What A Weekend!

I went to Klein Hamakari with Pastor Gerson and his multiple youth groups. He told me this was a bigger camp than the last camp I attended, but I was not expecting about 150 learners, ranging from 5th – 12th grades. Fortunately, there were also about 6 teachers to chaperone the learners and 6 young adults that cooked and managed the site.

I did not have a specific job and felt like an honored guest most of the time. I first got in line like everyone else and someone came to me, “No miss, sit, we bring your food”. When I protested, they said “No, you must sit”. When I tried to wash my dishes, someone would always stop me and say, “No miss, let me do for you.” It did not feel right to be waited on, but it seemed very upsetting to them when I did things for myself so I acquiesced.

We stayed on the grounds where the workers and their families live. It is beautiful land, especially with all the rain we’ve had since December. There is a dam, now filled with water, but not suitable for swimming. The property also has cows, horses, goats, wild springbok, and all kinds of birds.

Friday night we watched a Disney movie, Queen of Katwe. The movie is based on a true story of a young girl, Phiona Mutesi, from the slums of Uganda, who becomes a world class chess champion. It is a story about rising above your circumstances, faith in God, redemption, and how one person can have such life-changing impact on others. I highly recommend the film.

The sessions throughout the weekend combined scripture with the themes of the movie, making the lessons easy to follow and understand for the learners. The lessons were also translated into Otjiherero since that is the mother tongue for most of the learners that attended.

Other than getting to know staff and learners, my one tangible contribution was helping a young learner get through an asthma attack. I had just fallen asleep on Friday night when a learner came to my tent. She asked me to help her friend. First off, I was humbled that she asked me because there were other more familiar adults at the camp. I walked over to the girls’ area – a huge tent with wall-to-wall mattresses and bedding on the ground. There were probably 50-60 mattresses in this tent. The tent was like a large wedding/event tent or a small circus tent.

The sick girl was being carried by a group of 4-6 girls outside the tent, breathing very rapidly, with many other girls surrounding her. I felt uncomfortable and claustrophobic just trying to get to her. I told everyone not carrying her to go back to bed. I had them lay her down on the ground with her head in my lap. She was lucid and responsive and already looked more comfortable without a crowd around her. I told her to breathe with me, slow, deep breaths and asked if she used an inhaler. She does, but she does not have one with her. I showed her mine and asked if it looked familiar. She took 2 puffs and she settled immediately. I offered for her to sleep elsewhere, but she wanted to go back to her mattress with her friends. I stayed with her until she fell asleep which was not long at all.

After the fact, I questioned the wisdom of letting her use my inhaler. It was one of those split-second decisions, more on instinct than logic, it certainly helped. A hospital would have been an hour away and we did not have a vehicle available. The girl was about 12 or 13 and it was obvious she had used an inhaler before. I am glad it was as simple as that and there were no more problems over the weekend.

All for now with all my love,
Ellen