Village of Hope

Africa
Visiting Cape Town was not in our original plan and visiting Village of Hope definitely wasn’t but we could not be more thankful and blessed by our random encounter with Tim and Maz while sitting on a boulder in Camps Bay. And for the rest of the Village of Hope team, we will forever be remembered as the “boulder couple”.

On our first Sunday in Cape Town, we made our way to Camps Bay and tried to find the most remote place to take in the breathtaking view around us. Shortly after, we were joined by a couple, Tim and Maz, who simply asked “can we share your boulder?”. After about thirty minutes of conversation, we learned that Tim and Maz run Village of Hope, which is a not-for-profit in Grabouw, a township 60km outside of Cape Town, which provides a safe and loving environment for children infected or affected by HIV, AIDs, and TB. Five minutes into our conversation, we felt like we had known Tim and Maz for years. As their time on the boulder came to an end, Tim gave us his email and asked what we were doing next Thursday. Originally, we were supposed to be going on a township tour but after talking, we decided a visit to Village of Hope was far better than any tour we could get…and we could not have been more right. We emailed Tim that evening and let him know that we were headed his way.

Our first family photo

So we started off on an adventure that will stay with us forever. Kyle successfully drove on the wrong side of the road for the first time…with only a few, ok – maybe a lot, of commentary from me and we arrived in Grabouw. Within minutes of arriving to Village of Hope, Maz showed us to the children’s unit where we had the opportunity to meet thirteen of the most beautiful, funny, adorable and resilient children we have ever met. Currently, thirteen children, ages 8 months – 10 years old, live at Village of Hope. Some have been there for only a month or so, while others have been there for three years. Village of Hope’s main goal is to be able to reunite the children with their families. So far, over fifty children have come through Village of Hope, many of which have been successfully reunited with their families. As soon as you walk into the children’s unit, you know that it is a special place. Within minutes you are greeted by the loving and strong house moms and learning quickly about each child’s story and their beyond unique personality. During our time with the children, there was a mixture of emotions…from pure joy and happiness to an instant feeling of wanting to cry. You look around at the children who have gone through more than we could have ever imagined and all they have on their faces is a smile…aside from the random tantrum or cry when they did not like sharing with the other children so much. The amount of love that the children had to offer was something that we could never explain. They flourish you with endless hugs and kisses without even knowing your name, your background, or simply anything about you. Their ability to give so much love with wanting only a piggy back ride or simply a lap to sit in is by far one of the most beautiful and purest things we have ever been given the opportunity to witness. All of the children have something so special to offer…

Like our three year old buddy, who has fetal alcohol syndrome, but is the happiest and sweetest little boy you will ever meet…we often find ourselves laughing at his completely fearless attitude when climbing and jumping off the furniture or his caring heart while clapping for the other children when they simply figured out how to open a plastic toy car door.

Or the beautiful, three year old girl that is far beyond her years, who literally is a walking miracle. Doctors told everyone that she would never be able to walk but within the last few weeks she has started walking with her walking sticks and is always telling you to “come” so she can grab your hands and use just a little support to quickly make her way around and play hide-n-seek with the other children.

Or three amazing brothers that touched our hearts in an unbelievable way. Honestly, if the goal of Village of Hope was adoption, Kyle and I would have adopted these three little boys in a heartbeat…and that is saying a lot considering I have always been terrified of what I would do if we only had all boys.

Each child at Village of Hope has left a mark on us that we will never forget. While we do not know if they will ever remember us, our memory of them will last forever.

And the amazing work of the Village of Hope team does not stop with the fifty children that have come through the children’s unity. Their work extends far beyond their compound walls. You see their incredible efforts in their weekly sports-based programs that teach local children important life lessons such as team work or self-respect. They provide weekly support groups for teenagers affected by HIV/AIDs that allows them to believe in themselves and that they can accomplish whatever they put their mind to. They do a soup run every Friday that brings warm soup and bread to the local communities. While exploring the town with Tim, it was so obvious what an impact Village of Hope has made on the town of Grabouw. Village of Hope has managed to light and foster a spark in a community that could so easily loose its flame.

It is impossible to describe exactly what the townships in South Africa are like or the types of hardships so many South Africans experience until you see it with your own eyes. And even after our time with Tim in Grabouw, we still can only comprehend a small part of it all. Thousands of families live in shacks made of scrap metal and mud floors, no running water, heat or a stove to cook your meals. The closest toilet could be over a ten minute walk from your front door. And that toilet is shared by everyone. The government is trying to build new houses for the townships but some people have been on the waiting list for over ten years or a new home might be built on top of your home…meaning within a day, the government could tell you that tomorrow you must build your shack elsewhere and move your belongings. And even though apartheid is “no longer in existence”, there is mass segregation and tension amongst the different ethnicities. Not just between blacks and whites, but between blacks and any other ethnic minority. While of course there has been some progress, more so in the bigger cities, segregation and racial differences are still very much alive and a key problem in South Africa. Tim did not share these things with us to make us sad and the people of Grabouw did not want our pity…they simply wanted to educate us about what was happening to and around them.

Experiences at places of Village of Hope make things quite confusing and cause your heart and mind to be pulled in 1,001 directions. It is so easy to live in our own world and forget about the struggles around us. We have both always been pulled towards doing something like Tim and Maz and that desire and pull has now only grown with just the little time that we had at Village of Hope. Without a doubt, we will visit again and hopefully for much longer than just two days. We are forever grateful to Tim and Maz, the rest of the Village of Hope team, all of the beautiful children that we met, and the people of Grabouw for letting us be a part of their community. Thank you for touching our hearts in a way we could never describe and encouraging us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves…and reminding us, that every gesture, regardless of how big or small, can make a difference….even it is just a friendly smile to a stranger.