Wednesday - Holy Home Visits - Seville B

​Holy Home Visit 1 (Lesley, Ben and Carolyn)

After a bumpy ride to the Care Point we set out on our Holy home visits today. 

This gave me an opportunity to talk to Loneck and get to know each other better. 

It was a dusty walk and getting hot when we arrived at or first destination to find nobody was there so we were guided to another home. 

There the grandmother (Gogo) prepared chairs outside and she sat on a mat. Around her, were 5 of her grandchildren being cheeky peeping around corners and then eventually sitting with her. All of them were quite young. 

We introduced ourselves, and the Care Workers translated as we built up a picture. 

This lady like many does not know her exact age as she has no papers. The children don’t have SA papers. 

As a refugee from Mozambique she had 6 children herself but sadly 4 had died. 

We discussed her garden and how much she had planted but next doors goats were eating some by getting through the fence!  

One of her children was working and did some house cleaning a few times a week but the money she earned was little. 

I asked about the meals they had in a day. She said porridge in the morning  am and dinner later but 6 days a week they ate at the Care Point.  We later found out that the Care Point provided the additional food for the family as they are most vulnerable in the community. It was a valuable lesson because in the face of it - it appeared that they were more well off as they had extra food without realising this was provided from the Care Point. 

Her daughter returned pushing a wheelbarrow with large sticks of wood for the fire to cook on. Children scrambled to get in it after it was empty. 

The grandmother told us she had a daughter in hospital ready to give birth... An another mouth to feed for this slightly built, Mother Teresa figure. 

We had a bit of a smile from her when I said I also had 9 grandchildren but I'm not strong like her to look after them all! 

She had, had a fall and now had some pain down the length of her right arm. This was one of her prayer requests together with peace for her household and delivery of the new baby. 

I've learnt there is an African saying... 

It is good to have visitors as it makes a house a home. 

So they were happy to see us. 

It does say in the Bible that we should be hospitable. This family had nothing but we got a warm welcome outside this grandmothers house today. 

Blogged Lesley

Holy Home Visit 2 (John, Jack and Lucy) 

We visited a Gogo and her family, originally all from Mozambique, they had come to South Africa in 1984, went back for family reasons ten years later, and returned in 2016, escaping the Civil War in their own country. Although the lady doesn’t know her age, we would approximate that she is mid to late seventies, and is suffering with pains in her leg and shoulder, needing attention from the clinic. She lives with her son, his three children and his three grandchildren, on a reasonable sized plot of land. The son has a one room, earth built, home and the Gogo sleeps in a corrugated tin shelter with the children, in addition they have a cooking shelter and a toilet.

The family live under constant stress from having no official papers to stay, live and work in South Africa. This means that they could be forced by the authorities to go back to Mozambique or put in prison, something which recently been happening to a number of families. Because of their lack of residency papers, and therefore no path to a permanent job, some members of the family, who are able, search for piece work - which pays very little. They try to grow a few crops, but have no money to buy food; the day we visited they had caught a large lizard which they were cooking to feed the family! The three young children, two of which are old enough to be in school, attend the care point where they receive the only proper meal they will eat each day.

The Gogo asked us to pray for them; for a solution to their residence status, that they might receive papers; and we prayed for their safety, health and wellbeing. We prayed that God’s protection and blessing may be upon them, for peace in their hearts and some way out of their current situation.

Blogged by John

Holy Home Visit 3 (Sally, Alice, Freya and Rachel)

Our home visit in Seville B was to the home of Primary Care Giver Doris just along the road from the new care point site. Audrey explained that Doris lives in the house with her daughter in law and four grandchildren. While her son and his family were visiting from Mozambique the son had been arrested by the police for working in South Africa while not having papers and is currently in prison. Now Doris must care for her daughter in law and her grandchildren. 

Audrey explained that Doris is struggling with the current situation. The combination of supporting the family and worrying about her son is taking its toll on her. Her son has already spent three months in prison and it is not clear exactly when his case will be heard or what the outcome will be. 

Both Doris and her daughter in law get up at five o’clock every morning and walk several kilometres to do piece work - cleaning and preparing food - in houses in a nearby affluent neighbourhood. They do this three days a week, returning to Seville B at about 10am. They have to carry the youngest children with them. They get paid 300 rand per month. This is approximately £14 per month. Doris is sending some of this money to her son in prison, leaving with her with very little to buy food. 

Doris was clear that without the support of the care point her grandchildren would be stealing food and probably even be dead. The care point provides a hot meal for each of the children six days a week. She said that she feeds them what she can on a Sunday but it is not enough to feed the growing children. Doris has been able to show her gratitude by helping with the clearing of the site of the new care point and is trying to rally other primary care givers to help if they are able. 

While we chatted, Doris offered us all oranges which she had picked from an orchard that morning. Audrey reassured us that it was okay to accept her hospitality - Doris was honoured to invite us into her home and would be offended if we did not accept. The oranges were delicious - very sweet and juicy. We all made quite a mess of peeling them though! 

Care worker Romy who had joined us on the visit shared that her situation is very similar. She also has a son in prison for a similar reason. She and Doris were able to talk together about this and share their concerns. 

We prayed for the family before we left them - for their safety, for their health and for a swift resolution of the situation with her son. We have thanks for the oranges and for the work Doris has done to support the development of the new Care Point.

Blogged by Sally 

Wednesday - Seville B

It was an early start for us all today as we were travelling to the Bushbuck Ridge where we were going to stay for a couple of nights! So with overnight bags packed, toys organised, shared lunches prepped we headed to Hazyview to pick up Audrey and Prudence! 

Here is the profile of the community of Seville B that we visited today. These profiles add context to the Home Visits and communities that we visit. 

https://www.handsatwork.org/southafrica/seville-b 

We arrived at the Care Point to a lovely warm welcome which felt very special considering they had never met some of us before. 

We sat in a circle with the Care Workers and the Service Centre Team who were joining us for the day and introduced ourselves sharing how we were feeling. 

We then split into 3 groups to go out into the community on Holy Home Visits. Before we visited the different homes, we walked together to the land of the new Care Point. 

If you remember from when the team came out in 2024 that they were trying to secure land for a Care Point as we’re currently operating out of a Care Workers home. That land didn’t work out but land was given by the village chief for the Care Point. They even secured it with a fence to demarcate the area! Building of toilets is already underway and nearly completed and the Care Workers and Primary Care Givers have already cleared the majority of the land! It is so spacious! I stood on the land and could really feel the vision and heart for the Care Point and the impact it will have on the rural community. 

Whilst the necessary buildings are being built the Care Workers are currently using a local preschool but there are many restrictions such as unfortunately the children are not able to use the outdoor play equipment, so the Care Workers are so keen to have their own dedicated base! 

Check out the separate blog tomorrow morning about our home visits. 

Upon our return to the Care Point we exchanged with each other how our visits had gone and then the children shortly arrived. 

It was then time to hand out the food to the children …today’s meal was beans 🫘 samp and butternut squash; which we all also enjoyed! It was then confirmed that we had time to get out the toys! 

Well, what an amazing time was had by all; Freya, Rachel and Jack got out the bubbles … well what a reaction. The children swarmed around the 3 of them … then came out the football which John and Ben and some of the older lads enjoyed playing with. The long skipping rope also proved as popular here as in Mafambisa. Then some time later, Alice had blown up an inflatable ball ⚽️ and wow how much fun did those children have … they ran across the Care Point and spent much time playing with it … lots of squealing went on. 

The last 15 minutes was then all about the dancing. This was magical … everyone at the Care Point joined in. The joy on the children’s face as they copied Ben, Freya, Rachel and Jack - it was such great fun and felt very special! They seemed super quick at picking up the actions. 

We then had a couple of photos and said our goodbyes before heading off on what became an “eventful “ (mega bumpy “roads” and a road closure 400 metres from the entrance meaning a 35 minute detour 🙄) journey to Witz where we were sleeping for the next couple of nights. Witz is the rural campus for the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

 

Lovely rooms with en-suites and a super supper was had before we all ventured off to bed promptly so that we were recharged ready for another exciting day in the community! 

Blogged by Lucy 

Tuesday - Mafambisa Care Point

​The Care Point was a hive of activity all day today! It was so busy that there were many photographs to be included today so enjoy! 

It started quietly with the Care Workers moving around preparing food and tidying the Care Point. When we arrived, we jumped straight into peeling eggs and grating beetroot! (If you didn’t know beetroot day is my favourite!) 

We then met together for the weekly relationship group. We sang, danced and prayed before Du Du (Care Worker) shared a word of encouragement based around Proverbs 3 v 5-6. It was lovely to see and hear her delivering an encouragement to the team and Care Workers. 

Next on the agenda were Holy Home Visits (please see the separate blog about these!). What is amazing is that God went before us today and ordered our steps! He knew who we would be visiting and this will have more meaning when you hear the stories of the homes we visited today! 

Myself and Sally stayed behind at the Care Point to help with any cooking and also a number of children had arrived earlier today; sadly because one of their teachers had died. Out came the bubbles, trucks, stick ball and skipping ropes and it wasn’t long before they were all being used simultaneously! The buzz of activity continued as more children arrived at the Care Point. 

The trucks particularly were a great success and provided hours of fun for the four children playing with them! We loved that all the children were busy playing and engaging with each other; sharing and being imaginative without little input and then also the Care Workers fun and willingness to join in and start new games! It really showed a Care Point living life to the full and being alive! 

As the rest of the team arrived back, more children arrived and normal routine of praise, prayer and eating commenced! Beetroot, egg and pap were on the menu today! 

After lunch, the action continued with more playing, chatting and fellowship before the dancing began! Despite going through the playlist three times, we were asked to continue until Lonik (one of the Hands team) arrived back to pick up some of the Service Centre, although we think this was just an excuse! We also discovered the next generation of “youth” that decided to make their own stage and perform to the rest of the community of Mafambisa or anyone driving/walking down the road! Whilst this was happening there was a side attraction of the shinning of shoes that we had not seen before!

With full hearts and endless amounts of joy and hope we left for home! Dinner, de-brief and dessert followed before bed! 

Blogged by Alice