Meeting of generations

The St. Joseph children celebrated this year’s Heritage Day in a nursing home in Entumeni. They sang, danced and even bought little presents for the elderly gogos and mkhulus.

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Anele, Noxolo and Sizakele* are happy. For weeks they have crafted little bead jewelry together with the child and youth careworkers – and now they have sold the little bracelets and necklaces to their friends in school for a few coins. At the end of the month, they have earned 250 Rand, roundabout 17 Euros. What’s to be done with those new riches? Sweets? Cool drinks? No! The children come up with a much better idea. They ask the development worker to buy little presents for the gogos and mkhulus in a nursing home in Entumeni.

A few miles from Mbongolwane there is a home for elderly people, who cannot live with their families any more. In 2017, the children celebrated Heritage Day at the nursing home, one of the most important public holidays in the Zulu calendar. Dressed up in their traditional outfit, they presented a music and dance show for the elderlies. In the end, they handed over little presents to each resident, soap and a small cloth. Then, the child and youth careworkers heated up the braai, so that kids and grannies/grandpas could share their meals and have fun together. For the elderlies, the visit was one of this year’s highlights, they cheered and clapped while watching the cultural dance and singing. The kids also thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They had raised money to buy presents, designed a cultural heritage show and received a big applause. That means a lot, when you are used to always stand on the opposite side and receive gifts.

To learn to give is part of their upbringing in St. Joseph, as much as it is part of the Zulu culture. To help, share, work together as a community, all of that plays an important role in this part of the world. The kids give what they can, a dance, a smile, a poem in church. They show their skills to visitors and friends of St. Joseph. One of our goals is to strengthen their initiatives, build networks and give them an opportunity to grow. It means a lot of work, as our home is „in the middle of the bush“. That’s why days like the meeting of generations in Entumeni are so important: The contact with the world out there helps the children to find their own place within it.

Text & photos: Daniel Scharnagl

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