South African Community Development

An absolutely unparalleled experience.

I am not sure that there is any story I can share that another has not shared already. Helping out communities that live in "housing" they can barely move in and throughout was extremely rewarding. Hearing about how the locals live, how blocks of housing share toiletries, how little is available in every sense of what we call living, and yet, there was not one individual without a smile. There was no such thing as negativity, as everyone wore their heart on their sleeve, and brought yours out with them.

The families in the poverty-stricken townships never take anything for granted, and this is a lesson we all learned and implemented very quickly. There are some you may never see again, which can very easily and unpredictably tear your heart into pieces. But, as most of those pieces will heal, some of those pieces will forever remain with the people who's hearts you have touched. As their smiles will forever be with you.

There are two quotes that I saw on this trip that were meant to be:
The first was painted on the side of a wall in one of the communities. It said, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5v16".
The second was an insert from a book, and said, "On the street I saw a naked child, hungry and shivering in the cold. I became angry and said to God, 'Why do you permit this? Why don't you do something?' For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly, 'I certainly did something. I made you.'"
We are one, across the world, and need to treat and take care of each other as such. ISV gave me the best, most tremendous, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do just that. They have nothing, but still imagine beauty. Will you do the same? If so, I can promise you will not regret it.