Sunday Services in Nyanga

~Danielle Ireland~

Photos by Nancy Lory

One of the most amazing opportunities we were granted during our trip was to attend a religious service on Sunday morning. South Africa is a place with so many diverse communities and cultures, but the amount of faith seemed almost unanimous among people. According to the 2007 African census, over 73% of South Africas population practices Christianity, with Hinduism, Islam, and various African traditional religions also vital. The service we were able to attend was Christian, the religion which our housekeeper Ivy practiced. Ivy was such an important resource during our trip. She lived in the township of Nyanga where we gathered for this experience. The service in general was more than I could have anticipated. It was held in one room, rented out of a school where about 40 people sang their praise effortlessly. The room was crowded and hot, and it was impossible to move in any way without touching the person next to, in front of, or behind you. We were packed in there like sardines, and nothing seemed to matter besides the love of Jesus. As I held my hands up to whatever power I may have been channeling I realized this was what these people lived for. They did not wake up every morning feeling like they had everything they would ever need, but instead they woke up with the hope that someday they would. The remarkable amount of faith generated in that room was enough to bring a grown man to his knees in thankfulness. The love of God is not only a way of life for these people who have nothing, but it seems as though their faith is the only way in which to keep mentally sound. As children cried, and people came and went, nothing interrupted the flow of love and faith. Within those four walls, a sea of people swayed back and forth to the music. A woman sang as loud as her lungs would let her into a microphone and others reached their voices even louder than hers. The night before, Ivy had asked some of the other girls and me if we liked to dance. We told her yes, and as a smile 1

came across her face, she said, Then you will have fun at church tomorrow. Now I knew why. This experience was more than just a religious one- for me and others in the group; it was the necessary piece of the puzzle in understanding how our fellow humans survive through incredible adversity. To learn more about Ivy and the pictures above, check out the links to the videos! Each photo represents one section of the video diary I posted along with this paragraph. The first picture is of the lovely Ivy with Greg McCormick; Ivy welcomed The Keene State Honors Program into her home, and cooked for us. The second picture is the group standing outside the school where the church service was held. Picture three is our very own Professor Mallon handing out the grapes to the children in the Nyanga Township.