We went to visit an orphanage in a town called Wellington, about 1.5 hours drive from Cape Town. The orphanage was situated in a very poor township (slum area) and operated more like a day care centre. Each morning, the parents that lived in the township would drop their kids off. Only kids who had HIV or had parents with HIV or who came from extremely poor families, can attend. Only a handful of children actually lived in the orphanage.
Whilst there, we played games with them until we nearly passed out from the heat, sang songs, read books, fed them and showed them a short play about heaven. Unfortunately, most of the kids could not speak English, so our message ended up being more a gospel of cuddles and love.
To our surprise and delight, the orphanage was very well equipped. We were bracing ourselves to expect the worst in terms of conditions. But they are funded by several Christians from Holland— praise God!
We asked Rebecca Fong, one of the members of the Aussie Short Term Mission to share her experiences in this newsletter. This is what she wrote:
Most memorable moment
This event really sticks out in my mind. When we arrived, Mary passed me a baby that was born premature. He was so small, and had to be held all the time. Apparently he was suffering from TB and foetal alcohol syndrome. Then later on I noticed this little girl, maybe 3 years old, who was really scared when going down the slide. She did not smile the whole time we were there.
After lunch, we started giving out stickers to the kids, she got some, but still no smile. It was only when Neville showed her a photo that he took of her when she put the sticker on her face that she smiled for the first time. That was such a special moment. To see her finally smile!
This showed me how something little to us, can mean so much to someone else. However it was sad for me to find out later that both the little baby and the girl were brother and sister. They were abandoned by their mother just a month ago. So sad!
Feelings afterwards
I am definitely glad that we went in the end, despite our initial worries about catching TB.
What you can do?
Go and try it for yourself! You may like it or you may not, but without trying, you will never know how wonderful this experience may mean to you. You can also help fund it or support those in need! We may think we are not rich enough when we compare ourselves to the wealthy, but then in actual fact, we already have so much more than these little ones. Just be generous with what you have and try to do what you can!
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