Monday - Oshoek

Monday

The morning started early for the men as it was once again time for their morning prayer. This week it focused around Psalm 49 and how we should 'be still' to know God, whilst it was also a good opportunity for general prayer requests. The following poem based on Psalm 49 was shared by Daytona.

Be

Do not do

Or pretend to be

Anything

Just be.

Be still

Calm those

Anxious, unruly

Whirling thoughts

Into stillness.

Be still and know

As the flower knows the sun's rays

As the heart knows love

Open yourself to knowing.

Be still and know that I am

Here and now

Around you and within you

Behind you and before

Wherever you are

I am

Be still and know that I am God

Your Father and Mother

Your companion and Healer

Your life and your all.

Be still.

Be still and know.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know that I am God.

We then quickly moved across the site to general Monday morning worship. We all began by singing a South African version of 'Happy Birthday', congratulating one of the maintenance team on 43 years of marriage, and bidding one of the 'Hands' team a fond farewell as he moves back to Canada. The worship consisted of one Swati song and three English songs - some of which we could join along with better than others! Kat followed this up by talking about how our worship is not about us, it is about God. It doesn't matter if the worship 'doesn't do much' for us, our praise should be focused on God regardless of the song, our action, or our ability to sing it!

For the last part we were split into four groups (via uno cards), in which we each prayed for a different country that 'Hands at Work' receives short term teams from. We each prayed for slightly different topics, yet all relating to the teams that have already come and the teams that are yet to arrive. The Australian group prayed all at once, which is a style more common in Africa. The American group prayed for 'Nurses for Africa' who have been recently working in a few countries across Africa. The Canadian group prayed for a team soon to visit Zimbabwe and the logistics that this requires. The U.K. group focused on us, as we are currently the only short term team serving in White River.

The drive to Oshoek was quite long but absolutely worth it for the views. Most of the group fell asleep at some point on the journey but those that stayed awake were treated to some beautiful acacia forests and mountain views. Once we arrived we consulted Dave's camera to find that we were 1,374m above sea level - this certainly explained a lot of our ears needing to pop!

After leaving our belongings in the provided accommodation we headed straight to the care point. It was evident from the very beginning that the children were very different compared to those of the other communities we had visited. We found their behaviour more challenging and it was harder to interact with them. We later found out that this was probably due to their situations at home. The care point was less established and was far from 'Hands at Work' so they were unable to give as much regular support. In fact, we were only the eighth short term team to ever visit that care point. They had recently been donated uniforms in January so they appeared very clean, but before this there had been a bit issue with the children not being cleaned or washed by their parents or care givers.

Oshoek is the last South African town before the border and we saw the effect that this had on their life at home and their attitudes at the care point. Many of the children are regularly moved between South Africa and Swaziland (both legally and illegally) by their care givers and this has a massive impact on their upbringing. For a lot of the children it means they don't properly settle at school and miss many weeks or months of the school year. This is shown in their poor grades and the fact that some children fail to progress or are held back from the next grade. For many of the families they travel into South Africa without identity documents, this means that they are unable to get a job, or claim any benefits or grants from the South African government. The poverty generated by this is a growing problem and one that is very difficult to fix. In relation to all of this, we found that we were more there to teach the children rather than to simply play with them. We were teaching them life skills, something that we found challenging and quite a shock.

In Oshoek behaviour was the biggest barrier, whereas earlier it had always been the language. It was evident that there were many children in great need, with vulnerabilities that we had not seen in earlier communities. Some children walked over 3 miles to school, and others grew up in a house with absolutely no income. Nevertheless, the care point was in between a crèche and primary school, making it easier for some children to attend as they could go straight to the care point.

After arriving at the care point we were all quickly put to work. The boys went off in a 4x4 to get water from the nearest pump. The journey was made much easier with the 4x4 as most of it was off-road and carrying all that water would have been impossible in one journey. We filled up over 200 litres which was a lot of hard work! Taking turns filling up the bottles and using the pump certainly made it easier.

The girls stayed at the care point to help in preparing the food. They set to chopping up onions and carrots but their cabbage skills were not quite good enough! The care workers showed them the proper South African way to chop up a cabbage! There was also Sem (a South African style of semolina) and beans to go with our meal later.

The previously mentioned behaviour, made playing with some of the children harder, we had to adopt a role closer to that of a teacher or role model, whereas in other communities we had acted as more of a friend to many of the children. Shortly after lunch, a bus arrived to take many of the children home; the smaller number this meant, guaranteed that we could work closer to individuals or small groups of the children. They enjoyed playing ladders (with Alice P and Claire), our new favourite of Impala, Impala, Lion (with Alice P and Dave), and football (with Adam). We also got the chance to talk to some of the older children about our favourite singers and their taste in music, whilst some of our girls got their hair done.

In the evening Jessica gave us an interesting talk about relying on God completely, particularly focusing on Proverbs 3:5 - she herself was having trouble coping, particularly with the accommodation in Oshoek. She taught us a short song that got stuck in all of our heads! We then played a game of 'who is in the bag' lead by Alice P, there were some very funny turns and impressions from both teams! We went in for an early night and got lots of sleep, regardless of the cold, we all felt warm under our covers and were refreshed by the morning.

Day off - The second Sunday

The second Sunday

We began the day by setting off after breakfast to go to church. We went to a specific church, Church Unlimited, as it was the church which David attended when he was last in South Africa, however he said that he hadn't been for a while and so was not sure of the changes which could have happened since and so we went with open minds. We were amazed when we arrived at the lavish homes leading up to the church and were even more stunned when we saw the beautiful building of the church, a mock converted barn and the Vicarage which was huge and had a swimming pool! The beautiful setting then led us to the beginning of the worship which commenced with singing and an accompaniment from the band which David fondly remembered, after being part of it when he lived in South Africa. After the worship songs, someone preached about Acts 2 and 3 which spread quickly to Acts 6 (then taking us back to the talk which we experienced in the community prayer and focusing our entire trip on its relation to the book of Acts). We all took different things from the sermon-type-talk, but all of the team found that the message was about spiritual growth and confirmation in faith. This service was interesting for us, however as we were not regular attenders of the church, we weren't used to the rhythm and pattern of the way things were done and some found this difficult. After the service we were introduced to many of David's friends from the church and from Hands at Work, making us feel more welcome into the new church which we had experienced. 

We then got back into the bus and began to travel to Kaapschoep, where we ate at a pancake house surrounded by a spectacularly green view! This was also home to wild horses, which we stroked the foal of, and baboons which we all marvelled at!! After our two courses of pancakes, one savoury and one sweet, we began to set off on a walk along a rocky road which led us to a stunning view of the area, an opportunity for some fab pictures.

As Alison was itching to drive the mini bus, Chris allowed her to drive round the car park and everyone commented on the excellent clutch control, enlarging her smile further!

When we travelled back to Hands we spent some quality time together and then shared dinner, before going to bed after a long day out. 

We had had two great days of relaxation and a chance to look a bit further afield at this amazing country. Once back at Hands it was time to re-focus on the week ahead. We spent a couple of hours reviewing highlights and challenges from the week before, spending time reviewing how we were working as a team and doing a similar exercise to that which we did on our orientation day, where we encouraged each other by writing comments of encouragement about each other.

We then played the sock game which was great fun, 9 of Chris's socks, clean ones, had objects put into them. We passed them around and had 5 seconds to determine what was inside. Claire then read Psalm 139 vs 1-3

[1] … You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. [2] You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. [3] You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. [4] 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely …

This made us think about how we can be quick to judge people before we really know them and how we should try to understand people's situation, get to know how their feeling, understand their story.

This set us up for the challenge of the coming week, where we will be visiting a new community in another different part of Mpumalanga, listening to their stories and sharing Gods love. We concluded the session in prayer and asked God to bless our team as we start a new venture.

Day off - Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park

On Saturday we went to Kruger National Park. The day started off with a 4.45am depart from the Hands village.

 

On route to Kruger park we picked up Floyd (who works with Hands) and his 2 year old son from the local community Masoyi.  We got to the Numbi gate of Kruger at 5.30am and waited for the gate to open at 6am, we were the second car there.  Once we had all paid our entrance fee we entered the park all excited for the day ahead.  We had planned a route, which began by heading south east towards Afsaal. Around 6km's into the journey we were amazed and excited to see our first sighting... 3 lions! These were sat 3 meters from the road staring at some Zebras in the distance, and then following the lions was a pack of hyenas, which often follow packs of lions as they eat the left overs of their kill.  The Lions then walked in front of our vehicle gracefully into the bush.

We proceeded on with our journey, heading to Afsaal. The journey to Afsaal took around 2 and half hours, driving through the bush on the dirt road makes you realise how big this country is, the vast expanse of un-spoilt bush.  Our second big sighting was the White Rhinos, the white Rhino having a squarer lip distinguishing it from a black Rhino which has a curved lip.  We then saw a Mother and her Calf within 10 meters of our vehicle eating and slowly walking away from us into the bush, 2 of the big 5 seen before breakfast, we where having a good time.

We arrived at Afsaal aound 9.30am where we rented a Gas Braai or what is also known as a BBQ.  We had brought with us some bacon, egg and bread rolls. Chef Chris cooked the food which went down a treat.  We all sat to eat breakfast on a bench in the sunshine and we were accompanied by a very naughty and mischievous monkey which Alice S did a great job at fending off from stealing our food!  Once breakfast was finished we decided to head north towards Sakuuza which was around 60km's away from us.  

Our next sighting was of the Elephant, we were driving over a dried up river bed and just as we were about to cross the first Elephant began to cross we stopped the vehicle and began to watch in amazement of their pure size, strength and yet had such gracefulness.  The herd consisted of 14 including a two newly born elephants. As the last elephant crossed the road it gave us a friendly warning to back off by flapping its ears and we then reversed to give it some space, it did give some of us a fright!

 

Our next sighting was Giraffe, which were in the bush some distance from the vehicle but could still be seen due to their immense height. A little further into the journey and we arrived at Sakuzza, where we where able to go for a swim.  Being South Africa's winter at the moment the air was nice and hot but the water was far from it!! We got a few strange looks when we asked if we could swim, but we all enjoyed it once we warmed up in the pool, some being more adventurous and swimming more than others!

 After Sakuzza we headed to lake Panic which was a bird hide on the edge of a lake. From the bird hide we could see Hippos in the distance, Crocodiles and numerous types of birds.  Just as we were about to leave the bird hide, a Leopard appeared from the bush! The excitement in the group was great and everyone had their cameras out to try and get a picture of this rare animal.

 

The final sighting of the big 5 was Buffalo, this happened as we were on the way to the gate to leave the park,  we were lucky enough to see a heard of 9 walk right behind our vehicle, again their size is hard to believe until you see them close up. By the time we got to the exit gate it was 5.45pm making it a long day in the vehicle but a thoroughly enjoyable day by all of us, although we were very ready for an early night's sleep we were very grateful to have seen such amazing sights in one day.

 

Day 5 - Siyathuthuka

 Friday 

 We started the day with joining the rest of the Hands at Work team in Community Prayer at Siyathuthuka. Care workers, care givers and other members of the communities joined us for singing, dancing and encouragement to the community and care workers of Siyathuthuka. 

 After some lively and energetic African singing, Dan from Hands at Work led us in a thought for the day. It was based on Acts 3 and 4 - the story of Peter and John. We started by teaching the community the well known Sunday School song of Peter and John followed by the retelling of the story with dramatic interpretations along the way. The five main points of the story that Dan pulled out were....

1) What you think you want isn't always what you need... But God knows what you need

2) To really listen intently to a person when engaging with them...

3) You can only give what you have... 

4) Start a relationship with an action before preaching at them

5) Pray for Gods courage to share his love 

Dan also asked whether anyone was wounded, broken or needed prayer and asked us if we felt this way, to stand up and to draw a line in the sand to be healed. He explained that this may not be an instant healing, but a gradual process in which we will become closer to God. I (Jessica) decided that I wanted to stand to ask God to support me in my decision to begin a closer journey with God. My realisation that I have been called to serve God in all parts of my life has suddenly become clear and this morning's worship session is just the beginning.

The rest of the morning was dedicated to encouraging and treating the Care Workers. After a quick dash to the shops for hand cream, we began to pamper the ladies using the cream and nail varnish kindly donated by Angela (Jessica and Alison's Grandma). The boys took to massaging the ladies feet whilst the girls painted their nails. The ladies were so pleased with the results that they took photographs of them on their phones.

One of the care workers (Freedom's Aunt) whose house we had visited yesterday was so thankful that she braided our hair. It took minutes but looked amazing!

 

 After the pampering session we prepared for the Kids afternoon that was to come... Alexander and DJ watered the vegetable patch and used the saw to cut off branches that were too low. We prepared dinner for the children and then ate ourselves so that we could be ready for when the children arrived. 

 

The children began to arrive and the games began. Nail painting, throw and catch, football, netball and parachute games happened including the new game we had learnt at "Share" called Impala, Impala, Lion! Next it was time to get the children in the Care Point for worship, a thought for the day and prayer before dinner. Today this session was led by Adam and Alice. We opened with singing "We are marching in the light of God" led by Adam and all the children joined in with the actions of clapping, singing, dancing and finally marching. It certainly blew the roof off.

Adam and Alice then led us in a thought for the day. It was based on Jude 1 v 17-23. Adam and Alice shared four main points with us that were translated along the way by Audrey. 

1) We have doubts and how to overcome those

2) Being afraid to talk to others about our faith 

3) A fear of the future and how to combat the unknown

4) A worry of not sharing Gods Love with others 

They finished off with praying for the children and the community before sharing the verse from Jeremiah 29 v 11 

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope for the future." 

Just before dinner, we said the Lords Prayer together. The community in Swati and the team in English. We then served dinner to the children who sat inside today due to the wind blowing the dust around the yard. We said our fond farewells and headed for home.

 In our de- brief Alice shared the following story from today...

Freedom whose house some of us visited yesterday joined us at the care point today. She is a youth leader there and if you remember from yesterday lost both her parents by the age of six and now lives with her Aunt. She had recently "gone off he rails" but had now turned a corner and was a very helpful, mature and articulate young lady. Today Alice had the priviledge of hearing her story. Alice painted her nails and then she began to open up and share the story of how her parents had died when she was young and she was astonished by the love that others had for her and how grateful she was to those that care for her. The sadness of the death of her parents was still very evident but she still had amazing aspirations and hope for her future which was inspiring. We are learning the importance of being vulnerable towards those you trust and sharing our stories. Alice was moved by hearing her story but it was bought to life by a hug at the end. Herman told us that we should treasure these God moments during our time here and asked us to think about how we are going to use what we have learnt in our lives when we return. 

To conclude our debrief session, Herman - our host- asked us a question "If we had not come to Hands at Work, what would our group relationship be like?" This is something all the group, particularly The Room, found interesting to think about. We concluded that our group would not be anywhere near as strong as it is, particularly as we have all become vulnerable and shared our high and low points with each other - almost like becoming another family!

Day 4 - Siyathuthuka

Thursday 

We met at 8am for breakfast with the team together. After this the room had a discussion about their time so far and then we left for the Siyathatuka village. After meeting and greeting the mother of the house we put ourselves to work. Jessica, Claire and Adam started on the vegetables and the others, helped sweep and wash the community centre floor whilst Chris was commanded to 'run man run' by a little girl of no more then 2 years old.

We all gathered in the shade as it was extremely hot and sunny today, Floyd prayed for us and our journeys to people's homes that were to take place this morning. We divided ourselves into 4 groups. One group was to stay behind and cook whilst the others went into the community.  Below are a summary of our stories we heard this morning:

Adam, Alex, Dave, Floyd

When we arrived at the first house nobody was home so we swiftly moved onto the next home. It was a long walk down a very dusty track and it was very hot and sunny. We met the grandmother of the house who was the care giver for 10 children. Whilst there she taught us how to crack peanuts and showed us her garden and the vegetables she was growing there. We complimented her garden and she was thankful for that. Before we left we prayed for her health, as she was poorly and for her family. 

Alice, Jessica, Claire

The first house we visited was a 14 year old girl who lived with her mother, brother, two siblings and the brothers little baby in a tiny one room house. The mother had moved from Mozambique and although has a passport has no South African ID card, this meant that they do not have any access to government funding for their family. The mother had recently started working in a school kitchen for a few hours a day but the oldest brother was still looking for work.

The second house was much larger and belong to Freedom and her family. Her father had died when she was a baby and her mother passed away when she was 6. She now lives with her aunt and uncle and their two children. A couple of months ago she went 'off the rails' and was disrespectful to her aunt, went clubbing, was sneaking out and cutting her clothes short. After the children's camp with Hands she has turned her life around and is now a youth worker at the care point and studying hard at school. She wants to become a lawyer. 

Chris and Nick

We went to the house of 3 boys and their sick mother. One of the brothers had stabbed another brother on his arm and so it was all bandaged up. The mother wasn't there and the boy that stabbed the other had run away. Both boys had been excluded from school for one year. The care worker gave the boys a serious talking to about their behaviour, fighting and the consequences of their actions. Before we left we prayed for their mother and that God would help them to resolve their differences more peacefully. 

Alison, Alice, AJ

When we had finished cooking we also went on a home visit. We went to see Tulua but we were met with her brother instead as she was at school. Her brother and father both work and live in Johannesburg and occasionally come home to see her. Whilst they are away she is cared for by a home care worker as she is only 13 years old. Their house was unsafe and Tulua felt very vulnerable so Hands at Work put a new front door on their house to enable her to feel safer. We prayed for the brothers health and Tulua's grades at school.

 

The afternoon was filled with playing football with several children and washing up the lunch plates. Comparing this care point to the others we had seen it seemed a lot quieter and less organised. The children get out of school later on a Thursday and go home to change before coming to the care point, meaning they arrive a lot later.

On our way home we stopped to get chicken dust (a roadside cooked whole chicken) which everyone loved. We stopped at the shops to get some food ready for our trip to Kruger on Saturday. After dinner we had a debrief with Charissa, Herman and Dan and we chatted about our day. We had a few concerns about the lack of care workers that were at the point today along with the small amount of children, however Dan explained the care point in much more detail. He described the situation in Siyathatuka and how it had been through a difficult patch but gradually building it back up again. The main point we learnt was that the care workers themselves are often in the same situation as the children who come to the care point, and in times of need have to find paid work to support their family. We were very thankful to Dan for explaining the situation and are now looking forward to going back there tomorrow.