Chatsworth, Durban Child welfare….

Pastor Bobby works closely with this group to better the lives of children in the community; he introduced me to the director and other key people in the organization. They were so welcoming and loving. We were able to introduced the TeachAIDS CD and they will be using in their school outreach program.

After this we were taken to an informal settlement (Crossmoor). Picture this, less than an acre of metal shacks no bigger than 8 feet by 8 feet with no electricity, no running water and people that can’t get work due to many reasons. One reason is that they have no form of identification. Many of the parents have died from HIV, leaving the children with no birth certificate and starting the domino effect…

Again this hits close to home. As I was left at a police station in Daegu City, South Korea circa 1974 (yes I just gave my age away…. I wear SPF 100 and try to take care of myself and have decent genes; I have decided I’m going to age gracefully…. Maybe botox will be my bff later but for now I don’t care about age) as an infant with no birth certificate and no hope for a future without the amazing support of the Willbanks family. These beautiful people are my family. I could have easily been very much like these people that I am meeting on my journey. I don’t consider Dr. Chuck Barry, Doris, Michael, Lara, Josh, Zach, Atha (aka LADY), Dorothy, George and Grandpa Al, Phyllis, Sherman, Steven, Michelle as adopted parents or foster family. They are my family and I can’t explain the love that I have for them. My heart cannot explain the gratitude for them and their having to deal with my long-time-ago teenage angst. (Oh, I was a handful and a BIG pain in the backside. I gave my parents all the grey hair they have. I know you’re shocked. Yet they did and still show me what unconditional love is).

With no birth certificate these fok in Crossmoor have no way to prove who they are, no possibilities of medical care and very little food. Some of the blessed or lucky people who do have identification can’t afford the bus fare to go to the clinic to get tested for HIV and start the proper regimen of antiviral medications. As in other countries, if they do obtain the antiviral they might or might not take them because they do not have food to take with the medicines. The smell of raw sewage is pungent. One of the other major issues is that the children get very sick because of the raw sewage spill off from where the children play in the dirt. There is one outhouse that caters to this area. I spoke to the group with an angel of a translator Colleen, who works in the area with Chatsworth Children’s welfare in there satellite metal shack. Pastor Bobby is going to help them obtain birth certificates; this is a long process but that is the kind of amazing person Pastor Bobby is. Pastor Bobby is also helping them with other issues they have. He is truly an advocate for the underserved. We were taken on a tour of the informal settlement, women and children came up to me, hugged me and kissed me and held on so tight I wanted to start crying. They just wanted to say thank you.

I don’t feel like I was able to do much but I was able to listen, love them and hopefully give these people a voice that they would not usually have. Pastor Bobby is the grassroots person who will make a difference in the lives of these wonderful people. I am realizing that the grassroots organizations are the major difference. No matter how many Americans come to see the situations and in some way or another throw money at the situation, it is these people that make the true difference. Again it’s very humbling… that seems to be the theme of this pilgrimage or whatever you want to call my year of volunteer service.