Superman Dan: By Laura Pope

Leaping out of the vehicle, he rushes towards the scene. He has worked hard all day doing budget work for an orphan education program. He could be heading home right now to rest. But it seems that his day’s work isn’t done yet. A man, bloodied and unconscious, lies on the side of the road. Laughter filters through the unconcerned crowd. He asks for the number of the police. He records the license plate of a car as it speeds away. He stands near the fallen man, making sure no one moves the body causing further injury. His voice is filled with concern and compassion. He wants to do the right thing, but isn’t quite sure what that is. Unlike the mob of people around, he is trying to help.

This incident is not just a true story, but also a metaphor for the way Superman Dan lives here in South Africa. He knows the things he sees every day are not just, good or right. He takes in the pain he sees, allows himself to be moved by compassion and makes a plan to improve that person’s life, even if only in the smallest way. While others stand by in confusion at the seemingly undefeatable curses of HIV and poverty, Dan looks at the individual and does everything and anything he can.

Dan hasn’t updated his blog recently, but I can assure you that it is not because he has nothing to write about. Every day he experiences things that break him a little more. But how can he explain how he enters a depressing Tuberculosis hospital every chance he gets so he can visit a young boy sick there? How can he bear to write about the young mother and child who have just been tested as HIV+ and are literally on death’s doorstep? How can he speak of visiting a teenager in prison and going to his court case the next day to make sure that he gets fair representation in a system filled with gaps and corruption? Superman Dan refuses to allow someone who needs love to go without. He makes every effort to show them they are not alone. Although he is busy running a program that is changing the future of youth who were never given a chance to be something, he finds time to put out other little fires on the side. He has entered the scene of the accident and won’t leave until the emergency is over.