Thousands of Starfish

I was told that delivering May Day baskets could be very dangerous. However, I know of a few houses around the neighborhood that are super safe… So I brought the May Day basket tradition to South Africa. We filled goodie bags, dropped them at our neighbors doorstep, knocked and then ran like crazy! That night I went on camping with a few good friends. Zana’s low riding car rolled up with each seat occupied and said, “Climb on in!” I piled on top of the girls in the back seat and we began our short road trip to Chefane camping site.

This place was absolutely breath-giving. (It’s breath giving instead of breath taking cause the scene permits you to relax and take in a slow, deeeeep breath). We setup our tents and then went exploring. First we saw rolling hills, and then miles of coastline and a calm river connecting the two. I realized that “camping” will never be the same for me. I mean, lakes are very nice, but waking up at 3am and hearing the ocean waves lapping over and over again is something very special. We sat around a dwindling fire at night grilling sandwiches and telling stories. Zana is currently housing seven girls from the High School. The girls were dressed in jeans, sweaters and knitted hats. They had never been to this campsite and didn’t bring swimsuits – but that didn’t stop them! We all went running into the crashing waves and then sat in the sand and allowed the sunrays to bake us dry.

This weekend I am staying at a family’s home that has taken in two foster kids for the weekend. They already have two adopted children, along with the neighbor kids running in and through the house. This makes for a lot of little feet running around, some falling down because they’re still discovering how human legs work. While cooking supper with five kids helping, I thought of my Mom. This is her absolute favorite thing- to involve the children. Sure, they might add half a carton of milk to the muffins when the recipe calls for just one cup, or drop more batter on the floor than into the muffin tin… but it’s their joy to help. I loved cooking supper each night with kids running in and out of the house. Now I understand the saying, “The way to a mans heart is through his stomach”, because as I was cooking, I would dish out taste testers to the boys riding plastic bicycles in the house. Suddenly, they were all in love. They just kept saying, “Emilee, you have such pretty hair” and  “I like your cooking” and “You have a nice heart”. All you have to do is feed them, and suddenly you’re the greatest thing ever!

The weekend finished with a long Skype conversation with my parents back in America. They got to chat with a few sweet kids at this home, they both started tearing up as the two little ones chatted on about our weekend together.

This week, I’m going to stay at a foster home to help out with the twenty-five children they have and also go to CATCH. My internship has “ended” but I’m just continuing to go, and brainstorm for more ideas with the Kids Clubs. We received word today that one of our soccer boys was stabbed to death outside of CATCH. The devastating stories are unending. I was siting after church, crying, when a neighbor approached me and told me a wonderful story. She said, “There once was a great wave that washed a ton of starfish up onto the sand. The starfish were surely going to die because they were out of water. The sight was overwhelming, thousands and thousands of starfish were drying up. A man came along and picked up one starfish, and tossed it back into the ocean. People saw his actions and commented, “Your crazy, there is no way you can save all these starfish, there are too many” and he responded, “Yes, but I’m sure the one I just saved is happy” he picked up another starfish and tossed it in and said, “And this one, too”.

One life at a time.  

Love you all.