Today began as one of those, “One step forward…three steps back” type of days. Mama was en route to Cape Town via London and I, thrilled and excited about seeing her so soon, was eager to know she was on time for her Cape Town flight this evening. Despite extensive organizing on both her and my part to have international cell phone service while she is traveling, it did not work from her layover in London; nor did the number AT&T gave her in case it didn’t work. I had a long list of things to accomplish today and while my research took longer to compile and internet connectivity was in and out at the office, I didn’t get as far as I had hoped. Plus, I got word that one of my day trips I had coordinated for Mama’s visit completely fell through. The best laid plans……
I was starting to feel a bit frustrated and sorry for myself that I didn’t have "all the perks" of home, when a 30-something guy came into the office to meet with the Archbishop. Normally tea is only served at 11 AM, but since Father was still at work, we enjoyed it again at 3:30 today. The guy was introduced as Jake, an American, who was responsible for the UBUNTU beaded bracelets a few of the staff members were wearing. The only other thing I knew about him was he had a newborn son…and he had named him Freedom. “Just another free spirit hippie…” I cavalierly thought to myself.
As tea time began, the Arch asked Jake to tell his story. An American by birth, he was reared in London, traveled to South Africa as teen and fell in love with the county. He found a law professor in Pennsylvania to sponsor him for a year after he graduated college and he made his way to Cape Town, where he went to work for a company that ended up being a complete shame. He lasted a day before jumping on a train – not knowing his next step. On the train, he befriended a man who invited him to visit Port Elizabeth, a town in the Eastern Cape. Jake obliged and got off at the PE stop. They went to a restaurant where he struck up a conversation with another man who suggested he be a teacher at the local school. Jake said he would, but he didn’t have a place to live. The man at the restaurant offered a room in his home. Jake agreed and went to live with the man’s family in a Port Elizabeth township. Living and working in the midst of the community, he saw thousands of dollars in aid from overseas come and dole out millions of socks or cups of soup to the poor people in PE, but nothing was being done systematically to change the children’s future.
He took matters into his own hands; he and the man, whom he had met in the restaurant and was then renting a room from, started an organization called the Ubuntu Education Fund. That was 13 years ago. They started working with girls who had been raped and young men from broken homes. The began with the idea that they wouldn’t help them for a only year or two; they followed them through until university. Their success rate is amazing. Today, they are reaching over 40,000 children through their services. Check it out: http://ubuntufund.org/ Knowing that some children face overwhelming disadvantages even before they are born, they begin their work with pregnant mothers –teaching them the dangers of smoking and drinking during pregnancy, the importance of eating well, and prenatal care. They have now built an incredible facility, which Jake shared pictures of, that is of the highest quality. It is absolutely phenomenal.
While Jake was talking, I got choked up, but I was not the only one. We were all blown away. As he finished his incredible story, the Arch looked at all of us and simply said, “The power of one.” Jake took this leap of faith - befriending a man on a train, going to live with a stranger, seeing a need and believing in his dream to fix it; years later, he is affecting the lives of an entire community by leaps and bounds. The Arch then went on to remind us not to be so quick to judge others. In his ever so humble manner, he told us he was not preaching to us. Rather, he was preaching to himself as just the other day, as he was leaving Mass, a taxi cut in front of him. The Arch was furious; he honked the horn and yelled at the driver. He later reflected, “What good did that do except make my blood pressure rise? Nothing useful came out it.” I SWEAR it was Dr. Singhal’s class in the middle of Cape Town and with the Archbishop no less!
All too often we get caught up in the moment, becoming irritated at the little things instead being grateful for our countless blessings. We lose sight of the goodness in the others. We are quick to judge and slow to forgive. After a day of harping on my own minor frustrations and passing harsh judgment on a man, who only minutes later had inspired me immensely, I was thankful for the gentle reminder. It is always good to have, as Dr. Singhal would say, our “Gandhi moments” – especially when we least expect them and, ironically, need them the most.
