Close your eyes. Count to three; one Mississippi, two Mississippi, and three Mississippi. Open. Feel any different then you did three seconds ago? If you answered no, you should think again. Every three seconds, someone is dying in Sub-Saharan Africa of malnourishment or starvation. Those words, were some of the first words I heard when I started my mission trip.
Heart for Africa was created by women who gave up being CEO of her company to give, which is what this foundation is all about, giving. Heart for Africa for anyone who wants a roller-coaster of emotions, a change of heart and a new perspective on life as we know it.
I went to Africa just for those reasons. My dad had heard about it through his company (Cardinal Health), because they donate supplies to hospitals there. He was so touched about what he heard about the foundation he began to donate money often and decided that wasn’t enough. He took a trip to Africa that same year. He came back home and was so phased about was he had experienced there, that he had the women who runs the foundation fly down to Chicago and tell everyone about what Heart for Africa is all about. I was one of the many people affected by what this women was telling us that I went the next year.
Going to Africa changed my point of view on life. I never really realized how much I had compared to these people until I took my trip. The people there were poor, in poverished, starving, sick, and still found a way to put a smile on their faces. I found this inspiring because so many Americans complain about things that people there would be lucky to have. “It’s too hot outside!”, “I hate pasta!”, and my personal favorite, “Mom! That top is soooo last year!” These incoherent phrases are some of the things I hear out of my own two sister’s mouths.
Heart for Africa is based in Swaziland a small country in Southern Africa adjacent to Mozambique. The country is extremely poor with high unemployment and the lowest life expectancy in the world (31.7 years). Heart for Africa works with these people to try and make a difference in their lives.
This foundation is involved with 25 different churches in the area. I worked with group of 8 people that were assigned to one church to help out with various tasks. Each church had different needs to be fulfilled, such as a garden to be planted with vegetables.
If you are lucky, like I was, you get to interact with children at the church, that make you think twice about yourself. I met a 4 year old boy named Sibuczu (See-boo-see-soo). Although he had nothing besides a mother and a sister he found happiness in the smallest things. I started taking a liking to this boy within days I was there and grew emotionally attached to him. He put a smile on my face every time I was around him. It was so amazing to me that a 4 year old boy could have such an impact on a 13 year old girl’s life.
One of my favorite moments with him was on one of the rainy days I was there. To get to our church you had to drive on a dirt road. We finally got to the church, thankfully, with all our fingers crossed because of the often stops we would have to take to get out of the mud. We weren’t able to get much work done at the church because of the rain so we thought it would be best to leave after an hour. I was walking back to the “convet” (bus) and got a good distance away, so I didn’t realize what was going on behind me. My dad is still at the church to gather more supplies. He noticed Sibuczu crying looking out the window. My dad asked Sibuczu’s mother, who speaks English, why is he crying. She replied, because your daughter is leaving. When my dad got back to the “convet” he shared the story to us. At that moment I felt a whole new emotion that I still cant put in words today. Sibuczo’s name meant blessing in English, which is exactly what he was to me. I no longer look at things in the same way because of him. When the going seems to get tough for me he is the first thing I think of.
I also had the experience to go to their church for their mass on Sunday. When the mass was over, which really all together was not a mass at all; my dad, myself and two other people in my group were called back into the church. When I walked in I saw a line of people and the pastor putting his hand on each one and saying a prayer. He called us over and all and the five of us put a hand on these sick babies and prayed that they would fill. As the line went down I couldn’t believe how sick these babies were and worst of all there was nothing we could do to help them, except pray. I stopped; I am a 13 year old girl, I still haven’t figured so many things out in this world and you are asking me to heal someone with a touch of a hand? One word; hope. We were giving these people hope and that’s not something you can buy, it’s something you have to believe in. If you can make these people have “hope” that things will get better, there is no greater thing in life to them.
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” Eleanor Roosevelt. I believe the purpose of life is not to fully understand its meaning, but to do everything you can to make the world a better place when you leave it, then how you found it. I can say, for now, that I have. Can you?
