"Living By Giving" By: Stephanie Spinella

After a full night of dancing to Michael Jackson, sharing stories with our new family, and watching the epic saga of Mosquitoman, our overnight experience in the township had come to an end and the bus full of exhausted yet chipper Global Leaders was abuzz with stories from the night before. In our “Power of Giving” session, we learned of even more stories from last night, both funny and heart warming. Andrew shared some extremely colorful Afrikaner phrases he was taught and I can only describe Logan’s questionable story in three words: prize winning pigeons.

We also discussed what this experience meant to us and how it changed our perspective on giving and living. I think that the importance of family in these people’s lives was really inspiring to all of us. While at Veronica’s home, my group members and I met so many different people we weren’t exactly sure which children belonged to whom. They cared and loved for each member in the community and it was irrelevant to which specific family tree they belonged. As Garret put it, if you were to see a young eight-year-old girl holding a baby in the middle of the street in the United States it would be shocking to see, but here in Sir Lowry’s Pass, this is life.

It’s sometimes hard to think that the same exciting city that is hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup is also a home to so much poverty. This experience was an eye opener in so many ways. Now when I hear of little children living in these conditions, I’ll now think of chubby cheeks baby Kelly, High School Musical fan Kay-Lee, or Samantha who wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

…And I swear I’m not making up Mosiqutoman. He exists!