I have been reflecting on my experiences in Soweto, Johannesburg, and South Africa as a whole.  I have been thinking of what to write, how to share my experiences, and what I have learned.  Every individual is unique; I have a different experience and perception of that experience than my coworkers and friends.  A year seems so long and yet so short.  Many things happened in 2012 and I am ever grateful for God’s grace and protection.  This will be a series of four blogs, each on a quarter of the past year.  I do not generally make new years resolutions, but if I am to have one this year it is to be more cognizant and dedicated to sharing my experiences through this blog.  Therefore, in an effort to catch up with the benefit of hindsight, this blog series is titled a year in the life of this missionary.

 January 2012:

The beginning of the year is somehow different than other months.  It’s like a fresh start, even though only hours separate 2011 from 2012.  January is a summer month in South Africa, something that feels very odd being from Washington State.  My parents had just visited me for Christmas and flew back out on New Years Eve.  Parting and knowing I would not see them for many more months was difficult and that feeling follows for a while.  I can say I appreciate my amazing family and friends more than ever.  Not having my support system down the road has vividly demonstrated how important they are in my life.  Learning how to keep up communication by email and Skype is important, but its just not the same as having a coffee date.

 Most of South Africa takes time off mid December to mid January, and because we work with the Lutheran Church this time is especially significant with Christmas services and remembrance.  Being back to work in January is a time to begin the good work again, hopefully refreshed from the time with family and friends.  January we worked especially hard on finding additional funders for the children’s after school program in the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Department.  Providing food for the children twice a week strained the budget as our attendance numbers grow.

 Working for the ELCA has brought people into my life that I would not have met otherwise.  In January I met a lovely couple from a Minnesota congregation and attended a concert by a visiting orchestra in White City, Soweto.  I also had the chance to speak with a student group from my alma mater Whitworth University.  Whitworth is in Spokane, WA, and every two years a group of students and leaders come to South Africa to study during Jan Term.  I was on the same study trip in 2004; that was my first visit to South Africa and a life changing experience.  It was wonderful to see familiar professors and the students who were nearing the end of their study tour.  Visitors are a blessing.

 February 2012:

The after school program was back in full swing by February and attendance continued to increase.  We had a visit from members of the Dulles-Leesburg Alumni Chapter (VA) of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity (www.kappaalphapsi1911.com, www.DLKapsi.org).  The children enjoyed seeing our visitors.  The after school program was operating every Tuesday and Thursday due to funding restrictions.  This visit started a discussion regarding the needs of the children DAM serves in Soweto and the possibility of funding to expand the after school program.  Many visitors come and are touched, but we do not often see what God does with that in the future.  In this particular case God showed us what He produced in a concrete way.

 March 2012:

March was a month of growth.  As a foreigner it is often difficult to integrate into the local community and context.  These things take time and it is a constant process.  We began the after school program in August 2011 so the relationship with the children had been deepening for a while.  This month several children opened up about their home circumstances.  For example, a young boy came into my office to talk with me.  He had not eaten the lunch we served at the program because he was saving it for dinner.  There was no food at home.  His parents had passed away and he lives with his granny, older brother, and 4 younger cousins.  At the after school program children bring their own food container so when there is extra food we can pack dinner for the most needy.  He was added to the dinner list.

 An older boy came to us about shoes.  All the children in South Africa wear school uniforms, which generally require black shoes.  The only shoes he owned were school shoes.  The sole of his shoe had split at the ball of the foot down the whole shoe, but that’s all he had to wear.  We were able to find a special donation of black dress shoes which met the uniform requirements.  I have never seen a pair of shoes so appreciated.  The boy is the head of a child headed family and he cares for his younger brother.  Another special donation of sandals was received in his size.  I was going to take the sandals home to wash but when the boy came to the program he was wearing a pair of bed slippers with no sole with a hole in the bottom.  I asked why he was wearing slippers when we had just given him shoes.  He explained he was not wearing his school shoes because he only wears them at school to make them last.  When looking at the situation it suddenly seemed not quite so important to wash the sandals, and we gave him a little soap to go with them instead.  He thought the sandals were so nice.  At that time I knew he needed other shoes as we head into winter, but we had been able to respond to his needs in some way.

 These are just examples of the challenges children who attend the program face.  I was encouraged we had created an environment where the children felt safe to talk about their concerns.  I am saddened by the need in the community but hopeful at the ways God is working in the community.

In the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Department we started an after school program for the children receiving case management services from DAM, as well as the children of the neighborhood.  Our first day was August 23^rd.  We had planned for the children, set up the room, and were scheduled to have the program available starting at 2 p.m. and running until 4 p.m.  After school services were identified as a need by the OVC workers when I first came to Soweto and we had been talking about starting a program since our kids’ week in July.  This type of program implementation seemed to directly fit into the reason for my presence.  In my position with the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) I am called to accompany ELCSA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa) Central Diocese and DAM in their mission, not to take control and implement what I think people need.  I could use my skills and gifts to help implement a program identified as a need by the local workers who have experience with this community.  So August 23^rd came, and we had no children attend until just before 4 p.m.  Two children came and we explained the program and encouraged them to return.  I have to say this start was demoralizing.  I began to question whether the program was really needed, or if I had seen an opportunity to do something so forced implementation of a program.  This experience was humbling, and called me to reexamine how I operate out of my culture and whether this fit with the context I am in.  This certainly wasn’t the start with a bang that I had hoped for.  My coworkers assured me that things start small and the program would grow.

Over the coming weeks we did grow.  First we grew from 2 children on the first day to 3 on the second, and continued to almost double each week.  We now have 40 to 50 children attend regularly.  Initially we discussed having only children registered in our OVC department attend.  But the reality is we cannot turn a child away if they are hungry in the physical, emotional, or spiritual sense.  One of the benefits of the program is keeping the children off the streets.  We try to have positive activities for them to do, including art and sports.  Our resources for food are limited, but we have been able to feed all the children up to this point, and by God’s grace we will continue to do so.  As time has passed we have a core group of kids who attend regularly and others who pop in and out, but we have had over 130 children attend along the way.  I feel fortunate to spend time with these amazing kids.

Playing ball

My office, queue to practice computer skills!

Waiting patiently for lunch by the kitchen

Diakonia AIDS Ministry (DAM) had a successful Kids’ Week from June 27 – July 1, 2011 during the winter school holidays.  This program was like a Vacation Bible School program many people are familiar with in the US, and was put on for the children receiving services from DAM’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children Department.  The children came from the Central Western Jabavu and White City neighborhoods around the center as we were unable to provide transport for children from further away.  Our schedule ran from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and included breakfast, lunch, Bible stories, group activities, games, crafts, and lots of soccer.  The children brought their own cups, bowls, plates, and utensils.  Our staff made food for the kids and I think the whole week was quite a success.  Not everything turned out as I expected or planned, but God’s grace was evident throughout the week.  The kids were in a safe and warm place, they were fed, had fun, and got to know adults who care about their wellbeing.

Monday morning the children began to arrive and we started our busy week.  Each morning after breakfast we had Bible stories and then the kids were broken into age groups.  I was with the younger group.  We had originally planned on children from 6-10 years in this group but it turned out to be 2-10 year olds.  Children 11-16 years old were in a separate group.  One of the things I enjoy about working with children is watching them grow and develop.  I found a wooden train set at a yard sale for the kids to play with.  The set has sections of wooden track the kids can put together in different configurations and railroad cars that attach with magnets.  The kids loved it.  They kept putting together the track but couldn’t figure out how to make it continuous.  After lots of discussion in another language (or mixture of languages), hand waving, and rearranging they figured it out on the second day.  It was so interesting to see how they worked to accomplish their goal.

We received a donation for some play equipment and were able to find soccer balls on sale.  What I know now, that I didn’t know then, is that stitching is of utmost importance.  The three balls were put out one at a time and all are now flat with torn patches.  Though less expensive these balls could not withstand serious soccer.  The children loved to color (we went through many pages), enjoyed jump rope, and played outside.  We made playdough, decorated the center walkways with sidewalk chalk, and made puppets.  A woman I met in Pretoria who used to be a children’s minister came out to do a puppet show.  She was a hit.  She had a stage and sound system; I think the staff may have enjoyed it even more than the kids.  The children responded well to the object lessons and role-plays used to teach the lesson.  This was the first time I met most of the children and I enjoyed the week with them.  I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with these children and build relationships during the coming years.

Hanging Out

Sidewalk Chalk

Playing Outside

Train Set

Lots of Helpers

Lunch

Waiting for Breakfast

Future Dreams Collages

Teen Team Building

Puppet Show

Making Puppets

Playdough

On Wednesday, June 15, 2011, a full lunar eclipse could be seen over South Africa.  I have never seen a lunar eclipse before and this was just beautiful.  I tried to take pictures to share but they pale in comparison to the actual sight.  The moon became a beautiful deep red color during the full eclipse.  As the earth moved out of the sun’s light the moon began to have an incredibly bright crescent while the rest remained a dark red.  I thought of my family, friends, new and old coworkers, clients at DAM, the kids who were on my CPS caseload, and all the people who have been influential in my life both known and unknown.  It is always beneficial to take a quiet moment to appreciate God’s beautiful creation.

Full Eclipse

Waning Eclipse

This has been a time of transition for me.  I realize that is stating the obvious, but so much has happened in a couple of months.  I will try to recapture some of those transitions with the added benefit of hindsight.  Things that appeared to be mountains before are now molehills, as is the case with many things in life.  For example, driving used to be an insurmountable task.  None of the streets made sense, where to look when turning was entirely confusing, the cars seemed to be coming from every direction, driving a manual car about made me hyperventilate, and “stay left!” replayed in my head over and over . . . and over.  The amount I pray in the car has increased exponentially, God works in mysterious ways.  The taxis (minibuses) still own the road and do crazy and unpredictable things, but I am now able to see the organized chaos rather than just sheer chaos on the road.

When I began at Diakonia AIDS Ministry (DAM) I started with orientation to the five departments: Education and Training, Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Home Based Care, Support Group/Income Generation Projects, and Communication.  When meeting with the coordinator of the training and education department I began to realize many of the social problems in South Africa touched a cord with my experiences working with poverty in the US.  Of course there are differences, including the historical context, strategies and service delivery models used, what is culturally appropriate, and the list could go on.  But when discussing generational poverty and disadvantage I was struck by some similarities.  Part of the strategy of the education and training department is to empower young people to make their own decisions around high-risk behaviors, thus reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other disease and positively affecting other social problems.  The coordinator clearly articulated her views on breaking the generational cycle of poverty.  She tells the youth “You cannot tell a tree by its roots, you must look at the fruit.”  Though individuals may come from a disadvantaged family each person must at some point make the decision about the fruit that comes from his or her life.  This statement brings to mind well-known Bible verses about the fruit of our faith, the fruit of the spirit, and trees that do not produce good fruit will perish.

Generational poverty appears to be one of those things that crosses cultural lines in a way I really wish it wouldn’t.  The issues are so complex and multifaceted that I doubt I will truly understand the depth in my lifetime.  I certainly haven’t found someone with The Answer yet, but the opportunity to work with people who are striving to do God’s will is inspiring.  We are planning our weeklong day camp for the orphans and vulnerable children in our Soweto program from June 27 through July 1.  I am looking forward to spending time with these amazing children and to see what God has in store for us.  Thank you for all your prayers

It seems appropriate to start off a new blog with introductions.  My name is Mary Borgman and over the coming years I will have the privilege of working with Diakonia AIDS Ministry (DAM) in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto in South Africa through the Global Mission unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  DAM is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Central Diocese (ELCSA CD), and the offices are at the Central Diocesan center.  The relationship between the ELCA and ELCSA/DAM has made my presence here possible and I am grateful for all the work that has gone into getting me to South Africa.

I have changed my mind several times about how to start explaining what brought me to this new adventure.  I first came to South Africa in January 2004 with Whitworth University and spent a month learning about the country with four vans of classmates and our leaders.  I fell in love, and returned to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape and the Itipini Community in the summer of 2005 to complete my MSW research project and work with the Itipini Community Project through African Medical Mission.  Three months in Mthatha was not enough and I dreamed of returning to South Africa.  I grew up in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and several years ago began attending Colbert Presbyterian Church.  What I did not know when I began attending CPC is that they are partner churches with St. Andrews in Mthatha.  The relationship between CPC and St. Andrews is a mutually sharing relationship and I was delighted to visit St. Andrews with three other delegates from CPC in March 2010.  Looking back I am in awe of how God has used so many people and seemingly small decisions to have a huge impact on the course of my life.  I feel blessed to have the support of so many people.

During my undergrad and graduate studies I worked with the YWCA Alternative to Domestic Violence Program with the legal advocates office.  At that time the legal advocates office was a part of the Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Team.  I had initially planned on going to law school after graduating from Whitworth but instead went into the Masters of Social Work program at Eastern Washington University.  I had the opportunity to participate in the Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program with Washington State Division of Children and Family Services during my MSW, which translates into completing a practicum and hands on training with DCFS and after graduation continuing to work for the state for at least two years.  I had initially planned on working in the adoptions or child welfare services unit for the two years and then moving on, but God had different plans.  My training took place in a Child Protective Services Indian Child Welfare investigation unit and I found a deep passion for this work.  I was fortunate to be hired in the Spokane office and ended up remaining with the state for 5 years, 4 years in a CPS unit, with one year in the middle spent as a Foster Care Placement Coordinator.

I have wanted to enter the international social work field for several years.  I applied to many positions over the years with various international relief and faith based organizations but nothings seemed to be coming through.  I began to think I had misplaced what I felt to be a calling to international social work.  Looking back at the notes I made during this time of various postings I had found I see that none of the positions quite fit my abilities like this opportunity does.  The ELCA posted a position for an HIV/AIDS worker with the ELCSA CD in South Africa.  I applied for this position in March 2010, at that time having 4 years with WA State.  It has seemed like a long journey since then but now I see that of course God had a plan.  I continued my work as a CPS investigator and now have 5 years with the state and am vested.  That’s exciting for me in my professional life.  I was able to grow and build stronger relationships that have helped support me through this time.

Why I was unsure of where to start with explaining my journey is because I can point to so many people and experiences that have shaped my view of the world and brought me to this point.  If my parents had not gone to Whitworth I may not have as well.  During my junior and senior year of high school I participated in the Running Start program at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake and graduated with my AA&S at the same time as my high school diploma.  I transferred into Whitworth as a junior but was also enrolled in a freshman orientation class, and was encouraged by this advisor to apply to the South Africa study program.  Changing one of many small things could have resulted in my life looking very different today.

I look forward to working with DAM and the ELCA over the next two years.  I have so much to learn and truly appreciate this opportunity.  I will do my best to share my experiences in Soweto and with DAM.  Hopefully we can grow and learn together.  If you have any questions or insights please let me know.  Thank you.