Partly Cloudy

The last few days have been interesting. Definitely the feeling has changed for quite a few of us I think, and it is still an incredible thing to be here, but the outlook and perspectives have been altered. Talking with the girls last night though, I think we kind of knew this would come at some point, that there would be a time in this journey that all of the sudden it wouldn't be so "sunshine and butterflies" all the time...but now that it's hit, we're feeling it, and adjusting to the other side of being here.

I've been teaching in the Standard 6 classroom for the past few days, and it has been an incredible and insightful experience. The teachers, the students...the more I am in the classroom, the more I feel like I am let into their lives and their realities. And all of the sudden it's not such a high anymore. Still perfect, still nothing I would ever change in being here, but just maybe not such the emotional high anymore.

95% of the people in the village we are working in are HIV/AIDS positive. 95%. And the more we hear their stories, that statistic almost seems the least of their problems.

Playing with the kids every day like we have been for the past week or so has been great, but talking with the other girls last night, I think it is really easy for us to walk into Tlamelo each day, spend 5 hours cooking and playing with the kids and seeing them smile, and feel good about the kids without actually knowing their realities.

On top of getting more stories from the kids in my classroom, today after lunch and clean-up Champ, the director of the Tlamelo Project, took us on a walk around the village. He explained to us that he and the other leaders of Tlamelo (5 or 6 young guys, in their mid 20s) make these home visits every few days and pray with and support the citizens of the village, and the families and parents of the kids they serve each day. (So, so cool.) We met with one lady in particular who has been going through some incredible hardships, nothing any of us can imagine going through, and yet she sat and talked with us with a peace and a hope that seemed unexplainable. Champ translated a little bit to us, but mostly we sat and listened to her speak in Setswana, getting understanding from her expressions and the manner in which she talked. Jack and Meeka and Marinda offered some words of encouragement to this woman and Champ translated, and that was so awesome of them to be able to give something in that way. At the end, one of the Tlamelo leaders prayed for her and it was so incredibly powerful... Walking out of there we were all pretty somber but as we continued our walk I was thinking about how Champ just kept talking about how to her, there is a light at the end of this road, and he was telling us about the hope that she has, when this woman should logically have little reason to hope. And...if she is having all of these devastating things happening to her and her family and yet she still has a hope and a peace beyond understanding... ah. Just completely put so, so many things into perspective. Amazing. I am so thankful we had the opportunity to visit these people and walk around the village.

So. Things have been getting a lot more real here. My Grandpa Gordon told me the week before I left that this summer would be wonderful and horrible, and not that any of what we have gone through has been horrible, but I think I am starting to see that side of things here. But seeing that and being in those experiences is not making me want to leave and or making for a horrible trip, it's just a different side of the experience, a necessary one I think. The feeling I feel is a little bit raw, like we've seen the life of these people and now it's time to actually feel a little of what their every day is like, and not just see smiles for a couple hours.

We've been here for two full weeks now, and I am still having the time of my life...and wouldn't trade this time and place and service for anything ever. I am grateful that things are changing, and the reality of this world and this city is setting in, and that is perfect. Only makes us want to get out there more... for me today it started feeling like helping just one person, or doing just one thing isn't going to change these lives that are so down, and yet, that is a pretty defeated outlook! This place and these people are beyond words amazing, and I won't leave feeling down. We're here to serve in whatever way we are needed and however we can best be put to work, that's where we'll be. Be here, and live here, and serve here. I love this life...still.

And...I'm still staying forever. ; )