Wings

Three…Two…One…. Bungee!  These were the words Laura Minegar heard as she was whisked off into the world’s highest bungee jump located in South Africa. Free falling over 200 meters earmarked the even greater jump Laura had taken to change her life.  Raised in the United States in a rural Oregon town, Laura was the youngest of three children.  From the time of her birth, Laura had numerous health issues and was very sheltered by her loving family.    “I wanted to prove my independence to other people and myself. I wanted to know that I could be independent.” Laura explained the feelings that launched her incredible journey. 

At the age of twenty-two Laura had learned of a website (botshabelo.co.za) that connects volunteers to an orphanage in Midrand, Africa. The orphans’ ages range from infancy to three years old and are given a home like setting with loving staff, local and international volunteers.  The babies love bonding with the workers, therefore volunteers are encouraged to stay as long as they like and at a minimum of three months for the babies’ sake.   “The more I read about it on the Internet the more I excited I became.  Before I knew it, I was planning for an experience I was sure would change my life,” Laura said with a smile. After a year of planning, Laura was on her way. “As I sat in my seat on board the airplane, I kept thinking, Wow! I can’t believe I’m actually going to South Africa.” Twenty-two hours later, Laura touched down into her new life.

“I loved South Africa, it was beautiful! I was there in the winter and wore jeans and t-shirts. I was shocked when I first arrived discovering a big city, cars all around, and there were ATMs.” Laura spoke of her discovery, “I was also happy to see most people spoke English; that made it so much easier”

The Botshabelo Orphanage (which means a place to run) was run by Covenant Life Church.  There were several cottages located on a secure property that was the home for eleven beautiful babies.  Laura was given a cottage that she shared with another volunteer and immediately fell in love with the babies.  “The babies love to be cuddled. I was a preschool teacher so I taught the toddlers songs, and they loved singing them. We sang everyday.”  Laura also got very good at managing to bathe, dress, and feed eleven babies. However, the scheduled daily naptime was not always a smooth transition into slumber.  “Sometimes you were alone with the babies, usually there would be two volunteers at a time and everyone had shifts so the babies were well cared for.” That had not always been the case however of the eleven, seven were healthy and four had Aids. All were adoptable, but the likelihood of their ever being adopted was very small. “They were born into poverty or the moms died, some were abandoned, and we never knew why” Laura said softly.

The one day that impacted Laura for the rest of her life was when she accompanied one of the caregivers to the hospital with a baby who had Cerebral Palsy for physical therapy.   Laura described, “Africa has only two classes, the rich and the poor. This hospital was located on the informal side of town, or the poor side.  In the hospitals, the nurses are only paid to give medicines to the hospitalized children; parents have to feed, change, and bathe them.  The facility was crowded and very dirty. Parents slept outside on the sidewalk because they could not afford to travel back and forth. I saw a large room filled with cribs and only one mother was there feeding her baby. 

So, if a child comes in abandoned, the nurses only do the necessary things to care for the child. A child left in the hospital for too long starts to show signs of neglect.”  It was then that they were told a baby girl had just been brought into the hospital; she had been abandoned at a mall.  “We told them we would take her into the babies’ home. My eyes filled with tears the moment I saw her.” said Laura.  The Police who brought her in had named the baby; they called her May which means (she’s loved). Without a blanket, dressed in only a dirty t-shirt and a diaper far too large was the most precious infant Laura had ever seen. “I got to hold her all the way home, and I prayed for her all of the way home.  I couldn’t stop praying for her and asking God why he lets innocent lives like this one get hurt. I know that he has a plan. I prayed a family would step up and adopt her, and give her a loving home, where she will live forever.  Then I realized the reason why I had come and that this was the most significant day of my life!”

Laura continued to care for the babies and shared many memorable moments with her volunteer family.  Now she is back in the states and studying to be a Medical Assistant. She has been a foster mother three times and looks forward to returning to Africa and other far away destinations to aid in enriching lives.  If anyone out there would care to experience change while serving others, go on line to (botshabelo.co.za) You never know until you jump!

Valerie Kelly