Humanity at its core

It was a long time ago that I setup this blog, at that stage I was thinking i would blog about my "after hours" exploits (yip, you guessed, the after hours name was already taken, which is why I chose this name).

But now, I suddenly realised that there are things that I can and will put on this blog, and it won't be climbing...

Saturday...

On Saturday I returned with a bunch of people to a children's home I had been to before, with a similar bunch of people. One of the members of The Message (a church on the UCT campus) is studying OT (occupational therapy) and one of her assignments was to work with the children of this particular home so she organised a visit to this home with a bunch of The Message people. The home is for mentally handicapped people, apparently the PC term is intellectually challenged, but that, is an understatement. These children are severely handicapped such that they cannot walk or talk. Most of them have pretty serious cerebral palsy.

There is also a smattering of normal children as well however, they're just abandoned or neglected and so they end up there.

The day was quite simple, the aim was simply to go there and spend time there, maybe bring joy into the lives of the children. It was great. I think we achieved that.

It arouses a strange kind of feeling in me when I go, I do not get depressed or sad at the predicament of these people, "melancholic" is probably the best way to explain it. In a negative sense my sensitivities are aroused because of the terrible state some of the patients are in and I feel with them. They know nothing else however so I probably feel for them more than they feel for themselves.

The other manner in which I'm affected is probably analogous to the kind of bond that forms between a mother and her offspring. With these kinds of people, _all_ they want and are looking for, is love. All the rest of the complications are stripped out. All the trappings of modern society are null and void in that environment, they do not see people as they are empirically, "Michael the computer programmer", or Michael the rock climber/dancer, they do not see Michael who owns his own flat or michael that can sing... Your "credentials" mean absolutely nothing in that environment, and I think that's why I like it so much. It strips you down to your brutal humanity. All these little people see is someone who can love me. They do not ask "what can you do for me?", "what can you buy for me?", "can you make me laugh?", do you wear the right labels, do you hang out in the right places. No, all they're looking for is a shoulder on which to lay their head. EVERY person alive is fully equipped to bring joy into the lives of these little people.

And just like a dog never scolds his master for coming home late - in fact the later the master comes home, the _more_ happy the dog is - so these children put no conditions on the encounter. Any contribution that is made is seen as a significant contribution, no matter how small!

It certainly reminds me of what life is all about.