Life in the Transkei

Well, here it is, a view of the Trankskei. Its a vast (mini) mountainous area that is covered with townships packed with many people living in 3rd World devastation. We got to work with a man named Dan, a missionary here from Kansas, who helps to organize sponsorships for children in extreme poverty, most of whom are orphans. The town committee helped Dan get a list of 50 children that we were there to get their information and picture, but when other people from the township heard word we were there, the line was endless! In effort to not make anyone angry, we took every one's information, about 150 children in the end. (It's harder to hide from angry people when your whiteness sticks out so badly, so we gladly agreed!) Since I couldn't speak their language (African) I got the best job, while Justus and Inge took their information, I got to take their picture and give them candy.There would be children that would come who looked in a daze, which I learned was a symptom of mal-nutrition. So many of the kids had the most beautiful, charming smiles, but when it came time for me to get their picture, they would give the most serious looks. I was beginning to feel like I was failing at my job, then I learned that was pretty common place, that many in their culture believe they look ugly when they smile. I still gave it my best attempt, I tried tickling, and butchering their word for laugh, 'flacka' since they don't have a word for 'smile'. Another neat thing I got to see in action was Dan starting 2 new soup kitchens for orphan children. It was pretty simple, he would get them a stove, kitchen utensils, the food and a recipe, and set up shop for a local 'Momma' to be in charge of. 'Mommas' are respected woman in the community, it's a title of honor. I got to go to the grocery store with him, which was an experience in itself! The place was packed and it is common and comfortable in their culture to push around people, and cut in front of you in line. I was totally out of place and if Dan hadn't told me I was being way too polite we probably would have been in there twice as long.

We got to talk (well they did, and I got the English version later) to some of the local women in the communities of the new soup kitchens, and one of them was a teacher who said it wasn't uncommon for the children to start crying at 9 or 10 o'clock because they were so hungry. The two new locations are ideal because they are close to schools, so orphan children have a place they can go to when it's time for lunch. I can't imagine what kind of a struggle this is on a daily basis. This is just the tip of my experience there, so much more to tell and for me to still process.