Street feeding is where a group of volunteers puts in about 150 Rand a piece (which is about $20) to buy bread, fruit, and such for the homeless. On this particular street feeding, we ended up making about 200 sandwiches, buying about 100 bananas, and 100 oranges. We loaded the car up around 7:30 and went into Cape Town to begin the feeding. On the way in, Ursala was explaining to us what to expect and how thankful the people would be for the food. We were all a bit nervous since there was only seven volunteers going, and she told us that we would be greatly out numbered.
When we got there, Ursala honked several times and people just came running out of different directions and lining up in front of us. It was shocking at first, seeing all of these people who had no place to call home lined up in front of you. I think we all looked at each other with tear-filled eyes at this point. But, we held it together and handed out the food to these unfortunate people. As we handed out the food, the people really wouldn't speak to us much. A few of them said thank you or nodded a bit, but the majority just took the food and went off to eat it. Some of the people even asked why we didn't bring more, or why we didn't bring them soup or tea since it was cold! This was very difficult to respond to, since we were told they would be thankful for anything we gave them. It seemed strange that they should be picky, considering we were giving them the first bit of food they had gotten in days.
Right as we were finishing up handing out food, we heard a ruckus behind us where Ursala was giving out the clothes. Two men had gotten in a fight over the last sweater that Ursala had. The men were literally getting in a fight like you would see on WWF. It was ridiculous! It was a bit scary since we were greatly out numbered by these people and all of them were getting in on the fight. But, someone that drove past saw the fight and called the police, who arrived within minutes. Apparently, there's a new politician in office here in South Africa who is forcing police to be very strict with the street people. So, everyone of the men were lined up under one of the bridges and checked for passports (which none of them had). We left after that, but Ursala said they would either end up in jail or sent back to their home country. It was very disappointing that we had started out hoping to help these people, and we ended up only causing trouble because of a simple sweater. It was very eye-opening to be reminded by these people how much we take for granted. At home, we would never have to argue over a sweater, or fight for food. We also have a home to go to, and a warm blanket to climb under at night. In our circumstances, it's very hard to reason how these people could argue over a sweater, but for them, it is like a million dollars!
The next bridge that we went to was home to a group of about 30 street people who all looked after each other like family. These people had boxes set up with little doors between them, and in each box a husband and wife lived. They also had boxes where sisters and brothers lived. These people were SO nice and thankful for the most part!
There was this lady named Zelda, who is dying of AIDS. She chatted with me and another volunteer for about thirty minutes(which was a great accomplishment considering she could barely speak), telling us about her life and how she ended up on the street. It was a heartbreaking story! She had grown up in a township and had been abused and raped at a young age. So, when she was a teenager, she ran away and had nothing else to do but live as a street person. She is know 66 and still living under a bridge. She is such a nice lady and had so much to tell us about life! It was just heartbreaking that she had no medication for her disease, and she was just SO sick! Telling her bye was the worst! She wanted a picture with us, and she begin to cry in the picture because she realized that it might be the last picture she would ever be in:( She ended by telling me she loved me, and not to forget it! Such a great lady with such a horrible life! I don't know how such terrible things can happen to such great people :(
There was another man who was completely unforgettable. I got to have a conversation with him for about 20 minutes. He mainly wanted to talk about politics, which I'm not great at, but I was able to relate when he asked about America's new president. There was one time where he asked me about some politicians name in America who had moved from South Africa. Of course, I had no clue who he was speaking of! He thought it was crazy that I had access to all of those resources (I suppose he was speaking of the Internet) and I didn't know all these things. (I think I'll definitely be looking them up after that:) He said if he had the chance he would know all of their names. Such a great man! But, all the political talk is not why this guy is sticking in my head. Toward the end of our conversation he begin to talk about his life. He ended up on the streets because he didn't want to be stuck in a drug neighborhood, which he had grew up in. He said that he left when he was twenty because he didn't feel safe walking down the street he had grew up on any longer. Apparently, when he was in his teens the area changed and drug lords took over the area. So, at twenty he had nowhere else to go but the streets. He has now been on the streets for twenty five years and said that he felt like it was the only place he could go. If he went back to live with his family, he said he would feel unsafe (which is a lot to say if you would prefer the streets) and he really didn't want to go back. But, the saddest part of the whole chat was when he started talking about death. Apparently he too is dying of a condition which he chose not to name. He told me that he didn't really fear dying, because he really had nothing much to live for anyway. He said that he didn't want a funeral, he just wanted to be thrown into a hole. His reason was because he had came into this world with nothing and he wanted to go out with nothing. As he was telling me this, tears filled his eyes. I kept wondering if it was the talk of death, the reality of dying, or the reminiscing of his life that brought him to tears. All of it was enough to upset me.
How can some people be so unfortunate in life? Sometimes circumstances that can't be helped at all, like which family you are born into, control your life and tape you to a poor way of life. Zelda and this man are both examples of unforgettably great people that have been faced with terrible challenges in life. They both left us with a hug and told us never to forget that they loved us and that God would bless us forever so we didn't have to live the same life that they had.
The experience was shocking, unforgettable, emotional, and a bit scary all at the same time. There were many unforgettable people that would just completely break your heart! The experience was very humbling and it brought to light all of the items that we fortunate people generally take for granted. While I do not think I am up for another street feeding project, I will never forget this experience or the few people that I was fortunate enough to get to spend time with! 
