My blog has been sitting still for a couple of weeks. Between the everyday craziness and not knowing how to fully tell stories about what happened in South Africa, I'm falling behind.
During our time at Living Hope, we spent a few days in a row at Living Hope's Health Care Center. They used to refer to it as their hospice center, but decided to stop calling it a hospice...well, because people usually go to a hospice to die...but 90% of their patients were going home healthy. A good problem to have. The men and women on our team had pretty different experiences, I think. The men were put to work sanding the rusted security gate and painting the entrance. It was easy to let skepticism creep in and wonder if we weren't just another group of Americans who traveled across the world to paint. It turns out the guys were a huge help to the man who does the maintenance of the grounds. Even the patients made comments on how much nicer it looked. In my opinion, anything that gives a patient a better outlook, anything that improves their aesthetic surroundings, is beyond valuable. I took some time out to check out what the guys were doing, and walked over at just the right time...as Jamie stepped into his paint tray. Check out his cool shoes (and shin and ankle):
During our time at Living Hope, we spent a few days in a row at Living Hope's Health Care Center. They used to refer to it as their hospice center, but decided to stop calling it a hospice...well, because people usually go to a hospice to die...but 90% of their patients were going home healthy. A good problem to have. The men and women on our team had pretty different experiences, I think. The men were put to work sanding the rusted security gate and painting the entrance. It was easy to let skepticism creep in and wonder if we weren't just another group of Americans who traveled across the world to paint. It turns out the guys were a huge help to the man who does the maintenance of the grounds. Even the patients made comments on how much nicer it looked. In my opinion, anything that gives a patient a better outlook, anything that improves their aesthetic surroundings, is beyond valuable. I took some time out to check out what the guys were doing, and walked over at just the right time...as Jamie stepped into his paint tray. Check out his cool shoes (and shin and ankle):
Here are Doug and Steve hard at work, and probably really glad that I was taking their picture. 
I spent the majority of my days at the health care center chatting with a man named Ken. He was quite the character. He spent most of his energy on defending himself with his humor and whit. He was charming and frustrating, sensitive and rude, funny and inappropriate, joyful and depressed, full of life and lacking purpose all at the same time. Some people thought he was a little crazy. One thing I am sure of is that he is brilliant. Sometimes the stories he told about his life and experiences seemed a bit fictitious...his days in the South African Army, his knowledge of language, his past careers...but I chose to believe him none the less. Part of me chose to believe him because I actually did believe him. He seemed too smart to be lying. He knew too many fine details about his past to be making it up. His stories were consistent. Most of the time that I spent not talking with him, I spent eavesdropping, and found his stories to be consistent from one ear to the next. The other part of me chose to believe him because people need to be believed in. I knew I didn't have the time to really dig deep into his life and heart and find the true Ken...we only had a few short days. So I chose to befriend the Ken that he presented me with, because that Ken needed to know that he mattered. That he had purpose. That he was fascinating and interesting and smart and valuable. That he wasn't rotting away in a hospice. It is a health care center after all.
Julie H. and Kristen spent some of their days with a beautiful woman....here they are next to her bed. 
One of the most interesting things to me was the way the health care workers took to the women on our team. Many of the women who worked as health care workers there were from the nearby settlement of Masiphumelele, some of them HIV positive. They were vibrant, affectionate women, to say the least. I think most of us would agree that the workers were more excited about us being there than the patients. They couldn't seem to get enough attention, and I want to be clear that I mean this in the best way possible. It was just so apparent that no one takes the time to pour value into these women. They do in big ways, definitely. It would be arrogant of me to not recognize that they are there through job-creation programs because people cared enough to help them out of poverty. What I mean is in the little ways....like girl talk, and laughing and joking with other women, and making crafts together, and oohing and ahhing over their babies. This was a gift for them. They even came in on their days off just to spend time with the women on our team and to show off their beautiful children. Here are a few pics of them....such amazing people.
One of the most interesting things to me was the way the health care workers took to the women on our team. Many of the women who worked as health care workers there were from the nearby settlement of Masiphumelele, some of them HIV positive. They were vibrant, affectionate women, to say the least. I think most of us would agree that the workers were more excited about us being there than the patients. They couldn't seem to get enough attention, and I want to be clear that I mean this in the best way possible. It was just so apparent that no one takes the time to pour value into these women. They do in big ways, definitely. It would be arrogant of me to not recognize that they are there through job-creation programs because people cared enough to help them out of poverty. What I mean is in the little ways....like girl talk, and laughing and joking with other women, and making crafts together, and oohing and ahhing over their babies. This was a gift for them. They even came in on their days off just to spend time with the women on our team and to show off their beautiful children. Here are a few pics of them....such amazing people. 
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