Take a Taco or: Tekatako

Today was a special day: for the first time in 2 years I went back into community. It felt very special. Even though, it felt less overwhelming than  the first few times, 3 years ago, it was so precious to look in the eyes of these incredible people. Paying attention and caring about people empowers them. 

Tekatako is a Care Point for people with disabilities; physical as well as mental as well as a combination. There was a little boy called Geno* who immediately after entering the property came to me and rested against my back. I tried to hug him. Later when we were sitting in a group of volunteers as well as members of the centrum, even though Geno asked a lot of attention, I tried my best to divide my attention to all the people by looking at them and smiling encouraging to them; To Wendy*, a beautiful young girl who hid behind her hoody. She was constantly laughing and giggling, but when she was telling her story she looked very serious, it seemed she was hiding a rough childhood behind her smiles; To Sant* a mentally challenged boy of 14 years who prays every day and hopes for more transport to and from the center. This boy wasn’t scared of talking so when we started praying all together he had to be stopped by a Care Worker, she said Amen a couple of times, because else I’m positive he could have been praying all day and night; To Kande* who would love to be a carpenter, he is 22 years old and lives together with his mom, brother, sister, another brother and his aunt; To Gerry* an older man with quite a big head (he is known for it in the center) who mostly wanted toys and sports gear for the kids at the center to play with. It always touches my heart deeply to hear someone who has so little ask more for the people around him instead of asking for himself. At this moment the kids played with a stick… which they did have fun with! Every time they passed the stick to a Mlungu (white person) and then another boy would come and fetch it. The two leaders at this Care Point are Precious* and Steven*. Precious helped us with translations and told us that the center was founded by Steven in 2012. He felled called by God and went passed many, many houses to identify people (kids and adults) in need. Many people with disabilities are locked inside their houses and have no place they belong to. By bringing them to the center in a wheelchair (which isn’t easy, believe me) he made a place of belonging for them. A place where they could interact with new people, received lessons and found a place to work and play. At this moment there are about 50 members/registrations. Unfortunately, every day only about 10 people are at the Care Point. Throughout the day we kept hearing how transport is a challenge.

At our homevisit with Peter*, a 17 year old boy with a muscle disease which made him bound to his wheelchair, we heard this again. To get him to the Care Point his Grandmother would have to pay 300Rand for transport. He would then be able to come for a month. But for this Gogo this is an enormous amount of money. Peter lives together with his Gogo, and two other grandchildren who are 4 and 8 (fortunately they can go to school). His parents are out of the picture due to misuse of alcohol. Gogo doesn’t receive a disability grant from the government for Peter, his mother receives this money, but they haven’t seen any of it. That is why they are in the middle of the process to stop this grant and make Gogo Peters official guardian. In this way they will receive the grant and use it for what it is meant for. Unfortunately, this is a very long process in Africa, if will work at all.

When I saw Peter, I felt a knob in my stomach. Because he is in a wheelchair and doesn’t go to physiotherapy like he would in Holland, he is very skinny, especially his arms and legs are insanely thin. Nothing more than bones, tissue and his skin. This makes him look more like 13 years old than the 17 years he has actually carries. His head is also quite small and the eyes he looks out of ( we doubted for a while if he could see) are red with a thick white layer at some parts. Another feature that stood out to me was how far his lower lip was moved forward which made it harder for him to speak and made eating look very challenging. When he received a chocolate marshmallow I was watching with held in breath hoping he wouldn’t choke on it. Even though this boy faces many challenges and his life is clearly not easy, there was a positive vibe around him. He constantly made everyone laugh, well everyone that understood SiSwati at least. He asked about the Care Point: Is it safe? Is the roof finished (with a big storm in November the roof was blown off of one of the buildings at the center, but due to high costs it hasn’t been fixed yet), and he asked about his friend. A sweet guy in the red shirt who when I left secretly gave me a kiss on my cheek. Brenda said very rightly that we needed to get this boy to the Care Point, not only will it make him very happy, his humor and positive attitude will bring a smile on the face of many others there. And isn’t that what it’s all about? 300Rand a month is a lot for the people here. For us, this would be €18.81 a month. This is not that much for us (less than a lot of people pay for their phones every month, to make a comparison). In the evening I asked Craig, the dad of the friend I am staying with and together with his wife Brenda is CEO of Sinani (the organization that takes care of 12 Care Points), if it was possible to give personal or specific donations. He told me this is definitely possible at Sinani and they would make sure the money goes where it should.

What they do with the donation is as follows: Instead of letting me give the money to this Gogo and Peter, they give it to Precious or Steven. By giving the money to the Care Workers they will be encouraged and the Centrum will be strengthened. Because the money is given from the name of the Care Point instead of from the hands of a Mlungu (white person), they make sure that the Centre gets a good name (which they should because they do amazing things) and make for extra strength for the people there. Precious told me what they do at the Care Point: They make sure the people who come there receive a meal, they work together to build fences and buildings, together they grow vegetables in a small garden and the children and adults receive special education altered to their needs. Besides this they can play together and they have a place where they belong instead of being stuck in their house. Almost all houses here have stairs to get to the doors, and the roads have many holes in it, so even though it is amazing that some people have a wheelchair, life in the community isn’t designed for this. Another very important task that Precious and Steven carry out is sharing about God, Jesus and the Bible. This brings encouragement and hope to people. The adults as well as the children receive so much strength from this.

In conclusion… It was a very special day.

P.s. The reason that I tell this story and include the prices and tell you what happens with the donations is because I would love to do something with this. That is why I will keep sharing stories about the kids, adults and communities who I will meet and see. If you feel called to donate to Sinani, small or big, once or monthly you can always contact me or Sinani. (http://www.sinani.org/)

Do not feel obligated at all, the fact that you just read this story already means so much to me, Thank you for that.

*All names have been changed for the safety of the people

east-fo