Sam Broer reflects on hitting the halfway point

Monday July 28, 2008

This past week has been a busy one. We have been carted from church to church, museum to museum, activity to activity. We have been exposed to a lot of South African culture and history, and we have now hit our halfway point. My impression of our trip is that our two weeks here our somewhat disconnected. In our first week we have spent most of our time connecting with predominately colored youth groups, and learning about South Africa’s history. In the coming week, most of our time is scheduled in the mostly black township, Masiphumelele. This past weekend was a good way to divide these weeks. We attended a diocesan youth leader training camp, and many people we had already met from visiting youth groups were there. I felt a sense of conclusion as we were able to play games, watch presentations, and spend free time with the people we had been acquainted with during the week. When we left I felt I was ready to move on to the next part of pilgrimage. We have already been to Masi once, so I have some idea of what we will be doing there, and I think I will enjoy the hands on way we will be helping the kids there. This first week we have done a lot of learning, observing, and meeting people, and I have been somewhat frustrated with lack of action. We have seen hardship and poverty, and I will be happy when we begin to help the people we have seen living in such conditions.