The crisis of vulnerable children in South Africa and how one person’s life can make a difference Overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted, weary, apathetic. These are all words that could have described how I was doing in 2014. After spending eight years living abroad as a missionary, immersed in foreign cultures, serving the poorest of the poor and not looking after myself I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue or in layman's terms burnt out. Completely and utterly depleted, I returned to South Africa.