A Single Drop of Water

by Naomi Matanick (United States of America)

I didn't expect to find South Africa

The summer after High School, I ventured into the unknown. Planes carted me from Detroit to Los Angeles, Australia, and finally landing in Cape Town, South Africa. My team and I would be staying there for two months with the expectation of mentoring high school youth. It’s funny; expectation versus reality. I had the expectation that I would be mentoring the youth of this nation. As a young woman, I had an incredibly naive expectation that this country and this culture would not be different from my own. I had the expectation that I was there to serve but receive nothing in return. I am so grateful that my expectations were not only laid to rest but demolished. I did not invite this destruction. However, while destruction can beget pain, it can also invite us into the deepest parts of ourselves. The depth in which I’m describing are the parts which are waiting to become known. One very hot South African day, we ventured on foot from our local village to a state hospital. I wadded through dirt pathed roads and as I did, I noticed the lush mountains in the distance. I noticed the women in their beautiful sarongs carrying baskets of fruit on their head. I noticed giggling children forming a parade behind this group of foreigners to their land. Then, I noticed poverty that I have never known. I noticed homes that were made of four tin walls. I noticed widows and children. I noticed young boys who believed that it was vital to find a girl and become a man at the young age of thirteen. I noticed a country still broken between race and my heart began to beat just a little bit faster. I could feel the blood in my veins pumping loudly. We reached the hospital and where the walls should have been visible; they were replaced by a sea of people in wait. The doctor said he would stay until all had been seen. Suddenly, my attention was drab to a shelf. On this shelf we’re water bottles filled with sand. A staff member explained that these bottles were used as make-shift weights for patients in rehabilitation. At the time, I was preparing to begin my studies as an occupational therapist. My heart sank as I recognized just one small contrast to my world versus the one I was currently submersed in; my expectations versus reality. To my reader, if you are fortunate to have a water source, fill a cup and take a sip. After your water is gone, consider your resource. You see, I believe in travel and in life, we all have expectations versus reality. We all have things we hope and expect to see, feel, or think. Often, we have very tangible and physical expectations that are seldom connected to our inner life. How grateful I am that certain circumstances don’t leave us this way. I believe the human condition is that we are all designed to be loved, cared for, and known. However, we are often divided. We can be divided by race, language, culture, and resources. Yet, I think something that divides us largely is a single drop of water. As I travels from my homeland to the homeland of another, it was through this water bottle that one perspective shifted into another. It was through this hospital that I noted compassion and care. It was through a culture of hospitality, song, and dance that I noted the human condition being restored. I realized I gave but I also received. Reader, where will you go? What will you find? As you step outside your door, let your expectations melt away. I encourage you to see the contrast of the nations and then see the connectedness. Today could be the day that through a single drop of water your eyes are opened, your senses are awakened, and your life is never the same.