Johannesburg

When I was preparing to come to South Africa for the first time I did not know much about the Country let alone the city that I would be living in but people were very quick to fill me in and let me know how crazy they thought I was to be moving to the crime capitol and rape capitol of the world. When I told them I was going to Johannesburg they would always want to know "why not Cape Town? Or even Durban?" and when I would tell them that the church that started Door of Hope was in the Hillbrow/Yeoville area they were convinced that I had lost my mind. People would send me websites with horror stories of the crimes being committed and the safety warnings issued by the government. By the time I actually arrived in Johannesburg I was scared silly.

Tonight however, it has been more than 7 years since my first fearful steps in this country and as I drove down the dark streets of Berea I wish I could have had each negative person in the car with me.

Yes there is still crime in this country and yes it is one of the highest crime rates in the world but it is also full of people. Not just evil.

I think back to one of the first times that I walked through downtown Hillbrow. It is something that not even South Africans would allow you to do if they knew you were doing it. Most people won't even get close to the city. I however am not like most people especially when it comes to a baby in need. I will do whatever I have to for a baby to be safe and loved even if it means taking off all my jewellery and heading out on foot into what most people know as the most dangerous part of South Africa. Beside me is one of our staff members who knows town well and who also carries a tazer gun in her pocket just in case :). Old ladies set up stands on the street selling chips and sweets to make a few rand, young girls set up on the street corner that is being used as a salon. There are men everywhere, calling to me, making comments, wondering what a white girl is doing walking around town. I hold my head high and walk with confidence, keeping a brisk pace as my coworker and I wind through Hillbrow. We find the apartment building that we are looking for and quickly step inside. It is dark and smelly with rubbish all over the floor. The men at the "front desk" who play as the security ask which flat we are heading to before allowing to pass into the narrow hallway. Music is blasting, a baby is crying, and rats are snacking in the corner. The walls are black and as we pass the communal bathroom we take a right to the end of the hall. Knocking on a door we are greeted with a friendly and familiar smile. We have been here before to this very room which is used as a creche for babies. We can barely all fit in the flat that is the same size as my bedroom. On the bed lay two babies, my babies! The reason I have defied all odds and survived a walk through Hillbrow. They have been abandoned and the creche owner has called us to come and fetch them. Picking up my beautiful baby I tie him on my back like a real African mama. Within minutes we are back out on the street, this time receiving even more stares and comments because not only am I white, I now have a black baby on my back! Working our way through the crowded streets,passed the Indian spice shop, through the squawking chickens, beside the "homeless" park until our street is finally in sight. The tazer gun still in its case, and I am still alive to tell about it. I wish so badly that I could bring everyone with me through the streets and passed the fear of the unknown into a world of colour and culture! It really isn't as bad as everyone makes it sound.

Tonight as I left Baby House 2, and drove by the homeless people and their fire tire, under the bridge where people had stopped to chat, and passed one of the stadiums where the Fifa World Cup is being playing I realized that I love this city. Yes there is still crime and yes I am still constantly aware of my surrounding but passed all of that, there is a beautiful city with beautiful people.

How often do we let other people prevent us from stepping out in faith? How easily do we miss out on all the great things that life has to offer simply because of what other people think? I love being here in this crime covered country because I have seen for myself that it has so much more to offer!




And since I haven't talked about my babies for awhile let me fill you in a little bit.

For those of you who don't know, the discharge weight for a prem baby in this country is 1.6 kg (3.5 pounds) however the doctors have no discovered that when a baby is abandoned they come to us and they have decided that since we do kangaroo care with our preemies until the are 2 kg, they will discharge the babies to us from 1.4 kg (3 pounds). Now as much as I love having the small ones and being able to kangaroo them, it is a huge amount of pressure to keep these babies healthy and growing especially in the winter. Well just this week I collect 4 premature babies! It has been a very busy week to say the least! We love our newest arrivals and are praying for health as they grow stronger each day.

I also want to ask you to pray for another one of our little boys who had to go into hospital yesterday. He is one of our bigger premature babies (weighing 1.9 kg) but he has not been well since Tuesday. On Tuesday we took him to the paediatrician because he was cold and his beg was a big swollen but she seemed to think that he was OK. On Friday morning though, he was really not doing well and ended up going into hospital. Doctors are wondering if it is not meningitis but we will not know for sure until Monday morning what is going on with our little guy. Please pray that he will recover quickly and be able to come home very soon. As the cold weather hits we need prayers over all of our babies to keep them healthy and out of hospital! I will try to post some photos soon!