Marmalade Sunsets: Volunteer with Orphan Care Foundation, South Africa

From the succulent and luscious cuisines, to the mouth watering beaches of Cape Town, South Africa, this city is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities to visit. The city’s amalgamation of eclectic Cape Tonians characterizing the food, culture, art and hospitality, has entitled this town nothing less than the accolade, “The Mother City”. Even among the most beautiful places, a dichotomy prevails, and this is the reality of the many street children who seek refuge in a city, adorned by so many. What struck me most about Martin is that he was very much an ordinary man, 9-5, ate his broccoli and carrots, picked up the kids after soccer practice and drank his vanilla frappuccinos while reading his Sunday newspaper. In fact, most of us reading this piece could perhaps identify with this accustomed lifestyle; until, one morning, you come across a little girl shivering along a murky and sinister sidewalk, and your complacent way of life changes slightly…

This is exactly what happened to Martin Oosthuizen, Director and Founder of Orphan Care Foundation, in Cape Town, South Africa. As our Skype conversation wrestled in and out virtual dialogue, Martin disclosed that he had never really been engaged with social causes previously. His affinity for wanting to advocate children’s rights was always present but he never quite knew WHAT to do and HOW to share his competencies. He had always wanted to be more involved, contribute more, galvanize more, but with so many numerous causes and injustices within our spiraling planet, how is one to decide which cause to centralize your empathies, your eagerness, your aspirations for wanting to improve one single life? He had no idea just how much of a metamorphosis his life would reveal as he cultivated a new freedom for so many neglected children. Martin re-iterates this below:

“On a cold and rainy winter’s day a friend of ours picked up a child, on her way to school. When my wife and I saw our friend later that morning she told us about the soaking wet girl who stood beside the road in her school clothes, trying to get a lift to school. Every day she hitchhiked 15 km to school over a mountain pass and 15 km back. She lost both her parents to a sickness and is cared for by her sister, together with two other children. An overwhelming compassion for this orphaned child stirred inside me and my wife. We both asked what we could do to help. A process then followed to locate the girl in the school of whom we only had a name. We started with one child and later grew to 8 children.”

Martin’s family now takes care of 60 children and regularly commutes in and out of the city’s townships nourishing many desperate little souls wandering the streets at night. Right now, they are currently looking at expanding their home, employing more social workers and implementing educational projects so that their group of orphans can empower and equip themselves to go back into the townships and re-invest back into these communities through instructional campaigns.

A few days ago, I attended this seminar discussing various workbook notes from Leonardo DaVinci’s collection and one statement in particular made me really stop and think, “The earth is moved from its position by the weight of a tiny bird resting upon it”. It all made complete sense to me. When one person is affected by an injustice, an inhumane event, oppression, why do we think that this does not affect us? Why is that we think we have no involvement in this event if we cannot feel the effects directly? From within my comprehension, we are all connected. When one of us is affected or “inhumaned”, or mistreated, or oppressed, we are all affected. Now, how do we collectively address this in moving forward?

For those of you who would like to learn more about Martin’s orphanage, you could see http://www.all-inspirational.com/orphan-care-foundation.html as several volunteer opportunities working with the children are available.

To watch our video interview, please see http://www.travelvolunteersearch.blogspot.com
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