Day 14 - A Song Of Praise

I made another friend. Two, actually. Their names are Michael and Samuel , and they are both ‘Hoops 4 Hope’ coaches. ‘Hoops 4 Hope’ is the organization that helped organize this trip. Founded in Zimbabwe, ‘Hoops 4 Hope’ is an institution which is designed to use sports as a way to give guidance to kids, by teaching them life skills and keeping them off of the streets and away from danger.

Danger is inevitable in South Africa. If not for crime, it is for drug and alcohol abuse, excessive poverty, and that which is even more unpredictable, disease. On our way to our scrimmage yesterday Sam rode in the team van and, at one point, he stood up and addressed everyone about the topic of HIV and how it has affected the communities of S. Africa.

He said that the HIV contagion in S. Africa is primarily caused by a lack of awareness about the disease. Likewise, he said that the use of condoms is such a taboo subject within S. African culture because religions teach against the use of condoms; and, by using condoms many people think that a person is declaring that either he or his partner is unclean. Sam, then, revealed that many kids within his own neighborhood have lost parents to HIV; thus, have been forced to head up families and sustain households at a very young age. Many kids also become sexually active at a very young age, and end up having children during the beginning stages of their adolescence.

His depiction was devastating. Constantly, in North America, we write off HIV as some second-hand disease that we are never going to have to contend with. And, yet, there are people in this world, such as Sam, who are forced to witness and endure the horrors of this disease on a daily basis. Still, there is not much that they can do outside of organizing little camps like the ones we have been coaching at, to provide constructive activity for youth, where they can attain some sense of direction.

However, as Sam put it, “that doesn’t change the fact that when they go home they are, still, not going to have much to do.” The government does very little for small impoverished towns, such as where Sam lives, with regards to the HIV virus. Likewise, there are not many jobs provided for youth within the rural areas of S. Africa; thus, kids become easily attracted to gangs, crime, sex, drugs and alcohol at a very young age.

Coming from me, this all might sound a bit depressing; however, that is exactly what made this experience so intriguing to me. When we were listening to Sam speak about HIV, at no point did it sound like a cry for help. As unfortunate as these circumstances may have seemed at the time, in hindsight, I can only recall how passionate and jovial that Sam was that he is in a position to help and encourage kids in his program. His speech was truly inspiring. Afterwards he taught us a song that he sings with his ‘Hoops 4 Hope’ kids. It was a call and response type of song:

“Leader: Zumbei! A Zum bei, bei, bei.
Response: Yabba, Yabba, Yabba, Yabba, Yabba.
Leader: A bei, bei, bei.
Response: Yabba, Yabba, Yabba, Yabba, Yabba (Repeat)”

As childish as it may seem, the song was amazing. We really had a fun time, and singing it brought life to the bus ride. Michael, then, explained to us how singing is a huge part of the S. African culture. At funerals, they sing; at birthday parties, they sing; during weddings, they sing. S. Africans do not believe in harping over negativity. We took a tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela served his prison sentence for 27 years, and our tour guide had something interesting to say. He said that while he was in prison, he learned that “the one who constructs a negative thought is the first to be consumed by that negative thought.”

I have learned so much from the way that these S. Africans live their lives. There is so much culture here. They sing and dance, while having to survive the worst living conditions. It has truly been a wake-up call for my faith to witness the passion of such an aspiring culture. I feel so empowered. This trip just keeps getting better. Praise God.

~Tristan