Thrive Africa is a really cool organization. They are based in Intabazwe and Qwa Qwa townships in some of the poorest areas of South Africa. The organization does a lot of really neat things, but what I respect most is their overall optimism. Every effort of the organization is centered around creating a vision in the minds of the people of being able to accomplish great things. This is a challenging and noble undertaking in an area devastated by AIDS. These people are forgotten by most of the world. I find it commendable that Thrive Africa is working to overcome a mindset of hopelessness and replace it with a mindset of empowerment. The organization is also not composed of missionaries from outside the country, but rather individuals from the local community who have been discipled to carry out this mission.
In my view, it is a privilege for me to be allowed to associate with people of such great courage and it is my hope that I can enrich their lives in some small way. However, I expect that they will teach me more about life in my short trip there, than I could ever teach them about anything! One of the great aspects of missions is how it brings people from very different walks of life to a point where their differences seem insignificant compared to what they share as human beings.
