We had a wonderful first day in Johannesburg. Jenny Gearheart, Randy Randolph, Steve Parker, and I (the Safelite crew) met up at Heathrow with Jenny Miles from Afrika Tikkun, Steven York from AutoGlass (Belron UK), and Katrien Bex from CarGlass (Belron Belgium).
After an 11 hour flight we arrived in our hotel in Johannesburg at around noon local time. Our guide, Wandile, and driver, Benjamin, picked us up around 1:30 PM, and we headed straight to the Afrika Tikkun Uthando Center.
age.
When we arrived at the center, I was immediately impressed. I was amazed by the quality, cleanliness, and organization of the facility. The staff is outstanding and doing an amazing job. And the children were so respectful and well behaved. I really enjoyed the time we spent interacting with them. Reminded me of my kids.
While this center is in one of the nicer areas of Johannesburg, the people are still in dire need of the services Afrika Tikkun provides. When I asked about the typical make up of the families, the response was heartbreaking. The vast majority of the 500 children the center supports are orphans or only have their mother. In many cases, the oldest child runs the household.
As we were driving away, I saw two groups of children leaving the center. One was led by a 13 year old girl, holding the the hand of a toddler with an infant in a sling on her back. The other group was three brothers, led by the oldest that looked to be about 8...Tommy's age. He was leading his brothers (probably aged 5 and 3) home through the crowded street in the pouring rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment