Tuesday - Holy Home Visits - Mafambisa

​Today, we went on our first Holy Home visits of the trip. We visited two separate homes. Please read the blogs below; 

Visit 1: Carolyn, John, Freya and Jack (Blogged by Carolyn) 

Today was a deeply moving day. Together with John, Freya, Jack, Virginia, Betwell and Dudu, I joined a home visit to a family that John and I first met four years ago, and that he revisited two years ago. Walking back to their home felt like stepping into a living memory, yet also witnessing the passage of time.

The family’s mother now lives in Johannesburg , leaving the children in the care of their sister. Seven people share just three rooms, though since John’s last visit, an extra room has been added; a small but significant change in their living conditions.

Only one brother and sister were at home during our visit. The brother dreams of going to university, but without the proper papers, he has been forced into piece work instead. His sister has been told there is no point in continuing school at the moment as she cannot complete her final year. The pain of these barriers was etched into their faces the quiet distress of young people who want to learn, but whose paths have been blocked.

We prayed with the family and Dudu shared the words of encouragement that she had shared with us and the Care Workers earlier in the day. 

This encounter reminded us of the fragile balance between hope and hardship. Education is often the key to breaking cycles of poverty, yet here, it feels just out of reach. Their resilience is inspiring, but their struggle is heartbreaking.

Visit 2: Ben, Lucy, Lesley and Rachel (Blogged by Rachel) 

Today, me, Lucy, Ben and Lesley along with some people from the service centre visited one of the Care Worker’s houses. We went to see her daughter as she is pregnant and in pain and the Care Worker was very worried about her. 

When we arrived we saw her pigs and all of her vegetables and fruit and plants that she is growing which were sugarcane, cassava, beetroot, spinach, macadamia, mango, oranges, grapes and lettuce and we waited for her daughter to arrive back from her boyfriend’s house. 

When she got home she was quite upset and worried about her baby as she thought she was 2 weeks overdue and after some conversation and a few tears Lesley said she would be happy to give her an examination as Lesley was a midwife. 

Lesley and the Service Centre team then went into the house where she carried out an examination on her and talked about her symptoms and any pain she was having.  At the end, after a lot of reassurances, the medical notes were found under the bed and confirmed that she is due on the 5th of August. She let her boyfriend know about the situation and also booked her c-section for the next day or two. 

When her daughter arrived home earlier  she was very upset as I mentioned earlier but after talking with her and the examination Lesley did for her she was much happier and smiling. Before we left we all laid hands on her and prayed for her and for her to have a healthy baby. 

Before we left however, one of the ladies from the service centre wanted some of the Care Workers oranges so Ben climbed up on some bricks to reach them but they were wobbly. He then ended up climbing the tree and getting some from the top of the tree.