Friday began with a ‘going deeper’ prayer meeting led by Levi
and his wife which introduced the idea of being strong and courageous whilst
also following God’s plan for you and ‘going’
(meaning how Hands at Work is aiming not to be static and only based at
its hub in South Africa, but rather spreading it work throughout other areas of
great need in Africa). It was just the inspiration we needed to get us through
the tiring day ahead in Zwelisha.
After the meeting, we left, ready and raring to go for
9:30am and enjoyed a vibrant bus journey, including background information on
the community and its links to Hands At Work. We arrived full of energy and
excitement at 10:30am whilst the care workers were already feeding the young
children with their breakfast as the majority of the children were under 10 and
did not attend school. We were immediately dragged away to play with the
delighted children, joining in with their made up games. Until around 12 noon
we played with them, chatting to the care workers and learning new names and stories.
We all gathered together from this moment in one of the communal buildings to
get to know the care workers better and break the ice with some fun games and
properly introducing one another. There were six care workers there in total
looking after fifty children. We sat for about an hour, learning names and
talking to develop our relationships for the day. Many of the children at the
care point did not have ID documents (Birth Certificate) and as a result they have recently been
disallowed from attending school, even though they have been attending up to a
few months ago. This has put more pressure on the care workers as the children
often come to the care point early and need managing. It also means that, at present, the children
affected have no means of regular structured education, which in turn brings
stigma and reduced life opportunities as they grow older.
At 1:15pm we set off for three different home visits in
three different groups, each with one care worker, one hands at Work team
member and at least two members of our link for life team. One of the visits
was to a house around a 15 minute walk away from the care point. Two out of the
four children of the household attended the care point; but in the last couple
of days, they had not been seen, hence our visit. When we arrived, there was
no-one around. Around 5 minutes after our arrival, the mother of the children
appeared. Lisa* was alone in the house and did not know where her children were.
We were briefly introduced, although she did not seem interested. It was
evident that she was uncomfortable and did not want to speak to June* (the care
worker) despite her best efforts. After a 20 minute sparse conversation about
how her children had been “playing” and so had not been to the care point, as well
as various other reasons regarding her disappearances over weekends, June*
decided to end the home visit with a concluding prayer. As we ventured back to
the care point we ran into a lady who Lisa had claimed to have been looking
after her children whilst she was away; only to discover this was not true. We
later found that the majority of the information we had been given regarding
her children’s situation was false due to her own alcohol misuse. The children
were therefore left for long periods of time (days) alone with no food or
source of care. The care workers were having to bathe the children at the care point
as their mother was not doing this. This
only goes to show how broken the community around Zwelisha is.
Following our home visit, we brought the children back to
the care point and proceeded to play with them and give them our attention
until dinner was served at about 15:00pm. We helped to serve the food to the
children (in age order) and support the care workers in any way we could before
leaving the care point at about 16:00pm after a very action packed day that
left us all exhausted! Despite us being worn out we were thoroughly honoured to
have visited that community and meet the fabulous care workers that serve on a
daily basis with love and kindness.
*name changed
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| The care point in Zwelisha |
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| A team photo with the hard working care volunteers - Outside the fibreglass 'igloo' which they cook in |
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| Time for play on the recently installed play tyres |