22/2/17
Sam & Maisy reflect on their experience of recent home based care visits the villages they have visited
Sam -
Yesterday in Share, I met a boy. He
was a similar age to me and liked the same sports (football). But this boy was
a lot less fortunate than myself. As we were on a home visit he came home for
10 minutes. He greeted me, Joe and Daisy and he was very polite and grateful we
were there. He then went inside to get his 'football kit’, he was going to play
for his school team. One thing upset me. He came out in a shirt way too small
and it was ripped in many places, it was hanging off him. He had shorts that
were split down the middle and ripped in the back, his shoes … well flip flops
were hardly any protection. He was still grateful for what he had and left the
house with a great smile across his face. Later on speaking to Rose about what
I saw I realised how fortunate I am for the things I have. But I should not
feel guilty for what I have, but grateful for how lucky I am. I can play in a
proper kit with proper football boots, for that I am grateful.
Maisy -
Also, today we went to Sommerset,
which is another care point, where we attended the care givers relation group.
This is where the children's carers at home come to meet up for support and to
discuss how they’re feeling. As Sommerset care point is rather new, it is not
fully developed yet so the facilities aren’t great. However we sat in the
church they have there, with the four care workers and the care givers. To
begin with we all introduced ourselves, then sang together and prayed.
As one of the activities, everyone in
the church was split into three groups - where we had the opportunity to talk
about anything that we felt was important to us but very personal. Within my
group one lady stuck out the most. The lady had eight children and her husband
badly mistreated her. As she told the group a specific story that was very
personal to her, she looked directly into my eyes and I could see the pain she
had gone through; even though I didn’t know what she was saying I knew she was
suffering. I didn’t feel it would be right for me to share something, as what I
would class as bad is nothing compared to what the many women of the
communities have gone through.
Soon the children began to appear and
the majority of them were so happy to see a smiley face. A small girl with a
beautiful smile became very attached to me in particular and liked to hold
Sam’s finger, although she didn’t speak much I could tell she was pleased we
were there. We are all excited to revisit Sommerset tomorrow and play much more
activities with the children.
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| Rain forecast for today! |
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| A muddy walk in Sommerset |
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| Our muddy boots! |
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| The shoes at the care point tell a story! |
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| Clean and dry back at base - Hands at Work in Africa hub |
Some photos of the different aspects of our visit to the community Sommerset in NE South Africa - whcih is supproted by Hands at Work in Africa... and a sneeky peek at our rest at the end of the day!