Well today was our 'official' first day. Instead of getting shown around and meeting everyone we got to go to the township Jennifer and myself will be working with! Now for those of yall that don't know what a township is, it is an underdeveloped urban living area that are reserved for non whites...so colored(mixed) and black people. Most of the homes are made out of scrap metal and many only have one room for the whole family. Problems flourish throughout these places from drugs and alcohol problems to higher crimes.
just to give an idea of what the townships are like
::So this is what I am getting to do with my life while here::
They are just starting a new program OVC which stands for orphans and vulnerable children. What they are wanting to do with this is when the life skills educators are out in these townships and they come to find out that a kid they are working with is in a bad situation i.e. they are showing signs of abuse or malnutrition or extreme cases along those lines they will be able to do something about it. A girl named Tammy started this a month ago so it's very new and in the process of being built. With that said one of our jobs is to actually get this program started and get everything for it to become an actual branch of Living Right. Kind of a big deal :] So once we get more of a feel for what its going to be i'll update yall on it! The sole jist of it is to be able to refer these kids to people that will help them and get them out of their situation. There is actually a case going on right now with a little girl who has been raped by her step dad while her mom was in the hospital. Im really excited to be a part of this and be able to hopefully see this turn into a big program that will be truly beneficial.
Now we will be working on that during the morning and then we will get to go into the township in the afternoon to do kids clubs! Which is like an afterschool program with the kids that live there just to give them a safe fun && educational place to be after school. I worked with the younger kids, 10 and under and i immediately fell in love with them. Played soccer with a few of the little boys and we became best friends. Also met TARZAN. It was hilarious, this boy walked up wearing nothing but hunter green sweatpants. He was light skinned, light eyed had dirtyblond curly hair that was sticking in all sorts of directions. Right when he walked up I said oh my word its Tarzan, so that is his official name he will be hearing from me. I WILL be getting a picture of him sooner or later.
But jennifer and myself are going to be helping in these after school clubs to, in a sense, be the eyes of OVC and to look out for un natural behavior by the kids. Hopefully while we are there we won't find any new cases but kids are not really high priority in these places. When the club is over we feed them a sandwich and a cup of juice. Sadly it may be the only thing some of these kids get to eat all day.
Some may think this is extremely depressing and a risk to catching something that floats around these places but its a small sacrifice. I am so overjoyed about this work and it's been one day. Who knows...in a few months I may hate it, but I honestly can't see that happening. Ever since my summers in Ghana I knew I wanted to work with at risk kids and do something in an orphanage or somthing along those lines. I did my practicum my senior year at Methodist children's home and did alot of the kids case files and put them together. At the time it was kind of boring and I would catch myself wondering why I was doing all this. I think now it was God's way of preparing me for this. When they told us this morning what OVC was and how we were going to help start it, I felt a sense of peace. Funny how God works in your life. During these next 8 months I want to be a sponge and retain all the information I learn as well as the knowledge I gain from starting up something like this and hopefully carry it over to my future.
PS. I LOVE the people i'm working with. They are all so nice and [[hilarious]].
God is good ALL the time
so excited to see how he is going to use my talents...as well as my weaknesses to bring glory to him.
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