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