I have just returned from a Humanitarian Service trip to Zimbabwe, Africa. I have never known a kinder, gentler people...or a people with more courage. The experience was a heart-breaking one, as Zimbabwe has the largest amount of orphans per capita, of any country on the African continent. A generation of parents has been wiped out by the AIDS virus, and the dirty streets are filled with begging children, trying to find anything that will help them to survive. The community garbage dump was filled with people who live in the dump, scavenging what they can, and making their small lean-to shacks out of discarded scraps of whatever they can find. The women lined up respectfully in one line and the men in another, waiting their turns patiently, then humbly accepting the "new clothes" we had brought to them. In the midst of their filth, hunger, and desperation, they began singing to us in Shona. Our time in "the bush" was also touching, as children ran with excitement to accept whatever we had to give them. I taught 9 workshops at a Youth Camp while there, and the kids never moved a muscle as they listened. How incredibly grateful they are for ANYTHING that helps to lift them from their daily struggles and heartaches. They are my heroes. Their faces, faith, courage, and goodness are carved in my heart.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:48:05 +0000
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