Day 11 - Houtbos Holy Home Visits - Visit 1: Alice and Noah

We went on a Holy Home Visit which was down the mountain and through the trees. It was to check on a teenage girl that had had a baby 18 months ago and hadn’t returned to the Care Point. 

It was quite a trek! Busie and Nontobeko came with us along with the Care Worker Nohlanhla. Along the way they shared a bit more about the family we were visiting. The older sister had gone to Eswatini and got married but it hadn’t worked out so she had returned but hasn’t really been seen recently. There are also two boys in the family. 

On arrival at the home we were greeted by the teenager Nonnee and her Dad. Her Dad is a farmer and he quickly got us some benches to sit on. It was very hot sitting in the sun. Nonnee and her Dad Sam had excellent English! Sam is a farmer and has en extensive plot! Sam currently supplies the Care Point with a large bag of mini meal every month or so which is amazing. Busie encouraged him to share this with others in the community as then they would become jealous and this would encourage them to see how they could support the Care Point. 

Nonnee went to pick up her child from the neighbours- she was also not at School today because she had a tooth ache! 

We had heard yesterday that School was closed today for Grade R to 4 and we found out today that it was ‘Love your School’ day where teachers, parents, carers and the older children clean and fix up the School etc. Sam had gone in the morning to help. Busie suggested that we should have a ‘Love your Care Point’ day where Care Givers and the community could come and paint the buildings, mow the grass and tend to the Care Point! Everyone thought this was a great idea! 

Sam shared his passion for farming with us all and also about the challenges of the community of Houtbos that there are many people that don’t have papers from either South Africa and Eswatini and that he wanted to help with this by having conversations with the Chief. Busie suggested that he could offer to show people how to set up small plots of land with crops and then might be able to get the support of the Chief and others. It was also suggested that he could also up-skill others in the community so they can provide for themselves. Sam agreed and is already speaking and sharing his knowledge at a community meeting on Friday. 

Sam thanked us for coming to visit and said that us sitting on his benches was a real honour. He was interested in what the UK was like so naturally we talked about the weather and how it varies to South Africa. We discussed the rain particularly how in South Africa it rains a lot in short spells at a time whereas in the UK it can drizzle for days! We then discussed about Alice’s time in South Africa as a teacher and how she was unable to stay before then Noah shared about being a paramedic. 

Before we left, Sam shared that his children benefit from the Care Point in many ways but particularly that they gave them blankets and that his wife visits the Care Workers every week to say thank you. He then asked Alice to pray for strength and provision to build a concrete house so that his family will have a stable home for years to come and that he can continue to help the community. Alice prayed for these things and also health for Nonnee and that she will be encouraged as a young mum and be able to move up to Grade 12 in January. Noah then spied a very large and tall chicken which made us all chuckle! 

We then started the long walk back up the mountain to the Care Point. Noah asked Busie to share her story on the way which helped pass the time as well as being inspiring and interesting!

 

Blogged by Alice and Noah