The Beginning

So I have been in South Africa now for about a week and a half. My mind turns in circles when I begin to think of how to share my new experiences with all of you.

First of all... where I live is breathtaking. Our small cottage sits on a hill on property owned by the Augustinian Order. The view I look out on features rolling hills spotted with the small houses of the village of Embo. The places are all made of cinder block. They are one or two rooms with tin roofs and no running water.

I find it difficult to stand on the edge of the balcony and look out onto the valley. It seems a blatant display of the class divide in South Africa. We, as a part of the upper class, literally look down upon the poor. The gap between the rich and the poor slaps me in the face every time I step outside of our gate. We are less than half a mile away from a mall with stores like The Gap and almost in the same amount of travelling time I can be at the respite center where I have begun to work caring for people who are sick from HIV and AIDS. I am having a significantly difficult time melding these two South Africas in my mind. I am unsure if I ever will be able to.

After finishing my first week of work I am completely exhausted. The issues we are facing everyday are beyond my capacity to comprehend and its hard to think that anything I can do will help. I spent my first day teaching at St. Leos this week. Our classroom is converted from a library and periodically has no electricity. We spent time reviewing the alphabet as we are teaching oral english. The children's ability varies greatly and it is hard to tell what they really understand of our lessons. But the teachers are so receptive to us and love having the chance to teach us some Zulu and are constantly encouraging to our efforts to teach the students. My job at the respite center is coming along very quickly. There is a very steep learning curve as I have already worked hand and hand with the nurses providing basic patient care. I even got to take someone's blood pressure my first day! Watching people suffer with disease is not easy. I waver between confidence in treatment and complete helplessness against the virus. I wish I had words to describe the things I have encountered there but I am speechless. Everyday I pray for strength to be able to be a positive and loving force in the lives of the patients there. I am shocked by everything I have seen already and I honestly have no idea where it will go from here.
Hopefully I will be able to post again soon (the internet and the electricity has a mind of its own here.) If you would like to email I am doing my best to keep in touch with everyone. marykate.crane@gmail.com

usale kahle (stay well)