The
morning started bright and early at Wits with breakfast arranged for 7:30am,
this meant travelling for more 15 minutes from our overnight accommodation to
the dining hall and reception, this is mainly across bumpy dirt tracks which
seem to send you all over the bus. While travelling to the dining hall we
spotted some Impala and Mongeese who ran across in front of us which was a
lovely sight to see.
Breakfast
consisted of some fresh fruit, yogurt, muesli or a hot option including
sweet-chilli bacon and scrambled eggs, all of which was thoroughly enjoyable.
We then set off with the intention of returning to the community of Share,
where we visited yesterday afternoon. However on our travels we realised that
all roads into the community were blocked due to protests over the road surface
with locals wanting tarmac roads but the government not paying for them. Due to
this we decided that the safest option was to phone the other care point that
we planned to visit tomorrow, Pfunani (a well developed care point -‘life
centre’- in Welverdine). Audrey, leader of the Hazyview service centre for Hands
at Work, made the quick call and found that there was no unrest within the
community and therefore it would be safe for us to travel there. This was hard
for many of us having said that we would see the care point tomorrow, however
we did know that this couldn’t be helped.
We
then travelled to Pfunani, where we picked up Audris (a rare male care worker)
who brought the keys as well as water barrels. When we arrived at the care
point there weren’t any children yet as this was about half past 10 and they
usually open up at 11. Although, it wasn’t long before the ‘under 5s’ began
arriving. Something that Pfunani has that other communities we have visited
haven’t is an ‘Under 5s’ provision. This is very similar to a crèche where the
younger children arrive at the life centre around 11 and remain there until
their older siblings take them home around 4pm.
Soon
after Patricia (another member of Hands at Work service centre team) arrived,
and we had had the chance to play with the younger children we departed for
home visits. Rosemary, Vicky and Oliver went with Audrey, while DJ, AJ, Clarrie
and Meg went with Patricia and Audris (Chris and Hannah remained at the care
point, playing with the under 5s).
Rosemary,
Vicky and I visited Gogo Sally and here 2 daughters who lived about a 20 minute
walk from the care point (African speed is much slower than what we are used
to). The reason that we visited Gogo Sally in particular was because her
Granddaughter had recently been to the young leaders programme, run by Hands,
at the Somerset care point. Another reason for the visit to Gogo Sally was
because of her 22 year old daughter, Penny, who suffers with Epilepsy, this
means that Gogo Sally and another of her 5 children, Linda, have to care for
her full time. This is a huge strain on Gogo Sally and her daughter as this
means that they are unable to do ‘Peace work’ which would allow them to have
some form of income. However, despite everything Penny was full of joy and
laughter, she was thrilled to see Rosemary and enjoyed time shaking her hand
and also insisted that Rosemary prayed for her after singing. She profoundly
exclaimed that she had a love for church and God, claiming that since going to
church more she is feeling better than before. When we left our visit there
were many feelings of love for the family as well as the feeling of joy as she
still had such faith and love for Jesus which really put us all to shame.
AJ,
DJ, Meg and I went on a holy home visit to go and see a woman named Janita who
had strong connections with the care point. She told us that she had 5
children, which meant that there were a lot of names to remember, and that her
eldest daughter, Joy (19) had two children of her own. All of her children go
to school and enjoy having an education, and she is very happy with where she
lives and the community that she feels safe within. She moved to the area about
5 years ago and was given a house by the government after 1 year of living in
the community. Her house was relatively small but her plot of land was quite
big, which meant that she had started to build another house that was much
bigger than the other. She is hoping that, once this house is built, that the girls
and her will be able to live in the new house, leaving the older house for her
boys. DJ enjoyed a good dance with Janita, only because it was punishment for
forgetting her name, and she shared a laugh with all of us. Her faith was very
strong and vitally important to her, which showed as she wore a pin badge on
her top that represented her as a member of the church community. She asked us
to pray for her own strength in finishing her new home, and also that her
children succeed at school and in everything that they do. DJ prayed for her,
and we all thanked her for allowing us to hear her story. As we travelled back
to the care point, we were able to get to know more about Patricia, one of the
service centre team members, and Audris, one of the only male care workers
currently at Pfunani, who both journeyed with us to the home visit.
After
arriving back from our Holy home visits we were able to spend more time again
with the Under 5s. This was great to see how they had already opened up slightly to Hannah and Chris who had spent the morning with them. However we
soon learnt due to mattresses and tiredness that there was a chance for a nap
for the younger tired children although AJ and DJ also took the opportunity to
enjoy a short nap with some of the younger children! After 2:30pm we expected a
few more children to arrive as the primary school finishes around this time and
they did begin to arrive slowly although it did seem a long time due to the
fact that it is a rural community. However they did soon arrive and we managed
to get them to play some games with the parachute which was lovely to see as
well as enjoying a game of Impala Impala Lion (Duck Duck Goose). We promptly
enjoyed some singing and prayer before the food was served, consisting of Pap (a
firm favourite with Vicky and Hannah), Cabbage and Chicken feet followed by
some quick goodbyes.
We
departed from Pfunani at about 4:30pm and travelled back to Wits. As soon as we
got back, DJ, AJ, Meg and Chris all decided that they were brave enough to go
swimming, whilst the rest of us watched on and laughed. We then quickly got
changed and had showers, before travelling to the dining hall about 15 mins
away. We shared an amazing meal of chicken, pasta salad, roasted vegetables and
green salad, and then a pudding of fruit roulade! We stayed only for dinner, so
travelled back to the accommodation centre where we went straight to Audrey’s
cabin for our debrief. We all talked about the differences we had noticed
between Pfunani and Share, and also something that we saw that challenged us.
Audrey told us the stories of some of the children which were very hard to
hear, and she also told us more about the nature of the Pfunani and the
struggles that this community faces. Alcohol is one of the big issues in the
area which means that the streets can become very dangerous, particularly at
night. The vulnerabilities that the children face come mainly from their broken
and disjointed families, both because the parents had passed away, but because
the parents had split up and the father figure was completely absent. This lack
of male support means that these families do not have enough money to fee their
children, making them vulnerable to disease and malnourishment. The under 5s
programme was set up just over a year ago to try and face the problem of
serious malnourishment in young children. These children come to the care point
earlier than the other children, and are given a simple breakfast of brown
porridge, milk and peanut butter to help build up their strength. Finally,
Audrey explained that the majority of the families in Pfunani are from
Mozambique and therefore do not have any papers, which means that these
families cannot access any money or support from the government, making it
extremely difficult for them to build a life for their families. This made us
all think about our own families and how lucky we are to be surrounded by
people who love and care for us, particularly in having a vital father figure
at home.
Oliver
and Clarrie
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