Back from India

At the end of January, Noma and Zameka, two employees of the Ubomi Obutsha Centre, left for India to participate in two local community projects for two weeks. Noma and Zameka are now back home and already fully engaged at the center.

Impact of the trip

Mark says, ‘The trip made a deep impression on them. It starts with the fact that residents of a township have little chance to make such a trip. A township is literally a secluded place, but also figuratively, because there is poverty. Making a long trip is often not possible and few of them travel to India. Noma and Zameka felt like ‘an attraction’ in a positive sense: it felt to them as if they were famous.’

The fact that Noma and Zameka were given this opportunity has had a lot of impact on them. ‘The realization of how big the world is, how friendly people are, and how delicious the food is. However, also the realization that unfortunately poverty is visible everywhere in the world made an impression. But they also saw that the Indian people do everything they can to generate an income instead of waiting for the government to help. They saw many similarities, both culturally (for example, around marriage), but also in terms of work. How home visits were done in India was similar to how we do them. There were also differences visible, for example, how free we are as Christians in South Africa to go to church.’

Mark continues: ‘Due to the hustle and bustle of everyday life, there has been little time to reflect well with them. Yet we already see changes in their interaction with people and their work. It still needs some time to become aware of the further impact, but that it is deep is very clear to us!’

Contributions

This trip was made possible in part by donations to SUON. Do you want to continue supporting the work of SUON? Then read here how you can make a donation.