We can all do something- no matter how small- it makes a difference

Why is it so many people have to suffer? It doesn’t seem fair that some people are born to a life of luxury and riches while others are born to abject poverty and have no chance in life. This really bothers me a lot. I see so many people who are suffering and who really want a better life but they just don’t have that little bit of help that will get them started. It’s not fair. If everyone who could took the time to help someone else, it would make a huge difference in this world. Yesterday, I was told by someone very close that I need to stop trying to save the world and it really hurt. I know that I can’t save the world or save Africa but I can do things that will make a difference in many lives. And for those that I do help, to them, it makes a world of difference.

There is a woman I am going to meet with next week who is leading a movement here in South Africa for women and food security. We will most likely be partnering with her organization to try and make a greater impact. Fortunately, I can’t ever remember having been food insecure. But for millions it is a daily struggle. And she is working with mothers here in South Africa who can’t find enough food for their children and many of them have resort to feeding them things like mixtures of clay and cow manure to keep their little ones stomachs full. But then what happens is they end up with intestinal obstructions and it is life threatening. I can’t possibly imagine having to give Sienna and Sofia something that would just fill their stomachs so they wouldn’t cry of hunger.

It’s not easy seeing the poverty and the need day in and day out- especially for someone like me who has been compelled for as long as I can remember to try and help others in need. There has got to be an answer to ending the cycle of poverty. We have to keep working hard and helping others to help themselves. We can’t have the attitude that we won’t make a difference. We can make a difference, even if it is small. I am always reminded of the story of the starfish-

A small boy was walking along a beach at low tide, where countless starfish, having been washed up on the beach, were stranded and doomed to perish. A man watched as the boy picked up individual starfish and took them back into the water.

"I can see you're being very kind," said the watching man, "But there must be thousands of them; it can't possibly make any difference."

Returning from the water's edge, the boy said, "It will for that one."

And I know that no matter what my family and friends think about me being here in South Africa, to the people who I am helping, it will make a world of difference and hopefully to generations to come. And it will be an incredible learning experience for Sienna and Sofia. And hopefully, they will follow in my footsteps and achieve even greater things than me.

Tonight, I had a little girl call me. She is Lungi’s daughter. Lungi is the man who helped me get moved into the house. He was a former Heifer employee here in SA but was let go last year due to the recession. Lungi and his wife are both unemployed but they want so much for their children to get good educations. They have 3 children. 2 boys (one of them is Njabulo who the girls absolutely adore). They have gotten to a point where the school fees are too much for them to pay. Even the public schools here cost quite a bit of money- especially if you are unemployed. Anyway, his daughter called me tonight. I have never met her or spoken to her previously. And when she called I had just gotten home and was frazzled with the girls acting out of hand. I was trying to get them rounded up and into the bathtub. She was very shy and said she needed to come talk to me tomorrow. I didn’t know what she was asking for and asked her to tell me why she wanted to see me. She said what I thought was “battery”. I had no clue what was going on and thought maybe something had happened to Lungi or maybe he needed money to buy a battery. After a few attempts, I finally understood she was saying bursary. She was asking if I could help her in her school fees. By this time, I was totally taken aback and didn’t know what to say. I told her that I couldn’t make any decision and she needed to tell Lungi to come to me about this matter. After I hung up and started thinking about it, I felt very bad. This young girl really wants to continue with her studies and her parents can’t afford to keep her in school. Lungi and his wife didn’t get a good education and they are limited to the small jobs they come by right now. But they want what all parents want- for their children to succeed. So, I called her back and told her to come with her dad to my office tomorrow. I told her I can’t promise anything but I would at least listen to her. I could hear she had been crying when she picked up. I will do what I can to help, even if it is small. I think of what a great life Sienna and Sofia have had and it makes me feel really sad for those who are struggling to give their children a decent life and keep them in school so they hopefully have a chance. I can’t imagine them having to call people they don’t really know to ask them to help them go to school. Life is so unfair to some.

Again, it’s not easy to be faced with the need and poverty day in and day out. We can all do more to help. Even if it is small, it makes a difference to those in need.

On a more positive note, the girls are good. So funny these days. I love to sit and listen to them chatter. Sienna talks non stop about froggy and his adventures. She talks about when froggy was born and what he was like. She colors pictures for him. And of course, she still blames froggy every time she gets in trouble. Their imagination is so active right now. This morning, Sienna told me that she was such a good artist that when she got big she was going to do tattoos on animals. Great, an animal tattoo artist. Haven’t seen that before. And Sofia said she wanted to be a dentist. Sienna sits and colors all the time. She wakes up, she colors. She gets home from school she colors. She colors endlessly. You can’t get Sofia to pick up a color. She doesn’t want to. They are very different in that respect. They are also going through a phase where they tell me constantly they love me and constantly they like what I am wearing, they like my hair, etc. It is very sweet. They are just funny to listen to. I wish I could right everything down they said. For example, our neighbors name is Michelle. Well, Sofia swears her name is My Shell. And they continue to pick up the accent here. Like today, they were asking for “wahtah” or water. And after care at school is afta care.

Tonight when we went to the grocery store, there was a lady walking down the sidewalk carrying a 25 lb bag of maize on her head. They see this all the time when they are in the car but this was the first time they had been close. They stopped in their tracks (and in her way) and were frozen. They were so excited. And then of course they were trying to carrying their things on their head.

Easter 2010

Such a sweet picture of Sienna and Sofia. It makes you wonder what they are thinking about in that exact moment.