touring the township

Everyday we were in the townships we met new people and saw new things. We spent some time with the people that live their lives, everyday, in a shack, taking care of multiple children in poor conditions, and/or struggling everyday to figure out a way to eat that day. We met an amazing woman named Priscilla. She is taking care of eleven children in her small home - most of these children aren't even her own; she had taken them in when they had no place to go. Priscilla has a great attitude and takes care of these kids the best she can, but she runs out of clothing, food, and all of the basic things we take for granted everyday. She has a stack of newspaper in her bathroom to be used as toilet paper; she has one bedroom for all of the children to sleep in; and she spends her afternoons while most of the kids are at school walking around the township with the little ones that aren't in school asking to do small jobs to make a few cents to buy food for the family. She has small government grants for the orphans she has taken in, but it is equivalent to about $20 a month per child and sometimes it runs out in two weeks. Her home was one of many homes we visited this week.



We also toured a shack headed by a young girl living with her younger brother because her parents had died. They are living on practically nothing, yet they are so welcoming when we ask to see her home. Her entire shack is smaller than my bedroom at home, and she has everything her and her brother own in it.




Visiting the "flats" was really hard to see. Although they are apartments with relatively more space, the sights were rough. Children were running around, most of them barefoot, through areas with broken glass and rusted nails and screws all over the place. One child I saw was playing with a wheel that was attached to the end of a wire and pushing it along the sidewalk for fun. When they saw all of us with our cameras they would run over to get their picture taken just to see the image appear on the back. Some would even ask for a turn taking a picture, which would then cause ten more kids to run over jumping over each other to get to us. They ran after our van when we left.