The Christmas story begins...
We left from Pretoria at noon on Tuesday with a VERY packed van & trailer. Many thanks to the US Embassy for driving us & our goodies to Kwa Mashu...making our trip SOOO much easier! There were 5 of us...Margo, Laura and Melanie, my daughter, Mollie and myself. The trip took about 7 hours, and we drove through some intense thunderstoms. We grabbed a quick dinner at our hotel and the crackerjack elf team spent the rest of the evening wrapping shirts.
We arrived at 1:30 on Wednesday in a caravan of three Embassy vehicles. There was so much stuff that we'd had to reshuffle a bit to fit it all in the van and trailer, so we took a few minutes to reorganize ourselves outside the building because we know that once we went in, we'd have no time or space to do so.
We were LOADED with good things for the orphanage...here's a list of the items:
- a stuffed animal, shirt, and Xmas stocking full of sweets for each of the 86 children
- puzzles, soccer balls, educational toys, games, jump-ropes, hula-hoops, blocks & more toys
- art materials...paper, crayons, paint, scissors, glue, etc
- a new cd player/ radio with a dozen cd's. including 'Closer'
- a substantial quantity of bulk food items,,,oil, rice, peanut butter, bread, jam, beans, soy mince, pasta, etc.
- cooking supplies & cleaning supplies
- reusable plates, cups and spoons for 100
- underwear for all the children, and several bags of assorted clothing
- gifts for the 20 orphanage volunteers and the director, Faith Mthethwe.
- assorted Xmas decorations
- A sign for the orphanage.
On our first visit, I thought that it might
help to give the children a 
sense
of belonging and pride- to have an image to relate to. After doing some
research, I learned that Kwa Zulu Natal is home to many chameleons, I've
always thought were pretty graphically nifty. I also felt that, like these
children, the chameleon has extraordinary abilities to adapt and survive
in difficult environments. So, with Faith's endorsement, I chose him as
the orphanage's official 'mascot'. 
I
made a sign to hang at the entrance to the building which reads "Zamimpilo
Kids" and bears the image of a grinning chameleon, and I stamped the same
image on each of the shirts that the children received as a gift. I also
presented Faith with a hand carved and painted chameleon made by one of
the amazing artisans from her own province.
We entered the building to the sound of
cheers and drumming. 
There
were many more children in the room than the 86 children who live at Zamimpilo.
I'd learned just the week before that the centre is also a place where
50 or so children come every day for a meal...this is known here in South
Africa as a 'Feeding Scheme', similar to an American 'Soup Kitchen'. Many
of them may be orphans as well...some may actually be heading households
where parents have died and there are younger siblings that they now care
for on their own. The volunteers at the center have such big hearts, &
simply cannot bear to turn them away. With this possibility in mind, we
brought some extra small toys "just in case", and we could have used even
more. 
It's
hard not to feel overwhelmed by the amount of need.We were greeted by
such a great surprise...several of the children were performing traditional
Zulu dances in native dress, and they were wonderful! I was so impressed
by their knowledge of these intricate, story-telling dances, and so pleased
that they've still been able to become versed in these traditions despite
the upheaval in their young lives.
One of you who'd watched the video of Josh in Soweto commented on the spirit and life in the faces of those children, also from difficult circumstances. I believe that this spirit and determination is the great strength of the African people, and it was visible in the eyes and smile of every child in the room. Their courage is so life-affirming, and it makes me want to do everything I can for them. All of us who were there came away from the day feeling exactly that way. We, frankly, didn't want to leave! ]
After the dancing and LOUD drumming finished,
we
brought in all the bins & bundles. I explained to Faith and the volunteers
where these donations came from, outfitted her in my (now her) FOJG t-shirt,
and gave a 'tour' of what we had brought for the centre. They were truly
thrilled and overwhelmed. You would have thought that the dishcloths were
woven with gold thread... the plastic plates were Wedgwood. They have
been making do with so little, feeding kids 15 at a time since that was
all the plates they had...they could hardly believe their eyes. And they
were so excited about having music for the children, & art supplies
& toys. But they were careful to whisk it away into the storeroom
where it would be safe, because there were so many visitors.. They explained
that the evening was the orphans' special time, when the other children
were gone, when they would bring these things out for them to use.
It was time for Xmas dinner, so the ladies quickly set to work dismantling 35 roasted chickens and dishing out heaps of mac n' cheese. It was in plastic containers, not in a wheelbarrow, but it was enough to fill up a wheelbarrow. There were also rare treats for the kids...cheese curls, soda and cookies. There were 8 or 9 women working in the tiniest kitchen, about 6x9 feet, but they were such a well-oiled machine, & they could hustle!I suppose this is the only way to get food to the kids in a reasonable period of time, but it is a major effort. We all joined in the lunch equivalent of a 'bucket-brigade' to get the food from kitchen to kids. As the plates came back to the kitchen, I noticed that the chicken bones were being very carefully removed and set aside...to be used for soup, I think. Nothing that is useful is wasted here.
Now was the time for distribution of gifts.
Before we began, I said a few words on behalf of the Foundation, 
praising
the great work that the volunteers were doing to care for the kids, and
letting them know how much we cared. I talked a bit about the chameleon
and presented Faith with the sign and a Momma teddy bear with 3 little
bears in her apron...which she loved. We then entered a period of what
could be described as slightly controlled chaos, as we attempted to distribute
the 86 gifts. I had gotten from Faith a list with all the children's names
& ages, and written a name on the tag of each animal so they could
be identified. Unfortunately, I was not pre-armed with the knowledge that
in the Zulu culture, children acquire a number of names at different ages
and for different purposes, so there were many kids who didn't seem to
match the names! It got a little surreal and very noisy, but somehow,
we managed to get everything distributed. The children initially seemed
fairly subdued in the presence of their gifts...no energetic tearing-open
that we Americans are used to seeing.
Many just sat quietly with gifts unopened on their laps, so we went around
and helped them open their things, and we began to see children bonding
with their new fuzzy animal buddies. I'd made Xmas stockings from real
kids' socks so they could be used afterwards (not that socks are big in
Africa, but it does get colder in winter), and we saw one boy who loved
his sock so much that he put it on after eating all his candy...no matter
that he only had one! Another boy so loved the pictures on the wrapping
paper that he kept that too, safe under his shirt.
We had to tear ourselves away because we
were so 
enjoying
our time with the kids...it went so quickly, but we knew that we had a
long ride home, so we began to prepare to leave. One girl came up to Mollie
and, speaking in perfect English, said "I am so glad you came...do you
have to leave?" We left as things were winding down... most of the outside
children had left, and the volunteers were cleaning up. We got many hugs,
especially from the volunteers who were so grateful, and began to sing
for us as we walked out of the building in the beautiful harmonious South
African choral style that Ladysmith Black Mambazo has made famous.
So that's how our day went. It was amazing, and none of us has ever had a Christmas to compare to it. I cannot think about it without welling up with tears. Our cultures are so very different, but we as a group have made that difference completely disappear in a little orphanage on the other side of the world. You should be so very very proud of what you have done for these kids. They will never forget you, and they know that there will be more help to come.
If you feel as I do, this is your best Christmas gift this year. Merry Christmas!
Cheers and Love............................................Andrea