For those of you who have read my last post you now know about the general conditions in South Africa. However, neither I nor Restoring Hope are here for that reason, we are here for the people. In their case that is brought out in the largest part of their ministry, long-term care for orphaned children. I would like to introduce to you the kids and their stories as well as their personalities in the way that I know them:
Motshidisi Karreebos- Age 17- Motshidisi and her sister Dieketseng were both living in a small tin shack in Thabong with their grandma, four other children, and occasionally an aunt. Their grandmother was HIV-positive and was often in need of as much care as the children. The aunt was a prostitute and was more harmful than helpful when she was around. In 2006 the situation came to a head and the children were all moved to the Pines (the organization the Niehoffs and O’Tools previously worked at). Now they are both happily living at Restoring Hope and doing well.
Motshidisi is the oldest of the children and often serves as a caretaker to help the housemothers handle the load. She is often shy and softspoken but is a wonderful girl and opens up once you know her. She is very obedient and as I mentioned earlier, extremely helpful and willing to serve. This makes sense, as she told me that her name means “supporter” although I later learned it is more accurately translated “road”. Well we are what we believe we are, right? For all her experience taking care of kids though, I watched her perform her first diaper change and I would say that her and her gag reflex have a way to go! Due to her background she was significantly behind in school when she began, but she works very hard and last term she made honor roll (which means she completed all her school work with at least 80 percent). As of Saturday she is still deciding what she wants to do when she is older because I had to explain to her that paramedics, her previous ambition, had to work with blood and possibly dead people. As you can tell she is a very funny girl. She knows Jesus Christ as her savior and along with her sister attends Bible Study on a weekly basis and enjoys it.
Dieketseng- Age 15- You have already been introduced to her story so I will do my best to capture her personality. She is a very outgoing girl and I wouldn’t say she is stubborn but she is definitely confident (even when she maybe shouldn’t be). Never one to let you miss what is going on in her mind, which makes her a prime target for me to pick on. Don’t worry though she is quick to dish it back! She is very bright and made honor roll this last term, finishing a week before the end of the term. Her hobbies include playing netball, watching movies, and dodging work (especially with “uncle Brian”). She has lots of ideas about what she wants to do when she grows up, but topping the list right now is a musician. She loves High School Musical but still has to overcome the obstacle of learning an instrument. She would very much like to visit America and after so much interaction with the Niehoffs, O’Tools, and team members I think she could fit in well. This is something which hasn’t escaped her classmates attention as they call her “America” because she speaks such good English. Although Dieketseng is attempting to fight this image- she recently requested new soap because the current one is “making her skin too light”. She is very lively but is a sweet girl and she also loves and follows the Lord Jesus Christ
Lerato Ramakhale- Age 9- Lerato and her sister Monica were the first two children at Restoring Hope Village when it opened. They were living with their uncle in the township as a means for him to get a child care grant every month. They were often locked inside while he went to the bars and there were often times other men living in the house. It was a dangerous situation for them so in December 2010 social services got them moved to the Village. When they came, neither of them spoke English but I could hardly tell by the time I arrived in May. At that time Monica and Lerato were the first and only children at the Village. They attend Dunamis Christian school and both of them achieved honor roll this last term.
Lerato is a sassy young lady but very good-natured. I can always expect her to spot me when I get back home and yell my name so that she can come running over and climb on me. She is definitely not shy and when the children sing in church her voice is always audible above the rest. She is a good big sister to Monica and I expect she’ll be a good leader some day after seeing her take the role of interpreter/crowd control for me when I was in charge of Sunday school. My attachment to baby Tumi hasn’t escaped her attention and so whenever I head down to the kid’s home to visit them she will carry him out to me (which I assure you is no small task). She may be bold but I can definitely see the soft side she has when dealing with people. However, when I asked her what she wanted to do when she grows up she told me, “I’m not old like you I don’t have to decide that yet”. Like I said, she has no problem asserting herself.
Monica Ramakhale- Age 7- Pint-sized Monica is about as cute as they come. She’s just a little thing with a gap-toothed smile and a near constant giggle. She loves to be around people and has no hesitation in attaching herself to someone. During the day when people are working down on the house she likes to make a game out of trying to distract them to play with her. Rosina and I are probably the most susceptible to this but let’s be honest, what won’t Rosina do to get out of work? I don’t think I’ve ever been around Monica without seeing her smile or laugh and so she is a very cute, very fun girl to be around. Her favorite activities include singing, giggling, and getting piggy back rides. Despite her age and small stature I have seen her exhibit monumental feats of strength and cunning. For strength she can carry Tumi for a good 20 feet which is impressive because he’s half her size. For cunning she has fooled me in a game of soccer in which she fell and promptly turned on a very convincing waterworks display only to stop abruptly and make a break for the ball when I turned to help her. She’s like a sour patch kid in reverse- first she’s sweet, then she’s sour.
Tumisong – 9 months- More commonly known as “Tumi”, “Sumi Tumi”, or “Chunker”. He is a little (or should I say big) roly poly plumpster, which has led to him taking the brunt of many a fat joke. Don’t feel too bad for him though, for one thing he is only a baby so he doesn’t understand anyway, and he also gets his fair share of attention. When he came to the Village at the end of May he began staying at Brian and Lois’s house so I saw plenty of him (and believe me there is plenty of him to see) and for some reason I was just drawn to him. I began taking care of, playing with, and feeding him whenever I could so we established somewhat of a connection. This did not make him any less hesitant to spit up on me as often as possible though. He was brought to the Village because his mother is on her way through the court system and most likely to jail. We don’t believe she was a great caretaker anyhow (despite his “well fed” appearance) and he has spent most of his young life laying in his crib on a steady diet of sugar water. As such he is a bit behind in development although I claim personal credit for teaching him how to sit up, click with his tongue, and shake his head violently back and forth. He is coming along well but it would be nice if we could get him to crawl rather than just lay on his stomach like the beached whale that he is (there is no end to the joke material that he provides)
Amohelang Oliphant- 3 months- I honestly can’t tell you a whole lot about this little chiclet because she likes to spend most of her time within the confines of her swaddling cloths. I can assure you that she is quite the opposite of Tumi in size and when she arrived at 6 weeks old could nearly fit in the palm of your hand. What she lacks in size though she makes up in hair as she has a veritable jungle on the top of her head already. In what I suspect is likely due to her tiny hands and quiet demeanor she has become a popular attraction amongst the ladies visiting here. She was brought to RHI because her mother was discovered to abandon her on more than one occasion and is not emotionally stable enough to be caring for a child. She arrived in May about three days before Tumi and has probably grown more than him in her time here which is good progress. Her favorite hobbies to my knowledge are sleeping, pooping, and chilling with Mama Lizzar.
Motshidisi Karreebos- Age 17- Motshidisi and her sister Dieketseng were both living in a small tin shack in Thabong with their grandma, four other children, and occasionally an aunt. Their grandmother was HIV-positive and was often in need of as much care as the children. The aunt was a prostitute and was more harmful than helpful when she was around. In 2006 the situation came to a head and the children were all moved to the Pines (the organization the Niehoffs and O’Tools previously worked at). Now they are both happily living at Restoring Hope and doing well.Motshidisi is the oldest of the children and often serves as a caretaker to help the housemothers handle the load. She is often shy and softspoken but is a wonderful girl and opens up once you know her. She is very obedient and as I mentioned earlier, extremely helpful and willing to serve. This makes sense, as she told me that her name means “supporter” although I later learned it is more accurately translated “road”. Well we are what we believe we are, right? For all her experience taking care of kids though, I watched her perform her first diaper change and I would say that her and her gag reflex have a way to go! Due to her background she was significantly behind in school when she began, but she works very hard and last term she made honor roll (which means she completed all her school work with at least 80 percent). As of Saturday she is still deciding what she wants to do when she is older because I had to explain to her that paramedics, her previous ambition, had to work with blood and possibly dead people. As you can tell she is a very funny girl. She knows Jesus Christ as her savior and along with her sister attends Bible Study on a weekly basis and enjoys it.
Dieketseng- Age 15- You have already been introduced to her story so I will do my best to capture her personality. She is a very outgoing girl and I wouldn’t say she is stubborn but she is definitely confident (even when she maybe shouldn’t be). Never one to let you miss what is going on in her mind, which makes her a prime target for me to pick on. Don’t worry though she is quick to dish it back! She is very bright and made honor roll this last term, finishing a week before the end of the term. Her hobbies include playing netball, watching movies, and dodging work (especially with “uncle Brian”). She has lots of ideas about what she wants to do when she grows up, but topping the list right now is a musician. She loves High School Musical but still has to overcome the obstacle of learning an instrument. She would very much like to visit America and after so much interaction with the Niehoffs, O’Tools, and team members I think she could fit in well. This is something which hasn’t escaped her classmates attention as they call her “America” because she speaks such good English. Although Dieketseng is attempting to fight this image- she recently requested new soap because the current one is “making her skin too light”. She is very lively but is a sweet girl and she also loves and follows the Lord Jesus ChristLerato Ramakhale- Age 9- Lerato and her sister Monica were the first two children at Restoring Hope Village when it opened. They were living with their uncle in the township as a means for him to get a child care grant every month. They were often locked inside while he went to the bars and there were often times other men living in the house. It was a dangerous situation for them so in December 2010 social services got them moved to the Village. When they came, neither of them spoke English but I could hardly tell by the time I arrived in May. At that time Monica and Lerato were the first and only children at the Village. They attend Dunamis Christian school and both of them achieved honor roll this last term.
Lerato is a sassy young lady but very good-natured. I can always expect her to spot me when I get back home and yell my name so that she can come running over and climb on me. She is definitely not shy and when the children sing in church her voice is always audible above the rest. She is a good big sister to Monica and I expect she’ll be a good leader some day after seeing her take the role of interpreter/crowd control for me when I was in charge of Sunday school. My attachment to baby Tumi hasn’t escaped her attention and so whenever I head down to the kid’s home to visit them she will carry him out to me (which I assure you is no small task). She may be bold but I can definitely see the soft side she has when dealing with people. However, when I asked her what she wanted to do when she grows up she told me, “I’m not old like you I don’t have to decide that yet”. Like I said, she has no problem asserting herself.
Monica Ramakhale- Age 7- Pint-sized Monica is about as cute as they come. She’s just a little thing with a gap-toothed smile and a near constant giggle. She loves to be around people and has no hesitation in attaching herself to someone. During the day when people are working down on the house she likes to make a game out of trying to distract them to play with her. Rosina and I are probably the most susceptible to this but let’s be honest, what won’t Rosina do to get out of work? I don’t think I’ve ever been around Monica without seeing her smile or laugh and so she is a very cute, very fun girl to be around. Her favorite activities include singing, giggling, and getting piggy back rides. Despite her age and small stature I have seen her exhibit monumental feats of strength and cunning. For strength she can carry Tumi for a good 20 feet which is impressive because he’s half her size. For cunning she has fooled me in a game of soccer in which she fell and promptly turned on a very convincing waterworks display only to stop abruptly and make a break for the ball when I turned to help her. She’s like a sour patch kid in reverse- first she’s sweet, then she’s sour.
Tumisong – 9 months- More commonly known as “Tumi”, “Sumi Tumi”, or “Chunker”. He is a little (or should I say big) roly poly plumpster, which has led to him taking the brunt of many a fat joke. Don’t feel too bad for him though, for one thing he is only a baby so he doesn’t understand anyway, and he also gets his fair share of attention. When he came to the Village at the end of May he began staying at Brian and Lois’s house so I saw plenty of him (and believe me there is plenty of him to see) and for some reason I was just drawn to him. I began taking care of, playing with, and feeding him whenever I could so we established somewhat of a connection. This did not make him any less hesitant to spit up on me as often as possible though. He was brought to the Village because his mother is on her way through the court system and most likely to jail. We don’t believe she was a great caretaker anyhow (despite his “well fed” appearance) and he has spent most of his young life laying in his crib on a steady diet of sugar water. As such he is a bit behind in development although I claim personal credit for teaching him how to sit up, click with his tongue, and shake his head violently back and forth. He is coming along well but it would be nice if we could get him to crawl rather than just lay on his stomach like the beached whale that he is (there is no end to the joke material that he provides)
Amohelang Oliphant- 3 months- I honestly can’t tell you a whole lot about this little chiclet because she likes to spend most of her time within the confines of her swaddling cloths. I can assure you that she is quite the opposite of Tumi in size and when she arrived at 6 weeks old could nearly fit in the palm of your hand. What she lacks in size though she makes up in hair as she has a veritable jungle on the top of her head already. In what I suspect is likely due to her tiny hands and quiet demeanor she has become a popular attraction amongst the ladies visiting here. She was brought to RHI because her mother was discovered to abandon her on more than one occasion and is not emotionally stable enough to be caring for a child. She arrived in May about three days before Tumi and has probably grown more than him in her time here which is good progress. Her favorite hobbies to my knowledge are sleeping, pooping, and chilling with Mama Lizzar.So that is just a quick introduction to the kids here and after spending two months with them I absolutely love them and it will kill me to have to leave. It has been a great blessing to experience firsthand the fruits of this ministry and see the lives these kids are getting in comparison to the ones I know they would be getting otherwise. I have seen glimpses of life in Thabong and I assure you the love, opportunities, education, and spiritual influence they get at RHI is beyond measurement in comparison. I hope that through this you have gotten a small feeling for the individual personalities they each bring to the table. If you are interested in helping sponsor any of these children (and I personally recommend all of them) you can contact RHI at childsponsor@restoringhopeint.org
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