A few months ago, Rejoice wrote a grant proposal asking ABSA Bank, here in South Africa, to fund a great idea she had. She had envisioned getting enough funding to cover monthly trips to town for groceries for a group of about 15 orphans (most being heads of their households and looking after their brothers and sisters as well as themselves). The ABSA people liked what she was trying to do, liked the idea that not only would OVC's (orphans and vulnerable children) be receiving needed food, but they would also have a role in the actual purchasing of the food. Two weeks ago marked the second trip to Tzaneen with this new plan and I got to go along for the ride. It was a really good day, all the kids stocked up on their food for the month, they got to experience a rare trip out of the village, Rejoice and I were able to talk to the managers at the Pick 'n Pay and gave them a rundown of the work we're trying to do and where all of our drop in centers are located, they provided us with free cold drink (!!!!), asked us to type up a project profile to deliver back to them, and said they were interested in visiting the office (!!!!), we all got a lunch from the hot food section, Rejoice bought Simba's for everyone to share, and I took care of our dessert with a bag of little chocolate bars. It was an adventure to town... and one of the best trips I've had.
To make things easier we lined up all the shopping trolleys in an out of the way place and then went off to find the items we needed. Man, we sure did get a lot of attention! People kept stopping and asking what we were doing, why there were so many kids and so many carts.
This picture shows some of the food and other stuff that was bought: Soya Mince (meat substitute), Sunlight dishwashing soap, deodorant, baked beans, eggs, mealie meal, corned beef, oil, suger, salt, and toothpaste, etc. My job was to help unload the carts when everyone was checking out. When I got up to the front of the line to help out one kid, the woman checking us out told me that she wasn't going to be able to ring up my items, she had a long line of kids she was ringing up for a project. It took her awhile to realize that I was
with all the kids. It was sort of awkward, but we all got a good laugh out of it in the end. I tell ya, no matter how long I stay here and how much I try to get used to being "different" from most of the people I work with, it always knocks me back a little when someone is shocked that I live in the village, I am working with an organization where all the workers are black, I am friends with people who are a different color than me....
Each kid checked out separately so when we got to the taxi to load up they sat with all their bags. The kids going the farthest sat all the way in the back, the kids getting dropped off first sat in the front.
The trip home. Everyone is chowin' down on lunch and singing along to the CD the driver put in for us to listen to.
To make things easier we lined up all the shopping trolleys in an out of the way place and then went off to find the items we needed. Man, we sure did get a lot of attention! People kept stopping and asking what we were doing, why there were so many kids and so many carts.
This picture shows some of the food and other stuff that was bought: Soya Mince (meat substitute), Sunlight dishwashing soap, deodorant, baked beans, eggs, mealie meal, corned beef, oil, suger, salt, and toothpaste, etc. My job was to help unload the carts when everyone was checking out. When I got up to the front of the line to help out one kid, the woman checking us out told me that she wasn't going to be able to ring up my items, she had a long line of kids she was ringing up for a project. It took her awhile to realize that I was with all the kids. It was sort of awkward, but we all got a good laugh out of it in the end. I tell ya, no matter how long I stay here and how much I try to get used to being "different" from most of the people I work with, it always knocks me back a little when someone is shocked that I live in the village, I am working with an organization where all the workers are black, I am friends with people who are a different color than me....
Each kid checked out separately so when we got to the taxi to load up they sat with all their bags. The kids going the farthest sat all the way in the back, the kids getting dropped off first sat in the front. 
The trip home. Everyone is chowin' down on lunch and singing along to the CD the driver put in for us to listen to.
2 comments:
Oi, sou o Clausewitz. Quer conhecer alguma coisa sobre o Brasil, então passe lá no Blog do Clausewitz. Um abraço
I loved getting caught up on your happenings from the past couple of weeks. I missed your posts! I'm glad you had a great vacation and I hope you settle back into village life just fine. Will email you soon! :)
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