A day in the community of Share

Day 3 – Monday 18th February 

We woke up early after having a good nights sleep, and the men of the team and Hands at Work began the day early with a men's prayer, meeting, while the girls woke up a bit later and begun to have breakfast. After we had all eaten breakfast, everyone from hands at work gathered for a group orientation where we introduced ourselves and sang songs with the whole hands family.

We then set out on the minibus for a rough 2 hour journey to the community of Share; along the way there were lots of pot holes which made it a bumpy ride for the people in the back of the minibus. When we eventually got to the community we were greeted by the care workers in the care point. We got to know them through playing games and singing songs, the care workers were incredibly enthusiastic and happy as they danced and sung. After about an hour with the care workers the children started to come back from school. 

Serving lunch at the care point in Share

Lunch was Pap (Maize meal) with bean stew and butternut squash

At first the children were quite shy and hesitant, however they quickly gained trust and we soon became friends even with the language barrier. There was one boy called David* who was separated from the rest of the group and didn’t really speak at all, one of the group members sat with him and held his hand for most of the time we were there, in the end he was relatively happy and seemed to enjoy his day slightly more. After a while most of the children had arrived at the care point and were enjoying themselves.

Lunch all together in the shade of the sun shelter

 They played with hula hoops, footballs and even just a stick in the sand. Towards the end we served the children food which was beans, pap and butternut squash. All the kids ate all of their food and seemed very pleased (as were we). It was quite amazing to see a 5 year old eat just as much food as us!!  After lunch we played some last games and then began to say our goodbyes. It was very sad to leave on the minibus and we all felt very guilty about going, however we will back tomorrow and are very excited about it!

*Name changed

By Nick and Connor