Emthonjeni

It’s fascinating how three days of service work at an HIV/Aids care centre in South Africa can come with so many expectations. I’m glad that, in the end, the place we saw and the work we were asked to do were not at all what we expected.

Emthonjeni is a community HIV/Aids care centre a few kilometres south of Soweto. It provides home-based care, social services, micro-enterprise opportunities, and even job referrals for the surrounding communities. Based on what we were told before we arrived, many of us expected to be doing house visits, interacting with the community, or perhaps be helping the Aids-care workers. The reality of what we actually did was quite different from this and it taught me a valuable lesson about what it means to serve.

For the three days we were there, all we did was manual labour. We weeded and cleaned up the community garden that the centre runs – a garden that a previous Outttatown group helped Emthonjeni create. We also hauled wheel barrel after wheel barrel of bricks from one end of the property to the other. I honestly couldn’t complain. How could I; working outside, physical activity, fresh air, but to do this during a week when our group had hoped to see Aids first-hand? I have to admit that it was a bit of a disappointment, and that’s what got me thinking…

Is this supposed to be about my week of personal satisfaction? To do what I want to do regardless of what is actually needed by the organization? Do I really know the community I’m trying to serve and the needs they face, or did I just read a few emails and pamphlets and think I had something to offer?

I could go on, but the point was starting to become quite clear in my mind as I dumped yet another wheel barrel full of bricks. I serve God by serving others, NOT by suiting myself. Sometimes the community’s goals differ quite greatly from my “ideal” service week. So what? I can’t just throw in the towel, especially since I’m not a doctor or nurse, but am more than qualified to haul bricks.

These three days taught me a lot about what it means to know the world I am called to serve.

Written by: Dave Attama