With the Sons of St. Dominic in South Africa

Day 0: 5/27/14

After 18 hours of flying and about 24 hours of total traveling without any sleep, we arrived in Springs. Br. Dominic, who is in charge of the St. Martin De Porres Development Project, along with Pete (a pre-novice) and our driver met us at the airport in Johannesburg. When we approached the St. Martin van, I was very confused because Br. Dominic insisted that I sit in front seat on the left side. I thought he wanted me to drive, which considering I’d been awake for over 30 hours and had no idea where we were going would not have been the best idea. But as I climbed into what I thought was the driver’s seat, I realized the steering wheel was on the right side of the car. Driving on the left side of the road is going to take some getting used to. After arriving in Springs we were pretty beat so we only made brief interdictions before heading off to our bedrooms around 11ish.

Day 1: 5/28/14

This is our real first day in South Africa; I felt rather like a zombie yesterday. We got up around 7:30 to shower. After a day of traveling and sitting on airplanes, I felt like a new man once I’d had my shower. Jenna and I then had (very good South African) tea with Fr. Raphael, a Dominican who is the pastor at St. Lewis Bertrand parish, not too far from the Priory in Springs. Pete, the pre-novice, then gave us the tour of the house. The Dominican community is a rather small one. There are only about 6 Dominicans living there, three of whom are priests. The buildings are simple, but homely and decorated with beautiful crucifixes and paintings of Dominican saints, including some copies of Fra Angelico paintings. Attached to the Priory is a beautiful parish church staffed by one of the Dominicans, Fr. Brian. Next to the church is the Veritas Primary School, affiliated with the Dominicans, some of whom teach at the school. There is also a Veritas High School located some distance away. After our tour we had simple breakfast of cereal and made our selves peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch.

Then we were off! We accompanied Pete, Tabo and Bertrand (two Dominicans), and Happy, a program director at St. Martin’s, to the organization’s location in Kwa-Thema, one of Spring’s townships. We only stayed about 10 minutes to be introduced to the caregivers and so Happy could grab her laptop. Leaving Kwa-Thema, we drove to St. Martin’s main plot, just outside the township of Kwa-Zenzele. We got the tour of the plot, which is actually two properties, one which St. Martin’s owns and contains most of the buildings and material, and a second which they are currently renting where the kitchen is located. The kitchen serves the children from Kwa-Zenzele a nutritious meal, the only food some of the children eat all day. The menu varies depending on the day, but it usually includes some kind of combination of maize, oatmeal, dumplings, vegetables (cabbage, tomatoes, spinach, onions or beans), and beef or chicken. The main building houses Br. Dominic’s office, the dinning room for the kids, another office and meeting room. There was a computer lab, but 3 months ago it was broken into and all 18 computers were stolen.

Next to the main building are swings and a playground for the children. Behind the house is the farm. The farm contains two very large pigs, a lot of pigeons, some rabbits, geese, and an abundance of chickens. Stephen Jenna, one of the board members, showed us around the farm. He explained how the rabbits are there so that the children can play with them and encounter an animal they would not otherwise see. The chickens are used mostly for eggs, not for meat. Next to the farm there are two greenhouses. Mr. Jenna who is an agricultural specialist runs these. In the greenhouses, the organization grows the vegetables that it uses to serve the children.

After our tour of the plot, Pete took us on a walk to Kwa-Zenzele. I have never seen such poverty. Some of the “houses” do have electricity, but at least half do not. Most houses are made out of metal sheets, not wood or stone. They are only about the size of one large room or perhaps two smaller rooms. Pete said that most of these tiny houses have between 6-10 occupants. Almost all of the inhabitants of this township are unemployed. There are many broken families. HIV/AIDS has robbed many children of one or both of their parents. These children often live in homes with no adults, no authority figures. Just children. Many of those children who do have parents are not all that much better off. Alcoholism is pervasive. These children who are not orphaned are still considered vulnerable. Parents often cause other problems too. They usually discourage their children from attending school. Without parental support for their education, many children drop out of school because it is hard. As I walked through Kwa-Zenzele I saw children of all ages who instead of going to school just wander around the township. These children have only experienced the township. That is all they know. They are not able to think or dream of a better life. They see their parents and older siblings unemployed or drunk and they accept that as their own future. It is very hard to break through that vision of their future.

Returning to the plot, we sat with Happy and Pete talking for a while. Then we had lunch and began setting up for when the children arrive. The children arrive after school (though, of course, not all attend school) around 3 o’clock. We did not get to meet the kids today because Br. Dominic took us to see another nearby township, (Jabavu?). The treasure of the St. Martin’s board lives there. She is a nice Zulu woman who speaks no English. We talked with her for a few minutes through Br. Dominic. Then we took a walk around this township, which was (only) a little bit more developed than Zenzele. There were a lot of pigs, goats and chickens roaming the dirt streets. Occasionally a dog would scamper by. We also met some children wandering around. Some were returning from school. There were a lot of young children left unattended who we encountered wandering the streets. Whenever we passed a child Br. Dominic would stop to say hello, give a high five, or joke with. They usually responded with a laugh and a smile. We met one small child who looked to be about 3 or 4 years old wandering barefoot down the street (a lot of the children are barefooted). He was shy and wouldn’t speak to us. Br. Dominic put his hand on the boy’s head and brought him along with us until we found his home. It is hard seeing children like this.

When we returned to the plot around 5 the children were heading home. We soon headed back home ourselves. Back at the Priory we had tea with the Dominicans. During our tea one of the ladies who works at the parish came in and talked to us for a bit. She asked us if we’d like to come meet the parish’s Confirmation class. They were a very mixed bunch of young adults. There were white South Africans, Zulus, other South African tribes, Africans from Mozambique, a Portuguese boy and a Lebanese boy. They all spoke English and go to the better schools in Springs. They were very interested to hear about us, why we were hear, what we were studying, what it was like in America, what we thought of South Africa. It was very enjoyable. They asked for us to come help out at some point as well, which I hope we shall have the opportunity to do.

After meeting the Confirmation class we headed over to the Prior’s small chapel for Evening Prayer. It was just the six of us, me, Jenna, Br. Dominic, Pete, Tabo (another pre-novice) and Bernard (a young man from Lesotho who will be a pre-novice next year). We might not have sounded very pretty singing the hymn or the Magnificat, but we made a joyful sound unto the Lord. It was very fulfilling to gather together after our day of service to remember why we help our brothers and to be fed by the prayer of the Church so that we might go back out tomorrow and serve again refreshed by the love of Christ.

With the Sons of St. Dominic in South Africa

Me and two of the girls

A Picture of Two of the Kids!

First Day

46 Hours Till Departure

(Roughly) 70 Hours Till Take Off!

"You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves." – St. Francis De Sales