MSC Volunteering – All good things …

All good things come to an end.

It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of our stay at Holy Family Care Centre. It has been the most enriching experience. There has been much laughter, a few tears and alot of reflection over the past few months. As well as enjoying our surroundings here we have had the pleasure of enjoying the stunning scenery of ‘Gods Window’, Pilgrims Rest & many more scenic spots.  It was lovely to get out as a group and share some quality time together. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends, yet finding it difficult to deal with saying goodbye when the time comes, but like everything in this world it will never be as hard as it seems at the time. We have really got to know all the kids and workers here at Holy Family over the past months. We can recognise the voices calling out for us at our gate, the different cries of the crèche children and the different laughs that echo around the centre. We opened our hearts fully and really connected with each and every one. We have learned more from them than they have from us and boy o boy can these kids teach you a thing or two.

Above all Holy Family is a place of love

Waving the kids off to school in the mornings, helping with bathing time in the evenings, playing after school and at the weekends is the real quality time with the children. They are the best teachers and give you the spirit and drive to keep going even when you are having a bit of a bad day, due to being tired, needing some private space or maybe you’re not getting on with everybody as much as you would like. It happens! But the kids come first and that is the way it has been from the get go. They are the no. 1 priority and everything always seems to fall into place.

The work we do behind the scenes is something I feel we can be very proud of and has made life a bit easier for the staff & children here.  Everybody in the group really put their own stamp on each task they were given. It was tough at the start to get to grasps with how things work here but we got there in the end. Patience is a must and communication is key.

All good things come to an end. Goodbye Africa!

We decided that we would take a few days to travel down to Johannesburg so that we could spend some time sightseeing and have some rest before we travel home and I think it was the easiest thing for us to all agree on since we arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!

What lies ahead for us, who knows, but I can safely say I have had the time of my life and have cherished every moment with the kids. I am so grateful to everybody I’ve met as I’ve learnt from them so much about myself & this beautiful country.

God Bless Africa

Joanie Hutchinson, our volunteer from Ireland, spent three months working in the Holy Family Centre with the MSC Vocations Volunteering Programme. You can find more information and read the volunteers blogs at mscvcocations.co.uk and mscvocations.ie