Refilwe

Team Emergency, a.k.a. Anita’s small group, served at Refilwe for our small group service project. Refilwe means life for all and it is a busy place that really is full of life. It’s like no other organization I have ever encountered; they take in and raise vulnerable and orphaned children, and they run a high school, clinic, community centre, animal farm, and garden for the community.

Our days at Refilwe taught us the value of hard work. The girls had the job of taking giant logs from a large pile and stacking them (it was sort of like a huge game of pick-up sticks). This was some of the hardest physical labour we had ever done, but it was good to be challenged and stretched. The boys spent their days weed-wacking most of the grounds. We also planted some trees on the last day.

In the evenings we found hours of entertainment with the kitten that lived with us, named Stinky Winky. Stinky Winky was particularly fond of Corey and was able to bring out Corey’s more sensitive side.

Ironically, there was another group of Mennonites working at Refilwe as well and it was nice to have other people to spend the evenings with. One night we had a pizza party with them.

Team Emergency had a lot of good laughs through out the week, one of which was Sarah waking up with a million bug bites. After that, Sarah made sure to sleep under a mosquito net and became good friends with bug spray.

Our time serving at Refilwe was a really good experience. We got to see how they work in the community and meet the needs of the people.

Written by: Carrie Lehn