BEST DAY IN DURBAN!

While staying at our hostel, I met two volunteers Ed and Claudia from Holland that are serving in Durban for a month.  They work Monday through Friday with the street children.  In Durban there are over 6,000 street children.  After sharing our love for volunteering, they arranged for me to go with them to do outreach to the children.  A lot of the children are on the streets due to abuse in their homes, and or lack of food or shelter from their families.  These children mainly need someone to trust them, listen to them, or the simple feeling of a human touch.  Some of these children have had “owners” in the past being sold for up to two goats and seven dollars.  Even worse, many of these children have been raped by their fellow street peers.  On our day of outreach we went and visited the center Ed and Claudia are volunteering with.  In order for the children to stay at the center they have to be sober.  They are open 24 hours a day 365 days a year.    Many of them choose not to stay over night because many choose to remain on drugs.  The most popular drug on the street for them is called Neoprene, which is a sniffing glue.  Anyone can buy this glue on the streets for 7 Rand which is equivalent to 1 US dollar.  Ed and Claudia raise money throughout the year in Holland for these children.  The money goes to buying them food or towards their education and uniform if they choose they want to attend school.

When we showed up at the center there was a young boy who was cleaning his shoes for his first day back to school on Monday.  Another little boy was eager to show us around.  After the tour at the center we started our outreach.  We went to the most dangerous street in Durban.  Under the bridge we found a group of girls.  They instantly gave me hugs and told me they wanted to go with me.  At first I did not plan on taking any pictures, because I did not want to invade their privacy and living space.  Then one asked if I had a camera because they haven’t seen what they look in a long time.  On the street they started having a photo shoot with my camera.  We then asked if they were hungry.  We went to the store then and got them groceries.  After the store I asked our driver if there was a photo developing shop in the area. Since many of these children have nothing, I wanted them to have something small, a photo of themselves.  When we returned to them I gave them their pictures.  It was such a precious moment to see how they reacted.  One of the boys pulled a napkin out of his pocket and wrapped his picture with it.  He then licked the edge of the napkin so his picture was secured.  What a lovely morning!

A few days earlier, I  met a guy named Thando at our hostel who was from a township.  He invited a few of us over for a Braai at his township.  Thando ordered a mini bus and met us at our hostel.  I cannot even begin to describe how welcoming everyone from his township was.  The minute we arrived everyone wanted to greet us.  The children were all around, and I am pretty sure I fell in love with every single one of them.  Thando then took my friend Inge and I to see his house.  His house is one of the well off houses in his township because he has electricity and running water.  Every little thing he owned, he wanted to show us.  It was so nice to hear his life stories.  My favorite thing in his house was a sign that said “10 Ways to be More Happy.”  Suddenly I realized, they have their priorities straight.  They all have so little but are still happy.  They know that the most important things in life are not things.  Throughout the afternoon everyone was helping everyone in the township.  We were then told our food was done on the Braai.  I was informed while eating that we were having dog for dinner.  I guess there is always a first time for everything!  After our meal I hung out with the children.  What I had to leave they were all clinging to my legs and hugging me goodbye.  It was a beautiful moment.  We then headed back to our hostel to celebrate our last night and we found out earlier that it was Bob Marley’s birthday

Everyone at the Hostile was in full gear to celebrate. Bob Marley Music was jamming and they also had a Bob Marley shooters special.  Throughout the night I think I sang happy birthday Bob maybe 16 times. Every shot bought that night they sent the money to Jamaica. Good reason to celebrate… Yeah Mon.  The night ended with us jumping in the pool and attempting to watch the super bowl.  Yes, I was already sleeping before the National Anthem.