First day of service sites at Ethembeni!

Today was our first day at Ethembeni (pronounced et-tem-benny). I honestly went in with no expectations considering a group meeting the day before where we were told that we were the first group from APU to be going here specifically for service sites. We were told that there was no set agenda for this site and that we would be figuring it out when we got there and to be patient. This is very difficult for me because I am so eager to serve and use my hands and feet and get in there right away! However, there may not be anything to work with as soon as we got there. This was very good for me to hear because I had to readaust my mindset coming here.

Last night, my group of seven met up in the dining area to discuss how we can succeed as a group and we wrote down our goals and vision for each and everyone of us to be a strong group and light to this ministry. We prayed for: patience, guidance for the direction God wants us to take while at Ethembeni, honesty and understanding with one another, humility, to approach our service with an open mind and to recognize that we are no better than the people in this community, and to be selfless servants in any way possible. I will write down the goals that we wrote down as a group when I meet with my group this evening. We have decided that after every day we are going to de-brief together and discuss experiences from the day.

This morning, we woke up, prayed as a group, and loaded up the buses on our way to the Howick Community! We went to there family center and as soon as we got there we met Claire. Claire was such a help the entire day to our entire group's vision while being here. She is a social worker from England and is working at Ethembeni for 3 years. It is refreshing because she is our age and speaks english and a little Zulu so I'm sure she'll be able to help us and translate with the kids. She also has helped establish activities within the community for us. So she showed us around the family center and brought us to the kids playroom where there were about 9 adorable children! We were told that majority of these children are orphans. Many of there parents or grandparents have died from HIV/AIDS and no longer have parental guidance in their home or people to nurture them so that is where this organization steps in. We all played with them for about two hours... just watching them, having them in our laps, making fools out of ourselves by trying to speak zulu to them and them staring back with wide eyes... haha (Maybe that was only my case) It was a huge shock to see one of the girls in a very fragile state for her age. Her name was Akhona and she arrived at Ethembeni in September. We were told that when she arrived, she was nothing but skin and bones. She turns three soon and she cannot walk and looks very thin even though she has gained weight since then. When I heard she was almost 3 years old, I was in shock. I hope that her health will continue to improve. Another thing that really shocked me was that two of the young children here have a mother who is seventeen years old. She showed up after school to pick them up and it was hard to comprehend that she is a mother to two young children when she is so young herself. One of her kids was at least three or four years old and the other was about a year old which means that she must have been 14 or 15 when she had her first baby. It made me sad to realize this and that this is very common for young teenage girls in Africa.

But nonetheless, it was an enriching experience to be with them and give love and attention to all of them... I have a feeling that is something they don't get a lot of : /. It is a goal for my group and I to get to know many of the children's names by being here. We decided to make a project where we take pictures of all the kids and put them up on the walls. This will help the staff as well as the kids to know each other's names. Some of the staff have mentioned that it gets hard as new kids show up often and it is hard to keep track of all the names. The kids love it when you take pictures of them and also love to snatch your camera and take pictures themselves!


[The name of the boy to the left is Sphesihle and he was adorable. His younger brother is in the picture below and they had the most beautiful relationship as brothers. Sphesihile's younger brother, Nkosinathi, cried constantly and Sphesihile would come and comfort him, bring him water, and even wipe snot with his own bare hand off of his face... haha Even though that last act of kindness is nasty, it shows how much he cares for his younger brother) =]


When it was about nap time for the kids, our group got together and recognized all of the projects/ideas that they needed and wanted help with. They are really giving us a lot of freedom with where we want to devote our time to which is very cool. However, we are really wanting to incorporate what this ministry's vision is with whatever project we do. So it was great discussing and working as a team to create a very general plan for our time there.

After this, we played soccer with the kids and around 2:30, many other kids showed up as school was let out. The kids range from about 1st grade to 17 and 18 years old and there are about 77 kids registered to come in the afternoons. It was fun to talk with the older kids about school and their favorite subjects. They are very sarcastic and fun to have conversations with and find common grounds with. Today was such a great day for me and my team as well. We were really able to see what we are working with and how we can use the time to it maximum potential. It is difficult at times, because I wish we could stay so much longer but I am thankful for the time we will have here and just praying that God will guide us in the path and direction he has for us as we work with Ethembeni.

Tomorrow, we head out again at 8:30 and will be returning back to campus around 4 pm. This is how most of our days will be looking for the next 3 weeks!! Please pray for endurance my with the kids, unifying and strengthening our team, working with the same hopes as the ministry, instilling humility in my mindset, and reflecting a light unto others that radiates God in all of my actions.

Thank you all!! Love, Jamie