Every Wednesday from 9am to 2pm I volunteer at 'the Arch' a social ministry program run out of St George's Cathedral in downtown Cape Town. It's a really neat program and I enjoy my time there. The program's intent is to provide food and a place of peace and rest for those who need it, as well as to provide them with practical training sessions for anything from basic reading and writing to craft making. The thing with the practical skills is that they have no one to teach them at the moment, so the current ministry is simply food and a place to rest. Food and rest are important things, but from the perspective of us serving the food, it's a little disheartening to be giving to the same people from week to week without being able to offer them any help of perhaps improving their situation.
Regardless, it's a program I'm happy to be a part of, whether my motives are selfless or not, I enjoy being able to help people out in circumstances such as the ones I am faced with at The Arch, and I'm able to meet some really neat people while I'm there. Mary who is more or less the administrator of the program is a wonderful person, full of compassion and warmth. And Damien who is more or less the floor supervisor is an exemplary story of some one who made it off the streets from the lifestyle of a 'gangster' to some one who helps those who are currently in that position.
As I continue to explore places like the Arch at St George's I continue to get a feel for the conditions the homeless face in Cape Town. With these issues of poverty and social justice it seems that the more you learn the more you realize how complex it all is. All told I don't have that many Wednesdays left at The Arch, but with those days I do left I look forward to continuing to develop relationships and learn more about the circumstances that allow and necessitate it's existence.
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