Food Drop

My day today started at 5:30am, because Jessica and I were invited to join Tom on a "food drop" to a remote area about 2 hours drive from GGA.  These food drops are done monthly to numerous communities in the area.  A food package consisting of rice, mealy meal (kind of a gluey white starch), beans, tins of fish, oil, soap, and few other staples is put together and given to family units that have been identified as particularly unable to provide for themselves.  Since GGA focuses on orphaned children, these "families" often consist of a Gogo (granny) with 5-10 dependent grandchildren, or perhaps a young woman in her upper teens or early twenties who is caring for several siblings as well as her own baby.  I believe that GGA gives out almost 300 of these food parcels per month in total.  The families are identified by local Zulu social workers and community health workers, so GGA always takes one or two of these workers along on food drops.  They have existing relationships with the families and know their situations, they act as translators and provide safety. 

So, we loaded up the "combie" with supplies and headed out on the road.  The scenery was breathtaking as we climbed higher and higher into the hills and looked down on the valleys below!  About 2 hours into the trip, we stopped at a small town to pick up the community workers who would go with us.  We were the ONLY white people in the village, and stuck out as rather conspicuous!  Jess got many stares, and I'm sure I could have easily sold her for a couple of cows (Hee Hee)!  Jess needed to use the bathroom quite badly, so we asked around where there might be one.  A girl who seemed to speak some English told us to follow, and led Jess and I quite a ways down the road and through the market to sort of an office building (I use the description very loosely!).  On the way, she tried to explain that the water in the whole township had been turned off (we didn't learn if this was temporary, but she seemed to think it was quite normal), but that perhaps one building might have a functioning "loo".  It turned out that there was no water to be found, but after many Zulu explanations, we were allowed to use the unflushed and rather "ripe" toilet in the building.  This begs the question...what facilities do the villagers use?!

We climbed back into the vehicle with one female social worker and one very large, male Zulu Chief.  The food parcels were dropped one by one at locations several kilometers apart. 

 I always knew that there would come a time when I would experience the raw need of this culture, but nothing could have prepared me for the emotions I felt at seeing first hand the poverty in which so many people exist.  In this area, most homes are traditional "rondavels" (round huts) with thatched roofs.  They are small and hot and crowded.  The very poorest live in small square huts made of hand-formed mud bricks, with a corrugated metal roof.  These provide very little protection against the rain, bugs, wild animals, and blazing sun.  How touching to see the shy smiles of the waiting families as we drove up, and then the hands of the Gogos clapped together in the traditional sign of gratitude as we drove away.

To complete the picture, imagine bumpy dirt roads, hundreds of cows and goats roaming freely, donkey-drawn carts, and women walking along the sides of the road with babies strapped to their backs and baskets on their heads.  As Jessica so aptly put it, "Mom, we've arrived in the REAL Africa now!".  I know that we've all seen these scenes in National Geographic and on TV, but it's indescribable to actually experience it.

All I could think of all day was how ridiculously extravagant our lives in North America seem by comparison.  I enjoy my comforts as much as anyone, and am even now missing my house and all its amenities, but until now I have taken our lifestyle for granted, and have even felt sorry for myself at times because we don't have more.  The big challenge is to take these lessons home with me and not lose them in the North American lifestyle once we get back.