A Different World

Living up on a hill, it is easy to feel far away from the townships and squatter camps that pave the bottom of the dusty road into town. But it serves as a constant reminder, when  the happenings of days and weeks get upon us and weigh us down. As we can all see is the reason we are here: to serve the community, and develop self reliance by providing education, health care and training. 

Working out in the townships and squatter camps, we all see a lot and are all affected by the things we see. We cry often and reflect on our own lives. as we realise just how fortunate we are. We have police forces that protect us, fire brigades that come to rescue us, and hospitals that serve us. 

This week, as i drove a house mum home for the night, we passed a group of teens playing football on the street enjoying life and having fun... Less than 100m down the road, a child was being physically abused. As an adult threw him to the ground, repeatedly kicking and hitting him. No police came, and all we could do was drive by.  

Disasters like shack fires are another common occurrence. Families lose everything they have, even family members, when flames turn a shack to cinders. Yet the following day, they are out searching for new materials to rebuild a 6 by 6 family home, getting on with the reality of life in a informal settlement. 

Women arrive in a taxi at hospital. They lie alone, in a room with 8 others, in pain and afraid. They birth alone, nameless except for the title of ‘mama’. There is no privacy and no dignity. A nurse’s bedside manner is unlike the textbooks teach us, as procedures happen with no explanation nor warning. 

This week I supported a lone mother through labour. She screamed in pain, as epidurals are non-existent and gas is a ghost of the past. She clutched at my hand as contractions worsened. Labour complications lead to an emergency C-section. She looked up at me in confusion as a consent from was put in front of her. Tears welled in her eyes, as I tried to explain in words that are understood in Afrikaans. She held my had along the corridor to theater, where we said Good bye, ‘Baai’.

Despite the hardship of life, there is HOPE. There are a number of Christian based non profit organisations already established in Grabouw, across South Africa, and the rest of the world. They are invaluable, and are the unseen heroes who shine at the end of the tunnel.