Cape Town, South Africa

Sunday, May 10, 2009

by Naomi Zacharias

We arrived in Cape Town late Saturday night and woke up early Sunday morning to hike Table Mountain. The weather was perfect, the sky a remarkable shade of blue, and I really think this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has breathtaking mountains and blue and turquoise water beaches. Standing at the very top of the mountain with the warm sun overhead, every angle looked like an airbrushed photograph.

We rushed back to our rooms to quickly shower and then hopped in our waiting taxi to meet our friends and go to an award winning local hotel for lunch. It is nice to have company on this trip. Laurie and her husband have become close friends of the ministry and to me personally, and in just a few days she I have shared spectacular scenes and memorable moments.

It is Mothers Day and we are with the son of a friend who I'll call Jeanine, eating at the hotel restaurant where she has worked for two years. She came out in her chef’s uniform and it was all I could do to contain myself. It’s hard to believe that I met her 5 years ago now. At the time, she had just come out of prostitution for the ninth time. I liked her right away and conversation was effortless. I asked her what she wanted to do if she could do anything and I was struck by the quickness, assuredness, and simplicity of her answer: to become a chef. We identified a local culinary school, she interviewed and was accepted, and Wellspring provided the financial scholarship. Eighteen months later, she graduated number one in her class and was offered a position at the main restaurant of this 4 star hotel where she still works today. Earlier this year she was given an award for her culinary skills, and as she walked out to our table from the kitchen wearing her chef's hat, I was so proud of her I could hardly stand it.

We enjoyed a long lunch and then strolled through the hotel gardens with them, Jeanine's uniform retired after a bustling restaurant day. Her son is now 10 and he was completely consumed with the cards and dice game we brought for him. Wellspring continues to provide Jeanine with supplemental income and covers all the costs of her son’s education. He has grown so much since I saw him last and is beginning to talk more, but he still has the same endearing grin.

We said goodbye and Jeanine slipped on her helmet and sped away on her motorbike. I was reminded of how I will never forget her and all she has meant to us.

We joined our friend and project partner Pippa for church that evening and finished the night at an Italian restaurant a few blocks away, drawn in by the smell of wood-fired pizza. We caught up on a bit of life and began to talk of what we would see tomorrow.