Thursday - Maintence and Ceilidh!

Our journey is nearly over and today we started our last full day at 'Hands'. Today 'Hands' had planned us a full day of activities. Vaughan was up earlier and managed to catch the sun beautifully on the "Hands Hub".

The day started after breakfast with our final debrief with Herman and Charissa at their home. Charissa had prepared a beach ball with questions on it which we threw to each other. On receiving the ball each person had to share a different emotion or story about our time here in South Africa. The first time around we chose the question that we wanted to answer but the second time in order to make it more challenging we were given a colour by the person throwing the ball.

After the debrief we had a session with Cat, who is one of Hands senior staff. Cat prepared us for when we go back to the UK having had such an intense time in the communities. She warned us that even though we will be bubbling over with excitement when we get back, it may be that people will not fully understand our time here and we may find it difficult to explain. Cat also asked us to consider what the experience had meant to us and also to consider what we would do with our experience. She suggested that if we just committed it to a nice memory it would be a shame so we should try to apply what we have learnt and been taught by our time in the community, at hands and by the people of Africa especially about their strong love and faith.

In the afternoon we carried out a maintenance afternoon. The Hands maintenance team of Cavier, John, Never mind, and Sibuie guided us in moving rocks from the edge of the playing field and taking them up the lane in a pick-up to help repair the dirt road. The girls cleared leaves. 

The evening started with an opportunity for members of the team to share with the Hands community and the volunteers staying at the hub! DJ thanked the staff for their hospitality and their welcome and explained for him it was just like being at home, Mark shared his great respect for the devotion and care that all of the Care Workers and support staff showed to the communities. Susan told us about an experience that she had in the community of Share with the Care Givers and Care Workers. She shared how she had been so conscious of the overwhelming feeling of love in the room as she sat amongst the ladies who had so much love and care for their community. Clive reminded us of an moment in mens prayer earlier this week, when George had reminded us that we only had all our homely comforts by chance, and how we could just as easily have be born vulnerable and poor and with nothing. We should be so grateful to God for everything that we have. Vaughn spoke about how he had set out to prove to himself that the Hands Care model worked. This he had been able to do and found himself being very thankful for both the experience he had had in the community and in the various sessions that we had had at the hub. Christine shared that being a practical person - she wasn't sure how she would get on just being, but she had. Christine focused on the verse that Cat had shared for us in Wits last week. Isaiah 43 : 19 which talked about a river flowing into the desert, and how this is the effect that teams make when they go out into the community. Vivienne elaborated on this to tell how she had walked with one of the Care Workers in Share (Promotion) who had turned to her and said to how grateful the community was for our visit and how it gave them power and strength to face the hardship ahead. The team thanked the Hands community, for their hospitality, their kindness, their love and for allowing us to walk this amazing journey with them.

Next we had a bring and share, where the whole of the Hands community come together for shared dinner together with all the volunteers staying at the hub! The Hands staff each bring a different dish with them and everyone tucks in. it was very delicious!

Our team had decided that we would teach the Hands community some Scottish dances and so we launched into a ceilidh the pictures and video below tell the story.

Blogged by Chris and DJ.

Wednesday - Election Day+ Mercy Air.

The day started today with a lie in for some as it was a bank holiday for South Africa and the local elections. The more active of us took a stroll. Vaughan and Vivienne walked the perimeter of the village appreciating the flora and fauna and discussing politics and religion! Clive and Chris ventured out of the grounds for a short walk to experience some African views. DJ went for a walk behind the Hands village with some friends to a look out point over the valley.

The afternoon was spent with the charity Mercy Air. We enjoyed cake and tea by the pool & Vaughan, DJ and Alice braved the coldest water ever! One of the pilots, Paul, explained the vision behind the charity. They fly into Southern Africa usually transporting charity workers into remote areas to deliver medical/ dentistry aid. They mainly work in Mozambique and we were lucky to be shown a couple of the aeroplanes. As we left we were treated to a small aeroplane taking off and heading over the Drakensberg range.

We then headed to the Gumtreez restaurant where we enjoyed traditional South African fare of bunny chow, a curry within a small loaf.

All in all a great and relaxing day!

Blogged by Mark and Sarah

Tuesday - Siyathuthuka

Tuesday is usually morning prayer for the ladies but today this was in a slightly different format of "Ladies Tea". Charissa hosted all the ladies from the "Hands Family" including our team at her house, on her stoop (patio). Cat shared Psalm 37 about how faithful God is. She referred to their praise and prayer points from over the last year and talked about how faithful God was to answer prayers and to trust that the unanswered prayers we all have would be answered if we wait and trust in the Lord. Psalm 37 is that we should Trust in the Lord, Take delight in the Lord, Commit everything you do to the Lord and Be still in the presence of the Lord. Cat then closed in prayer and blessed the food we were about to share.

We were treated to a real feast of homemade delights from chocolate muffins, apple slices, homemade salted popcorn and fresh fruit - this was all topped off with freshly brewed coffee! This year Charisa started a bookmark prayer where the Ladies of Hands spend two months praying for another lady at hands and come together every other month to swap bookmarks and bible verses before picking a new partner! After the ladies had shared their bible verses and words of encouragement for each other we played a game of "Go Fish". Each lady in turn had to use the magnetic fishing rod to pick out a cardboard fish bookmark with either a name or a forfeit on them. This determined who their next prayer partner would be. It was great fun and provided a lot of laughs! Susan had to be quiet until the next red fish was picked, Alice had to rub her tummy and pat her head, Claire had to tell a joke, Christine had to sing the first line of her favourite song, Sarah described her favourite and worst meal and Vivian shared a story about her favourite teacher!

We arrived at Siyathuthuka with Patricia, Go-Go, Steffi, Craig and Devon for a fun-filled day of Holy Home Visits and a Kids Afternoon which we had already planned. We gathered in the hut for praise and worship before getting into four groups! Three groups were going out with the Care Workers to visit homes and one group stayed behind to help prepare lunch for the children.



Claire, Alice and Christine visited a two bedroom home at the end of the village. In the home lived a mother and her four children (three of whom attend the Care Point). The family were seen as vulnerable as the mother was not working. The mother used to work on a farm but had lost her job due to becoming ill with TB and even though she had a note from the hospital, her employer did not believe her. The mother had recently been receiving treatment for TB and fortunately was now in recovery. She was originally from Mozambique and moved to South Africa when she was only 16. At the time she arrived in South Africa education was not free, she had no access to money and therefore had to go to work on the farms meaning that she is illiterate and cannot help her children with their school work. This has had a negative impact on her eldest son as he is 15 and still in Grade 5 alongside his younger sister who is 11. Whilst working on the farm, she met her husband and they had their four children. Over the last 16 years she had been lucky enough to get her South African ID and papers entitling her to child benefits. The mother also named all of her children with her surname so that they could have South African birth certificates and she could claim grant money to help support her children.  Her husband had recently left her to work in Johannesburg but had since married another women and had not been in contact since.

After prayer and encouragement we offered to help her get water from a local river. Due to the recent drought, the local people are using the river for water to bathe, wash their clothes and water their vegetable patch. As we saw the mother pick up these empty 30 litre buckets  - we wondered what we had let ourselves in for! We picked up the four buckets and headed off to the river just across the road. After being told by a local that it was "too dangerous" to collect water on this side of the river
Christine and Alice followed her down a steep cliff to the river bank! Claire stayed at the top to provide photographic evidence and words of support (and laughter!) The water in the river was clear and Alice took her shoes off and stepped right in to fill up the buckets. After filling up the buckets and passing them to Christine on the bank we then attempted to try and climb back up the sandy, dusty cliff to the top! This was hard work and therefore we had to pass it between the three of us back up the hill! Three of us carried two buckets between us and the last one was carried on the mother's head! They were super heavy!



On arrival back at the Care Point, Chris shared that on his Holy Home Visit he had been introduced as Alice's Dad by the Care Worker and the Care Giver screamed "Alice Alice!" Chris informed her that he would bring her back to visit. So off Claire, Alice and Chris went to visit her... On arrival at her home - she rushed up to Alice and greeted her! Alice remembered that we had met her last week at the Care Point. Today, she was wearing African traditional tribal dress and having her hair plaited!

Last week, some of our team visited a home where a 16 year old was pregnant and her 16 year old partner had stayed in Mozambique after a lengthy stay. During the night she gave birth to a little girl. On Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to visit her home again and meet the little 1 week old baby girl whose name means “Precious Gift”. The mother and baby were looking really well and she was able to breastfeed her baby. Whilst we were visiting her home, she was washing her nappies and keeping on top of having a new baby. At the same time, Vaughan helped the two twin boys to count in 2,s, 5’s and 10’s using their fingers. These boys attend the Care Point and we have seen them each day we have visited Siyathuthuka.  At the moment, the twin boys were not attending school as they had recently just moved from Mozambique and there were currently no spaces in the local school.

Back at the Care Point, we began our Kids Afternoon. Clive and Chris had planned some different games including the "dice counting game" and some beanbag fun! Before long, the Care Point was buzzing with children. Once most of the children had arrived, we got the speaker and Scottish dance music ready to teach the children the ''Ocardian Strip the Willow'. We lined the children up with their partners and demonstrated the dance and then it all began! As soon as the music started, the children were clapping and tapping their feet and couldn't wait to start dancing so much so that Chaos broke out and it turned into a Scottish African Rave with Alice throwing her arms up in the air! It was great to see the children and Care Workers laughing and having a great time together! Christine couldn't believe that she was doing the dance she had learnt at the age of 9 in school with children in an African community!

This was followed with praise and prayer and children had pap and beans for lunch served by the team. After lunch, it was time to hand out the pencil cases that had been handmade by children in Year 7 at Edward Peake. Sophie (The Care Worker) handed the pencil cases out to the children in turn and we all clapped and cheered! After a group photograph we continued with our games. Some of the older children played hockey and had their nails painted whilst the rest of the children went crazy over the bubbles!

At 3:00 we began to say our goodbyes. There were lots of hugs and hi-fives and many words of thanks and appreciation from the Care Workers who asked us to come back next year! We were all sad that it was our last day in the community but that it had been one filled with fun, laughter and enjoyment!

Blogged by Alice and Claire

Monday - Zwilisha

Monday mornings at Hands at work starts at 7am with men's prayer. So the men of the team were up early with a quick cup of tea and off to the chapel. The people who live in the Hands village take it in turn to lead men's prayer and today it was the turn of George Synman, the founder of Hands at Work. George read for us from a small book, a passage entitled "What Does My Everyday Life Look Like?" Which was based upon Colossians 3: 17,23 and Luke 16 : 10. The article asked the question does my daily life reflect that of a disciple of Jesus Christ ? Do we look after ourselves, do we take care of our possessions and our household, do we manage our finances well?

The message was that it is by the grace of God that we have the things that we have, it is up to us to be good stewards of everything that we have and do, because what we have is on loan to us from God.

The passage concluded by talking about our health and our reliance on all sorts of medicine to live and how we run to the doctor at the slightest thing and yet God himself has told us that he is our healer (Exodus 15 :26). We should look to God in the first instance for healing, but God also created physicians and they play there part in the healing process. George told us that in something like 85 % of illnesses were actually weakness of spirit and we should put out trust more in God.

We then had a short time of reflection followed by prayer of thanks and prayers for what is going to be a busy week for the Hands community.

This was followed, as last Monday, by praise and prayer. The bible readings lead to discussions about leadership, particularly referring to those in national and local government.




Today's care point was at Zwilisha, a community which was only set up 18 months ago. We were all looking forward to this visit as none of us had visited there before; it was good to see a care point in the early stages as the  others we had visited were well established. We received a very warm welcome from the care workers who were extremely well organised having already prepared most of the food.






The care centre was different to the other two that we have visited as they were still working in temporary buildings. The only permanent building was a Wendy house that the fire service had donated on Mandela Day this year. It is hoped that a permanent building will soon be built.






Building work for a permanent structure is going to commence next week. The breeze blocks were already on site and in position. Money awarded to "The Room" from the 2014 Deanery Project will go along way to funding this new building.





We were then split into three groups so that we could make Holy Home visits with the Care Workers.

 The first group visited Celine who was living with her son and her older daughter, although we arrived to discover that the daughter had left the home leaving her young son there to be looked after by his grandmother. Her brother's daughter also lived in the house, she had left school as she is expecting a baby in October. Her boyfriend had also left school to find work so that he could support the family. Celine is a Jehovah's Witness, and had been for 22 years, so declined our prayers. As we were leaving she gave us some cassava to take to the care point, this was immediately prepared for tomorrow's dinner for the children. As we were leaving we were presented with a plate full of cassava for us to try, Clive mentioned that he had been waiting 60 years to try some, as his father used to say how good it was, after eating it in the Gambia in the war.






The second group walked for 20 minutes along the road to visit a grandmother who was looking after her grand daughter, Joy, as her mother had passed away. Joy is  sixteen but is still at Primary School as she had learning difficulties and could not move up to High School until she graduates. Also in the household were two of  Joy's aunties one of which had an eight month old baby. Grandmother was not at the house when we arrived as she was working in the local school. The school was directly across the road so she came across to spend her break with us. She sat with us and asked us to pray for Joy and asked for help in finding a new job as she was finding her present one too hard.









The third group walked a short distance from the Care Point to visit a twenty one year old boy called Siabo who lived with his grand mother and six other siblings and cousins aged between two and twenty one years old. Siabo was thought to be vulnerable as he had repeatedly failed at grade ten and therefore had not matriculated. Hands was working with the family to help him complete his studies. The group was then joined by another grandmother who lived next door, she had her orphaned grand daughter with her. She explained that she was struggling as she had no I.D. so they were living on the children's allowance and help from the other members of the family.

We all returned to the Care Point and enjoyed playing with the children. We were all impressed with their skipping skills and they were impressed by the rainbow coloured parachute.

                

 All too soon it was time for pre dinner prayers and bible readings. These were led by a very mature young leader, Celine, in grade 10 who had excellent English skills, she kept the register, led the prayers and ensured that we served exactly the correct proportions of food to all of the children.

All too soon we had to leave the children while they were enjoying their meal of cabbage, pap and potato. Everyone felt that it was a very rewarding visit to a well organised centre which offered us a very warm welcome. We wish them well in the future and hope that their permanent buildings are soon constructed.

Blogged by Christine