Week 4 – Service Experience and Rugby Game

Each week we give our highs and lows of the previous week. Low: getting strep throat in a foreign country. Yuck. High: going to a braai and professional rugby game featuring the Cape Town Stormers versus the Pretoria Bulls. The game exceeded my expectations and completely made up for my less than desirable, 3+ hour clinic experience. Who knew we would have so much fun with the locals at the braai? Besides this interaction with the locals on Saturday, we also had an amazing week serving in Sir Lowry’s Pass.

Spending time in this township has allowed me to witness firsthand what true selflessness and being thankful are all about. I have seen so much love and hope in a town that at first glance appeared so broken. I spent a lot of time with my “soup mother” Ms. Fiela and her 16 year old daughter Samantha. I really connected with Samantha throughout the week because I saw a lot of myself in her. She’s an extremely ambitious girl, motivated by the support of her family and the vision of one day leaving Sir Lowry’s Pass. In what seems like such a hopeless situation, Samantha is able to work hard and trust in herself and her family to achieve her goals. Her real mom died when she was four years old, so Ms. Fiela took her in. Samanatha said a lot of her motivation lies in that—she has a commitment to work hard so as not to disappoint the woman that has shown her so much love and support. Ms. Fiela fully embodied what it means to be selfless, working everyday to provide love, support, happiness, and health to all of the children in the community. She must have said at least ten times how thankful she is for what she has. Rather than being negative, she remains optimistic and encourages others in her community to do the same. Although I had to miss two days of service week, reflecting on my experience with this two amazing people has really had an impact on me.

After having a heavy heart all week, it was great to kick back and relax on Saturday. The Bafana Bafanas and Springboks were finally reunited, and we got to celebrate this at the rugby game. We had a braai, the South African style barbecue/tailgate, and then got to go into the rugby game. Although the Cape Town Stormers lost, the whole experience was awesome. I thought it was interesting how similar American football gamedays are to South African rugby gamedays. The whole experience definitely narrowed the gap between that sense of “us” and “them.” It’s hard to believe we’re already in our last week of this five week trip. I will go home having met so many awesome people and having some of the most influential experiences thus far in my life. I really look forward to seeing what this last week holds in store for us.

-Morgan Edwards