Welcome to my series all about our recent family trip to South Africa in July. I’m recounting some of our favorite experiences, lessons we learned, travel tips, and some of the most memorable stories and takeaways. To read all of the posts in this series, click here.
One of my favorite places to visit on our trip to South Africa was the Angels of Grace Day Care Centre. We hadn’t been there before and it was this adorable centre run by a beautiful woman named, Sinah.
They warned us before we went in that some of the little kids would likely cry because they aren’t used to seeing white people. But while there were definitely some kids who cried, others were so happy and willing to let us hold them!
I loved watching my kids get to love on these precious kiddos.
My heart just melted seeing my girls connect with these babies and toddlers!
The buildings are so well kept up and you could tell that the workers truly loved the kids and the kids had such a connection with them.
Take Action Ministry had recently hosted a work day with people from local churches and they had painted the buildings in these bright colors and fun designs!
These are their current toilets. Sinah is making the bricks and they are slowly building a new bathroom for the kids.
Sinah was such an inspiring woman. Not only does she love on these kids so well, she also keeps her centre in tip-top shape and made all of the bricks for all of the buildings herself!
Here she is showing us the new bathrooms being built — with the bricks she made.
As I saw her energy and zest for life and how she makes the most of everything, even though she has very little financial resources, I was intrigued why she would be so motivated to run this centre, keep it so immaculate, work so hard to make a difference in this poor community, make bricks, and oversee building projects.
So I asked her something like, “What motivates you? Why are you doing this?”
She looked at me and matter of factly said, “There’s work to be done so I get up and do the work.”
Ya’ll, we need more people like Sinah in this world.
People who don’t sit around and wait for things to be handed to them.
People who don’t complain about how hard their life is or how unfair it is or how little they have.
People who seize the opportunity — no matter how little — in front of them and run with it.
People who are willing to put in the hard, hard work to make a difference.
My life will forever be impacted as a result of meeting Sinah. And I’m so grateful that we can have a little part in coming alongside and supporting her through Take Action Ministry.
Hi from South Africa!
Thank you for putting the spotlight on South Africa on your blog. I myself am a South African Christian blogger. Our country has so much work to be done…growing up I always used to wish that I was American, but now I see that God put me where He wants me to be: in South Africa because there is “work” to be done here – God’s work. I still love America and Americans, but I also realise that I was born South African for a reason.
I blog over at thevictoriousbeliever.com, it is still a new baby blog.
God bless you and your family!
Kind regards
Claudia Freeman
God bless Sinah and all the children and workers! Thank you for sharing this. She is an inspiration.
Thank you also for sharing a bit about your India trip. My husband and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from India. Hopefully we will be traveling there to bring her home in God’s good timing. :o)
That’s so exciting!
That is great! In the “real world”, you do work and see the result of your work. As a result, you are motivated to work more, get more done, and reap the fruit of your labors. It’s unfortunate that so many with more lavish lifestyles are so far removed from the process, griping and moaning about how someone else’s luck is the reason for their situation, waiting for break time, then lunch time, then 5pm, then the weekend, then retirement.
I love seeing positive examples of folks doing what it takes to succeed in something actually important.
Such a beautiful message that we need to hear!
Amen! Thank you for sharing.
Is it possible to donate money to the school to help them build the bathrooms? Also what about a donation to upgrade the playground?
Yes, it is definitely possible to donate to them! I’m going to be sharing some needs next week for the centres we work with there. But if you are interested in donating specifically to this centre, send me an email and I can send you more details: moneysavingmom @ gmail.com
So inspiring. Thank you for sharing Sinah’s Love and wisdom with us. <3 if you can write her a letter, tell her that your blog followers love her and the kids!