Kwagga!

Hi again everyone!

I just got back from perhaps my favorite week of my trip so far. We went to a community called Kwaggafontein, which is about 2.5 hours away from Johannesburg. Now when I say it was my favorite, let’s just say that does not involve the living conditions. I slept on the ground of a storage room inside of a hut. I was crammed in there with my dear squadmate Michaela. To top it all off, there was an infestation of ants that liked to bite my legs all night long. There were several instances of cockroaches too— and let me just say, they are a LOT bigger here than in the states!

To say the least, I was very physically uncomfortable. I tried to remain positive and flexible, but I was honestly quite overwhelmed. This was a big change from where we had been staying in Johannesburg. Night one I caught myself asking God, “why here?”.

Well, the Lord answered my prayer almost immediately. We woke up the next morning and were off to the first school we’d be teaching at, which was the main focus of our time here. By now we’ve spoken at a lot of schools, but THIS school was my all-time favorite. I got to talk to a group of 12^th graders and encourage them to pursue their dreams after their time in secondary school (high school). I had the opportunity to share my not-so-easy journey of how God placed occupational therapy on my heart. The students were so receptive. I even had a guy come up to me after and tell me his dream was to be a therapist too. I got to encourage him to bring it to God and allow Him to guide his next steps. He even asked for a picture so that he could have it as motivation as he pursues this dream of his. So cool.

Aside from talking at schools, we also did some spontaneous outreach. This included door to door ministry, a VBS-type worship session at a preschool, and my favorite— blasting a speaker in the middle of a soccer field to engage in conversation and dancing with students as they got out of school. I got to meet an amazing group of ladies that day.

One of my favorite things about the huts that we were staying in was that it was right next to a preschool. The kids were the absolute sweetest and full of so much joy. Every time I would go into the gates, they would all come running at me to give me high-fives and big hugs. This was also where our running water was located, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t chug my water bottle at times just so I had an excuse to go visit the little ones.

The very last day in Kwaggafontein, we had the opportunity to visit a disability center. I got to meet some of the most down-to-earth kids, teenagers, and teachers. I was 100% in my element. It was a sweet reminder from the Lord that occupational therapy is exactly what He created me to do— and I can’t wait! Before we left, I even got to encourage the entire center. I made sure to remind them that they were perfectly created by God and that He made no mistakes when doing so. I also got to encourage a few of the teachers to keep up their amazing work, while empathize with them about how this is no easy job. I pray they felt seen and appreciated in that moment.

Leaving Kwagga was hard. My heart was so full in this place. The people here were unlike anyone I’ve ever met— so joyful about our presence and receptive to the encouragement we were there to give. I will never forget them.

With that said, my time in South Africa is over. We are off to our next adventure in eSwatini in just a few hours. I absolutely loved my time with Impact Africa and am so grateful for the growth that this ministry has brought me. The goodbyes with everyone here have been hard (especially Loli girl below), but I’m so excited to see what else the Lord has in store for us in eSwatini! Here we go!