“Learn to Listen” by Lauren Miller

My experience in Cape Town is almost indescribable. I feel like I have been living a dream and when I wake up back in the United States I am going to have to convince myself that it was real. Since my arrival in Cape Town, I have reached new heights (literally), by climbing Table Mountain, jumping off of the highest bungee in the world, and skydiving out of an airplane at 9,000 feet. I have built new friendships that I know will last a lifetime. I have learned to ask questions, stay curious, and keep my eyes and ears open for new opportunities.

I must say however, that although adventure got my adrenaline pumping and I got to share it with my new friends each step of the way, my experience inside the township filled my heart with happiness more than I could have ever imagined. My experiences there may be the closest I will ever come to being famous, because the members of the Sun City community and Sir Lowry’s Pass Township treated us like rock stars. They would cheer incessantly upon our arrival and without fail they would line the streets and wait outside of the bus to see familiar faces. It blew me away to know that I had impacted another person’s life, nonetheless multiple peoples’ lives. Not only was I able to see a part of reality that I had never experienced firsthand, but also I was able to immerse myself in a culture that I barely knew anything about before coming to South Africa.

We got the opportunity to live life in the shoes of the individuals living in the Township of Sir Lowry’s Pass. Sir Lowry’s Pass is run by fifteen wonderful soup mother’s who provide food with love to as many children as they possibly can. Unlike many individuals, we were awarded the chance to get to enter their community as strangers, sit down with them in their homes, learn their culture, and ask questions, cook food, dance, play, laugh, and basically live life, as they know it. These families barely have anything, yet they were willing to open their hearts and homes to us so that we could experience life from a different view. I have never seen so many generous, fun-loving people in one place in my entire life. By the end of our stay, they were thanking us for sharing our love and calling us family. I only hope to continue my life being as generous and loving as the people of Sir Lowry’s Pass. I hope to return one day and see the warm, smiling faces of my new friends that I will always remember.