The team set off earlier than usual and DJ drove
us to Mafambisa, via Shoprite, to buy the all important cabbages and Vetkoeks!
We arrived at the care point and immediately checked out the toilet pit to see
that it was filled with water. After getting tools out of the minibus, DJ,
Chris, Oliver, Farzam, Hannah and Vicky all got stuck in and started to bail
the water out using buckets. The water table in Mafambisa is high so the pit
had filled up over night. After we had got all the water out we continued dig
and pick axe. The soil is very sandy, and with the combination of the water,
sand, clay and stone it made a thick gloopy heavy material to dig and get out
the hole. We spent 4 hours digging and bailing out water. The pit is 2.4 by 2
meters and 2.5 meters deep. Still half a meter to go. Once the pit is finished
it will be lined with bricks, lintels on top, a floor, toilet seat and then
walls and a roof. There is a pipe coming out the back to release any smell. The
pipe is painted black to heat up in the sun causing the air to rise up it and
causing a vacuum in the toilet to draw fresh air in and the smell out. The next
time you sit on the toilet just think of the work involved it to making these
toilets, I was talking to Betwell, he was telling me they dug a toilet in a
local community and it took them 3 holes to get one deep enough due to boulders
under the ground.
After doing some washing up, Oliver, AJ and
Hannah all went to fetch some water from the Pastors house, because the washing
up water was too filthy from the excess water from the toilet pit.
We then
split off into two groups: Hannah, Chris, Oliver and Vicky, and Clarrie, AJ and
Meg, to go on Holy Home Visits. Hannah, Chris, Oliver and Vicky all travelled
with Gugu, one of the Service Centre team, and went to the house of Patience’s
uncle. On the way, they learnt that Gugu had once been a vulnerable child at
the care point in Masoyi, before entering college and university and then
joining Hands@Work in 2015. When they arrived at the house, they found that it
was only the granddaughter of Patience’s uncle who was home, who was in her
early teens, because Patience’s uncle and grandmother were in court. Patience
had been staying there since her abuse, because both of her parents had been
arrested, and her uncle and grandmother had gone to court to try and get
custody of the children. There are currently 6 of them living at the house,
including the grandmother, the uncle and the granddaughter of the uncle.
Meanwhile, the rest of us travelled to the home of Henry and Harry’s mother but she was unfortunately not in because she was having her hair done! So instead we travelled with Nicho to the home of Anna, who is a care worker at the Mafambisa care point. However, she hadn’t been able to go for over a year because she has had massive problems with her left ankle, that had swollen to four times its normal size. She is now feeling much better and her ankle is almost better, but her main challenge is getting water which, because it’s not rainy season, is very rare. We shared a laugh with her and she told us all about her big family that is spread all across the country, which makes it difficult for her to see many of them regularly. We prayed that she would have a full recovery, and that her children would continue to go to school and see the hope and joy of Christ in everything that they do.
When we returned to the care point, Rosemary had just finished prepping lunch with the Care Workers, and the children started to arrive in from school. Many of the boys immediately went to the toilet pit to get involved in digging, even though they were still in their uniform. Once one school had arrived, we set up the sound system and played ‘Shine’, which they all immediately started to sing and dance to. We also taught them another of our Holiday Club songs, ‘Great Great Brill Brill’, which they absolutely loved and picked up within the first go. After dancing a bit more, we then played some games with the children, including playing frisbee with the boys, drawing pictures in the sand, playing noughts and crosses, and making paper hats with Vicky. We then gathered for prayers and some singing before serving lunch of rice, beetroot, chicken thighs and gravy...which was amazing! We gathered once more after everyone had finished eating, to sing happy birthday to Poppy who turned 15 today, and to end the day with another reprise of ‘Shine’ and ‘Great Great Brill Brill’ before the children departed. As they were leaving, Sophie came and wrote some lovely messages on our arms which made us all feel very loved and blessed.
Chris, Farzam and Nicho quickly went by minibus to the home of Lucy, who we had
seen on a previous Holy Home Visit, and invited them to travel back with them
so that her 4 children could come and have something to eat.
We then left Mafambisa, and took a detour to Pick n Pay to buy ingredients for cake making, before arriving back at the ‘Hub’. Many of us had a quick shower as soon as we got back, before sitting down to dinner of Fish and Chips. After dinner we went up to Kristi and Daytona’s house, who are our hosts, and had a debrief accompanied by cookies and brownies! They encouraged us to compare our feelings to the weather and challenged us to explain why we felt the way that we did. They also shared their own moments of joy and moments of unrest which gave us a greater insight into the work that they do. After finishing there we moved back down to ‘The Village’ to chill out before going to bed to prepare for the next day.
DJ and Clarrie
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