Connections

One of the really neat things about being a part of this mission trip is the connections and, in some cases, re-connections we get to make with the people here in South Africa. At the work site, we work with many local men who have been hired to build the houses. In most cases, these men have never worked with women, let alone WHITE women. The first morning can sometimes be awkward as they adjust to having us around. Don’t get me wrong, they are always polite and gracious. It’s just obvious that this is new to some of them. To help us all to get to know one another we wear name tags made with masking tape and a Sharpie. (Shout out to Joe Lisowski who started that on our trip in 2016!)

On the morning of Day 1, we were a little short on trowels. I was working along side Kim and we both had regular, full-size trowels  That left one of the South African men with nothing but a small trowel (that I affectionately dubbed “Baby Trowel”). This man’s name is Simphiwe. At one point, when Kim laid her trowel down momentarily and turned away, Simphiwe took the opportunity to “steal” her large trowel and leave her with baby trowel. When Kim realized this, she called Simphiwe out for his theft and we all smiled and laughed and went back to work. At the very first opportunity, when Simphiwe put down his trowel and wasn’t looking, Kim stole her trowel back and left baby trowel for him.  When Simphiwe turned around and saw this, he busted out laughing, as we all did. For the rest of that day, Kim and I called Simphiwe ‘Baby Trowel’ or, sometimes, just ‘Baby’. We asked him if he was okay with us calling him that and he assured us he was. When we arrived at the work site on Day 2, we discovered that on his construction vest Simphiwe had written “Baby Trawell” (sic). This amused Kim and I greatly because, clearly, he was owning his new nickname.

If you look closely, you can see the words "baby trawell" in the gray strip.

Connections like that are priceless. It’s only when you step out of your everyday life and put yourself in someone else’s world that you can form such relationships even if they are fleeting and temporary. I, personally, will never forget Simphiwe or, should I say, Baby Trowel.

Blessings,

Lynne Kreher