Language Barriers

About a month ago, I arranged to spend a day going on home visits with one of our caregivers, Ntombenhle.  We agreed to meet at 10am the following day on the main road. I kept repeating, “Ok, I will call you when I get to Slimangamehlo.” (Slimangamehlo is another area semi- near to where I live). Ntombenhle kept repeating, “Alright, it is very far. Call me when you are near.”  The next morning, I set out early to catch a khumbi.  The khumbi ride was about 30 minutes, taking me to the edge of Mandolobheni-the area before Slimangamehlo.  I paid the driver and started my hike to Slimangamehlo.  While I was walking, another caregiver spotted me from her house and came running down to walk with me.  Not speaking any English, I finally made it clear that I was walking to meet up with Ntombenhle to do home visits. She called Ntombenhle, chatted for a bit (none of which I caught), laughed a bit, and hung up.  She said she would walk with me.  After about 10 minutes she said we should stop and wait for another caregiver who was behind us that was headed to Slimangamehlo, where she runs our second soup kitchen.  The 3 of us set off once more.  After a 30-40 minute walk, another caregiver (whose name, honestly, I didn’t remember) starts walking toward us on the street.  The caregivers that I am walking with say, “Ok, here is Ntombenhle. We will see you later.” Obviously, I am puzzled. This is not Ntombenhle. I try to explain why I am confused and I call the Ntombenhle that I had planned to meet.  Telling her I am in Slimangamehlo to meet her, she responds that she lives in KwaVala-not Slimangamehlo. What a mess. Suddenly, I realize…we have 2 caregivers named Ntombenhle. When I looked at the contact sheet for what area Ntombenhle lived in, I looked at the wrong person. Ay ama. Luckily, this new Ntombenhle didn’t skip a beat. Wrong Ntombenhle? No problem. Let’s go on home visits.