Submitted by Stephanie Stern on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in South Africa sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and the Department of History…
The past week in South Africa has been so enlightening, and even more tiring. Between our placements and our South African History classes, my whole group cannot wait to get to safari and relax! For the past week, I have been volunteering at an orphanage called New Beginningz. This orphanage takes in babies who have been abandoned or abused and brings them into a safe environment. New Beginningz is fortunate enough to have a lovely house, a full staff, teachers and therapists that they work closely with, and even a medial room in their facility. Other orphanages in South Africa are not as lucky, and it is important to keep that in mind while volunteering. The caregivers, or aunties as the children call them, are so sweet and have taught me so much. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen while I was volunteering. The woman who heads the kitchen always made it smell so good in there, I could not resist. When I got there, I think the aunties assumed we had no idea how to cook, clean, or care for children. It was nice to be able to change their minds and help out around the house as well as give the children some extra love and attention for the week we were there. The children at New Beginningz really amazed me. They were so well behaved and it was obvious that the aunties worked hard to teach the children to be independent and strong. The children love the aunties and it is truly as though each one of the aunties had 33 children. They work so hard: I was told they work and live at the orphanage 21 days at a time and then have only 3 days off. It is a 24/7 job and they were truly inspiring to watch and learn from. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, seven girls helping out for six days probably did not do much. However, being able to give the children hugs that they have missed out on, and giving them a little bit more love than usual made them noticeably happier for even a short while. I think the children had more of an effect on me than I did on them— the experience really opened my eyes to how hard these women work and how different our lives have been due to the mere coincidence of the environment we were all born into. I will really miss those children, and I hope they don’t break the hula hoops we brought (that they had been asking for since day one) too soon.
