Tim Travels To Masoyi, South Africa, '07

For 3 weeks, I will be in South Africa helping an orphan aid organization with urgent construction. Here unfolds the next chapter of my life. Won't you join me?

11.01.2007

CLICK

I learned my first SiSwati word today that contained a click! My only prior knowledge of this (as ignorant as it sounds) came from a Canadian stand up comedian as he floated around the Internet. As we were moving bricks today, there were a couple of frogs who leapt out, annoyed that we were disturbing their homes. I asked one of the local workers how to say frog in SiSwati and got the reply back: “SiXOXO”. Whenever you see an “XO” together, it is pronounced “go” but with a click at the beginning of it. So, for the better part of the rest of the day, I was trying to master this rather tricky linguistic technique.

I’m not sure why, but after a long, hard day in the sun, I have a huge craving for Diet Coke. It’s the only pop I will drink at home and I guess this shows that a part of me is homesick. The team usually goes out for dinner on Sunday nights because our meal arrangements exclude this day. I’ve been delighted to have been able to order Diet Coke. I would think that because of the substitution of an artificial sugar for real sugar, this is what makes the drink “diet”. However, it appears that what ALSO makes this beverage suitable for calorie reduction is that it comes in a smaller size! In fact, it is about 50% smaller than the same-priced non-diet version!

If your father leaves you when you are 2 weeks old, you are essentially fatherless. It’s not easy growing up in a poor village in South Africa with a mother and 2 other siblings. When the only thing to do is to survive, it’s understandable, almost forgivable, that someone chooses petty crime just to live. What’s remarkable is when you meet someone who is aware of this tragedy, but chooses not to travel that common, easier route. Instead, he has now dedicated himself in doing what he can to help others who are going through the same things that he has gone through (and survived). We call him “Ng-Clung-Clung”, although, I suspect that this is not how you’re supposed to pronounce his name. Despite this butchery, he has treated us all with grace and respect. He is the foreman on the construction site, second in command. Because he is local, he is able to communicate effectively with the local crew (he speaks seven languages/dialects). But, when the rest of the crew books out of there at 4:00 on the dot, he is tirelessly cleaning up the site and locking up the container. Then, he somehow catches a ride to get to a church in his community, where he is giving MORE of his time in doing MORE construction.

“Teem-y. I choose now to build not for myself, but so that I can help others who are in trouble. I want to share my home. That is why I don’t think that I will ever get married because a wife will not want to share the house, but that is what I want to do.”

I’m so blown away by the fact that someone who has so little wants to give so much. I think of my home and possessions half way around the world and can’t help but feel guilty about how I’ve horded it to myself.

posted @ 23:00

0 Comments: