1/2/2024 0 Comments Safari joe blessing![]() ![]() We started with the “Me Drawings”, where each child traces each other’s outline on paper and then writes down what they like and what they don’t like inside their shape. Here is where we were able to conduct the activities that we had done ourselves and seen explained at the caregivers’ workshops with the children, as our final application of the knowledge we had gained in four short weeks. We had around 9 children each day, between the ages of 5 and 20. Lois assigned Amanda and I to work with her at a camp right in town, at the Sinomlando office. ![]() I pray that I can embody the joy and peace that I found in Africa for my friends and family, and know that my life is now devoted to sharing God’s grace. As I have been afforded this great opportunity, I am called to reciprocate to others what I have received. Matthew 10:8 says “Freely you have received, freely give”. It was more than a journey, or a trip – it was an experience that I hope to never forget or neglect to reflect upon. Thank you for staying with Amanda and I throughout the whole journey, for reaching out, for reconnecting when we returned. Thank you for your blessings, your prayers, and your love. There are many things I need to update this blog on our final days in Pietermaritzburg, our trip to Johannesburg, and the many zebras and giraffes we saw while on safari, but this might be the most important. While the United States might have material wealth and strive to be the most powerful around the world, I had never encountered such spiritual wealth until Amanda and I embarked upon our Smith Fellowship journey. (Aside from the day we had to leave, of course!) I had never felt such joy and peace as when we were in South Africa, and that has continued to buoy me through to today. I look around my apartment and marvel at the amount of “stuff” that my roommates and I consider essential to daily life, and I know that this is a larger and more stable shelter than many of my friends in South Africa will ever have.Ī good friend asked me recently: “how did you deal with the poverty, wasn’t it so sad?” Her question caught me off guard for a moment – because it was sad – but I can’t remember one moment when I felt upset in South Africa. In the moments that I feel frustrated or overwhelmed in a situation, I think back to those in South Africa who don’t have the opportunity to fathom getting a college education, much less get frustrated when a professor keeps a class too long. When life gets out of control busy, I remember the Viennese tradition of taking time to relax in a café to enjoy the company of friends. I didn’t want to believe the cliché that studying abroad had changed me – but it has seeped into every aspect of my life. Everything looked the same, smelled the same, felt the same, and when my friends slowly trickled onto campus for various commitments the reunions were magical. Aside from the construction around campus, I couldn’t figure out what was different. I felt an immediate sense of comfort and familiarity when I walked on campus for the first time since December 2012 (I studied abroad Spring 2013 too, remember?), and yet a small sense of unrest nagged at my heart for a few days. The dust has settled since our reentry, and the semester has gone from 0 to 120 in approximately. ![]() We have been back in the United States for almost three months now, and on campus for a month. Awe over the entire experience that we were so blessed to have, and joy in the people we met, the experiences we had, and the lessons we learned. As we were reflecting on our experience and slowly flipping through our hundreds of photos, we still felt a sense of awe and joy that I hope never disappears. At 7pm tonight, in the Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies at PC, Amanda and I will be presenting our Smith Fellowship journey to the College community. ![]()
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