13 June 2011
Thobani owns a large envelope. His guardian keeps it in a safe place for him, a fact which only increases its value.

At 14 years of age, Thobani has been an orphan for longer than he can remember. In his culture, once parents die nobody speaks of them again. A child will typically grow up in shame and without any knowledge of their parents. This is why the envelope is so important. It has the power to shatter stigma and become the seed of an identity based in truth.

Thobani’s envelope is the result of an initiative called “Memory Boxes” in which orphans are helped to gather memories, stories, and photos from people who knew their parents, and keep them in a box. This powerfully challenges their sense of being lost or displaced, and gives each child the priceless gift of history and grounding, identity and belonging, and affirms the good things in their present life.

Meeting Thobani

When we arrived to visit Thobani, he had just returned from school. Although he was hungry, he exhibited excellent manners as he answered our questions and waited until we were served refreshments. Several friends were waiting to hang out with him.

Initially shy, he grew actively interested in the conversation, giving good answers from his heart. Thobani was very pleased to show us the contents of his Memory Box, or in his case, envelope. It included family pictures and documents which verify his identity and the identity of his extended family. Since his parents died so long ago, most of the photos were of his present extended family members. Fortunately he seems to have a cohesive identity, some assisted memories, and an authentic sense of family and belonging. Thobani, a very good student, is also expected to do well his remaining school years.

His foster parents are his aunt and uncle who have a nice home with a well-kept yard. Thobani is very proud of his new home which is a two bedroom building recently added to the compound for Thobani and a young male relative who is boarding with the family so he can attend school.

Memory Boxes

In Thobani’s case, there is no actual box to put things in. There isn’t enough money for all the Memory Box participants to have a box, so the ministry is waiting for funds in order to make that possible for everyone at one time.

It is hard to imagine anything with a cost so minimal, yet with the power to so fundamentally impact the psychological security of a child or teenager. Even the process of sleuthing about and collecting history for the box is itself a precious and fortifying gift.

Thobani is not just an orphan; he is an orphan with a history and story. And today he is also an orphan with faith in Christ. Through the holistic outreach of Lulisandla Kumntwana, Thobani came to know Jesus. He asked his aunt and uncle to support him by coming to church with him. They did and soon becamefollowers of Christ too. Thobani’s auntie says that God must receive the credit for all this, because without the Lord, they would be floundering and bound to empty traditions.

Related project in Zimbabwe: Memory Books

If you would like to sponsor the Memory Box initiative, please contact your nearest SIM office and specify a gift to project #97398.

photos courtesy of Brent Van Dan Berg