Until We Meet Again

When Holly, my coordinator, asked if I would write 100 words to describe my experience as a volunteer on the medical project, I didn't know if I'd ever get it down to a reasonable size and adequate explanation. By the time I left South Africa I knew exactly what I wanted to tell everyone but now that I've had a chance to separate myself physically, I've also had time to reflect on it and I'd like to elaborate on my experience.

I never thought I would be so lucky as to have an opportunity as great as my time in South Africa.

The first day I drove into Masiphumelele with Brian and Remi, I saw the impoverished conditions and was completely doubt stricken. What had I gotten myself into? It was entirely my own decision to leave the creature comforts of home and try something new but was it a case of 'too much, too soon'? Flash forward to two weeks later, poetically driving out of Masi with Brian and Remi for the last time and I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the thought of not getting to go back.

It may seem cliché to describe my experience as life changing, but when the shoe fits... I'll have to call it what it was, and that was nothing short of life changing. In Fish Hoek I lived with volunteers from around the world, and met many other volunteers in Gordon's Bay. All of the people I met were once called volunteers, or coordinators, or managers, or drivers, or housekeepers or whatever other labels there may have been, but now there is only one label that will need to be remembered. Having once very briefly considered them strangers, I can now proudly call these people my friends. We all started this journey at different times and all for our own reasons but now we have a shared experience that can never be taken away.

Although I was the only medical project volunteer at the time, and there had only been one previously, I got to help shape the program. I never expected for this to be the case when I started. Day after day Holly asked what GVI could do to improve the programming and I felt I could only offer minor changes. If anyone, Shirley, the principal at Masi, shaped that program more than I did. I'm so thankful to have met someone so eager to learn, and to share that knowledge. Having the chance to work with Shirley and have her guide the topics, taught me about their needs, just as much as I imagine we helped her. Yet knowing that the information is sustainable long after I'm gone is every bit as important to me as the time I actually got to spend with everyone.

Teaching children how to wash their hands is so invaluable.
Teaching children how to cough into their sleeve is so practical.
Teaching women why they should wash their fruit before eating it is so simple.
Teaching women enough to feel empowered is extraordinary.

But teaching myself that I have the confidence to try something new, so far beyond my comfort zone, and still be successful, changed me.

There will never be a day that goes by from now on where I don't think about the children and carers at Masi. I can still hear their accents as I recall the way they pronounced the colours they'd memorized in order on the colour chart. Rrrred, yellllow, bllue...

The country itself is something I will cherish, too. The sense of community in the townships and the beautiful landscapes are just as important to me as the people themselves. I've had many experiences I could never do at home, like seeing a severed sheep head before people ate them or going on a safari. Since seeing The Lion King for the first time, I knew going on a safari was something I needed to do in life. Getting to go on a safari with five new friends was just an added bonus. I probably could have done without the sheep heads, though.

Every time I learn a new language, one of the first things I try to remember is how to say thank you. Fittingly, the first word I learned in Xhosa was the translation of thank you, 'enkosi'. This word is endlessly powerful and will never be enough, but to GVI, to Masi and to the people of South Africa, I would like to say enkosi.

Ironically, I never learned the word for goodbye in Xhosa, so I'll just have to say, until we meet again.