With 1000 Hills comes 1000 Valleys

Bothas Hill where we live sits on top of a mountain that is part of the 1000 Hills Experience. We are surrounded by countless mountains with outstanding views that more often then not make me forget about the valleys below. I have driven through the valley a bit to get to the Zulu Mass or to pick a patient up, but I have not really had time to stop and look around. I have been concerned with where I am going instead of what I am going through.

Dawn my boss at 1000 Hills took me down into the valley the other day so I could begin to experience where the people I work with come from. The deeper we drove, the more I was astounded by what I was encountering. At first stereotypical South Africa was presented: I saw fields with Springboks leaping, women carrying large buckets of water on their heads, thatched roofs and those trees with a flat top that are plastered all over “The Lion King” movie.

Upon deeper viewing I saw these women walking for miles and miles on end to reach the one water pump the government had supplied them with. I saw clusters of poverty stricken homes. I saw public “bathrooms” that the government supplied every few meters, but I also saw their tanks overflowing because the truck that is supposed to empty them every few weeks never shows. I saw adorable children sitting beneath the Africa trees instead of sitting in a classroom.

I was overcome with the beauty that I found tucked amid the devastation. Houses were small, but the yards were kept neat. The hurt and despair that was plastered on the faces of everyone we approached quickly transformed into huge smiles, thumbs up and waving hands as our car slowed and we appreciated them instead of judging.

I still can not fully understand the lifestyle of most of the individuals I work with, but I can visualize where they come from and I can appreciate the effort it takes them to live their lives. I can not understand how a family of 8 lives in such small quarters, without running water and often electricity, but I can see the pride they take in keeping their homes and lawns clean. I can not wholeheartedly understand the time and effort it takes to walk to doctor’s appointments, jobs or grocery stores up hills for many many miles, but I can foster a deeper respect for them as they enter our facility.

I will never be in their situation, I will always have enough or know who to look to if I don’t and that will always separate me from them, but it will also allow me to give of myself wholeheartedly.