Room in Africa

Thursday, 9 July 2015

David Bentley

Hi my name is David Bentley, and I'm really excited to be going with 'The Room' from St Andrew's Church to Hands at Work in South Africa. I currently live in Harrogate where I run my own Mechanics Business.

I spent three and a half years out with Hands at Work, so having the opportunity to go back with a team is fantastic! I first went out to hands in February 2010, originally for 9 months which turned out to be three and a half years! The experiences I had, people I met, the work I have seen God is doing out there, the places I have been, and the help that Hands at Work brings to the communities is truly amazing. These are all things that I will never forget and will stay with me for life. I think about Hands at Work everyday, the hard work that the volunteers do and the help that this brings to the community; so the opportunity to take 'The Room' to Hands at Work and to experience all this is brilliant. Chris Parker asked me to come and speak to 'The Room' back in 2012 whilst visiting for Christmas to tell them about what Hands at Work does. To think now that we are going in less than 3 weeks is great. I am proud of 'The Room' for all the hard work they have gone to in organizing this trip, from the fundraising to the logistics of getting 11 people out there! So well done to you all. I know this trip will be life changing for you all, and the support and encouragement you will bring to the communities will be something money cannot buy. There will be times where you laugh, times you will find hard, and times your out of your comfort zone but all of this is part of the experience.

David

Monday, 6 July 2015

Alice Scott

Hi, my name is Alice and I am another member of The Room along with Jessica, Alison, Adam, Alexander, Nicholas, Claire and Chris, and I attend St. Andrew’s Church in Biggleswade. I have just finished my A Level exams at Stratton Upper School in English Literature, Biology and Chemistry and an AS in Philosophy and Ethics. Following The Room’s time in Africa, I hope to go to University to read Religious Studies and English Literature in September 2015.

We know that this experience will change our lives, but we can’t know how. This is both terrifying and exciting, but with the strength of faith and friendships that we have, we can be sustained in this unknown journey. We must and will embrace this opportunity with our whole selves.

By travelling to rural South Africa and working with Hands at Work, we can make a difference. This is a not a difference on any grand scale, but by ‘turning up’ in places of hardship, the love and care of people can be made known to those who are isolated, struggling and feel abandoned.

I am humbled to have this opportunity and know that the experience will change me as a person, us as a group, our families and friends, and hopefully give the people we meet comfort. It is hard to reconcile our own lives with the lives of others in different areas of the world, so by taking this chance, I hope we will all have a greater appreciation of the diversity in the world, the inequalities that must be addressed, the changes that need to be made and the unity brought by faith.

It will be a challenge, but with grace and perseverance, I hope that we will bring hope to the communities we meet by showing care and compassion. I hope and pray that our presence will give all those we meet the knowledge and understanding of the care, hope and love we have to offer, strengthening faith in service.

Sunday, 5 July 2015

Adam Penwright

Hi, I'm Adam and I'm part of the group of 11 travelling to South Africa in, what is now, less than 3 weeks! It's really exciting that the trip is so close as we've been organising it and planning it for a long time; it will be great to see our ideas come to fruition. I've never been anywhere as far away as South Africa so working with 'Hands at Work' will be a completely new experience for me that I hope will come with many new challenges, it should be an inspiring and memorable trip for everyone involved.

I've recently finished my A Levels at Stratton Sixth Form where I studied maths, music and history. I'm hoping to read maths and music as a joint honours degree at university, and am planning to start this September. I'm hoping to go into teaching after this, to carry on learning everyday and to pass on what I've learnt to others.

I attend Biggleswade Baptist Church and am also a member of 'The Room', both of which have strengthened and encouraged my faith and understanding of Christianity over the past few years. It's been exciting to see what was originally just an idea, grow into this trip and we have an awful lot of people to thank, for supporting us financially, through prayer and through guidance in practical planning and organising.

It's difficult to comprehend the massive HIV/AIDS crisis that is affecting so many people across sub-Saharan Africa. When there are an estimated 53 million orphans living in Africa (Unicef - 2006) we are going to have a virtually non-existant impact on the lives of the vast majority of these children. But that does not mean that this is an issue too big or too difficult to solve. 'Hands at Work' say that on average it costs only 50 pence each day to provide a child for everything they need. This is a tiny amount of money but would completely change a child's life.

Galatians 5:13-14 says this:

"It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom."

I hope that through our trip to South Africa we demonstrate this. 'Hands at Work' believe that we should aim to serve God, serve those that the charity are caring for, and serve those already working out in Africa. We are not going to South Africa to directly save 53 million orphans, but rather to support and hopefully expand the amazing work already going on.

The next few weeks are going to be an unforgettable and amazing experience, unlike anything I've done before. Travelling to, and working in, South Africa will be challenging but I can't wait for it all to start. Thank you for all of your support so far and I hope it'll continue during the our last bit of time preparing in England, and during our time in Mpumalanga.

Saturday, 4 July 2015

Alice Parker

Hi, my name is Alice Parker and I have the privilege of accompanying 'The Room' to Africa in a few weeks. I currently live and work in London as a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and Inclusion Teacher. I grew up in the lovely town of Biggleswade and attended St.Andrew's Church until I left for University. I am a frequent returner though and it will also be a place that I can call home!

I have been a member of Kings Cross Church in the heart of London for the last five years where I lead a small group and kids church. The vision of my Church is...

'to recklessly give ourselves away to God, each other and the people of King's Cross and beyond.'

I think for me this vision is not only that of Kings Cross Church but of how I want to live my life...I want to be able to love recklessly, give my time recklessly and to share God's love recklessly and to build a community around me that shares this vision.

The above vision for me sums up what going to Africa at the end of the month is about -although it would be lovely to, it isn't about trying to provide homes for the 53 million orphans across the continent nor is it about building a well and ensuring that people have clean water to drink. These are essential and vitally important but it is about me/us giving time and encouragement to local African communities working on the front-line day in and day out and supporting what they are already doing. It is about stepping out of our comfort zone and being challenged to look beyond our front doorstep!

For those of you that know me well, will know that South Africa holds a particular space in my heart and has done for a while. I had the privilege of going in October and had a life changing experience with an awesome bunch of people from my Church in London. God spoke and moved in me more that I have ever experienced and put events and people around us that week that were inspiring and such a gift...

I was challenged and encouraged, had tough times and awesome times....It was a milestone in my journey of faith!

I am looking forward to being able to share God's Love and Grace with the different people we meet in South Africa and having the opportunity to walk alongside and pray for them. I have no doubt that I am going to find it challenging and difficult at times and my faith will be tested but then if we are going to love recklessly and share God's love recklessly then I also know that God will be there every step of the way cheering us all on!!

It has been so inspiring to see how an idea that 'The Room' had 2 years ago about putting their faith into action has nearly become a reality. They are a talented bunch of young people and I am so excited about seeing the young people who the majority I have known since they were a baby and babysat for experience a glimpse at God's love for them and the world as I have begun to be let in on.... There is so much more to experience, be challenged by and to fall in love with... Let the adventure begin!!!!

Alice x

Friday, 3 July 2015

Alison Dilley

Hi my name is Alison Dilley and, as well as seven others, I attend the church of St Andrews Biggleswade and belong to the youth group called The Room. I have recently finished my A-Levels in Geography, English and Psychology and have applied to read English at university in the September of 2015.

I know that when we venture out into South Africa, that we will not be able to make a huge difference on the scale which we wish could be possible, however the thought that we could brighten the day of one person by bringing the hope of God’s love to their life, helps me to realise that it’s not about the large scale differences made, but about the small acts of kindness which can ease the suffering of the less fortunate. This is the reason for which I am grateful to have this opportunity, to be able to travel to South Africa and to take part in what will be a life changing experience for all who are going, enabling us to see that there is a world beyond our secure lives in the western world, and that there is a change waiting to happen, by simply offering an ear and showing the community that there are people who care.

Thursday, 2 July 2015

Nicholas J. M. Black

Myself (right) with my Twin and fellow "Roomer", Alexander (left).

Hi, I’m Nicholas and I am another member of “The Room”, along with Alexander (who is my twin) and four other young people, and our leaders, Chris Parker and Claire McDonnell. My main church is St Andrew's Biggleswade, but another church community that I am part of sporadically is the Dundonald Elim Church in Dundonald (a suburb of Belfast in Northern Ireland). These churches have highly contrasted forms of worship, although both have outstanding facilities and programmes aimed at youth in the community. Currently, I work at Starbucks, and I am busy completing my TEFL, after being inspired by a teaching experience on a previous trip to sub-saharan Africa: to Kenya, the Tanzanian mainland and Zanzibar. Here I got the opportunity to help reconstruct a school in Kilgoris, about 10 hours drive west of Nairobi in the Trans Mara Province and also had an opportunity to teach and learn. More recently, this February, a visit to a school in Hong Kong encouraged me to follow though and qualify to teach English. In September, I’m moving to New South Wales in Australia in order work and gain experience before I hopefully go out to teach in South East Asia.

I want to go to South Africa to serve the community there and also to experience life in a different part of the African continent. Africa is the second largest continent, and many parts, e.g. Tunisia and Egypt are closer to the UK than South Africa and West African countries like Nigeria are about half way between the two, yet we still refer to sub-saharan Africa simply as Africa. The label Africa is, unfortunately, commonly associated with poverty (53 million orphans in sub-saharan African) but the experience we will have will not necessarily be representative of Africa, or even South Africa, just the tiny part of the Mpumalanga province we visit. South Africa is a country of huge contrasts between rich and poor, and while similar to other African countries, not identical. There are huge contrast between African nations and the types of poverty and hardship suffered: as I saw in Kenya, there are many rich Africans living opulent lifestyles in villas in suburbs such as Karen, whilst just over the fence, hundreds of thousands are living in intense poverty. I would like to attach a link to a TED talk by the Nigerian lady, Chimamanda Ngozi, who, in a short video well worth watching, explains the dangers of the African single story, and why, when we return, we have a duty to speak of our experiences, not as an experience of Africa, but of the specific communities (in our case, rural Mpumalanga) here is a link to the video: http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en

This quote is long but hopefully explains why I’m so obsessed with avoiding the single story and trying to raise awareness of it; “I left Nigeria to go to university in the United States. I was 19. My American roommate was shocked by me. She asked where I had learned to speak English so well, and was confused when I said that Nigeria happened to have English as its official language. She asked if she could listen to what she called my "tribal music," and was consequently very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey. She assumed that I did not know how to use a stove. What struck me was this: She had felt sorry for me even before she saw me. Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronising, well-meaning pity. My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals. I must say that before I went to the U.S., I didn't consciously identify as African. But in the U.S., whenever Africa came up, people turned to me. Never mind that I knew nothing about places like Namibia. But I did come to embrace this new identity, and in many ways I think of myself now as African. Although I still get quite irritable when Africa is referred to as a country, the most recent example being my otherwise wonderful flight from Lagos two days ago, in which there was an announcement on the Virgin flight about the charity work in "India, Africa and other countries.”

The School in Kilgoris, Kenya.

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Alex Black

Hey, Iʻm Alexander, I am a member of The Room, a youth group based at St. Andrew's Church Biggleswade. Iʼve just finished my A-levels and am currently working towards completing my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course before we depart to South Africa. My main reason for going on this trip is to gain an insight into the poverty and grief that is present throughout many areas in sub-Saharan Africa. I feel that as we are lucky enough to have been bought up in the Western World with a roof over our heads and a good level of security, we often take it for granted and forget the reality of the world; there are around seven billion people living on the planet, over three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day, and according to UNICEF 22,000 children die each day due to poverty, invisible and in silence, and this is a problem that needs to be openly addressed. Many of you will be familiar with these facts, but yet the problem isnʼt going to go away by itself. Iʼm not saying this trip can change anything huge or that it is remotely significant in the grand scheme of things, but it could mean the world to these orphans who feel invisible, unloved, and very very vulnerable. In a country where the aids rate is estimated to be 17.9% (and over 25% for school girls) and in a rural area of the country where healthcare is not great, simply visiting the community really does make a difference to the individuals.