Full Circle Moment

Today I had a bit of a full circle moment and it brought tears to my eyes.  My purpose for coming to Africa was to simply see the land and explore its animals and people.  It’s something I always wanted to do.  However, over time, I’ve had a growing sense of wanting to give; to help.  I try to donate to different causes, especially those that are near and dear to my friends and family.  However I wanted to be able to help on a personal level.  My goal when I came to Africa was to feel like I made the difference in the life of at least one person.  Although it wasn’t JUST me, I did play a role in doing just that.

Because of the gracious donations from friends and family, I was able to give a donation of around $300 to The Happy Africa Foundation which is connected with African Impact, the group I am volunteering through.  I asked for that money to go towards the 2 projects that I will be spending my time on.  Here at Thanda, African Impact has been helping the Mdletshe School.  They have been raising money for the first of 3 phases, to build a fence around the school grounds so they can move forward in applying for funding from the government.  The funding will allow them to have access to more supplies and food for the school.  The second phase is to build 2 outhouses and then to build a 3^rd school building so the kindergarteners can get out of the shack they are currently in.

Well there is no way of knowing for sure, but shortly after my arrival and the donation made, they had enough money that they could go forward with building the fence.  I truly feel that it was part of that donation that put the fund over the top.  It took a few days for the supplies and everything to get organized (and a few extra days for ‘South Africa time’), but it finally got all sorted out.

Yesterday we showed up at the school to start the fence building process.  There were already members from the community working and as soon as we started, many more of then joined in.  There were many hands working together towards the common goal.  We carried the poles to the holes that were already dug, we pulled up old fences, we picked garbage, we gathered rocks for filling holes and then we poured concrete and set the poles up.  Because of the time limit, we weren’t able to get all of the poles up and filled but we got 95% of them done so it felt great.

Afterwards, the community liaison that has been working with the Mdletshe School and Natasha from African Impact and Thanda Game Reserve, created a proper ceremony.  We all gathered around as Natasha said a few words and officially handed over the fence building project to the community members.  The community liaison spoke a few words in Zulu.  The principal, who we’ve met on 3 different occasions at the school spoke a few words in Zulu and then in English.  Her passion and drive for her school and the kids there are very apparent and she was very appreciative of the efforts we all put in to make this day happen.

Then the Induna which is the leader of the locals in the area and in this rare scenario, is a women, spoke as well.  I am not sure what she said but I knew it was very happy and joyous and in true Zulu form, she did a little dancing as others clapped and sung along.  I love how happy and joyful they all are.

Then, the full circle moment happened.  Not only did we get to spend time, play and work with the children who would get to take advantage of the efforts we put in for their school and get to share in their excitement, we heard from a man from the community.  He spoke for a while and as it was translated, he said because of the of what we did for his community and the school that day, he said he will no longer hunt (poach) on Thanda’s Game Reserve!!!  It was a very powerful moment that really struck home for many of us.  It felt like our efforts, my efforts were important.  They made a difference in many lives and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of it.  It fills my heart and warms my soul.  It has changed my outlook and my future involvement with local charities.  Hopefully I can continue to make a difference in at least 1 person’s life!