I apologize for not writing in a while. Things have been busy here wrapping everything up. As most of you know, I get home on Friday! So, last week was my last week working at Brooklyn Chest hospital. The children had been practicing a performance for us on that last day. They danced and sang for us, it was so great. They were adorable. I left them with a few new soccer balls and frisbees with the hopes they keep running around even if I am not there every day after school with them. The children were upset when it was time for us to leave. Working at the TB hospital has been different than anything I have done before. I learned so much and hopefully made a difference for a few of those kids. It was definitely depressing at times to see such young kids going through more than I have in my life so far and probably more than I will ever have to go through.
While I was doing physical and health education with TB patients, here is what my other housemates were doing: Noah put a library into a high school that had nothing but empty shelves, now it has thousands of books. Lauren taught science lessons in a primary school that has no science curriculum. Claire did an art therapy program at the TB hospital. Mariah taught physical and health education to a group of 7th grade girls. Liz gave workshops to the teachers at a primary school on a variety of topics. Christopher implemented an after school reading program for his 7th grade class. Danielle organized all of the books in the library at a primary school as well as painted and cleaned the place up. Jesse implemented an English literacy program for men in a prison. David taught a life skills workshop also for men in a prison. And last but not least, Erin made a film with kids in an after school program as a way for them to portray life in their community and tell their stories.
I have said to my parents many times during the past few months that believe it or not this semester has probably made me more cynical than I expected. It is definitely a reality check going into these communities and realizing how much there is to be done and how little you can do. I quickly had to accept the fact that I was one person with few resources, no money, and limited time. This was frustrating and I can speak for almost everyone in my house. Some days we would come home from our various sites and just ask each other, "why are we even bothering?" But in addition to the negativity, frustrations, and disappointments about not being able to fix South Africa, the accomplishments I listed above are impressive and hopefully will give just one person a little more hope and inspiration to either improve their own life or improve their community.
South Africa has so much potential. Apartheid ended just 14 years ago and already such strides have been made. To their credit, things shouldn't be okay just yet. 14 years is nothing and Apartheid is a lot to come back from and a lot to forgive people for. I am confident that as time goes on, people will mend and races will blend again.
I will miss the beauty of this country and the unique way of life that people live here. I am sad to leave my housemates who I have grown closer to than I ever imagined possible. On the other hand, it will be nice to have a dryer, not have to grocery shop/cook for myself all the time, use Internet that does not go by megabytes (I STILL don't understand megabytes), and of course get back to my family and friends in one piece which my parents doubted at one time.
Many of us have been rehearsing on what to say when people back home ask "How was South Africa?" No one can think of an answer. "Good? Amazing? Different? Roller coaster? Interesting?" probably every adjective possible. I hope to be back one day as well as continue seeing other parts of the world. Hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog!
