Desmond Tutu

Today eight of us woke up early to go to St. George's Cathedral to see Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. Tutu was the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. He also campaigns to fight against AIDS, TB, homophobia, poverty, and racism. Tutu announced his retirement just yesterday. We did not know what to expect and if he was even going to be there. We got to the church a little bit late and filed in just as Tutu was about to start, making our usual foreigner scene. He asked us to introduce ourselves and proceeded to have everyone introduce themselves as well. The crowd was under 50 people, making this even more personable. He was so much more interested in hearing about the people in the crowd than talking about himself, a truly admirable man. It was a shortened service but we all did get communion from Tutu, which was exciting! After the service, he asked if we wanted a picture with him, clearly noticing our hesitance to ask for one. We also met a man who ran a HIV/AIDS clinic in one of the townships. He came over from the US 25 years ago with his wife and six kids to run this clinic. He recently lost his leg and must go to the US for treatments but he wants us to come by his clinic before he leaves to talk with him. Despite the fact I am on three hours of sleep, this has been an amazing morning! When Tutu turns 79 years old in October, he is no longer going to appear for public speeches, so we saw one of his last!