Archange’s Story: Kitabataba, DR Congo

My name is Archange and I live in Kitabataba in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  By the time I was five years old both of my parents had died.  I was sent to live in many homes but no one wanted to take care of me.  Everyone where I live is very poor and they do not have the money to feed another mouth.  Eventually my grandparents said I could live with them.  I was grateful they took me in but I was also really angry because for so many years no one wanted me.  I was always just a burden, not someone’s son.  Maybe my grandparents really loved me, but by this point I was so angry with everyone that I misbehaved a lot.  They said I was very rebellious.

One day some adults came to my grandparents’ house.  They were going through our community looking for children who needed help and they found me.  When they heard that I was a naughty boy who had no parents they said they would take care of me.  I would still live with my grandparents but they would come and visit me.  And they do.  They are Care Workers from Nyota Care Point, but to me they are my new mothers and fathers.  When they visit we talk – we have talked about my behaviour and how I can grow up to be a nicer boy.  They talk to me about God and how he loves me.  I have been going to church and am on my church choir team.

Now I also get to eat with other children at the Care Point.  We play together and I like getting to meet and know new friends.  You would probably say I am a happy boy now, I smile a lot more.  In this picture I am wearing my new school uniform!  I am in grade 6 at Kitabataba Community School and I love school.  I wish my parents were still alive but I thank God I have my grandparents and my new mothers and fathers.  They really love me. 

Without Condition

Ashley Humphreys, is a volunteer from Canada and has been serving with Hands at Work in South Africa and Zambia since May 2012. She reflects on her time in Africa and a recent encounter with a special Care Worker, Jean.

When I came to volunteer in Africa, I said I was coming to give.  Give my time, my passion, my resources.  Soon after arriving, I realized I wasn’t very good at giving at all.  I came into living in a community of people from all over the world and learned that at Hands at Work, we live as a family.  We live by the core values of servanthood and giving freely.  Freely.  Not conditionally.  It didn’t take me long to realize I lived by giving conditionally.  Maybe it’s because I grew up in a first world country.  Maybe it’s because deep in my heart there is a selfish girl who doesn’t want to share, who wants things to be about her sometimes, who wants people to recognize when she does something well.  I saw this ugly side of myself in little things.  Someone would ask to borrow my milk and I’d say yes but I’d think, “Now I’m going to run out and I can’t get to the grocery store for a week! They should really be more organized.”  I hated myself for thinking that way.  Why couldn’t I just let it go? Why couldn’t I give and be happy my family member knew I was someone they could ask?  Why didn’t it feel like a privilege to give to my brothers and sisters?  I started praying God would help me give freely – give without condition, give to glorify Him, give because His word says “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9: 7)

“When I came to volunteer in Africa, I said I was coming to give. Give my time, my passion, my resources. Soon after arriving, I realized I wasn’t very good at giving at all. I came into living in a community of people from all over the world and learned that at Hands at Work...we live by the core values of servanthood and giving freely. Freely—not conditionally.”

— Ashley Humphreys, volunteer from Calgary, Canada

In Zambia I met Jean, a Care Worker at Chibuli Community Based Organization.  I was honoured to walk with her through the community and go on home visits with her.  The children we visited would cuddle up to her as we sat outside.  She would wrap her arms around them, all of them children who have been orphaned and are living with aging grandparents.  We walked so far through the tall grass and huts of Chibuli to get to four homes, something Jean is used to doing every week.  On the long walk back to the Care Centre after our visits, Jean started talking to me about how to be a Care Worker, it was like she was training me for my future as one.She said, “It was hard at first, giving to the children.  When I started it was really hard.  But, it gets easier!  I’ve been a Care Worker for 3 years.  I just kept doing it and it got easier.  Now there are children in my home all the time.  I have my 3 children, but I have many more.  I tell all the children to come to my house and I will bathe them.  And feed them.  I say ‘bring your clothes!’  So they come, they bring their clothes, I wash their clothes and I wash their bodies and I give them food.”  She said it with joy and with love. 

God spoke right through Jean to me: Giving gets easier. I can give with my heart like Jean does.  Not today, but maybe one day.  It’s a strange thing, to think of practising giving. But it’s exactly what we can do as we seek out God and grow in our understanding of who Jesus truly is.  As I have tried to answer God’s call to care for and love others, He has shown me how to give without condition.  After a year of volunteering in Africa and praying about giving, it is a little bit easier.  I still have lots of moments where I see my hard heart, but I have more where I feel the love of God come through me.  We all have walls around our hearts, and ideas in our heads that make us second guess giving freely.  We have to keep fighting through.  Keep praying and asking God to radically transform us so we build His Kingdom in everything we do.

The loving care of Sekani has inspired a radical change in Maonde Community

No one knows how old Sekani is, but many guess he is around 30.  It seems for decades he has spent his days sitting alone on the road outside his home in the community of Maonde, Malawi.  His mother is a poor farmer who became an alcoholic – a desperate attempt to cope with the stress of her poverty.  This resulted in Sekani being born severely disabled. He can hardly speak, and he cannot walk.  This tragedy is made even worse through the rejection he has felt: most days receiving no food, never having gone to school, and never having known a father or mother who lovingly supported him.

In 2011 Royie Nazombe, head of the Hands at Work Service Centre in Malawi, began mobilising the local church in Maonde and training volunteers from those local churches to be Care Workers, looking out for the most vulnerable people in their community. These churches and volunteers founded the Chisomo Community Based Organisation (CBO) in Maonde. Most people in Maonde have always passed by Sekani without a second glance. But Mlangani, one of the local volunteer Care Workers, took notice of him. Mlangani says, “He needed a new standard of life.  I couldn’t just watch people walk by him anymore”.  Mlangani stepped in to love and care for Sekani not only as a Care Worker, but as a friend, bringing food and clothes, and bathing Sekani daily.  The most radical change has been the involvement of the community in Sekani’s life. Mlangani’s relationship with Sekani has inspired the people of Maonde and has encouraged many to bring light into Sekani’s situation. Sekani had always lived in a tiny shack (see photo at left) with his mother, in which they would have to huddle at night just to sleep. A group of young Care Workers finally realised that this was an unacceptable situation. These young people, themselves very poor, pooled whatever they had and helped to construct a decent two-roomed house for Sekani and his mother (see photo at right).

No longer is Sekani forgotten and passed by with indifference.  Mlangani and many other Care Workers are bringing a change that gives hope for the future of Malawi. This is the church in action! The Dedza Service Centre has a team of volunteers working to support Chisomo and other CBO’s with the vision of bringing transformation to the vulnerable across the entire country.  And as this team looks to care for a nation, each day Mlangani will visit Sekani, ensuring one by one the vulnerable are loved and cared for.

* name has been changed

Thabo says he can cope, knowing it is never too long until Sara will visit

Thabo did not go to school until he was 11 years old.  For years, he spent his days wandering around the community of Oshoek.  No one cared if Thabo or his brother Mpho went to school, or took a bath, or had any food.  Thabo was trapped in the small, one-room stick and mud house he was born in with an abusive mother and a father who is mentally impaired, often out wandering through the woods. Thabo lived with four people, sleeping on the cold, wet floor every night, often experiencing neglect, but God intervened.

God called Sara to find Thabo.  Sara is a local Care Worker who is part of a group of volunteers from local churches who care for the most vulnerable children.  While doing home visits through Bambanani Community Based Organisation in 2011, Sara noticed Thabo sitting alone and wondered why a boy his age was not at school in the middle of the day.  As she talked to him she heard the story of a child who had never seen the inside of a classroom, never knew when his next meal would be, and was in desperate need of an adult in his life who would love and care for him.  Sara took Thabo into her heart and her life.  She talked to Thabo’s mother who agreed to let him and Mpho enrol in school. 

Today, Thabo is 12 and in Grade Four.  Sara is his second mother who visits him at home and cares for him.  She ensures he takes a bath and goes to school.  Though he still faces the challenge of living in the midst of an unstable family, he says he can cope, knowing it is never too long until Sara will visit.  He loves school and says one day he wants to work for, as he calls it, the “Fire Emergency Fighting Company”!  This young boy, who once felt abandoned, is now living a story of restoration and gradually healing from his trauma.

* name has been changed

The Ndlovu Family

In this one roomed home lives the Ndlovu family.  Handzu is 19, in Grade 11 and has a 2 year old child.  Thabiso (pictured) is 17 and in Grade 11.  Sam (also pictured) is 13.  They live here with their mother, Christina, who has been head of the family since the death of her husband, and the children’s father, in 2000.  Christina has an illness that affects the use of her legs and she can no longer work, forcing the family to try and survive on one government grant of approximately 35 USD per month.  They are also forced to walk long distances to get water due to the water shortage crisis in the community of Welverdiend, South Africa.  When Pfunani Community Based Organization (CBO) identified this family as one of the most vulnerable in 2011, the children were hardly sleeping or eating. 

Over the past year, Angel has become a part of the Ndlovu family.  She is a Care Worker from Pfunani CBO who volunteers to love and care for the most vulnerable children in Welverdiend.  Since Angel began providing home visits to this family of five, there has been a change in the children.  By ensuring the children are receiving the 3 Essential Services of food security, basic education, and basic health care, she has seen them go from being tired, hungry and anxious children, to a healthier family who wants to build a relationship with her.  They share their challenges with Angel and she, supported by Pfunani CBO, does whatever she can to help.  Most importantly, she is a mother to the children when their own mother is unwell, and a friend to Christina who knows there is someone looking out for her children.

A Community Caring

Solofina, age 14, is a single orphan in Grade 4 at Malokota Community School.  She stays with her father in Malokota, Zambia

Ten years ago, in this small bush community, her family's life was forever changed.  At the age of four, Solofina and her three siblings lost their mother.  At that time, the children were unable to go to school as their father was not able to pay for their education.  The close-knit community of Malokota saw a need and took it upon themselves to adopt the whole family. 

Malokota Community Based Organization (CBO) is helping Solofina attend school by paying for her school fees, books, and uniform.  She also receives a nutritious meal each day at the feeding point.  At school, Solofina loves to draw and play netball with her friends. She especially enjoys English class.  According to her teacher, Japhet, Solofina is a good student and has many friends.  When Solofina grows up, she would like to be a doctor so that she may help those who are sick.

Solofina would like to give thanks to those who are supporting her, enabling her to get an education, and nourishing her not only physically and mentally, but also emotionally and spiritually. 

There is Hope

In the community of Share, South Africa, Ruth has been visiting Mike, Tholiwe and Risuna since 2010 when their mother became very sick.  Ruth is a Care Worker at Nhluvuko Community Based Organization (CBO) and has been caring for these extremely vulnerable children for over 2 years now.  In 2011, their mother passed away.  Mike, 15, Tholiwe, 10, and Risuna, 4, did not know their father.  Without Ruth, they would have been left with only their grandmother, who does not live with them and does not care for them. 

But there is hope.  Although they live alone now, the home visits provided by Ruth have given these children a mother who knows each of their names and their situations.  Ruth ensures all three children are going to school each day.  As the head of his household, she has taught Mike to care for and clean the home. 

Through the 3 Essential Services program, Ruth and Nhluvuko CBO have provided this family with a hot meal afterschool each day, school uniforms, a door and window frame for their home, and a mattress.  Ruth has built a very strong relationship with these children and they love and trust her as their mother.

Meet Rimos

Rimos is a young boy living a difficult life.  He is 13 years old and lives with 11 other people in a two room house in the community of Mulenga, Zambia.  In 2003, he was living in Lusaka when both of his parents died.  He had to move 3.5 hours away to Mulenga where he now lives with his grandparents, his 4 other siblings, and 5 nieces and nephews. 

The passing of both of his parents in the same year, and the turmoil of having to move to a new place right away, has left Rimos with very deep inner wounds.  His elderly grandparents are unable to understand how to support him emotionally, and he is therefore more often neglected than cared for.  Surrounded by a family of people fighting for themselves each day just to survive, Rimos became just one of many and began walking his community in search of food and money by himself. 

When Mulenga Community Based Organization (CBO) met Rimos, they could see right away that he was one of the most vulnerable children in Mulenga.  On the surface, Rimos’ clothes all have holes in them.  As they got to know Rimos, Mulenga CBO Care Workers saw the many inner wounds that cause him to live in a state of sadness.  Thankfully, Mulenga CBO Care Workers have received Walking with Wounded Children training.  This allows them to be in a better position to journey with a suffering child like Rimos and help him uncover and process his wounds.

Rimos’ Care Worker is Kennedy.  Kennedy is not only walking with Rimos emotionally, but he is ensuring Rimos is healthy and has an education.  Through the 3 Essential Services (3ES) program at Mulenga CBO, Rimos has access to basic health care, one nutritious meal a day, and free education.  Rimos is enrolled at Mulenga Community School where he is in Grade 2.  Through the grace of God, Rimos is no longer a lost boy wandering the streets of Mulenga.  He has a father, Kennedy, and a whole family at Mulenga CBO who visits him in his home, who love him, and who know his name.

I Was a Stranger (SA)

Assa and her brother Gabito at the Care Centre in Welverdiend, Bushbuck RidgeAssa and her cousin Gabito were born twelve years ago in Mozam­bique. They travelled together with their mothers (who were sisters) from Mozambique in 2010. When they first arrived in Welverdiend, Assa, Gabito and their mothers stayed with their eldest aunt. After only a short time, this aunt chased them away because her husband was complaining that he did not have the resources to feed them and look after them. At this same difficult time, Gabito’s mother passed away leaving Assa’s mother to look after both of them. With no home or money (being from Mozambique and not having a South African ID and Assa’s mother not being able to get consistent work) the family desperately searched for a place to live. Thankfully, someone from the community offered them a temporary house built by the government and to this day, Assa, her mother and Gabito continue to live in this house. But with temporary housing comes the continual fear that the original owner of the house will return and kick them out, leaving them homeless—a very likely event in a poor and despairing com­munity such as theirs.

But things are not all hopeless for this precious family. Last year, Nomsa a Care Worker for the local Hands at Work partnered Community Based Organisation, Pfunani, heard about their situation and began to visit them at their home every week. She encouraged them to go to school and helped them with their house chores, especially when Assa’s mom was away working at the local orange farm. She also took time to encourage Assa’s mom and urge her not give up even though life is very hard.

In order to lighten the burden even more for their family and other families like theirs in Welverdiend community, Pfu­nani Care Workers cook five nutritious meals per week for the most vulnerable children at the Care Point. Assa and Gabito enjoy playing with the other chil­dren in similar situations as them at the Care Point. Pfunani Community Based Organisation has also helped the family by providing them with blankets and a mattress during the cold winter months. This was a huge blessing because their home lacked these basic items.

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.”   Matthew 25:35

Ever considered having your next family get-together in Africa? (AUS)

This team, who recently travelled to South Africa, was made up of extended family members from VIC and NSW. Keen to impact their entire family, the team was made up of adults and children alike.  Their aim: To be changed, and to understand more about the work of Hands at Work in Africa…

On the 26^th June 2012 our team of 17 headed off to South Africa via Perth.  After 16 hours of flying and almost 5 hours of driving we arrived safely at the ‘Hands’ village in White River.  Once orientation was over we headed straight to the Clau Clau Service Centre where we had lunch and then went straight into the community.  In typical African style we were welcomed through singing and dancing, quickly understanding that our talents are very limited in comparison to theirs. Part of our team joined with the Care Workers to visit the homes of widows and orphans (of whom most suffered with HIV).  The younger members of the team played an assortment of games with the children at the care centre.   It was crazy at the time to think that within a couple of days of leaving Australia we were standing in the heart of ‘Hands at Work’, being blessed by each child that gave us a high-five, sat in our lap, took a photograph or stole our sun glasses.   

The next day was a prayer event in Bushbuckridge (BBR) about a 2-hour drive away and we were given the opportunity to pray with the Care Workers of that community.  Something you quickly realise is that Hands at Work is all about relationships.  The Care Workers in these communities don’t need us to dish out the children’s food or build them a well or school building.  Through the partnership with Hands at Work, they can do these things themselves.  The Care Workers sacrifice their time and energy everyday to care for the vulnerable and orphans in their communities.  Our role was to motivate them to continue this amazing sacrifice.  We helped them to understand the importance of their work, to ask their name when nobody else does, and to show them the love of God through our actions just as they show us His love through theirs.    

Throughout our time, we visited two communities, one in Bushbuckridge (Pfunani community) about 2 ½ hours away and the second in Senzikuthle in Clau Clau about 1 hour away.  We were given the opportunity to do home visits and to feed and play with the children at the care centre.  Each night we would debrief about our day.  Some days some of us would have plenty to share and then other days there was not as much.  But after every story I heard I was reminded of suffering so apparent throughout Africa.  Children who were not even 10 years old were more mature than an Australian in their 20s, and, most of them have seen or experienced more horrific situations in their short time on this earth than I ever will in my lifetime.   These children are forced to grow up so young, they are forced to father or mother their siblings in the absence of their parents, the girls are defenseless against any man who knows their vulnerability, and the saddest part of it all is that they most likely won’t ever know life can be any different.   

What I love so much about Hands at Work is that they seek to find the most vulnerable and then advocates every single day for their survival.   You see in the West we assume that food and a lack of parents are Africa’s biggest problems.   To an extent this is very true.  However, there are so many more issues that can as easily take a child’s life.  That is why Hands at Work advocates for the vulnerable as well as the orphans and widows.  

I have been back in Australia for almost a week now and settling back in has been a challenge.  Before leaving South Africa we were warned of the cultural disorientation that would surmount.   Well they were right.  It has been incredibly hard to slip back into the life I left behind.  You see Africa changes us whether we think it does or not, but the world we leave behind doesn’t change.  Our lives stay relatively the same and no matter how hard we try to tell our friends and family about Africa words do not give it justice.  I thank the Lord every day for the change that I have experienced because my life and what is important to me needed to be challenged.  Whether God wants us to work overseas or to work in our own communities here we need to understand how blessed we are.   I did not choose to be born here it was through God’s grace that I have a family and food and a home to live in.  When we were over there George (founder of ‘Hands at Work’ in Africa) told us not to feel guilty for what we have but to feel blessed.  Well I now know that I am incredibly blessed.

Not My Love, but His (SA)

Nora is a volunteer care worker at the Mandlesive Community-Based Organisation (CBO) in South Africa. As a care worker, she joins several other men and women who share her heart of servanthood to bring hope to the most vulnerable children in her community. The care workers visit these children regularly, offering help with homework, spiritual guidance, and a listening ear. They walk them through heartaches and encourage them to follow their Father and the plans He has for them. Evidently, their stories are every bit as compelling as those of the children whom they serve.

"After my boyfriend left me alone to care for our daughter, I started selling home grown vegetables to earn a living. It was tiring work, and often left me stressed and tired at the end of the day. At the time both my sister and my mother were very sick, and I found myself caring for them and my sister’s children in addition to my daily jobs.

My only hope was these women who would come and visit my sister each day. They taught me how to bathe her and care for her. Once my sister died and my little family gained four more, children, I decided that it was too much to bear and I needed some way to cope with my life’s situation. Then my mother passed away. This is when I asked to join these faithful women who had been devoting their days to caring for my sister and her family.

Now that I am a careworker at Mandlesive Community-Based Organisation, I couldn’t ask for a different life. I care for nine orphans by assisting them with their daily activities such as washing, cooking, helping them with their homework, just as the other careworkers cared for my family.  Giving to the community from the bottom of my heart is the reason that I get up every day; the reason that I can cope with losing my sister and my mother. There are often times where I must give up some of my family’s support in order to bring necessities to these children, and sometimes it is difficult for me to explain this to my family. Sometimes people laugh at me and tell me that I am stupid to be giving up my life to care for other people. While this hurts me, the pain of seeing a hungry child hurts more.

The Lord has overwhelmed me with his blessings. He has kept me and my family safe – there are many times where I have worked with very contagiously sick patients, and He has spared me from illness. My daughters are happy and healthy, I have sweet potatoes in the garden and mangoes on my trees, and my family has food on the table each night. I am able to love these orphans that I care for as my own children because I recognize that it’s not my love to give. Our Father has so richly blessed us with His love, and I know that the love that I show these orphans does not come from me, but Him.

Nora was recently trained by Hands at Work, through the Walking with Wounded Children Program. The training, developed by a team of counsellors and psychologists, equips those who care for children with tools to lead them on a path of healing from any emotional wounds or losses they may have experienced. This training, combined with the love embedded in the hearts of women like Nora, are bringing God’s hope to vulnerable children across Africa.