My name is Sonya Hartwig. I am a Community Adviser and
Undergraduate Student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. I’ve always dreamed of visiting Africa, but my
boss, Micaela Roughton is the one that helped me make that dream come true. She
encouraged me to work towards coming on this trip to volunteer with both Habitat for Humanity and Homes of Joy, when I thought I would never
be able to afford to go.
My experience at Nyumba Yanga is one I will never forget.
During my years as an SFU undergraduate student, I’ve developed a reoccurring
curiosity about how an aid organization works, and how I could have a positive
impact on other countries. I was so excited to get to know the girls I had
heard so much about, on a personal level. I remember the day we arrived, I felt
so nervous. Nervous that I was an outsider, nervous that I had no idea what was
going to happen next, and nervous that I’d act too silly because of the
previously mentioned nervousness.
But as soon as I stepped off that bus, the girls welcomed me with open arms…
literally. They hugged me and took my bags and showed me to the room in the
Orphanage guest house where I’d be staying. The Sisters at the orphanage were
not at all the cold authoritative professor figures I imagined. They were more like
loving aunties. Right away one sister stuck out to me; Sister Nimmi. She looked
so much like my mother. I remembered all the stories my mother had told me
about going to Catholic school back in her day, where the stern nuns would be
cold and rigid. I approached with caution. But sister Nimmi was nothing like I
expected. She was bubbly and full of life. She laughed her famous little
giggle, and, like my mother always does, told me to EAT so I’d grow. Right away I was right at home. I could
instantly see the love and respect shared by the Sisters and the girls. This
place created not just a home for these girls, but a family.
The day I really bonded with the girls person to person, was
one night when they needed help with homework. I arrived to the main hall where
all the girls were studying and tutoring each other. Unfortunately, regardless
of my experience tutoring all my younger family members; there were SO many
girls needing help in one little room, that I could not help them all. I would
help one girl with a long division question, and turn around to have five girls
beside me asking for similar help but with grade 3 math or biology. One very
intelligent girl needed help with physics. This was outside the realm of my
arts degree, so thankfully we had biology student Gabie with us to take on that
challenge!
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| Homework time in the hall with the girls! |
I had so much fun that night! Most of the questions these girls had were the
same ones I would ask my mother in 5th grade. Questions like: Why isn’t this
question right? How do I calculate that? What is the next step here? And the infamous Why is this so hard? I could
see that these were not just orphans like I thought of them, but kids just like
I used to be. It dawned on me how badly these girls just needed a friend to
help and encourage them one-on-one. Though they helped each other out as much
as possible, there is only so much help you can get out of a big sister when
they have their own homework to do. All of them simply needed someone with the
patience to sit by them and answer all their questions. I especially bonded
with one girl named Florence. She was struggling with Math exactly like I did
in high school. Like me, she had a strong grasp of how to sort out the
question, but every so often would hit a frustrating road block and not know
what to do next. She needed me to encourage her to keep trying, to have faith
in her when she felt frustrated, and to guide her when she didn’t know what to
do next to solve the equation. After our short few hours together, she was
beaming. She was so happy that she was able to finish the assignment. I felt
proud of her, and in a way, proud of my younger self for defeating the same
obstacles in my education. Before I knew it, it was time for bed. If I had
known I could be so helpful just by helping them with homework, I would have
planned to stay months, not just a week! I loved giving Florence the confidence
she deserved. I loved being a big sister.
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| Lydia and I enjoying a surprise watermelon snack! |
The week continued. I explored Lusaka, played games with the girls, went for
walks through Nyumba Yanga’s incredible vegetable garden with Sister Nimmi, and
even got to ride on their school bus to pick up the girls from school one day.
On one of the last days, we went to a local market to see what it was like. It
was amazing! So many fresh smells, so many people! Upon leaving, we decided to
buy a bunch of watermelons for the girls as a surprise parting gift. This
really touched my heart. Back home, my family is from Argentina. One thing we
love to do when visiting our less wealthy cousins in Buenos Aires, is to spoil
the family kids a bit by buying watermelon for them and hanging out as a family
together. The Nyumba Yanga girls, who had somehow become my family in only a
few days, were sharing in a custom of my own. We had so much fun that day being
silly and eating delicious watermelon. They don’t get it very often, so they
were very excited.
My time at Nyumba Yanga was unfortunately short. But in only
a week I went from feeling apprehensive and distant, to having a blast with
some really cool gals that became like family to me. What a wonderful, healthy
environment for these young girls to grow and flourish into bright contributing
members of society. I can’t wait to be back here again soon, to help with
homework and learn more from these girls.
Sonya
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