Another missionary couple who work in the Area Office in teaching employment skills, have become very involved in an orphanage in a very poor township called Tembisa.  A kind hearted woman who they all call “mama” has opened her home and her heart to abandoned babies and children.  Every two weeks this couple takes food out to the orphanage and they have also helped with making some very important improvements in the grounds and structures.   Apparently there are thousands of these unofficial orphanages throughout South Africa--all over Africa.  They invited me to go with them to deliver the food and spend an hour or so with the children.  It really was a touching experience.  The children were so loving and cute.  There are 14 who live there permanently right now—but it changes often.  Then there are some that come in and out as their families can care for them.  There really were so many needs in the facility and playground.  We are thinking about the possibility of taking on the responsibility of helping this little orphanage while we are here in Africa.  The other couple have done such a great job but they are going home in July.

 We brought some cookies for the children and they were very excited!  They all wanted a hug, too.

 All the children sleep in one room.  This is the corner for the babies.

 This is "mama"--she is a loving, selfless woman with the talent to make do with very little.

 This is the kitchen.  They did not have a stove and oven until just recently.  A missionary couple donated it--what a blessing!  This is Mama's friend who comes to help her cook for the crowds.  They mostly eat something called pap--made of ground corn.  We're going to see about getting some fruit and vegetables.
The Area President and his wife donated a clothes washer--another great blessing!

 This is the building--looking into the door of the kitchen.  To the left is the sleeping room.  They have just had a new roof donated.

The children had prepared a little program for us with songs and a play.  It was very cute!

June 2, 2012

Today was another fascinating day.  Thoba, a beautiful woman who works in the Area Office in Public Affairs, is Zulu and lives in Soweto township.  She took us on a tour of Soweto and told us about her experiences growing up during Apartheid and as a young mother during those tense and dark days when Apartheid was coming to a close.  We went to the Nelson Mandela home, the historic Regina Mundi Church where the opposition crowds gathered to demonstrate and were shot at by police, the corner where Hector Peterson was killed, and all the historical spots.  Her parents were both very involved in the ANC underground to gain freedom for the black Africans-- and her father lost his life in the process.  Her mother had joined the Church and was one of the first black Africans to become a member during that dark time.  She was jailed and interrogated many times.  Her mother really was a special person.  She found an open field and encouraged the young men to plant a garden of vegetables.  She said that for every drop of blood spilled, a flower must grow.  She was trying to channel some of the energy of hatred and frustration they were feeling into doing something worthwhile and meaningful.  Thoba didn’t even realize until many years later that her mother was burying identification papers for activists who were escaping in the vegetable garden—and passing secret ANC messages in loaves of bread.  It was just an amazing experience for us to see and hear all of this from someone who lived it.  We ate lunch at the restaurant in one of the Soweto neighborhoods—the cook was a lady who has just started her own business to survive.  We got a feel for the lifestyle of the people who live there—70,000 of them in very close quarters—with people walking everywhere—lots of them.  The townships are not places where white people would go alone.  It wouldn’t be safe.  It is pretty safe for the people who live there because they know each other and look out for each other—however, a stranger is on their own.  They practice vigilante law and punish severely any who break their rules.  We felt safe with Thoba.  

This is the Regina Mundi Church where the black youth gathered to demonstrate and many were shot by police.

These are the government issue houses that were basically two rooms.  Today, people are allowed to add additional space onto them and some have made them quite nice.

People everywhere in Africa carry all kinds of things on their heads.  This is a very usual sight.

Funerals are very big affairs here in South Africa and there were several going on in Soweto the day we visited.  They can cost as much as $40,000.  And in an area where unemployment is about 60%, that's truly amazing to me.

This is the corner where Hector Peterson was killed.  This picture was in every newspaper around the world and caused the countries of the world to bring pressure on South Africa to end Apartheid.

So many of the little dwellings have a home business in the front yard--selling food items (often homemade), cutting or braiding hair, fixing cars, etc.

These are the "unofficial settlements" that spring up in Soweto and areas all over South Africa.  There is no plumbing or electricity--very poor conditions.