Thursday was a long day. Isaac and I were still upset about the land issue, so he said "lets have you an experience, we go to the rock quarry after lunch." Yay! There are two rock quarries near HillCrest, one is actually quite small for a quarry, and the other is just overwhelmingly huge. It's just one of those things you have to see to believe, it's incredible and absolutely beautiful. Isaac explained the entire process of the quarries to me which was very interesting. They put little bombs into the ground until they hit stone, then they place bombs under the stone to break it up a bit. After the break it up enough, men start to break it up even more. They place stakes in any crack they can find, then hit then with an enormous mallot until it breaks off into a more manageable size piece of stone. Then, they have these huge Izuzu trucks come down and they load the trucks up with the stones. At the top of the quarry, there are women sitting on the ground surrounded by gravel size pieces of stone. The big pieces of stone are brought to the women, who sit there all day with their little mallot and break them into small pieces. Sometimes they get paid for their work, sometimes they don't. But most of those women have no choice, they need the money they Might get. (Shadrack's mother cracks stone, stay tuned). From the women, the gravel is taken and used for foundation for homes. In writing, the process doesn't seem so grueling, but trust me- it is. They let me try all of it.
So Isaac and I spent the afternoon going to these two quarries. The first is just behind his house, next to this church. It's the smaller of the two and the guys that work there are so so nice and we had so much fun. They helped me get all the way to the pit of one area and laughed when they saw that I was having such a hard time climbing down the rocks and dirt. "Mzungu, karibou a Africa!" Westerner, welcome to Africa! :) Isaac also helped me the whole way down and told me to wear better shoes next time. It's amazing what these men do all day, every day. The quarries are so deep and there are underground tunnels all around looking for more stone, so Isaac is going to take me again on Friday to do more exploring now that I'm not so nervous and know what shoes to wear! The next quarry was the enormous one. The man that helped Isaac pay to marry Elizabeth works there and gave me a lesson on breaking and collecting stone. All I could say was Pole, pole, pole! Respect, respect, respect. I felt like an ant in an anthill in the quarry, so many trails and structures built from the earth, people busy working. It was amazing and definitely a good distraction for Isaac and me. But, Thursday is also home visit day. Isaac said we only had two home visits this week, but they're very far away. Isaac didn't prepare me well enough for these home visits. He's usually good about telling me how they live and their family history, but he didn't say anything about these two. Shedrack and Glory went to the Primary School Isaac and Elizabeth started before they became HillCrest so I hadn't met them before, but Isaac makes sure to continue home visits for them even though they aren't his students anymore. He needs to know how they're doing, if they have enough food, if the kids are going to school..I&E are such good people.
45 minutes of walking later, we arrive at Shedrack's place. It's not a home...just a place he and his mom manage to sleep at night. It was big enough for one plastic child's chair, and a small foam pad on the concrete floor that had to be as old as Shedrack, where he and his mom sleep. Shedrack's mom was out cracking stone so we just talked to him for a few minutes before Isaac let me leave, as I was visibly upset. Looking at where they live just made me realize that in America, we live. Here, most people don't live. The ones that are well off live without. Isaac and Elizabeth live without their own toilet or shower, without running water or decent shoes. But Shedrack and most of the families of HillCrest just survive. There's no "living" about their situations, just surviving. I asked Isaac what Shedrack and his mom eat, he said anything they can find. Elizabeth made Shedrack's mom promise that if they ever went 3 days without food, they must come to their house. Isaac said if they don't see Shedrack and his mom for 2 weeks, they thank God for their luck. Even when Isaac and Elizabeth have nothing, they welcome them and share what they Do have, a bit of clean water or a banana. Isaac apologized again for making me upset, he said my heart is too tender for Africa. He also wants me to know that this is the reality here, if I'm working here I need to know these things- I completely agree, I just wish the stories about how some Africans live weren't true.
I got back to the volunteer house after dinner, around 7, and couldn't stop crying. Most people aren't getting the experience I am so it's hard for them to picture what I'm describing. It's also making them jealous though, and they want to meet Isaac and Elizabeth. So this Friday, four other volunteers are skipping their placements and coming to HillCrest with me! Even though it's so emotionally draining sometimes, I'm so glad I have a placement that truly means something to the community, and to me. Friday morning I really fell in love with the kids. There are two in class, brother and sister, who are so eager to learn. They have more fun in the classroom learning the ABCs than they do in the field (term used loosely) playing with the other kids. I feel like I've really come full circle in these two and a half weeks I've been at HillCrest. I love Isaac and Elizabeth, the kids are amazing, I've finally learned the daily routine, and can successfully make a pot of porridge after building a fire. Maybe I won't go to Themi afterall, we'll see how this week goes.
Needless to say, I'm excited for the coming week (except Thursday) because I get more time with the kids and Isaac and Elizabeth. We are also getting two more volunteers, so it will be fun showing them the school and how we teach and everything. Next week we'll start focusing on the donations more and discussing what to do. Again, every bit helps so please share the story!
I miss everyone at home more than ever, especially now that football season started...(Clemson beat Auburn, WHADDUP!! C-L-E-M-S-O-N T-I-G-E-R-S <3
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