(This guest post is from Michael Brown, one of the participants on the April, 2010 Loving South Africa Trip)

Trash

A vivid memory of the Durban experience will be the abundance of trash. It’s everywhere. There is a garbage strike in downtown Durban right now. The commercial garbage collectors believe that they have leverage with so many eyes on the World Cup. People go about their daily routine amidst piles of accumulated trash. I share this because it’s a poignant example of the unrepentant life – maintaining life’s rituals without properly acknowledging the messiness. Just like the trash, it’s hard to ignore the messiness of South Africa. Detritus of colonialism, racism, disease, and economic injustice. My own messiness looms large as well.

With that as background noise we pushed into Friday. Personally, it was a day that I entered mentally running on vapors. But as others have articulately described, the energy and passion of LSA’s partners is fuel for the soul. The word that emerges to describe today’s partner is “sustainability.” We departed early in the morning for Lily of the Valley – LSA’s testing partner. LSA is the primary financial supporter of the medical clinic located on Lily’s expansive grounds. The broad scope of Lily’s reach includes a children’s village for orphans, vocational village for young adults, vegetable tunnels, day care, community training center, the medical clinic and many other ventures. It seems as if every aspect of Lily’s approach is to create a sustainable environment. Physical, emotional and spiritual sustainability for the children. Social and economic stability within the context of their surrounding local community. Even organic sustainability with the raising of vegetables.

After a guided tour of the medical clinic by our host – Lily’s director Ken, we witnessed their commitment to loving their neighbors accurately. We were blessed to join medical personnel and volunteers as they conducted home visits to folks in need of medical care. It was simultaneously heart-wrenching and inspiring. Theirs was no short term fix but a Christ-centered desire to bring healing to anyone they can reach. It was our privilege to see this first hand.

The afternoon included a tour of children’s home side of their ministry. It was a precious time running, lifting, spinning and romping with the children before and after their inoculation shots. I know that the stories the team will bring home regarding this time will do far more than my words here.

After a brief visit back to waterless Makaphutu, we spent the evening at Light Providers – another one of LSA’s partners who I’m sure will be described as part of the weekend recap.

One of the painful observations from today was a sewage treatment plant located amidst the rural communities near Lily. We passed it on the way to medical home visits. This facility was located directly adjacent to a hundred scattered homes on the sides of nearby hills. The irony was that none of these homes had the benefit of this treatment plant. It was put there for the benefit of wealthier residents over the hill. Another vestige of trash and waste we’re so willing to dismiss and ignore.