Tough Day

Today was a tough day.

Today I had to say goodbye to Marita [going back home to Australia], who I went on the Ultimate Road Trip with and is arguably my first actual friend in South Africa. She really shaped my experience, introduced me to others at the YDC and at church, and was generally always helpful and fun to be around. When you are lonely and lost in a new country, your first friend makes a big impact on you and brings so much happiness to what was before just a very lonely period in your life. It is hard to imagine the YDC without her. When she hugged me goodbye, I could feel her chest go up and down as she cried [tough day for her too, no doubt] and I managed to hold back as I walked back to work to join back in on the strategic planning meetings.

Today I had to watch my fellow employees grapple with the fact that we do not have enough money to fund our projects next year due to the economy-- when money gets tight, philanthropy is the first thing to go with the donors and it hits the NGOs really, really hard. I was humbled as I watched those sitting around me, already on 4-day work weeks, figure out a solution to stay strong and steadfast to their mission to serve the orphans in the area. As they studied the budget and thought of possibilities to keep the organization functioning despite the dramatic drop in funding, the first thing to go was a 7%, then 6%, then 5% salary increase and an annual bonus, which was only going to cover inflation. It then was not employing any more people to handle the gaps in staff from people who had recently left. Then it got tough. They had already selflessly cut out anything that would benefit them as employees, and struggled to find a way to save cut another R1,000,000 from their operating costs while not disappointing too many of the community workers, children, and caregivers they supported. It turned into pulling out of 3 communities, and although the three smallest communities, it still leaves over 168 children and 65 households without our help. We still hundreds and thousands of rands above our new operating budget for next year... And then it really started to hurt: possibly giving up on the Early Learning Centers... which not only affects the 185 pre-schoolers enrolled, but it also means asking one of the founding Thandanani workers to find new employment... and she humbly acknowledged the situation and is willing to do whatever is needed. The thought of Auntie Barbs, my daily hug, leaving hurt me. The last resort, in which we would make budget, was to cut all of the before mentioned and then 30% of the programs-- something we cannot, for the sake of the children we help, afford to do... Let's just say that I am praying for some more funding, anything, so that these numbers don't have to be a reality. I admire the transparency of the organizations leadership, to take the budget with every single number included on the sheet, set it down infront of all the employees, and work together for a solution-- I can't imagine many companies share their budget with anyone but the handful of people on the executive board. It was a hard day, as it always is when dealing with money and salaries, but I was completely in awe of the maturity and the selflessness in which those that surrounded me approached the situation. I was touched to the point of tears. I was unable hot comprehend how much I about the work this organization does until today when I couldn't help but cry at the thought of losing so much they had worked for over the past 20 years.

So today, without a doubt, was a tough day. It was an emotional day. But I am really grateful because I learned important lessons on the impact of friendships and the ability for humans to truly be altruistic in their philanthropic works. I really admire these people, and watching them today truly set a standard for the impact I want to leave on other people. I can only hope that I touch someone as deeply as these people have touched me.