Zara's Safari

Chapter 24

My aunt and I went into town that day, she wanted to drop off some books at the small education center and school that the lodge helped support. When I got there though, this was unlike any school I'd ever seen before. There was one class, a large pre fabricated room with at least eighty children squeezed in, with only two teachers. They kids were different ages and the teachers where trying to teach them all. This was a far cry from the private schools, with rolling lawns and creeping Ivy that I'd been too. But what struck me the most was how happy the children were, they had so little, but in a way they had so much. They appreciated everything they got, even stationary- pens and pencils that we take for granted. I couldn't imagine myself ever getting excited over some new pens! This was a totally different world, one that until a week ago, I didn't even know existed. 

My aunt explained that they provided a meal to all the children here, and for most of them, that was the only meal they got in the day. Most children went to bed hungry. The idea of this brought tears to my eyes. These small smiling children that only got one meal a day. I thought about that little girl with a baby on her back and wondered how much she ate, carrying a baby all day on her back, on her tiny frame must be so physically draining. And then something that Riaan said popped into my head again.

“Riaan said that one of my hands bags probably costs more than families here see in a year?” It was a question, I wanted it confirmed.

My aunt turned and looked at me, “Zara some of these families, the single parent ones, probably earn the equivalent of one thousand Pounds a year.”

My heart stopped. One of my bags easily cost that much, some were more. One of my bags could support an entire family for a year. I felt sick thinking about how many there were in my cupboard at home right now, some I hadn’t used in years because they were from last season. And my shoes. I’d worn some once and they chucked them to the back of my closet. I knew I needed to do something, but what?

I watched as the children lined up to eat their one meal for the day, a bowl of soup and two pieces of bread. They looked so happy and thrilled to be getting a meal and that’s when I knew what I needed to do.

And I was going to get started immediately.

**

Africa changes you in some way. I am not really sure how exactly, but it  gets under your skin. Crawls into you. I thought about it all afternoon and came up with several theories. Humans began here, this continent was home to our very primitive beginnings, so in a way anyone who came back here was coming home. An ancestral home that had been burned into our DNA over the years through evolution. That’s how I felt anyway- this was like a coming home to me. And it also felt like a new start.

I asked my aunt if I could use the computer in the office so I could go about putting my plan in motion, but it required some help from home. London home. I hadn’t spoken to Mildred in weeks, and I was nervous to call her. She had cared for me since I was young and meant a lot to me and I know my recent behavior had hurt her deeply. She had made it very clear that day while helping me pack my bags. Of course I'd just thought she was being a bitch and had proceeded to tell her so. And now I needed a favor, but I also needed to apologize. With shaking hands I started to dial the home phone number. It was a Saturday, but I doubted my dad would be there. i was probably holed up in his office.

It rang a few times before she answered,

“Hi”

“Zara.” She sounded happy to hear from me, even though our last interaction had been so terrible. “How are you?”

“Good. Actually very good. Great.”

I heard an audible sigh of relief, “I’ve been worried about you.”