Tuesday 6th June - A lovely breakfast and a visit to Sommerset

Tuesday 6 June

To give you a taste of Sommerset we have uploaded a video of some of the worship when we met with the children and care volunteers.  The song is a Tswana song with the meaning  'This is a Happy Day of God'

This morning we were invited to one of the long term volunteers houses where we worshipped and prayed together before sharing a beautiful bring and share breakfast. This gave us the opportunity of getting to know the women at the Hands village and them getting to know us. We then came back to together as a team where we met Nyiko, Patricia and Gugu who accompanied us to the Sommerset community.

The care point at Sommerset

Once we arrived in the community, we undertook a 'Holy Home Visit' to the home of three of the children who attend the Care Point. [A Holy Home Visit is where care volunteers visit a home, adn seek to be open to the prompting of God's Spirit and be His agents of care whilst in the home]. The mother of the children was not at home as she had walked to the clinic with her month old baby for a check-up. The three children were at home with their seventeen year old aunt who lived in the home.

Debbie stirs the pap and Letlhogonolo supervises with Ma Thabisile

We were given permission to enter the house and were shocked to see what little the family had. The Care Worker immediately identified an urgent need as the family had only a single mattress and a single blanket. Having brought my own blanket from home in Coligny in North West Province for our time at White River it was particularly difficult to observe such a level of need, particularly during this winter season. We found it hard to resist the urge to simply donate the money for these items but were reassured that the Care Worker would organise provision through Hands at Work.  

Food is good!

We were concerned to find that the two boys seemed extremely shy and initially anxious at our presence. This is such a contrast with the children we have encountered at the Care Point. There might have been many reasons for this behaviour but we were pleased to see that by the end of the visit the younger of the two boys seemed more confident and happy to be with us.

During the visit we had the opportunity to ask the three children about their hopes and dreams for the future. We were surprised that they had high aspirations, one wanting to become a doctor, one a teacher and the last a geomorphologist! We tried to encourage them in these dreams and we were also encouraged to know that they had these aspirations despite their challenging circumstances.

At the end of the visit we walked back with the children they played with a tennis ball all the way to the Care Centre where they received a hot meal of pap, sauce and salad. This visit really brought home to us the importance of the work that Hands at Work are doing in this fractured community and the hope they bring to its vulnerable children.

 Lebogang Senatla
Yvonne Twigger 

Cathy Mark