Our highlights and impacts

Adam:

Highlight - Being given the opportunity to address and speak to the children in Siyathuthuka about Jude 1 v 17-23.

Impact - Visiting South Africa showed me how important it is spending time with other people. The trip gave me the opportunity to build stronger, and new, relationships with many people and I hope to continue to spend more time with those around me

Alexander:

Highlight - When going into my first home visit, I was given a warm welcome and then handed and trusted with the mother's baby.

Impact - I have discovered that I can do many things that I didn't think I would be able to, as well as realising that I do not need certain things.

Alice:

Highlight - Seeing a little boy smile after spending two hours with him and his family on a Holy Home Visit on our last day in Siyathuthuka.

Impact – It has made me realise the complete power of faith. For the people we met, their trust in God is unending and was inspirational to all who share in their stories. The importance of prayer was also highlighted and made finding God in places of hardship easier and more poignant given the difficulties in the past, the present and the future. It was both humbling and inspirational.

Alison:

Highlight - Being welcomed so willingly into another person's home who I'd never met before, particularly in Oshoek when the first thing the woman said to us was 'Welcome Home!'

Impact - Realising the support network and community spirit throughout the places we visited should also be reflected in our own lives.

Jessica:

Highlight - Having the privilege of playing with children in the Care Points within the community. Being able to see a child so happy when playing what we'd describe as a 'simple' game such a throw and catch.

Impact - Developing a much closer relationship with God and realising the huge impact of prayer and faith. Realising that spending time with people and listening to their stories is invaluable.

Nicholas:

Highlight - Being able to visit a family who were going through huge upset, resulting in one brother stabbing the other. Even though this was a difficult visit, it opened my eyes to the great levels of crime in some of the most deprived areas of South Africa.

Impact - This trip reminded me of how important family is, and that one problem doesn't just affect one person, but the whole family and community that surrounds them.

                                  

Chris:

Highlight - Seeing the Care Workers in the communities come to life in their worship through music and dance.

Impact – Firstly seeing our young people fully engage with the experience, with the African People and their love for the children. Secondly, I witnessed people who have only the very minimum of anything and yet who have a love for God and so much joy in their hearts that is a lesson to us all.

Claire:

Highlight - Being able to be a part of the praise and worship in the communities and seeing the joy of the Care Workers whilst singing.

Impact - Appreciating the value of spending time with other people and not rushing to do the next thing.  The importance of prayer was particularly highlighted throughout this trip and this was reflected in all the communities we visited.

Alice P:

Highlight – Playing with the children at the Care Point and seeing how much joy, hope and love they had for each other despite their home situation. Having the privilege of being welcomed into people’s homes and to hear their stories however difficult for them to share.

Impact – It was great to see the young people fully engaged in the experience and grow in their faith. Also, spending time with people and building relationships with them brings life even in the most difficult of circumstances.

AJ:

Highlight - Seeing so much laughter and joy in the communities, even when some of them were going through such hard and difficult times.

Impact - Spending time with vulnerable families and listening to them and being there to encourage and support them; something we underestimate the importance of, and don't take time to do in our busy lives.

David:

Highlight - Being given the opportunity to cook the meal in Share, and knowing that what I cooked would mean that the children in the Care Point would have at least one hot meal that day.

Impact - The dedicated work of the volunteers at the Care Point who every day, cook in high heats, visit vulnerable children and given them support even when their situation is not much better.

Over the two weeks that we spent in South Africa, we have witnessed ‘Hands at Work’ in action in the most vulnerable communities and have shared in the stories of so many inspirational people, whose courage and faith is both unwavering and unending. It has been truly humbling and life changing to enter communities, engage with the children and be trusted to hear their stories.

Home!

After having varying amounts of sleep on the plane, we landed at Heathrow at 05.25 and passed through passport and customs unhindered. It was time for another cup of tea whilst we waited for the cars to arrive from Biggleswade; our thanks to Richard, Kevin and Guy who came early to chauffeur us from the Airport back to Church. As we pulled into Ivel Gardens at 08.20, we were greeted by banners and cheers as a family and friends had also got up early to give us a wonderful welcome home.

Time to say our goodbyes!

We all woke up nice and early to give us enough time to have our last warm shower at Hands. We finished packing and squeezing everything into our suitcases, and went and enjoyed our final breakfast sitting on the veranda.

We gathered with all the Hands family for the community meeting. Last week, we were in Siyathuthuka for community prayer, so this was a new experience for us! The meeting began with announcements and birthdays. Herman and Charissa were determined that we would sing to both David and Adam before we left - even though their birthdays aren't until the 31st August! This gave us a great chance to surround them with our love and thank God for all the blessing he has given them - plus an opportunity to sing the new Happy Birthday song again!

We weren't the only people leaving today, there was a couple from Australia who were leaving to head to Zambia, and a long term couple, who have been living at Hands for the past few years, were leaving to go home to Canada for a rest, and hopefully to renew their visas for another 3 years. We were invited to share some of our highlights and impacts from our time with Hands, before they placed their hands on our shoulders and prayed for us. We were then lucky enough to be able to share a song that we had learnt in preparation for our trip to Africa - Baba Yetu, which is the Lord's Prayer in Swahili. We apologised for our pronunciation of the language, but I think it was very welcomed by the people there! The morning finished with George sharing a message from the bible about David and Jonathon's friendship. He summed it up by saying that no matter who you are or what your background is, if your paths cross it is part of God's plan for you, and we should take time to explore that relationship together.

It was then time to load up the mini-bus with all our suitcases and say our final goodbyes and thank yous. Luckily there was just enough to grab a couple of cheeky group photos! We jumped in the bus and waved goodbye to Hands! Our amazing two weeks with Hands had come to an end, but we did promise them that we would be back!

On our journey to Johannesburg Airport, Chris was 'fortunate' enough to be sat in the front with our driver Ed. As a group we decided that Ed must be a tour guide normally because for the WHOLE 4 hours, Chris had the 'delight' to listen to EVERYTHING Ed was telling him! This was highly comical to us sitting in the back of the bus in which we all giggled at Chris' misfortune!

We arrived at the airport, swiftly checked in our bags and passed through security. We had a couple of hours to spare, so this gave us enough time to grab a drink and buy some souvenirs to take back home. We got in the queue for our gate and then boarded the plane.

Bye - Bye South Africa - thanks for some amazing memories and an incredible two weeks! I'm sure many of us will be back!

Maintenance Day

Thursday

A very different day was in store for us as we woke up this morning. Our programme showed us as doing maintenance at the hands hub. We soon found that the task we were to do was leaf clearing in front of the building, this may sound strange but remember we are in winter here. It reminded us of leaf clearing at church in November except the leaves here were crisp and dry rather than wet and soggy in England. The team got stuck in and did a great job of clearing the whole of the grass area in front of the buildings, there were a lot of leaves.

Herman who is the head of the maintenance team thanked everyone and then said he would take us to a nearby lake on a banana plantation where we could swim. We all jumped into his pickup and headed off up the road. Some of us swam some of us watched, some of us swam right across the lake, some of us found that we had leaches on our feet, and frantic cleaning of feet took place.

We were all now conscious that we are nearing the end of the trip and will soon be heading off to Johannesburg to catch our flight. After having our lunch we went to Hermans and Charissa house for our final de-brief. Charissa asked us to share our highlights, some said it was the worship sessions in the African communities, some reflected on the simplicity of the play that we shared with the children, so much fun without an electronic devise any where near, some reflected on individuals, the joy that people greeted us and invited us into their homes, the joy that they had to tell us their stories and just how positive and full of joy people are in some of the poorest communities. We thanked Herman and Charissa for their care of us as hosts.

George and Carolyn Snyaman joined the team in the chapel for a few words of encouragement, at the end of our visit. George encouraged us to share with those back home, not to be selfish and hold onto the experience. He also encouraged us to take example from the communities, having joy in our hearts, sharing in each other's troubles, living as community and caring for each.

Our day finished with a bring and brai supper which is very similar to a bar-b-q, everyone from the hands community was there and every family brought something to cook on the grill. It was now time to check in for our flight - nothing is that simple. Because Adam and Alice had been split from our booking on the outward flight, they were no longer on our booking for the return flight. We searched the Internet with to no avail and so had to ring BA in London. They found the outward flight for Alice and Adam but told us that there was no associated return flight. We held our breath whilst they searched our return flight and to our relief confirmed that they were on the flight but now under a new booking reference.

Tomorrow morning is a Hands Worship session where our young people will share some of their experiences of the last couple of weeks before we start our 4 hour trip to Johannesburg.

Our last day in the community - Siyathuthuka

Wednesday
 

We enjoyed a later start to the day. We then travelled to Siyathuthuka with three members of the Hands team. We were greeted by a smiley and excited little girl who remembered us from our past couple of days spent there. There were hugs all round between team members and the care workers at the care point and we all settled in the centre for an act of worship. This began with a fun ice breaker game which included all of the people there; the old and the young. It was lovely to see the care workers genuinely smiling due to the fun they were having, amidst the hard work of the life of the care point. Some songs were sung and prayers were shared, we then split into 4 teams, three of whom were going on care visits and one of whom were staying to help cook. The three groups then left to go their home visits in the community.

Alice, Adam and Claire

The three of us went on a home visit along with one Hands representative and two care workers. On the way to the house, we were briefly told the situation of the family living in that home. There was a father and 9 year old son, who both had HIV; they lived with the boy's grandmother. Due to the boy's illness he has missed big chunks of school that's having a big impact on his education. Upon arriving at the house, they offered us a friendly introduction and we sat outside in the sun. After a while though, the father decided that our white skin was going to burn and that we should quickly move inside! Whilst their home was clean and tidy, it was clearly not intended for permanent residence. The walls were made of corrugated metal and our Hands representative referred to it as a shack; the grandmother said that whenever it was rainy or windy the house was virtually unusable and very dangerous. The family were very keen for us to stay, even offering us tea and sweet potatoes to keep us for around 2 hours in the end! It was a very enjoyable visit and towards the end we felt like we really bonded with the family. The boy played on our camera with Alice, taking photos of almost everything! We found out that the father spoke reasonably good English and he invited us back for dinner next time we're in South Africa!

Jessica, DJ and Alexander

We started our visit by heading to a house that we had previously visited, so quickly turned round and started walking to see our next family. When we arrived we were warmly greeted by the Gogo of the house and all her family - this included one of her own children and 5 of her grandchildren. We later found out that she was a mother to seven children, of which 3 had passed away and a grandmother to many more. The house was of a reasonable size, however there was 11 people living there! The first thing she mentioned was that her grandson was constantly putting off a saliva test for TB, which had previously been the subject of a recent visit by the care worker. This caused arguments and tensions on their relationship, and she felt she was in a very difficult position to address the situation. She also went on to mention that she had paid some builders to come and extend part of her house, however they never showed up to complete the work. She was very distressed about this situation as she wanted to leave something for her children and grandchildren before she passed away. When we asked if there was anything she wanted us to pray for, she mentioned that her mother in Mozambique (where she was originally from) was extremely ill and needed a lot of strength and prayers.

Alice, AJ

Today, we stayed behind to help cook the lunch for the children. We started by washing up the plates in two big bowls with the help of our little friend Patience that we had met last week. We have been blown away by how independent, helpful and bubbly this little four year old is. After washing up we played with the three little girls and fed them bananas whilst they sat on the minibus step (Patience has explored our minibus on previous visits and knew where the bananas were hidden!) 

Although we had met Patience on a number of occasions and had been amazed at how much life and joy she had in her.. It was only today that we heard her story.. She has been such a big part of our time at Siyathuthuka that we felt that we wanted to share her story. 

Patience' is of mixed heritage with her Mum being South African and her Dad Indian. In South Africa it is common for Indians and South Africans to marry and this automatically means that Indians receive South African ID cards....

Shortly after Patience was born, her Dad left with his ID card leaving her alone with her mum. Patience's mum then developed severe mental health problems meaning that she was now unable to care for Patience. Patience then spent the next three years in hospital as there was no one to care for her. She now lives with a distance relative who is a care worker at the care point. We also found out today that she has only recently started speaking and being confident in playing and interacting with others. This was a surprise as the little girl we had met was so confident and bubbly to be around. It made us realise the importance of children living with family and being supported by the care point.

Alison, Chris and Nicholas.

We set off to begin our three visits into the community. We walked what seemed like a very long way until we came across a small house which overlooked an amazing view and had a great plot of land behind it, only to find that there was no one home. Despite this our care worker moved on to the house next door, to be met once again with no one at home. This was getting a little sorrowful, but we moved on to the next house with optimism. At the next house, very near the care point, we were met by 4 children who lived with their grandma, only to be informed that she was not home, and so we were unable to meet with her. Overall we found this walk for holy home visits very interesting in regards to the scenery and the village tour, but we disappointed by the lack of people who met us at each house. This demonstrated the sheer luck which the care workers face in picking the correct time to venture into a home.

Once we had returned back to the care points from our Holy Home Visits, we began to play with the children who were already there and as more arrived they joined in to. We sat under the trees whilst the children played with the girls hair, Adam and Alice led a game of football whilst others peeled butternut squash with rather large bread knives - this was an experience! It was a lovely afternoon and we felt that we got to spend some quality time with the children in the community. It was soon time for worship, prayer and thought time before they tucked into their meal of chicken feet and pap. We all stood in a large circle outside and sang songs - one which included some of the boys stamping their feet in a circle in the middle. We were then led in a thought and bible reading by Freedom whose home some of us had visited last week. Next it was prayer time - some of the boys were being a little bit silly so one of the hands representatives made them all stand in a line and repeat the prayer which Alice and Claire found particularly interesting as this was very much what we would do in schools in England.

After our meal in the community we said our fond farewells to the children and care workers. We were sad to leave this community as we felt like we had come to know the families, children and care workers that supported this care point. It has left lasting memories in all of the team and we will certainly miss Siyathuthuka. We had enjoyed our last day in the community.

Tuesday - Oshoek

 Tuesday

We woke up this morning to a magnificent view and after breakfast we headed to the care point. As soon as we arrived we all got stuck in... Alexander and Alison washed and cleaned the chicken feet (part of today's meal. This was a new experience for the group), whilst the other girls prepared the butternut squash and spinach!  After this it was lunchtime for the children at the local schools so we sat and talked to the children whilst they were on their break.

Next it was wood chopping for the fire. AJ, DJ and Nicholas began to use the hand saw to cut the wood whilst it was balancing on some breeze blocks.... This soon turned into a who could saw the fastest competition - some of the local children were pretty fast..

 It was really awkward trying to balance and cut the wood at the same time so DJ, Chris and Alexander decided to build a log cutting cradle. Pick axes, spades and logs later it was ready to be tested! The care point would now find it much easier to cut the wood needed.
 

 It was now time for our Holy Home Visits something we had been looking forward to as we knew the homes would be different to ones we had seen in other communities and they were also going to be spread all over the beautiful landscape.... Here are the stories that we heard on our travels....

Alice S, Claire and Alexander

When we arrived, we met Caroline who was the Gogo of the small holding. She welcomed us and introduced herself with a lovely smile and an infectious laugh. Following introductions, we found out that she was the sister-in-law of the late Gogo's family who we were visiting. We then made our way to the home of the family and we shared with the Care Workers our love of all our Grandmothers. We were greeted by the aunt, who is recovering from a car accident on the way to her mother's funeral. Living in the house were three of her children who were all at school, her three year old son was living with his father in Mozambique, her two nieces, her youngest sister and a young relative from Swaziland. Whilst her father was alive, he was able support the family as he was South African but worked in Swaziland with the necessary ID. Without him and South African ID, the family members cannot find work in South Africa because of their Swazi heritage and are also not eligible for any government support. Due to this, the Care Point and Hands are essential for their survival and life as they have no money to even buy basic food. Despite this, she still welcomes relatives who are less fortunate than themselves living in Swaziland. The aunt is recovering but the process is longer than she hoped, but she is still actively looking for work. Without ID, this work is often illegal and pays very poorly, making life only a little easier. Although the hardships facing the family were obvious and very difficult, their warmth and gratitude was humbling and we were all able to laugh together and share hugs

Alison, Chris and Adam 

We went with our care worker Isabelle on quite a long walk, almost taking us to the Swaziland border. On the way we spoke about her life and she told us about her five children, letting us know that she also had two grandchildren and that she lived in the village, as we were able to see her house on the way to our holy home visit. We climbed to the top of a hill and entered into a farmstead. Immediately the mother of the house came out and shouted "welcome home", taking us aback and making us feel very welcome. She was the grandmother of the house and so she cared for three children in the absence of their parents. On entering the house she told us that she had something special to show us, we went into the back room where a team of workers were busy packaging mushrooms to be sold. The lady was very excited about this as they'd only just begun to grow mushrooms to trade and she had gained two interviews with supermarkets for business. She next took us to her mushroom growing hut where we had to wash our feet and hands before entering, and we were shown the hanging mushroom bags with a good crop of oyster mushrooms. Next we met her husband who'd just returned from getting packaging for the mushrooms, we were introduced and then chatted about their problem with a lack of water, telling them about our rainy days in England to their amazement. He commented to us that they were very pleased that we'd come to visit. The lady then took us on a tour of her vegetable and herb garden which seemed to be growing well despite the lack of water. To conclude our visit she was keen on taking photos with us and her mushrooms and then offered us some mushrooms to take home and sample. Adam then prayed for their wellbeing and blessing on their home, and we departed with a hug.

After the first home visit we carried on to a second and were greeted by a women with a baby, who explained that she had three children of her own  and that this child was being looked after temporarily. She was intent on showing us her papers for living in the country and clearly this was a thing to be proud of, making us realise the struggle for legality in the working world and the areas so close to a border of another country. She then went on to tell us that she receives a grant for one of her children but as the other two are too young or old they do not qualify. This was the only income to their family and so again we found this a very challenging situation, leading Alison to pray for her and her family's contained wellbeing.

 Jessica and Alice

We began our holy home visit by asking our care worker how far we were going to travel? We were answered with "not very far..." This reminded us of a "Chris Parker" walk as we felt that we were walking for a lot longer than "not very far.... or it's just around the next corner". After walking through maize as tall as us, mud, animal poo and over a precarious bridge we arrived at what looked like a farm. In the farm lived a family of 13 people (only 3 were adults), many chickens, two cows, a dog and a kitten. They had a number of different buildings and a vegetable patch. Our care worker explained that the family were vulnerable because only 1 adult in the house had I.D and therefore was the only person to recieve social benefit of 1000 rand a month (£50). His wife and the other children in the house did not have any South African I.D as they had been stolen by one of the children's mothers probably to sell on the black market. His wife was trying to gain I.D as was married to a South African. In order to gain I.D she needed 200 rand (£10) and to travel to Swaziland to pay the chief as he would then confirm that she was livving in South Africa and married to a South African. The family were struggling to save this money as other priorites. He was contemplating whether to sell land or maize to raise the necessary funds. If she gained this important I.D it would mean that her and all the children would then have the correct I.D which as we have learnt over our time here is important and necessary to gain social benefits, a clinic card and a well paid job. This made us both think about how much 200 rand is to this SOuth African family and yet we probably dont think twice abotu sepnding £10 on lunch or a pair of flip flops! This I.D card could completlety transform their families life.

We then travelled further in land to visit another household however when we arrived the grandmother was not at home due to being unwell and having to go to the clinic. As she did not have any South African I.D she had to travel to Swaziland to attend the clinic. This highlighted the importance of a South African I.D card again. 

DJ, AJ and Nicholas 

Our home visits started with a trip to the local clinic, as we took one of the children who comes to the care point there as he had been feeling unwell since the weekend with exhaustion and had a temperature.  The clinic was around 14km from the care point so we went with one of the care workers, so they could direct us! Once we got there we went into the clinic to sign him in.  There was around 40 people already in the waiting room. We then left the care worker with the child and drove back to the care point to start our home visits.  Our first visit was to  a house which was situated about 1.5 mile away from the care point, very close to the Swaziland border. It was a mud brick house consisting of three rooms and small small out buildings.  We were invited into the house by the head of the house, Grandpa, where we sat in his lounge and found out about his life and who he lives with.  There are 8 children in the house and he looks after as them as there mother and father had passed away.  His happiness to see us was an inspiration to us, he was so overwhelmed that we visited him and his family.  He also told us how his house acts as a church on Sunday's as there current church doesn't have a roof.  He said up to 50 people turn up to worship and praise God.  We can only imagine what the worship would be like! 

Our second visit was not far from the first house and was to household where a lady called  Brenda was looking after 9 children by her self. When we arrived she went into her house and brought out a wooden bench for us to sit on, that's something that always amazes us, they can be old and frail yet they will want us to sit on chairs whilst they sit on the hard dusty floor.  Her English was limited so Papa V helped to translate for us.  She has been living in this house for a year as she married her now husband, four of the children within the household were from her previous marriage, four of the children were from her husbands previous marriage and then they had a baby together.  She told us how her husband works in Johannesburg as a taxi driver and tries to send money home. He only comes back to Oshoek when he has taxi full so this can be very rare. He has no where to live in Johannesburg so he sleeps in his taxi.  She told us how she struggles to look after the children especially as she says some of their behaviour is bad which she finds overwhelming. We had great respect for her and how she looks after all of the children herself with limited income, she asked us to pray for her and we encouraged her strength and courage.

As we all arrived back at the care point we sat and shared our stories with each other before eating our lunch. On these trips to the care points we take food with us for everyone to share, so basically we eat the same as the children, but usually just before the children so that we can then help serve. So this was our first taste of chicken feet served with pap, chicken gravy, spinach and butternut squash. Most agreed that it wasn't as bad as we feared, but it did make us realise just how fortunate we are, and must always be thankful to God for all his gifts to us.

The children tucked in excitedly to their meal, but alas it was time for us to leave as the journey was long and through the mountains.