Monday July 30, 2008
Today we visited the Emilia Learning Center. It is a project of the Free State APD that houses and educates children with severe multi-disabilities. The center is in a township of Bloemfontein. The area is impoverished, the drive there we passed informal settlements and small brick homes. Two of the owners were very kind and showed us around their homes. The first home we went into was made of tin and had two rooms. The total square footage was about the size of my freshman year dorm room at Colgate. The bedroom had two beds and we were told eight people stay there. The shack did have electricity but did not have running water. Women were pushing wheelbarrows of water containers down the gravel road. The next informal house we visited was a two story home. The owner wanted a two story home but was unable to afford the building materials so he built his family a two story home made of tin. The home had stairs and a shower/closet and they were even in the process of expanding out towards the back for more space. The owners were very proud of their home and very kind to let us view it. The amazing thing is on the 5 kilometer drive back to APD we saw at least 15 Land Rovers, Mercedes, and BMWs. This was my first opportunity to see the income disparity here in South Africa and it was shocking.
There are currently 35 students staying at Emilia and 16 care attendants who work in shifts. The children stay there during the week and receive all three meals from the center. The children at the center were very excited to have visitors. One child in particular was so happy for us to be there he would stand with us and follow us everywhere. He held my hand and kept doing a handshake with Eddie. He was such a sweet child with the most heartwarming smile. We looked at the files they had on the children. One child had severe brain damage from a gun shot wound. The child was not yet ten years old.
