Up until September
this year I was planning on going home to South Africa for two months. There
was the main reason which was the wedding of my beautiful sister and of course
for the festive season. There has only been a handful, not even a full hand,
where I have not been home in December. It has always been a special time with
the family where everyone is on vacation and we just embrace the time we have
together and absorb a few sun rays. I have some of the most amazing memories
during festive times and I find it’s because everyone is so happy and full of
joy. The atmosphere is simply contagious and the kindness and compassion
overflows…
However, after the
seed was planted to do a voluntary program in Malawi and some encouragement
from my elder sister I decided to do it over the festive season including the
merry merry and new year. My sister’s wise words were that I would share it
with amazing children and it would be an incredible experience.
When I woke up on 25
December, the atmosphere was slightly different to what I am obviously use to. However
I decided to take what I had and make the most of it…and we all did for sure.
In the morning we all slept in and collected out energy for our exciting plan,
and that was to spend the afternoon with the family I have mentioned before;
Anna’s family. We walked over to their home around noon only to be welcomed by
the most joyous and happy faces. Her little dumplings ran over to the one
volunteer with so much excitement to see us and grabbed his hands as he lead
the way. We were not only welcomed to spend time with them, but invited into
their home…which I found as such a privilege. We removed our shoes and walked
to one of the rooms to play none other than the craze card game that all the
kiddies over here love. I have never heard of it nor played it until I arrived
here but let me tell you it is SLIGHTLY addictive. So the cards have animals
and numbers on them and you have to match the card played or draw a card…sounds
simple BUT there are a few other rules that took me a while to catch on to.
There were about seven
of us playing to begin with and it kept rotating. It was such a pleasure to
spend time with these loving, friendly and playful children. At one point the
braiding of the other volunteer / assistant manager began and kept two of the
kiddies busy for QUITE a while and they did such an amazing job…always asking
me to look at her hair, with a bright smile, to see how far they had gotten. The
feelings inside me were indescribable but in a nutshell I felt so blessed and
my emotions were exploding with joy and fulfillment. My attention was soon distracted
with another game of cards with one of the older sons and it was so much fun. I
felt like a kid again and couldn’t help it. With all the joy, laughter, jokes
and smiles flowing around, the atmosphere was filled with nothing less than
absolute love.
After a few hours of
playing with the kids we thought it was best to leave as we also did not want
to intrude of their family time. So we gathered the whole family outside to
hand over a small token to each one and their faces absolutely lit up. The one
volunteer realised that they weren’t too sure what I had handed them so showed
the one little girl how to open up the gift…and within minutes everybody had
opened up a candy stick and little badge. Words cannot explain how happy and
grateful they were to receive a gift…something so small but meant something so
big to them. It was such a beautiful moment that I will never forget.
When we walked home I
just reflected on the incredible opportunity I have had here and will still
hold until I leave. I felt so much gratitude and overwhelming joy in my heart
to have shared that special afternoon with the Anna family…
We all took some time
out when we arrived home to relax before our festive evening began. I spent
some time in both the morning and afternoon to message my family and friends.
It was all so different to our usual happy holidays as the family this year was
all in different cities or countries. There were definitely a few moments where
I really missed them all and reflected on our previous memories together. But
soon thereafter I reminded myself of where I was and of the once in a lifetime experience
I had right in front of me…
This is by far one of
the most cherish-able festive seasons I will carry close to my heart…forever
and always.
*Names have been changed.
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