...continued from last post

So as I was saying, these home visits to the elderly are not so different from what I would be doing in pastoral duties stateside. House calls to bereaved families, homebound elderly people, and the like are part of the job anywhere.

Back to the elderly woman I was speaking about, she very clearly needs to be cared for full time, but she is stubborn, insisting that she can get around and manage on her own. We aren't necessarily there to talk her into being in a home, but we sympathize with her and with her neighbors. One of the hardest parts was how badly her dilapidated old house smelled, and the flies buzzing around by the hundreds. Working in the hospital last summer prepared me to handle odors, and more than anything it made me more sad that this old lady insists on living like this. It was a tough visit, but I ended up liking her a lot. She had some spirit, to be sure, and maybe if she was in managed care with nothing to keep her busy she wouldn't last long.

A later visit was easier. This house was in very good shape because the husband is a retired carpenter, who can't work anymore because he is getting old. Still poor, like nearly everyone in the townships, but he had put down a nice looking wood floor and ceiling, added on a room in the front, and put up a corrugated metal awning over the front porch. I really enjoyed talking to this guy, and asking about the work he had done. He was very proud of what he had done, and it really reminded me of my own Dad, who also loves to work with his hands and is quite good at it. I told the man this, and he asked if I had picked up those skills like his own sons had. "Well, not really. Not as much as my brother,"I said. Sadly, it's rather pathetically true that I failed to learn how to do some of the things my Dad is so good at. But I can cook!

I went on some more of these visits today with Mahoi (Henrietta's clan name, which she is known by) with some more very nice old ladies, plus a bereved family whose relatives were coming in from the Xhosa "homeland" in the Eastern Cape. Funerals are a big deal in this culture, and families will wait weeks after a death until all family and clan can make it to town. One visit where I actually felt we had made a big difference (which is sadly infrequent) was to a woman deteriorating in AIDS-related sickness. She had been sleeping wrapped in blankets on top of flat carboard boxes on the floor when we visited her the other day. Today, wonder of wonders, someone found a bed and mattress in the church garage. So we called up somebody with a truck and took the bed to this woman. We tossed the wet cardboard she had been sleeping on. This happedened right after Yvonne and I had spoken to a hungry blind man and his girlfriend who had come by, and had to send them away with nothing but some water and a few slices of bread. The poverty here can really be overwhelming to deal with, and you have to appreciate when you are able to make a tangible difference.

Lots more to tell about, but I'll save it for another post. I am still getting the hang of things and trying to figure out what activities will be in my weekly schedule. You will be sure to hear all about it. Now I am going into Cape Town proper with some coworkers from church, then we'll come back tonight for an Oxfam fundraiser event where people from the community will be selling crafts they have made (including bead jewelry and great looking handbags woven out of plastic grocery bags -- pretty impressive). May have to get some presents for people at home. 'Til next time.