The privilege of being alive
by Irene Corsani
Johannesburg: a difficult city but with wonderful people. I would describe it this way, the fifth most dangerous city in the world, and yes security is the first thing you struggle with in Johannesburg. Because the freedom you are used to in Europe becomes a privilege that not everyone has. And maybe it is also because of this that you grow and mature, because you understand the importance of little things like a walk. You understand what it means not to have help from law enforcement, you understand the corruption, you understand the social disconnects, you understand that maybe the real problems are other. But Johannesburg is not just that, it is not just corruption and danger, it is also so much more. And this “other” is held by the beautiful and magnificent people this city has. By the different cultures that mix together to create something even more beautiful. From the always positive and sunny mindset, as it has been explained to me more than once, tomorrow you cannot know what will happen what you know is that right now in this moment you are alive. And that has to be enough for you you don’t need anything else. You have yourself and you have life. The rest are just consequences but as long as you have life you can do whatever you want. Be thankful that you can laugh, cry, breathe, sleep, dream because you are alive today, not because you will be alive tomorrow. This is one of the first things I was taught and still to this day struggle to understand. Because it implies that the organization of anything has very long lead times, and nobody can organize or plan anything from here to a month away.
We can’t lump everything together, because there are also a lot of people who don’t think that way. There are a lot of people who have remained to very old mentalities. This is due to the history of the country, a bloody and devastating history. A history that fascinated me a lot, or rather made me think a lot. We could never understand what it means to be denigrated and blamed because of the color of our skin, because we are the lucky ones we are the privileged ones but we are also the ones who destroyed the culture and customs of this country. Those who looted, robbed and claimed it was our property. From the past we can only learn and ensure that such atrocities are never repeated. Because to this day South Africa does not belong to those people who robbed, destroyed, trampled it but it belongs to all those people who still carry on the Zulu,Ndebele,Xhosa culture.
My community service at Saint Patrick Church parish is teaching me many things and I feel that I am growing a lot. I am getting to know so many cultures, so many people and so many ideals and thoughts that until a year ago I didn’t even know existed. Margaret and I ( my colleague as well as roommate as well as now sister) have grown a lot and changed, we have found a beautiful balance at home and also in work we are very compatible. It is also thanks to her that this experience is wonderful. In our spare time we often get together with the other group of female civil servants from Johannesburg, with whom we have had a beautiful relationship.
From a professional point of view, I could explain starting knows how it is structured. Our work week. It begins on Tuesday with the Mother Teresa Charitable Association. Which runs the distribution of hot meals and vegetables to the needy. In the morning we devote it to organizing everything and cooking meals, and in the afternoon around 4 p.m. we open the doors. Generally we almost always arrive 600-800 people. From families with very young children, to very young boys, to elderly people to lonely people, to disabled people, to drug addicts. The first few months were very difficult, but as time went on I began to get to know these people and understand their situations. It’s not that now it’s easy every time to see so many people but I’m definitely more comfortable with myself. It is still a heartbreak to see so many people every time. But the ladies of the association are very organized and manage to serve everyone and make everyone happy every time. I also get along very well with them because they are older people who have been doing this work for 30 years now. They remind me a lot of my grandmothers, so it is always a pleasure to be there with them.
The other part of the project concerns the children of Saint Patrick Church. With whom we have created a very strong and very sincere bond. There are really many of them but each one teaches you something. They range in age from 4 to 14. Generally Saturday afternoons are dedicated to them, for the first part of the project we were conducting a dance class that ended with the presentation of two dances during The Festival of Nation. The dance was a typical Italian dance (tarantella) since the Festival Of Nation was an occasion to celebrate all the different cultures within the ‘parish. In the second part of the project, we started the after-school class that we held on Thursday and Friday afternoons where children could come to complete their homework, review subjects, study or just spend quiet time.
Next we started the drama class where we prepared a beautiful Christmas play with our children. Where they sang, played, danced and acted. It was very nice and very exciting. We will definitely continue with the class since many children wanted to try other stories and other characters to play.
During these months there were also many outings with our children, we went for a day to the pool and to see a museum. Great day especially for the children who had so much fun and also for us because we bonded with them even more.
For the period of December and then January since the children were out of school we also held a summer camp. Where children could come all day to play and have fun together. We divided the children into two teams and then each day we would decide what games to play together. Needless to say, they had the time of their lives and most importantly, they learned a lot about solidarity and the importance of being in a team.
I can conclude by confirming that the decision to leave for a year on the other side of the world turned out to be a fantastic choice and I could recommend it to everyone.
