Significant Moments

At Hands at Work we have many volunteers, from Africa and all over the world, who have had experiences in Africa that have changed their lives.  Most volunteers have a moment, or a series of moments that defined their understanding of God’s heart for the poor.  At Hands we encourage all volunteers to focus on relationships, and the real moments God blesses them with as they meet Care Workers and children across Africa.  Often these moments become a memory, but sometimes they are captured on camera.  Photos have a powerful way of evoking memories and the feelings experienced in the moment.  We asked our volunteers for one photo that is really significant to them and to describe why.  The most significant photos to us are not always necessarily the most professional or even most beautiful images.  They are the ones, however, that take us back to a moment that changed our lives.

Bernard Eßmann

Care Worker Mama Esther in Kambove, DRC
Bernard took it in 2011 when visiting her home
"Nothing to live for herself but so much to give for others"

Community Based Organisation Coordinator Rhoda in Racecourse, Zambia
Julia took it in 2012
"She does not need words to head the CBO"

Sheila Green

In the end, being strict with myself, I have today decided to select one from this past visit to KaPhunga.
It's one that reminds me of lots of things ~ the new centre can be seen in the background ~ there is wonderfully caring baba Vusi, who shows such love to every child and family he meets ~ including this little family that we met on our way back from visiting the 'field' that Nomsa (Community Based Organisation Coordinator) has been given by the community to grow maize for the children of Swaziland. It shows me how Hands at Work has assisted Nomsa to encourage a community in her country to care for the widows and orphans, and bringing us all together from all around the world, walking side by side to be the hands, feet and heart of Jesus.

Marj Miller

Annie - Mcheneke, Malawi
Photo taken by Marj Miller, November, 2012

Annie is a disabled teenaged girl who lives with incredible challenges. Orphaned, neglected and rejected, her incredible smile encourages me to hang on to hope in hopeless situations and trust God for breakthroughs.

Christa Roby

The reason I love this photo: it represents the unity of working together and the main source of the day; food! A lifeline to unite the culture.
I took this photo in Bushbuck Ridge, South Africa (Belfast Community)

Sara Waldvogel

Photographer: Morgan Malster 
Location: Amlew (Kitwe, Zambia)
Subject: Memory and Kelvin
Description:  The first time I visited Memory and Kelvin and their siblings in their home was the first time I felt strongly that there was no hope for one of our children.  I saw the Care Workers pour love out on them and that was when I realized that the love of the Care Workers is what brings hope.  I have this picture up in my room and it reminds me to pray for them by name.

Catherine Clarkson

Name: Catherine Clarkson
Photographer: Alicia Ralph
Subject: Dayo
Location: Elekuru village, Nigeria
Description: After riding motorbikes through the jungle to a remote village, we came across children who had not yet been ‘found’ and brought under the care of the Community Based Organisation. Dayo was one of the most broken and traumatised children I have ever met, having been abandoned by his mother as a new-born. He now attends school with his older brother, eats at the Care Point each day and receives regular and loving home visits from the Elekuru Care Workers.

Melissa Warren

Photographer: Melissa Warren
Location: Mngwere Community, Malawi
Subject: Henry the Care Worker with Mandris (child)
Your short description: We visited Madris in his home.  When asked where he slept we were directed to a kitchen hut no more than 1.5m in diameter – half filled with cooking equipment, the other half he would share to sleep in with his older brother.  It was heart wrenching to see the squalid and unsafe conditions he slept in every night.  The only reason I could walk away from this situation was knowing Madris has a Care Worker Henry, who visits Mandris almost every day, and cares for Mandris as if he was his own son. For me, this photo captures the beautiful relationship between Care Worker and child that is so foundational to who we are as Hands at Work.

Adam Bedford

Location: Mcheneke community, Malawi

Description: This 15 year old girl is named Annie. She has no family
apart from a granny who doesn't care for her and a physically abusive
alcoholic brother. People often come to her home to tell her she is
cursed, and this makes Annie suicidal. She has no food at all, so she
spends every day under a mango tree eating whatever falls. This photo
is meaningful to me because when I met her she had constant pain on
her face. I took this picture when I said something funny and for a
passing moment a smile broke across her face.

Philip McLaughlin

This photo was sent to us by Fortunate and is taken at Siyathathuka Community Based Organisation in Clau Clau, South Africa.
It is of 5 families who take home fresh spinach from the garden Fortunate made.
The Care Workers and children there now have a large garden and I believe more children are taking home fresh vegetables which will help their health.
The reason that it means so much is that while our team were there we were able to replace the pump in the borehole so that they have water to enable their garden to grow.
It has just shown me the difference that water can make to a community in so many ways.
Our God is so good and provides - it was great to see them recognize this and to be so thankful to God for it.

Dave Rowe

This picture brings me hope. Tanazio is teaching children in the morning at the Care Point in Maonde community, Malawi.  It brings hope for the future, hope for these children, and to me represents how the Care Workers serve vulnerable children across our communities.

Ashley Humphreys

Location: Home, Mandlesive, Clau Clau, South Africa  

Subject: Senty (name changed), 4
 
I stayed with Senty and her family just weeks after coming to Africa for the first time.  Her mother is 19 and was taking care of their household because her own parents have passed away.  Their family is one of the poorest and most vulnerable in South Africa.  But meeting Senty made me realise that a child in the most dire situation in Africa is not that different from a child in Canada. Their souls are the same.  Senty is creative, bright, spunky, naughty, loud, beautiful, and has the biggest imagination.  When I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up, she said a frog.  I feel every bit of her spirit when I see this photo and it’s second best to being with her in person.

From My Living Room to Nigeria

By Stephen Jo

Stephen was a part of a short term missions team that visited the Hands at Work Hub in South Africa back in 2007.  He was greatly challenged by what he saw and the work that Hands is doing and has been a supporter ever since. Here he reflects on his recent trip to Nigeria where he was able to visit the children he and his friends and family have been supporting for years.  

It all began in the living room of my house in Southern California back in 2009. I invited George Snyman, Founder and CEO of Hands at Work in Africa, to come and speak to a gathering of my friends.  That evening, God stirred the hearts of all who were there, although many of them had never visited Africa before.  As a result of that meeting, we decided as a group of eight families to support 100 orphans in the Badia and Ilaje villages of Nigeria.  We started this support in January 2010 and have been doing so ever since. June 2013, after several years of supporting the orphans in Nigeria, four men from the group finally got a chance to visit the villages in Nigeria.  It was a life changing trip that none of us will soon forget. 

The streets of BadiaGeorge met us in Nigeria to lead our team.  On our first day, he led us on a walk through Badia, a large urban slum just outside the capitol city of Lagos.  The four of us had seen numerous examples of poverty across several continents prior to this trip but the level of poverty in Badia was by far the worst. The community was composed of densely arranged plywood shacks with trash littered everywhere.  There was a stench in the air from pools of stagnant water and a lack of sanitation.  Thousands of people populated this slum with 80% of the women being prostitutes and 60%-70% of the children being orphans. 

It was difficult walking through Badia because of the extreme poverty and the fact that there was a spiritual darkness hanging over this place.  However, about a half hour into this uncomfortable walk, something unexpected happened.  I saw a girl in a bright red shirt standing about 30 yards ahead of us.  It was her bright shirt that caught my attention.  She was looking at us and saw Peter, who is the local leader for Hands in Nigeria, standing next to me.  Her face lit up with a smile when she saw him and she came running toward him.  She jumped into his arms and gave him a warm hug then quickly ran off to play again.  I asked Peter who she was and he said, “It’s one of your children.”  That moment was like seeing a ray of light in the darkness.  It taught me the impact that Hands was having on this community in just the short time we had been there. "It's one of your children"

The following day we visited the Care Point in Badia where I had a chance to meet the girl in the red shirt.  She turned out to be an adorable 9-year-old girl named Rachel.  She is an orphan who lives in Badia with her aunt and sister.  Unfortunately, her aunt is a prostitute who works out of their one room shack.  This means that Rachel and her sister are woken up and asked to wait outside when patrons visit their home at any hour during the night.  It’s heartbreaking to know that there are children who have no choice but to live in this way, but Rachel’s story reflects the life of many Badia children who live in this same manner.  Fortunately, there is real hope that Rachel’s story will change some day. She is enrolled in a school through our sponsorship and the Hands Care Workers are raising her in the gospel. For these reasons, I am very hopeful that the cycle of prostitution will someday end with her.

Stephen and his team with Peter and another local volunteerIt was a blessed experience to witness how God was using our modest support to change the lives of the orphans in Nigeria.  We saw how Hands was bringing hope to places like Badia where none would be expected and children without any choices had hope for a better future.  Most remarkably, our partnership with Hands gave 4 Americans an opportunity to be in a gospel community with 100 African children an ocean away.  None of this would be possible without the loving God who not only cares for the orphan and widow but also graciously allows us to partake in the work of caring for them too.

Discovering a new reality of hope

A group of individuals in Australia, led by the compassionate McLaughlin family, seek to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children in South Africa, and to the Care Workers who serve so sacrificially each day to build for a positive future for their community. By partnering with communities like Welverdiend, in Bushbuck Ridge, this group has seen transformation taking place in many lives. Here is just one story:

In 2009, 6 young children were devastated by the loss of their parents. The eldest girl, Busie, 15, took responsibility for their mentally challenged and mute brother, Robert, and an uncle offered to take in the four youngest siblings: Segney, Gertrude, Ronald, and Karimo. It wasn’t long before the children realized they were not going to experience the care and provision they had anticipated from their uncle. Their uncle began stealing the small government orphan grant being given to the four orphaned children. On many nights, the children went to bed without food and often went to school without adequate clothes.  One by one, the children fled from their uncle to their old home. 

In 2011, Busie became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl.  With no one to help Busie raise her daughter and siblings, and with repeated years of failing at school, Busie dropped out in Grade 8.  Motivation to continue attending dwindled and the hope for a brighter future became bleak. Housework and providing meals for the family became overwhelming.  The growing instability in this family’s life started to affect the other children’s school work and their teachers became concerned. Aware that the family was in need of support, the teachers asked Care Workers at Pfunani Community Based Organisation to help. 

Ester, a Pfunani Care Worker began to visit the family and look for ways to support them.  She helped the children to apply for a social grant which they are now receiving.  Each morning, Care Workers visit the family home on their way to the Care Point to ensure porridge is cooked for Robert.  During other home visits, Ester helps to ensure the house is clean, laundry is washed, and meals are cooked.  Although Busie still struggles with feelings of depression, the family are discovering a new reality of hope.  Not only are they fed physically, with a nutritious meal each day at the Care Point, but also spiritually and emotionally.  They enjoy interacting with other children at the Care Point and attend weekly lessons led by their older peers, where issues such as self-esteem, healthy relationships, and sexual education are discussed.

Ester desires to continue helping Busie and her family to experience brighter days, to understand that they are loved and embraced as family.

The McLaughlin family and friends desired to make their partnership with Pfunani Community Based Organisation personal. They wanted it to go beyond just the sending of funds. This group are getting to know the Care Workers and children by name, and they look for creative and meaningful ways to impact their lives and the community. In 2013, they formed a team and travelled to South Africa to spend time with the people they had grown to love. During their time in the community, they worked to make the Pfunani Care Point a safe, secure and fun place for the children and Care Workers to meet.

Children like Busie and her siblings, who have battled with so much loss and rejection, now find a place of acceptance and value. The McLaughlin family and friends work closely with Hands at Work to make a positive impact in the lives of these vulnerable children. And through it, they have discovered a new reality of hope for the children and Care Workers they know by name.  

Have you considered sending a team to visit Hands at Work, or joining other individuals who desire to bring hope to the most vulnerable? Find out how you could get involved with Hands at Work by sending a group of passionate people to serve on a short-term team. No skills are required, just a commitment to serve and a desire to care.

To find out more, contact your local Hands at Work office:

Australia: info@au.handsatwork.org

Canada:  info@ca.handsatwork.org

UK: info@uk.handsatwork.org

US: info@us.handsatwork.org

For other countries please contact partnerships@handsatwork.org

Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me

Hands at Work’s vision is to see the local Church in Africa effectively caring for the dying, orphaned and widowed, and unified in this mission with the Church outside Africa.

Greenfinch Church in Ipswich, UK has been partnering with Hands at Work for four years. Chris Bedford, the pastor of Greenfinch, shares his story about a special young boy who broke his heart and transformed his life – and that of his church.

“I guess there are just a few moments in life when something strikes you so hard that you feel totally powerless and useless. 

Back in 2011, on our sA sullen three year old Chatty during Chris' 2011 visit. econd day of home visits in the community of Chilabula, the harsh realities of everyday Zambian life hit me like a runaway freight train.

Several homes had been visited the previous day and already it was clearly noticeable was that there was a distinct lack of young men everywhere we went. All the families visited were led by women and the 20 to 45 year old men were simply missing. There was talk about how many had been lost to illness (no-one ever mentioned “HIV”).  It had the potential to be overwhelmingly sad and yet somehow, it didn’t hit home too hard. 

But then it happened. Having walked quite some way through the bush, we arrived at a clearing where a typical African house was located - straw roof, mud walls, surrounded by a sandy, barren area. On the ground lay an older man, unkempt and distinct, wearing a huge thick coat despite us sweltering in the 33 degree heat. He sat up but wasn’t for talking much. This old grandfather had been left to bring up four children, despite his struggle to even look after himself.  His two youngest children; Chatty, 3, and Cosmas, 6, where adopted by the Chilabula Community Based Organisation. The children were not at home, so their Care Worker set off to find them.  Soon, the two boys came out of the bushes into the clearing.  That same morning we had played with kids who looked just the same as these children - no shoes, ragged clothes, but who played with great joy and gusto and huge smiles.  However, these two were different - shoulders slumped under deadpan faces. They sat down and we tried to engage them in a game. Eventually, there was the merest flicker of a smile from Cosmas - no more than a flicker - and yet enough to stir hope in me for him.  Chatty, however, was a different story. His face never changed. It was sullen, fearful and confused. I feared that there was nothing that would make him smile.

Then the harsh truth emerged. His mother had died just three months previously, leaving him with his three older siblings and a grandfather.  How does a child so young even begin to comprehend where his mother is, or who will take care of him, or where his next meal is coming from? Perhaps even worse than this, where does he get hugs from and who kisses him goodnight?

This one child, Chatty, broke my heart.

Can we stand by and simply watch this happen? As Matt Redman wrote “there must be more than this”.

Mark 9:37 (Jesus speaking): “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me – God who sent me.” (The Message)

I walked away from that situation and for over two years, this little child haunted my thoughts. Why didn’t I embrace the boy? Why didn’t I just grab him and hug him? Has my own culture knocked out of me the sense to love a lonely child? Why didn’t I try harder with him? What made me sit around and simply watch?

Now in 2013, we went back to the rural village of Chilabula. We arrived at a house that I did not immediately recognize, but Burton, a local Care Worker told me that it was Chatty’s house. I was immediately both excited, and apprehensive.  This time, however, I was determined not to miss the opportunity to move beyond just seeing him. I would embrace him.

We walked up to the house and I spotted Chatty, sat on the floor with his twenty year old big sister, who is also looking after her own child. This time, Chatty seemed more comfortable to visit with us.

Chatty still looks a little serious, even sullen, but things are definitely different now. Just like many other Zambian boys, he was happy to play with us and showed us his plastic bag ball, neatly banded together.  Burton spoke to Chatty and asked him “Do you remember this man” at which he nodded his head in affirmation. I was blown away that he could remember me. But why should he? We did nothing out of the ordinary to help last time, and yet he remembered.

I tried to do what Dads do and I put my arm around him and tried to make him smile.  It worked, and suddenly everything made a little more sense and felt worthwhile. Of course, this child was depressed and confused two years previously when his mother had so recently passed away, but today, we could see change in his life. The love, support and care that Burton and the local Care Workers have shown Chatty, along with the support of his older sister have transformed this little boy.  Chatty still has a long way to go in his life and it takes a bit of time to see a smile, but the life in him is slowly emerging.

This year, Chatty bro"I tried to do what Dads do and I put my arm around him and tried to make him smile".ke my heart once again, but not in a hopeless, despairing way. He makes me cry, not because I do not know what to do but because I see hope in the eyes of this child and because I see love being poured into his life. I see that I can be part of making a difference for one boy, living 5000 miles away on the other side of the world.”

Chris and his church consider the community of Chilabula as part of their family, congregation and ministry. Every week, they pray for the community and the children they know by name and they look forward to the next opportunity to visit them. 

To find out how you and your church can be a part of reaching vulnerable children across Africa, contact your local Hands at Work office. 

Australia: info@au.handsatwork.org

Canada:  info@ca.handsatwork.org

UK: info@uk.handsatwork.org

US: info@us.handsatwork.org

For other countries please contact partnerships@handsatwork.org

Care Workers Responding in Love

Abandoned by his father, four-year-old Tawanda was left to stay in a small shack in Sakubva with his mother, Shorai, and his two brothers. In February 2013, Tawanda’s father returned to the household and, in a terrifying act, set fire to it. What little food, clothing and blankets the family owned were completely destroyed. The family was left with nothing, save the clothes they were wearing.  A neighbour in their community allowed the desperate family to stay in her small, oneroomed home until they found another place to stay. There was already a family living here, but it was all Tawanda, his mother and brothers had. They currently all sleep on the same bed.  Tawanda and his family face huge challenges.

They cannot afford food, clothes or school fees.  In order for them to just survive, Shorai has to cut down and sell firewood – back-breaking work for just a few dollars.

Tawanda and his brothers were found by the Care Workers from Sakubva Christian Caring Trust in 2012. The Care Workers heard their story and wanted to respond in love. They brought the children to the Care Point in the hope that they could bring some life and light into their lives.  The children are now attending the Sakubva Care Point each day for a nutritious meal and to connect with the Care Workers and play with other children. The Care Point in Sakubva is a hub of activity at the moment: a Care Centre is under construction, enabling the Care Workers to provide holistic care to their vulnerable children. It is a noisy, welcoming and a nurturing environment for children like Tawanda to attend.

Angeline, one of Sakubva’s Care Workers has been running education classes for Tawanda, his older brother and other children who do not currently attend school. She does this in preparation for the children to eventually attend formal school. At present, Tawanda is learning how to count to 20 and to write his name.  Christine, another Care Worker visits Tawanda and his family twice each week. She assists them with any work that needs to be done in their house but also listens and prays with them. Christine has brought hope to the whole family by her very presence.

When Sakubva Community Based Organisation recently received a donation of clothes and blankets, Tawanda and his brothers received clothing and a blanket each. It has been a huge blessing to the family. After receiving these items, Shorai told the Care Workers that she has seen God working so clearly in her life –in His provision for her and her children, and through the love and care of the Sakubva Care Workers.

The Many Faces of War

Since the first invasion into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), almost 2 decades ago, more than 5 million people have died in the deadliest conflict the world has seen since the Second World War. It’s an incomprehensible truth when one stops to consider the scale. Each one known to somebody. Each with a face and a name.  Each with a story to tell of a life lived or yet to be lived. The Congo is a beautifully vast and mineral-rich landscape in central Africa but it also bears the scars of wars that have raged for many years and are continuing to terrorise its people. Half of Congo’s inhabitants are under 14 and have only ever known war.

Furaha, as featured in storyFuraha was born in Goma, in Eastern Congo. At just 4 years old, Furaha’s entire existence has been characterised by instability. She is a refugee in her own country, running constantly from the threat of rebel invasion and oppression. The war killed her father. Furaha and her mother desperately sought shelter with other war widows and their children, but food was scare and access to even basic medical supplies was impossible. Desperation is written all over Furaha’s face and yet, Furaha could not be picked out of a crowd. There are millions of children just like her.

In Goma, tens of thousands of people are displaced and find themselves in over-run and unsafe refugee camps which offer little protection or provision for the traumatised and vulnerable. People are too scared to return to their destroyed villages and too damaged by the brutality and oppression they have suffered at the hands of rebels. Women, left traumatised by abuse and rape, bear deep emotional scars, and carry, too, the resultant children. Used as a cruel and barbaric instrument of war, rape will give birth to a new generation of children who will be born into brokenness and chaos.

In one of the refugee camps lives our own ‘Mother Theresa’. A lady whose compassion for the orphaned singled her out in her own village. In Luhonga , a village on the outskirts of Goma, she fought for the children the world does not know. The ones who have only ever known fear. She was there when these children gathered in a hut, all desperate and all terrorised, for their first ever plate of nutritious food. Women like this are named by Hands at Work as ‘Mother Theresa’ because their desire to bring hope and life stands in contradiction to their environment, to their own stories of brutal abuse and to the threat that constantly surrounds them. They are light and life to the most vulnerable. And yet, our Mother Theresa from Luhonga is not in her village caring for the children she has been called to serve. She is too afraid. She remains in the refugee camp and is terrified of returning to her home for fear of another invasion.

Refugee camp outside of GomaAnd yet, the world is unaware. A raging conflict, on a world-war scale, rages in the Congo. And the faces of those most affected are unknown to the world: The children kidnapped to become child soldiers, joining a military regime that killed their own parents, and thousands of women who fled their own homes after they were raped and abused, many of whom had witnessed their own husbands, sons and neighbours being slaughtered.

Hands at Work are 100% committed to reaching the poorest and most vulnerable people in Africa today. And these people include little girls like Furaha and our ‘Mother Theresa’s’ in the DRC. We will stand up for them and make their stories known. We will know their names. We will know their faces. And we will fight for them.

Will you join us?

In Goma, we are working in 2 villages, Luhonga and Buhimba, where poverty and the number of orphans is extremely high, and support services and levels of safety and protection is very low. The threat of rebel invasion and displacement is constant.

But you can join us by doing something amazing with your VOICE, your RESOURCES and your TIME to serve the most vulnerable people in the DRC and across Africa. 

PRAY for children like Furaha and for peace to prevail across the DRC.

SPEAK UP for the men and women who are trying to care for the most vulnerable in their communities and tell others about what is happening in Goma.

To learn more about what it means to ‘speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves’ in countries across Africa, visit our Advocate page.

SUPPORT Hands at Work financially to ensure we can continue to travel into the DRC and to support the work in the poorest villages with the most vulnerable children.

To give towards our work in the DRC or to find out more, contact Hands at Work in Africa: info@handsatwork.org

First day of Care Point feeding in Luhonga village, Goma

It takes a village

Catherine Clarkson is a long-term volunteer with Hands at Work in Africa. In 2010 she chose to leave her comfortable life in the UK to come and serve and live with the Hands at Work community near White River, South Africa. After three years she continues to learn about what it is means to live a life of servanthood. This is her reflection.

There is an old African saying: ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. I can report the truth of this, at least in my limited experience. Our communities across Africa are over-burdened and overwhelmed by the sheer number of orphaned children and of their deep needs. I have come to realise that the answer for the most vulnerable children is not a sponsorship scheme or even the resources from external sources, but a locally-owned, locally-planned and locally-executed approach. Africa’s future lies with its people. For them to stand up and be counted, to raise their voices above the chaos and to make a difference will ensure the sustainability of this beautiful continent. Of course, I passionately believe that others are called to join in this story and to give a ‘helping hand’ to lift up our brothers and sisters, that is why I am here, doing this work, …and, of course, there are many organisations that exist to provide direct funding and services to children, doing a much needed work – but I no longer believe that this is the only answer.

I’d like to share with you a story that challenged me deeply. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a group of local men (Care Workers) were showing our Hands at Work Coordinator, Erick, around their community and they came across a boy who was dying. Severely malnourished and suffering from acute malaria, the boy had perhaps hours left to live. Erick struggled hugely to see a precious child suffering in this way, and enquired about what could be done to save him. The local Care Workers looked at each other and drew a blank – they saw the situation, felt compassion, but had no idea of how to respond. As poor men themselves, they had no resources to get the child to a clinic and no medical experience either. Erick desperately wanted to do everything he could to immediately save the boy, but, for the sake of the future of the community and the boy’s future too, he chose not to. He spoke directly and strongly to the Care Workers: ‘If you don’t come up with a solution, this boy, your child, will die.’ Then he bit his lip, said a silent, desperate prayer and left.

When I first heard this story, I felt a whole mix of emotions: sadness about the situation that is more common than I wish it was, fear, frustration.

Faced with the imminent reality of losing a child, the Care Workers came together and formed a plan to get the child to the clinic. It involved a wheelbarrow, the physical strength of them all to push in relay and the combined resources of many people. The boy lived.

Reading this story over and over, I realised that beyond the obvious truth that the Care Workers needed to take ownership for the situation themselves, there was another truth. The scale of suffering in Africa is extraordinary. Every single day 6000 children lose their parents to HIV/AIDS—that’s 180,000 per month. Brutal abuse, rape, torture, kidnapping, child soldiers and poverty are all around and it’s tough to even comprehend that there might be a solution. The truth is that it makes me fearful to even hope that there might be an end to the suffering. But one thing is for sure: the answer, deep down, and long-term, does not stand with me or with any single organisation. The response and the hope for tomorrow lies with the people of Africa. We, as Hands at Work, are called to play a privileged role today in lifting the arms of our brothers and sisters. We can teach, build, capacitate, encourage, strengthen, guide, equip, challenge, correct, suggest and support the work that God has called us to today. But the answer still lies much more locally than I will ever have the privilege of living. It takes a village – in all its richness, complexity and diversity – to raise a child, not only capable of living tomorrow, but of thriving and of giving back to the next generation.

Our Hands at Work community has a saying of our own: ‘we are’ before ‘we do’. We hold on to the truth that it is not, first and foremost, about what we have to offer and what skills we bring, but it is about who we are, as Christ-filled, compassionate, humble and meek people, that really makes a difference. I will say it again just how honoured I am to be a part of Hands at Work and to be learning more about who I am and what my place is in the world today. 

Read more on Catherine’s blog: www.catherineclarkson.com.

The Serve and Learn Team: Part 2

Kristal Hoff is an advocate and volunteer in Canada with Hands at Work in Africa. She and her husband, Will, recently took a team of ten individuals from around the world to visit vulnerable villages in South Africa, Zambia and Malawi. Kristal reflects on her experience with the Serve and Learn Team  in their final weeks.

After 2 months of traveling around as a family of 10 we have come to the end! We are surprised and truly thankful that we all came back in one piece and are still loving each other. What an amazing journey!

We wrote last about our time in South Africa. Since then we have traveled through Zambia, starting with a few relaxing days in Livingstone and staying the remainder of our time at Kachele Farm, home of the Zambian Regional Support Team. We visited communities called Mulenga, Mwaiseni, and Maranatha. From there we bussed to Malawi. We stayed at the local Hands at Work office in Dedza, Malawi and visited communities called Mngwere, Mcheneka, Maonde and Chinku, with even a trip to Lake Malawi. We really had the sense of going deeper and deeper into Africa.

While in Zambia we had the opportunity to spend time with and be challenged by amazing leaders that are truly anointed by God. James (one of Hands at Work’s regional coordinators in Zambia) shared with us the Christ he knows. He started by asking us if we were Christians. We all said, “yes”, but he continued, “Are you sure?” Lisa looked at me, with tear-filled eyes, and said, “I feel like I'm with Jesus.” Erick, Hands at Work’s coordinator for the work in Democratic Republic of Congo shared his heart for the vulnerable in his country and especially for Goma, a war-torn area that is so hostile. We were moved to commit an entire day to fasting and praying for breakthrough.

Mulenga was a community many of us fell in love with. We were deeply impacted by the dedication of the care workers in building relationships with their children. One man in particular, Reuben, challenged many of us in the way we serve. I visited a home of a young girl named Joy. She is 5 years old but could easily be mistaken for 2. Her hair is reddish and quite thin. Her mother abandoned her a few years ago and the woman who was currently looking after her also ran out on her. She was left with a 17-year-old girl and 4 other children under the age of 7. This was the first time in all of my time in Africa that I felt deeply that I needed to take her home. I wept the entire visit. We then walked to the care point where Joy was to get her meal. She sat on my lap as she spooned the rice into her mouth. All of a sudden I heard her scream, “Pastor!” I looked up and saw Reuben running toward her, arms in the air with excitement. He gave her a big high-five and I could feel everything in her lighten. This for me was a real glimpse into the Kingdom of God. Reuben later told me that people in the community were calling Joy strange names, like Chameleon. He changed her name and said for the rest of her life she will find joy in the Lord. And she will, because not only does Reuben and many others unconditionally love her, but she knows she is loved. That's the most beautiful part.

This was our entire 2 months—seeing and experiencing true glimpses into the Kingdom of God. Men and women of God that have been raised up, anointed, and are serving their Lord completely selflessly by loving those that no one else does. There were many care workers like Reuben. It really challenged us and put the way that we selectively serve to shame.

While in Malawi, we had the privilege of staying 3 nights in the community of Mngwere with care workers. This allowed us to get real insight into their lives: how they live, who they live with, their daily challenges. We discovered how vulnerable even they are! They struggle daily for food, they grieve the loss of their own children and spouse, feel pressured by some of the easy, but negative, ways to earn money, and many other unique challenges.

Traveling from country to country, through borders, on busses was miraculously easy and smooth, but still had its challenges. Entering a new country means a new language, a new currency, new songs and names, new culture and customs. We were always thinking, always converting, always fully aware of our surroundings and our actions.

We were really surprised as to how fast our team caught the heart of Hands and how keen they were in every situation to serve the Hands family and care workers. What we were mostly surprised and impressed with was also the responsibility they took in doing these things. They didn't travel around with the intention of having great experiences and writing down great stories, but rather to give themselves completely in everything they did, and most especially in encouragement. It was amazing to see someone sitting down with a care worker or a Hands bookkeeper, sharing scripture and encouragement and praying together.

Our hope in this unique trip was not for people necessarily to fall in love with Africa or understand poverty better or think that Hands is the best organization working in Africa, but for people to fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus and live that out fully. To be removed from the pressures of their culture and lives to really experience the heart of God lived out by some of the most unexpected people, diamonds in the dust. And these 8 individuals did. They won't be the same, I can attest to it. I've seen them wrestle and struggle and question and look deep into their own hearts and lives as they sat in the homes of vulnerable and broken children, while they walked alongside beautiful, dusty feet, and while they listened to stories of grannies praying to live longer to care for their grandchildren.

The Serve and Learn Team is a unique opportunity. It is a short time commitment, but individuals get deep into Hands at Work: into our heart and family and deep into our communities across Africa. It's about learning in action, learning as you're serving, and recognizing that some of God's most anointed and chosen people sit in shacks on nameless streets.

I want to help children, just like Thulane

Fortunate Kunene serves with Hands at Work in Africa as the Clau Clau Service Centre Coordinator, working to build capacity, provide support and encouragement to five Community Based Organisations in the area. Here she reflects on a boy she met in one of those communities and considers her own childhood.

Thulane is a nine year old boy. He lives with his mother and two young sisters: Thobile, who is seven and Nelsiwe who is five. He also has a baby brother, Sanele who is just nine months old.  The family originally came from Mozambique, fleeing to South Africa in the hope of a brighter future. Unfortunately, this has meant that they don’t have any birth certificates or identification documents that would enable them to receive assistance from the South African government.  They stay in a one-roomed shack made of corrugated metal. The children have only a cold floor to sleep on, and no blanket.

Thulane’s mother leaves for work at 5am each morning and doesn’t return until after dark each evening. Thulane, being the oldest, is therefore required to look after the home and to care for his siblings.  He has a long walk down a very steep hill to fetch water. He cleans the house and washes nappies for his baby brother. Thulane doesn’t have any time to play and do things most nine-year- old children do. It is nearly an hour for Thulane to walk to the Mandlesive Care Point, but he makes this journey every day because he has made friends there and has relationships with the Care Workers. Perhaps this Care Point is the only place in the world where this little boy feels able to be ‘just a child’. Thulane’s Care Worker, Nomsa, visits him regularly in his home to help him with the household chores. She helps him clean, do the washing and get water. Thulane says he wants to be a teacher when he grows up.

As a Service Centre Coordinator, Thulane touched me so much because his childhood reminds me of my own.  When I was seven years old I had to look after my little brother. My mother would leave us for work at 4am and not get back until late in the evening. We didn’t have food while my mum was away at work, so I think that if there was a Care Point offered to us, we would have attended there every day to get food.  It would have been good for me to have a Care Worker like Nomsa to support me since I was acting as a mother myself. At the Care Point, children get to forget their problems.  For a time, they can play with their friends and act like other children.

I want to help children just like Thulane as I understand what it is like to have so much responsibility at such a young age. It is these children that I believe I have been called to. In my work in the Service Centre, I believe that many children, just like Thulane can be given hope, even though they face  many challenges.

Seeing brokenness and feeling compassion:

A story from Elekuru, Nigeria

*children’s names have been changed

Under the cover of darkness, a desperate mother travelled to a remote village in Elekuru, Nigeria and abandoned her baby. He was just 15 days old. The baby was left in the care of his grandmother, who was already doing all she could to care for 5 other aban­doned children. Ironically, the baby was named Dayo*, which means ‘joy arrives’. That was 3 years ago. Dayo’s mother has not been seen since that night in 2010.

The village of Lasidi, where Dayo’s grandmother lives and cares for her children, is remote and cut off from any modern services. The children do not attend school and the people fight for survival each day. There is no clean water source, food is grown solely off the land and there is much sickness. It is just this kind of place that Elekuru Care Workers were drawn to. They wanted to be a light into the lives of desperate people like Dayo’s family.

Loving Care Workers like Abigail started to visit the village of Lasidi and found the children and grandmother in a desperate situation. She felt compassion for them. She wanted to help relieve some of the burden that Dayo’s aging grand­mother was shouldering alone. Abigail began to visit the family regularly, caring for their physical needs as best she could, and trying to understand their inner brokenness.

The family felt as if they had been adopted in to the Elekuru family, together with Abigail and all the Care Workers. Dayo and his brother Lenu* were identified as vulnerable children and the Elekuru Community Based Organisation took special care of them, ensuring them a hot, nutritious meal each day, access to education at the local Community School and basic health care. Each morning, the brothers wake excited, bathe themselves, and get ready to go to their new school. Abigail continues to visit this family, loving and caring for the children as if they were her own. The community’s prayer is for Dayo’s deep wounds of rejection to heal with time because of the love and attention he is now receiving. 

Communities like Elekuru in Nigeria continue to be very tough places to work. Care Workers sacrificially give of their time and energy to reach the most vulnerable children and bring comfort in their desperate situations. Please join us in praying for Care Workers like Abigail who do this every day. Pray for their courage and perseverance as they strive to live out the message of Christ in bringing hope to the hopeless. 

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. 

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.