Maria and Koketso (and their siblings/cousins) were among some of the children featured in my master’s thesis project HIV Stories in the story titled “Facing the Future”. They immediately captured my heart, and Rebecca’s as well.  It’s been so much fun to see them growing up while we’re here, though I admit also a bit scary as they leave the age of innocence and start discovering the world of adolescence and adulthood.

When I first met them, Pastor Vincent took me to their house to see the living conditions there.  Like a lot of houses in the township, there is a main house with lots of one-room shacks behind it that tenants rent from the owner.  In this case, it’s pretty hard to tell there is an owner at all. There’s trash all over, kids running around and a general stench of poverty.  We visit there occasionally during our Tuesday feeding scheme, and at other times just to visit the children, but it’s not enough.  Part of the issue with reaching out to them is that it’s really hard to even figure out which kids have parents, which are orphans and if we give them food, who will even be the ones to consume it.  But that’s how it goes here a lot of the time—messy and complicated.  Maria and Koketso come to the Powerhouse almost every Sunday with their brother Thabang.  I pray that God will lead them in their lives to avoid the pitfalls of poverty, and may use us to help in any way we can while we’re here.

The panoramic image below is shot from the back of their house where all the shacks are.  Maria is in the photo along with a few others who live there and the rest are members of the outreach team.  Koketso was not around when I shot this.

Filed under: 3D Panoramic Image by Nathan on March 4th, 2009. Tags: Facing The Future, HIV Stories, innocence, poverty, shacks | 3 Comments

Since our arrival, I’ve been intent on visiting the people whose lives I was privileged to document as part of my master’s thesis (HIV Stories) . During the worship service this morning, I got a tap on my shoulder—it was Selina from one of the stories, "Living Positively," smiling at me with a huge grin. If you’ve seen that story, you know she has been HIV positive for many years now and was on a downward spiral before she found Jesus at the Powerhouse and her life turned around. So it was just great to see her again, to hear her voice and to know that she and her family are well.

The church service was also really special today. Besides the joyful songs and a great sermon, seven babies were dedicated to the Lord. Vincent called the mothers up front along with any relatives of the children. He said, "I want these relatives to be here so that if in the future these babies are taken to a Sangoma (a witch doctor) you can say, ‘No! This child belongs to the Lord.’" There is a real danger here of babies being dedicated to Satan through ancestral worship practices as infants. Vincent’s dedication was powerful and it was beautiful to see all the little faces, held by their mothers. One little guy even clapped with the congregation as they cheered for him.

After church was over, I looked outside at two little girls standing on a wall together and recognized them from the "Facing the Future" story. One girl, Koketso, is the face featured on the fridge magnet we’ve given to our supporters and the other girl, her sister Maria, is sort of the "poster child" for the "Facing the Future" exhibit . It was wonderful to introduce them to Rebecca. For both of us it was as if frozen faces in a painting were coming to life before our eyes. When you see their faces, look into their eyes and hear their quiet voices, all the poverty statistics just fade away and you can see these kids are real. It just melts my heart with joy to see these kids again. The same tension still exists however—the tension between their innocent hope and their dismal situation in life. These kids are orphans, living with their fellow orphaned cousins in a house their uncle owns, yet he has little to give them. I really want to follow up and see how their situation has changed since I was here last in February 2006—yet I suspect their only source of support is the Powerhouse. I didn’t take my camera with me to church today (on purpose) but I’ve put up two photos from HIV Stories and I invite you to view their story, "Facing The Future," at www.hivstories.org .

Later, we had a chance to take the girls, along with Selina’s children, Thabo and Legato, and two others back home. With all of them piled into the backseat of the AR van, it was beautiful to hear their little whispers to each other, their excited giggles and then to turn around and just soak in the beautiful image of their shining little faces.

"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." —Jesus (Mark 10:13-16 )

Filed under: Reflections by Nathan on August 17th, 2008. Tags: children, Facing The Future, HIV Stories, HIV/AIDS, Living Positively, orphans | 4 Comments