After a busy couple of days, we were able
to have a bit of a lie in and meet for breakfast at 8.30 before setting off for
Siyathuthuka at 9.30. We were joined by Audrey, Patricia and Nyiko. however our
first stop was after only 50 yards to drop off a cup cake at the office for
Melody, this was accompanied by a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday ( the
English version). We weren't a full bus as DJ stayed behind to work on some of
the Hands Cars. We were met at the care point by Care Worker, Sarah, who
greeted us with gusto, also Bethwell from Hands had travelled by bus to the
community. Following some food prep we split into 4 groups to go on some Holy
home visits.
Rob and Lesley, visited with Audrey and
Gloria, one of the care workers who was unable to come along to the care point
today, the reason was quite straight forward as a large tanker of water was due
this morning and she was able to collect 6 large containers of water to
replenish her water supply.
Audrey and Gloria had a long conversation
with her which we could just about understand about common problems that we had
already heard about regarding ID and finances, however, there was a
complication that we hadn't met before whereby another women was claiming a
government grant for her child but was only passing on a third of the money and
spending the rest on drink. A complicated situation that Audrey planned to make
enquiries about. We were joined by another lady and her two pre-school children
who had just finished collecting her water - 8 large containers. The visit
ended with much jollity, discussing tomorrow's nail painting and pampering,
which was clearly a must do.
Holly, Lisa and Rebecca visited the home of
Sarah as she had not been to the care point for a while. Patricia discovered
that the reason the child hadn't been attending was that her mother was not
actually her mother but actually her Aunty and she was worried that the other
children at the care point would tell the girl this fact and she didn't want her
to know this just yet. When the team had returned to the care point they
discussed this with Audrey. Audrey made it clear after the it would be their
policy to always encourage parents to be fully truthful with their children,
otherwise when inevitably the truth comes out it can cause mistrust between the
child and their parent. Audrey said that she would follow it up with the lady
and in a care giver session.
Chris and Rosemary went with Bethwell to
visit the house of Chris. Chris lives in a house with his grandfather. Chris
has his own room, with a door to outside. Bethwell needed to visit as he need
to assess how to help Colin to be safe as the door to the outside did not fit
properly. We discovered that Chris was not in but we could see the problem with
the door, and Bethwell made a note of what he would need to effect a repair. We
went on to another house where a window pain had been broken and again this
needed repair to make the house secure for the children. While we were walking
with Bethwell, we were able to talk to him about his story. Bethwell as a child
had attended the first Care Point that Hands set up, in Massoi. After finishing
school he trained as a carpenter and then joined hands on the maintenance team
and helped to build many of the buildings at the hub.
Alice, Alice and Claire visited the home of Ethan and Matthew who we had taken to the clinic last week. They were suppose to go back to the clinic to be tested yesterday so Nyiko and Sophie (Care Worker) were checking in on how it had gone. Both boys had attended the clinic but unfortunately the workers in the lab were still on strike so they had bought home urine samples to take back with them after the strike. Nyiko called the clinic to confirm that the lab was shut and reported that they did not know when it would be up and running again but that they had the mum's number and would give her a call. Nyiko encouraged the mum to take them to the other clinic in the district of Clau Clau tomorrow. The mum reported that Ethan was feeling better but Matthew was getting sicker. We believe it to be some sort of water borne disease but are unsure. We also learnt that a change in law now meant that Ethan couldn't attend school due to not having any papers.
On returning to the Care Point Audrey asked all of the children at the Care Point who else had similar symptoms to that of Ethan and Matthew and nearly 30 children put their hands up. Bethwell took their names and there are going to be further discussions at the Hands Village about how to support and help this outbreak of disease amongst the community.
When we returned from home visits, Chris
had to take the minibus to fill up with fuel, and so a slightly reduced team
entertained 50 plus children for an hour and a half with games before
singing and prayers.
We were very pleased to meet Father Moosey, whose church
does similar work on the other side of the valley. We returned to the hub
slightly later than usual, but in time to plan the evenings activity for after
dinner.
Although we still have a couple of days,
this was our last opportunity to share our experiences with the rest of the
hands team and the other team from Woodlands church, who arrived on Sunday.
Holly, Rosemary and Rob gave their personal
testimonies of how the visit had affected them, and it is safe to say that this
reflected how we all felt. This was concluded by prayers from our hosts for
safe travel and living the lessons we had learnt ( You will be able to read
these testimonies in the September edition of the Parish Magazine).
The evening continued with a Ceilidh which
was organised by St Andrew's as a thank you to our hosts. This was enjoyed by
all at the hub.
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