Operation Smile Photo’s : )

Marcus Oshry’s visit to Clarkson

Children in the church in Clarkson.

Traveling to some of the more remote parts of the Eastern Cape have opened my eyes to how lucky the rest of us are.  Even in these troubled economic times, there are people less fortunate who continue to smile when in fact they have nothing to smile about.

I recently visited Clarkson, which is a forestry settlement in the tsitsikamma area where kids are schooled in wooden shack classrooms with broken windows and desks.  There are two schools which share the same grounds and neither have a school hall.  The entire school wanted to attend the workshop so the principle pointed to the local church.  He mentioned that this was the only place which could house the school and that we should use it.

I felt honored and troubled at the same time.  They would allow me to stand at their altar and preech to them about water safety but I was troubled that these two schools had so little.

The altar was just a table with a cloth draped over it but it served its purpose for them.  For me it was a place to setup my CPR doll and stand before a full church and spread the word on water safety.  These kids all jumped at the opportunity to tell me that they swim in the dams in the surrounding area.  They also told me exactly how they could get into trouble and how jumping in to help each other caused more harm than good.

They were very active in the workshop and were all so excited to be there and to listen to what I could teach them.  Explaining to them that they should work together as a school and provide themselves with a safety mechanism to help those who get into difficulty at the dam.  I suggested an empty 5L container and a rope and they were quick to say that their school is going to make a safety bouy and place it at the dam for those who need to be rescued.

When leaving Clarkson, I felt like I had really acheived and touched lives.  As I pulled off from the church yard, most of the school ran behind me.  I smiled, knowing that I had done good.

Marcus Oshry