Holy Home Visit - Sthobela A

At Sthobela A care point, after we had shared in a time of praise and prayer, Carolyn, Lucy and John were invited to join one of the care workers and two members of the service centre team to visit a local lady, Gogo (grandma) Tamar. It was another desperate situation which the Hands family are trying to support.

The lady is originally from Eswatini, she came to South Africa about ten years ago with two of her grandchildren so that they could access education. A risk because, as we have heard so many times on this trip, being from a different country and having no legal papers means she has no rights, no claim to any benefits and the children cannot complete education or gain meaningful employment.

After a time her grandson left to finish his education and try and find peace work; her granddaughter became pregnant and after giving birth went to live with her boyfriend’s family, leaving the lady on her own. In March this year another granddaughter arrived at her door with her own baby, and then left, leaving the lady to care for her under two year old great-granddaughter….the lady is eighty-three years old!

The house she lives in is extremely rural, no running water, no electricity; she has a small piece of land where she grows crops to feed herself. House is a generous term - think more a couple of run down, leaking sheds, with ill-fitting windows and doors, and no floor. She is also very hard of hearing, and doesn’t see very well, and her mobility is limited. Despite this she is cheerful and doing her very best to look after her great-granddaughter.

Each weekday one of the care workers collects the child on her way to the care point, they wash her, care for her and feed her, and return her home late afternoon with extra food for the Gogo.  But at the weekend they receive little support. 

When we arrived she was trying to frighten off a few goats intent on eating her crops and avocado trees; she invited us to sit down (no chairs) and chatted for a good time with the team who had come to check on her welfare. We established that she had run out of water and so John and the two service centre staff set off with buckets to a neighbours house, who had a pipe of running water from the mountains. “Neighbour” actually meant a trek of about 400m across a field and through a small copse, to bring back enough water for essential use!

After returning with the water we prayed with the Gogo, the child and the rest of her family, who still live in Eswatini, but never visit.  We asked God to help show a resolution to the situation; and gave thanks for the care workers and their faithful support. She was extremely grateful for the visit and the help she had received; and insisted on walking us to the edge of her land to wave us goodbye.