Community Day 2 - Sommerset

New ground: Sommerset Carepoint

By Lucy 

This morning we had a prompt breakfast on the Veranda before Alice, Carolyn and myself attended Ladies prayer at 8am in the chapel. 16 ladies attended (all those involved with Hands Hub). There was a recap of the prayer requests from the last meeting , giving an informative update and whether prayers were still needed for the situation. We shared praise requests (things/situations  to be thankful for), and also prayer requests where we needed to bring the situation before God. A member of the group then shared some thoughts on the word “Joy”, which she had been inspired about when talking to Jack and Ben the previous evening. Numerous bible passages were then read out where “Joy” is the focus of the verse. 

After this we then jumped in the minibus and off we set off to Sommerset, a new carepoint that none of the team had previously visited. On the journey we were informed of the demographics of Sommerset as an area, but also the challenges of the carepoint. Some of the care workers were illegal immigrants that had escaped the civil war in Mozambique and were therefore unable to get their identity papers, and so unable to gain any credible employment. The mixture of ethnicity of the care workers was causing some tension within the team and there is much work to do to bring about unity. 

When we got to the carepoint, its location being more rural than Mafambisa, was great to see a new building being plastered (by the local Pastor and other helpers). The highlight though was the vegetables growing on site; there is a communal plot where produce is grown for use at the carepoint and any surplus is sold . Each care worker also has a strip of land where they can grow produce for their household but also able to sell to gain much needed finance. 

(The Somerset vegetable patch - glorious!) 

Today a Hands at Work representative decided that the vegetables were so amazing, and as they were planning to shop for vegetables for other carepoints the next day, we could buy theirs. So they were duly cut/pulled and we then filled the boot of the van to take back to the hub! 

(Hands bought 10 of these from the Care Point to deliver to other Care Points) 

(We also bought a whole car boot full of spinach!!) 

Most of us then went and sat in a shelter where we introduced ourselves to the care workers and vice versa. We prayed and sung worship songs very joyfully with much animation and finished the worship with a reflection from John from Philippians …. reflecting on courage and strength. 

(Praise and Worship with the Care Workers - joyous!)

Whilst we were at this time of encouragement Jack, Ben and Alice were interacting with the under 5’s. 

(Bubble fun with the under 5’s) 

(Shine with the early arrivers and under 5’s at the hub)

Some of us then went out on Holy Home visits. John and Ben set off to a troubled home with a single mother who has 8 children, some of them were not attending the carepoint, this visit was to understand why and to check on the children’s health. 

Carolyn, Chris and myself walked in the blazing heat to a home well over a mile away. The purpose of the visit was to check up on one of the 8 children living in this household. The 22 year old girl, who has mental health difficulties was pregnant , unsure when the baby was due and not aware of the father. There was lengthy dialogue between the careworkers, Hands at Work representative and the mother/grandmother. This lady is addicted to alcohol where the children’s grant was often being spent; the father of the household also had mental health issues. The girl’s maternity notes were asked for and we looked at them, all in English and pretty similar to documents we use in the UK. The girl was booked in for an ultrasound next week, this should confirm the baby’s due date and as we left household it was reiterated about the need of the girl to let her family know when she was in pain, as she would likely be going into labour and would need to be cared for in hospital. We returned to the carepoint and chatted on the walk back establishing that the household was slightly better than a previous visit where they discovered numerous of the children had Scabies. 

(The family visited today)

When we got back to the carepoint the children had received their meal of cabbage and beans from Alice and Jack, who also had spent much time playing football, frisbee, bubbles and games with all the children and it culminated in 4 rounds of SHINE with Jack and Ben. We then left the carepoint for our journey back to the hub with a mixture of feelings and concerns for the way ahead in Sommerset.

(Shine from the inside out, that the World will know you live in me…) 

(Jack serving up the pan of beans to all the children… this pan was empty at the end!)