, feeling completely unprepared and unqualified. Ruth introduced Mary, Jake, Simon and Siya to me. Siya looked up and said, “Hello Maria.” I remember that moment so clearly, somehow that was exactly what I needed and I didn’t need to look back.

Most incredible person I met...Ruth, hands down. I felt so privileged to be able to work with such an incredible, yet down to earth woman. She is a single parent of two teenagers, and if you had told her a couple years ago that she would be founding this organization she would have laughed at you. Her life has been anything but easy, and if anyone had an excuse to be bitter and cling onto hurt from her past, it would be Ruth. Instead she is such a beautiful example of someone who lives by grace. Living in her house struck me as the most tangible example of what the church was meant to be.

Most beautiful thing... Besides the children, who would win by a long shot, the Indian Ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Most frightening moment... Sleeping in the flat that I was supposed to live in, alone. Scariest thing ever, but maybe I’m just a chicken. Crime is such a part of life, Ruth and her kids were robbed at gun point only a year ago. Each night I would just put on my headphones to drown out any noise. I figured if I was going to die there was really nothing I could do about it, so I might as well sleep in ignorance. (I joke.) Needless to say I only lasted 4 nights after Anne left, and then moved into the main house.
What I missed the most about home...My friends and family. The first few days were hard, being in a country all by myself with people I didn’t know. However, the one benefit of being all by myself is I was really forced to go out of my comfort zone, and connect with all the people I was living with, and I soon felt a part of the family.

Something that I’ll never forget: Mary was very sick the third week I was there. I just wanted to wrap her up and hold her all day. She started crying before bed one night and I went to hold her and between sobs she said, “I love you so much.” That moment alone was worth traveling half way around the globe.


Most heartbreaking moment...I don’t even know how to describe to you how heartbreaking it is to watch a mother, who has only known cruelty and abandonment, try to raise and love a child. Maureen, who is living with Ruth to escape an abusive relationship, has a beautiful six month old baby, Kiley. Maureen loves Kiley, but when the baby cries, as all babies do, Maureen says things like, “See this baby doesn’t love me.” “She’s just like her father.” How can you comprehend love, when you’ve only felt abuse?
Chantel, who is Maureen’s cousin, came to live with us for a couple weeks with her two year old daughter Chinque. Chantel was abandoned, along with her five siblings, by her alcoholic mother. Now Chantel is a mother, who vows never to do what was done to her. I watched a two year old girl punch her mother in the face and tell her to f-off. I know that a child that young only imitates what she sees done. Chinque’s father beats Chantel. Most of all, I will never forget the look in Chinque’s eyes when she saw her mother break down and cry. Chinque wrapped her small arms around her mother, as far as they would go, and patted her back. She stared up at her mother with such intense concern, and reached up to touch Chantel’s tear soaked face.

Hardest thing to adjust to... Racial division and prejudice. I was not prepared for how deeply rooted prejudice and hatred is in this country. I was naïve, and thought most of that had been worked out. Ruth faces difficulties from all sides. If I would walk down the street with a black child in my arms I would notice people giving me very nasty looks. A lot of this comes from the Afrikaans people, a mixture of Dutch and German heritage, who are especially racist. They do not like to see black children being a part of the white more privileged way of life. Chantel, the first night she was with us, sincerely asked Ruth, “Isn’t it a bit like raising baby gorillas?”
On the other hand some African Zulu people will disapprove of Ruth as well, disturbed at seeing a white woman with black children. Obviously there is concern about these children being taken from their culture and heritage. Ruth very genuinely says though, she would love for these children to be with a Zulu family, and in a place where they can experience that culture, but she knows first hand how hard it is to find any family who can take in an extra child. She loves these children, who have come into her home unwanted.
These challenges made me respect Ruth so much more, she is doing such incredible work, despite obvious voices of criticism. It was also very encouraging to see people, like Ruth, in her church and elsewhere that were truly living counterculture and reaching out in love. The idea of grace is so revolutionary in a country that is so riddled with hatred, which is passed from generation to generation, and that in turn puts the church in an amazing position.
There was a Zulu girl, about my age, who worked at the neighbors house as nanny taking care of the white children, she was named Maria. I loved that. One of my favourite things to do was to go to the park with the kids. I’d pass all the black nannies and maids taking care of white children, with Simon and Siya walking with me, and Mary and Jake in the buggy. I just loved being able to make a simple statement, even though I am so small..

Something I did not expect to learn…How the simplest faith becomes something extraordinary when you just decide to act on it. Faith grows very stagnant when all we do is write and think and talk. Our faith is one of action.

Favourite thing to do with the kids...Read to them. I can’t help it, I’m an English major. My mom packed up some of my favourite childhood books and I was able to read them to my kids. There favourite thing was when I switched the characters names to their own. They loved it, and I loved it when they would say, “Read Mary’s story!” or “Where’s the Siya story?”

What I’ll miss the most...Everything. I am unbelievably excited about what Ruth is doing, and plan to be involved in any way I can back here in Canada, by raising awareness, support and recruiting volunteers. Maureen was saying how much she was going to miss me, and Ruth said, “Oh don’t worry . She’ll be back. They all come back.” That is something that really stood out to me. All of Ruth’s volunteers come back again and again, and I think that in itself speaks volumes. Speaking of volunteers…Ruth is in desperate need of them. Let me say you will not regret it! All you need is a plane ticket. Don’t worry if you feel unqualified or unprepared or completely useless …you’ll be just perfect. It was Mother Theresa who said, “I am convinced that when I’m gone, if God finds a person more ignorant and useless than I, he will do greater things though that person because its his doing.” Find an excuse to go.