11 12 2007
In the past few weeks, I’ve had Sarah on my mind. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of running into her. I didn’t even know she was back in town from South Africa! I could brag about what she’s doing for hours… I find it to be refreshing and incredible. You can find a little bit about what she used to do here, right now she’s working on a new website about what she’s currently doing in her new location of Modjadjisjloof, South Africa.
I’ll just steal her bio ; )
“I live in Modjadjiskloof South Africa, and I guess you’d call me a missionary, since I don’t get paid! I work at Pfunanane, in charge of child sponsorships and family ministries…I am also the outreach coordinator, discipleship/computer/English teacher, and I spend time hanging out with and tutoring the kids one-on-one. My life is pretty darn awesome!”
It’s been on my heart for awhile to potentially go down there and live for at least a month documenting everything and well, pretty much doing a photo journalism project for the organization she’s working with. So, I’ve been gathering information, talked to her parents who live back here (and go to my church), just seeing what she needs, what they’re about, what I can do, etc. Looks like they are needing that exact type of exposure.
Yesterday, she immediately had different shots I should take… things I should see, document and write about. I can’t tell you how alive I feel when I talk about all of this. For me, I don’t just want to give to a charity, support a child with X amount of dollars a month - even though I do think that that’s needed and important - but it’s not for me. I don’t have the funds to be able to do that (: P) and I’d rather give of my time and use my gift to make a difference.
So, Sarah and I will be talking more about this and I’m looking at going in the spring sometime. I’ve never felt more at peace about something. She’s so passionate about what she does and more so, about those kids… she had story after story… I could have listened all day. The world desperately needs to hear more about things like this.
Nothing is set in stone, but the stone is rolling. I’ll keep you posted.
These are exciting times - and this is just a piece of it.
-L
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No question, you should do it. I mean, how amazing would that be? Umm, lots. Lots of amazing.
Giving money to a charity a lot of times is just a temporary solution to the real problem of poverty. It’s like giving a man a fish instead of teaching him to fish. A lot of times, people throw money at poverty and expect it to go away. All it does is make them feel a little better for being “charitable”. But it’s not a sustainable solution. Not that just giving money is wrong or that we shouldn’t. But the ultimate goal should be to help fix the causes of poverty, not just the effects.
South Africa is a fabulous country and if you get a chance to go there, take it!
lauren, this sounds so wonderful!
Jon - couldn’t agree more. in latter posts I talked about that more in detail.. and I’m sure we’ll be discussing this, too : )
=D