Week 1

Dear ones,

Sawubona! That's hello in Zulu – and about as far as I've got in my language studies. Thankfully, many of the people I'm working with speak English (among other languages), and enough of the kids do as well, and they translate when needed for the little ones (who haven't yet learned English in school). Of course language isn't needed all that much when putting a smile on a kids face simply takes a hug, or a tickle, or providing a lap to sit on.

It seems as if I've been here for ages – and thus I had to write, because if I don't start writing about this I'll be hopelessly behind and I won't be able to pass on even half of the richness of this experience (which will probably be futile anyway – but I'm going to try!). I arrived on the 20 th and was greeted by two of the darling Nardini sisters – let me tell you, I could not have asked for a better bunch of sisters to live with! I'll introduce them as I write – the first two who picked me up at the airport were:

Sister Eobeoada – Mother Superior, got a little lost on the way home and only once stalled the car in front of an oncoming semi.

Sister Mike – Tends the garden, is as sweet as can be and his having trouble with one of her eyes so I have bonded with her on eye problems/issues.

On the way home I had to laugh at the strip mall that featured "Tombstone World" – it's only after having been here a few days and having seen more funeral homes, casket stores (including one that operates out of a shipping container in front of the church) alongside countless stories of loss that I understand that death is big business here, and competition calls for catchy marketing. Still – with all of this, my first few days have been nothing but joyful. I'm staying at the Siznani Center which was founded by the sisters years ago to provide job-skills training and community resources, and now acts as a base for the home healthcare teams and an orphanage/foster care of sorts for around 20 children, ages 3 months to 14 years. You heard right – I am more or less sharing a roof with a 3 month old – in fact I just gave her her bottle – you know me and babies! The next youngest children are around 3 – one of whom just came today after checking out of the hospital. Both our three year olds are HIV+ - I think technically they are considered to have Aids with their low white blood cell counts but it's not discussed too much. I really appreciate how all the children, regardless of whether they are healthy or suffering from HIV, TB or other ailments, are treated the same – they play together, they care for each other – it's quite sweet to see. Perhaps I say this because the illness is so apparent in a few – especially in one of the three year olds, Funegua (this is not even close to the Zulu spelling I am sure but as it's one of the few names I can say, I'm attempting a phonetic spelling!) who is covered in scabies and frequently doused in some sort of calamine-like lotion to manage her sores. She has been here for only a month or so and also had an extremely low white blood count (I'm talking something like 23 here) when she came and was more or less completely out of it. She now wanders around with the other kids, has a total crush on the other volunteer, 20 year old Benjamin, smiles and laughs and requests frequent hugs and to be picked up. She reminds me more than any of the kids just how important hugs are. (Funequa is the child farthest to the left in the attached picture of some of the kids).

This brings me back to my surroundings, and then I'll try and end this first check in as I don't want to earn the reputation of being so long winded that you simply delete future updates. I have a very comfortable room at the center, my own bathroom and a very nice hot shower. In addition to Benjamin who stays across the hall, there is an onsite social worker, Ryan, who just finished his studies in Jo'burg and also lives here. I can't quite fathom how he manages to work and live here – it is fairly chaotic and he's "in" it all the time. He seems to be doing a great job though (being only a month in) and I'm very thankful for having both him and Benjamin here. There are also two child minders who work 20 days on, 10 days off shifts who are primarily responsible for all the kids who live next door as well. Our days start at 5:30 (aren't you proud of me!?), breakfast at 6:30, morning meeting with the home healthcare team at 7:30, and then the real day begins. I'm still sorting out what my daily schedule/tasks will be – but thus far I've been spending time with a few of the kids who don't go to school – among them Funequa, a 13 year old named Fanele who has some behavior problems but who I really enjoy in a small group setting, Zinhle who is around 9, blind, and as sweet as can be, and a new girl, Nolwazi, whose cheerful demeanor and clear leadership qualities belie her tragic history which includes losing both parents to murder at different times, at least one of which she witnessed. Her story is about as extreme as it gets (and not a story in any way unique to this country or continent, unfortunately), but like so many others it reminds me of the power of the spirit, as well as the importance of people like Sister Hedwig who step in to pick up the pieces when an undeserving child's life is torn apart.

I'll have to save Sister Hedwig for my next update – she's too big a personality to cram into a closing sentence. I'm sorry for the missive – if I were willing to spend more time on the computer I'd try and edit it down – but I'm rather enjoying the time away from my usual ball and chain.

I'll close with this – I'm absolutely blown away with being here, with living this place if only for these brief moments and with the work the sisters and their staff do. If I could bottle the heart, soul, history and vision of these women I would – we could all use some.

Ok, I suppose I should stop - but I haven't scratched the surface and it's only day 4!

Miss you and love you all - hamba kahle (go well),

Megan