day five (WITL)

*Posted a day late

This morning we headed back to Walk in the Light to continue working on Mandla's house. Mandla had mentioned that he wants a veranda attached to his house, so we cleared the land away to make room for that. We also began putting metal mesh along the poles of the house. It is really beginning to look like a house! To make the walls, we first create a hallow wall out of mesh and then fill the hole with big rocks and pieces of rubble. Next we will create the mud/cement bricks to build the actual walls of the house. We had to find the pieces of rubble laying around the site, so I recruited some neighborhood kids to help me hunt for pieces. It was hilarious, eventually I had at least 10 kids following me in a single file line carrying big pieces of rock and cement blocks. People in my group kept on cracking up and saying it was child labor. The kids loved it though, we sang songs and held hands on the way to finding the rocks, and then sang while carrying them back! It was very efficient too! :) After collecting the rubble I sat in the shade with some of the kids and let them draw in my journal and all over my arms (Kaila's idea that sounded fun in the beginning). I ended up having two tattooed arms, hands, and the beginning of one leg. I am seriously in love with these kids though, it will be so hard to leave them on Wednesday, our last day at WITL. I have seen a sense of selflessness and love in them that I have never seen before. For instance, this afternoon I was standing with one little girl in front of me. I had been itching a bug bite on the side of my knee. Eventually I stopped itching it, but then all of a sudden I feel little fingers itching it for me. She had casually reached over and started itching my bug bite for me! She looked up at me with a huge grin which melted my heart. It was too funny.

In the afternoon half of us stayed at Mandla's house while half of us went back to WITL to do some smaller projects. I stayed at WITL and created a pile of bricks to be used at Mandla's house. We had a nice assembly line going with some of the kids. Afterwards I sorted clothing and created outfits out of the donated clothes with Katie, Cindy, and Emily. We bagged each outfit and they will later be distributed among the people of Haniville. I loved doing the outfits! My mom and I love looking at baby/toddler clothing...so I thought of her as I paired tiny pants with tiny shirts. Some of the sweaters and hats were even knitted by the gogo's who come to WITL. It was strange pairing heavy jackets and sweaters with sweatpants when it's 90 degrees outside. I have to remember that their winters get very cold and their houses have very little insulation (if any). I can already see the weather starting to turn colder in the evenings. We are now in their Autumn season and they are preparing for winter. Doesn't really feel too much like Fall during the day though! It has been so hot that you can literally feel your whole body cool down the minute a cloud covers the sun. It's a wonderful feeling that doesn't occur that often. It's amazing though, some of these kids who were helping us work were wearing turtle-necks and sweatpants. Bug bite girl even had a jacket on over! I could see the beads of sweat dripping down her face. Nonetheless, they wanted to help wholeheartedly and didn't let the heat interfere.

I was talking the other day with some people about how when I enter into Haniville or similar townships, I feel like I have stepped back in time. From the style of houses to the dated toys the kids play with to the lack of organization, I feel like I have entered into a time machine and gone back to the 1920's. It is interesting because this is all these people know. Many of them have never left Haniville before, or been more than 60 miles from their home. Life is so simple for them, yet so complicated. Simple in the fact that they eat to survive, play to pass time, and walk to get to work rather than exercise. Complicated in the fact that disease is rampant, water might not be drinkable, and death is a reality they face everyday. It's a life I cannot even begin to identify with. Since tomorrow is our last day serving, I know I will go back home to my old life. I know I will go back to comfort and the ability to eat when I'm hungry, drink when I'm thirsty, and buy clothes when I have the desire. I am leaving with my eyes opened to so much, but sometimes I just don't know what to do with it. As much as I would like to say I'm going to give up my morning lattes, or stop buying clothing because I have finally seen what truly is important in life, I know those practices won't last long. My hope is that I will be able to take this experience as a tool that can impact my life and alter my lifestyle but not change my identity entirely. I want it to shape me and mold me, but not ruin me. It is so easy to feel guilty about what I have been blessed with. But that is exactly what it is, a blessing. If I have been given money and comfort, the least I can do is be educated on the realities of this world and bring my knowledge back and spread a sense of gratefulness, generosity, and humility. I want to learn to truly appreciate what I have been given. I don't think the only way to appreciate it is to purge yourself of those blessings, I think you can appreciate them by using them. Use the money I have been given, take advantage of the opportunities I have been granted. Why let them waste away or fall into the wrong hands?

I have so much to process and these are just the beginning thoughts I have had. I know it will take me a lifetime to truly understand what I have seen here and what lessons I have been taught, whether directly or indirectly. All I really know for now, is I am seriously blessed.