Some of us enjoyed a partial sunrise over the
distant hills; a positive sign that we could look forward to warmer
temperatures and more sun today!
At 8.00 am we met as a team to study John 14.6
in relation to our experiences to date in the Mafambisa community, whilst
others at the Hub joined together for their usual Wednesday morning small
groups. Discussions over, we sent out for our third day at Mafambisa.
Today was the beginning of the project to provide new loos for the use of the
children; much needed, given the perilous lean and dilapidation of the single
present facility! Having gathered an aged wheelbarrow, pick axe, spades and
shovels from the pastor’s home just across the busy road from the church,
Betwell produced the detailed plans for the new building, and Chris expertly
marked out the measured specifications with gathered sticks driven into the
hard ground. The first turf was soon cut, and there was only the task of
hand-digging a hole 2.0 metres x 2.4 metres x 3.00 metres deep; members of the
Cupboard soon started to fill the wheelbarrow with twisted roots, and
increasingly heavy, clay soil. Their efforts were supplemented by interventions
of the care workers who were pleased to flex their muscles in something
different to stirring pap, and cutting up piles of vegetables for the
children’s daily hot meal - a talented and most industrious group of ladies who
are unintimidated by new challenges! Their techniques put our modest efforts to
shame, and all activity was accompanied by much laughter and endless smiles!
Th
e Care Point today became an even busier and
vibrant place as the work continued on digging the pit for the new toilets; AJ
helped the care workers with the cooking, giving them a bit of a break from
their routine. The pastor’s wife, Martha, turned up with one of the other
ladies from the church and they spent time working in the vegetable garden.
Pastor Buwani also turned up a little later and got stuck straight in helping
us to dig the hole. As the children started to arrive, our team started to
interact with them, playing games, helping with writing, one of the lads, Toby
(name changed) took to drawing in the sand and was very good at it, as we had
experienced in previous years. He has also done some great sketches in his
school book which he was keen to share. Vicky enjoyed helping some of the older
children with their homework, and then made a paper butterfly for one of the
girls. Within minutes she had a queue for her handiwork and was even asked to
teach another girl how to make them for her siblings at home.
e Care Point today became an even busier and
vibrant place as the work continued on digging the pit for the new toilets; AJ
helped the care workers with the cooking, giving them a bit of a break from
their routine. The pastor’s wife, Martha, turned up with one of the other
ladies from the church and they spent time working in the vegetable garden.
Pastor Buwani also turned up a little later and got stuck straight in helping
us to dig the hole. As the children started to arrive, our team started to
interact with them, playing games, helping with writing, one of the lads, Toby
(name changed) took to drawing in the sand and was very good at it, as we had
experienced in previous years. He has also done some great sketches in his
school book which he was keen to share. Vicky enjoyed helping some of the older
children with their homework, and then made a paper butterfly for one of the
girls. Within minutes she had a queue for her handiwork and was even asked to
teach another girl how to make them for her siblings at home.
Clarrie spent some time talking with Melody, one
of the Hands Service Centre team. She was pleased to discover the diversity of
her roles as a volunteer, and impressed by her caring instincts, and sense of
privilege in the communities she visits. Melody, humbly felt she was simply
responding to necessities within the places she visited and didn’t deserve any
praise or merit.
Many of the children arrived early because they were released from school when Mandela Day celebrations had concluded. Each pupil had been given a huge orange: some of the youngsters seemed hesitant about whether they needed peeling before eating - despite the hundreds of orange groves in this region, they obviously rarely had the pleasure of eating the fruits.
Our team had brought with them the holiday club
song “Shine” which they started to teach to the children. It wasn’t long until
the children were getting the hang of the words and the actions, and it was
time to add in the music. It was great to see how the children really took to
the song and we plan to teach them another one tomorrow. After song practice
was finished a group of the girls searched out Clarrie and danced the dance and
sang the song for her without any words or music.
A fun-filled and productive day for us all.
By Rosemary and Chris
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