Compassion means to ‘suffer with’. It is an emotional response to others suffering combined with a desire to help. Each year, HOPE worldwide SA hosts a Compassion Tour, comprised of amazing men and women with a heart to help. This year, Dr. Mark and Lin Ottenweller led a team of 13 international volunteers who worked in our Early Childhood Development program. Read Lin’s moving account of the impact the Compassion Tour has had on her life.
“Walking the narrow, muddy alleys of the township has become one of my greatest treasures. Life in a first world country can be incredibly disorienting with our misplaced values and endless acquisition of things. Every visit to Africa challenges my thinking, inspires my heart and puts my life in a clearer, simpler perspective. I need the poor more than they need me. I love joining HOPE in the hands on, hut to hut work that they do, entering the homes and lives of the poorest and caring deeply for them.
Watching women be transformed through support groups of kindred spirits, healing from their past wounds and fighting for their children to have a better life than they knew, is inspiring. It is a reminder of the resilient spirit of mankind and how many of the answers we seek come from dealing with our own lives. Above all else, I love that the ECD program and the Parent Support Groups give the participants something that continues to change lives long after we are gone.”
To join our next volunteer opportunity, visit https://www.hopeww.org/southafricahsc2018.