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.