Raising a large family isn’t easy but Mama Safi isn’t alone in caring for Mwete. He has a bigger family of support at the Care Point, with the Care Workers and the other children.
Jessie Monarch is from Kentucky in the US and volunteered with Hands at Work for the last year, serving in South Africa and Zambia. The following is her account of her first trip to see the work being done in Mulenga, a poor community in Kitwe, Zambia; a work led by James and Sukai Tembo since 2004.
“How many children do you have?” I asked him as we passed through the solid metal gate guarding the entrance to his “mansion.” I knew he called it that, always following the reference with a carefree laugh, to warn us of the simplicity of his lodgings.
“You will see,” he said with a grin. In the brief stint of our acquaintance he had used this phrase to answer almost every question I had concerning his work, as if believing to revive the sense of mystery and anticipation so often lost with age and life.
When we exited the car, he immediately pointed across the yard and a large field to Mulenga. As he enthusiastically pointed out the house from which the twenty orphans are fed daily amongst the mass and spread of huts far in the distance, we pretended to know exactly which hut he was pointing to. It didn’t really matter; we knew the beautiful work he was doing there, we knew the beacon of light that house was in the sea of darkness surrounding it and in the lives of the children
In the past we have done two conferences, both in South Africa. An Africa conference with our African service center partners and an international conference with our African partners and many international churches and donors as well.
This year instead of having the conferences in just South Africa we will be holding four regional conferences that will be open to anyone interested in attending. The Hands at Work family is growing at a rapid rate which means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get everyone to South Africa. This means we can bring the conferences closer to home for the Service Centres involved, also allowing our international visitors flexibility and possibly allow them to attend in the country of their interest. In the past we have only been able to have a very small number of community based organizations (CBO) representatives present. By holding regional conferences it will also enable greater CBO participation and give more people exposure to the vision of Hands at Work.
The conference schedule is as follows:
South Africa & Swaziland | March 24-27 | Hands at Work in Africa near White River, South Africa
Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo & Malawi | April 15-18 | Luanshya, Zambia
Mozambique & Zimbabwe | April 22-25 | TBD
Nigeria | May 20-23 | Lagos, Nigeria
We are excited about the new opportunities that hosting regional conferences will bring. All are welcome to come and be a part of the different regional conferences. If you are interested in attending or helping fund the conferences please contact us at info@handsatwork.org.
Hands at Work in Africa CEO and founder George Snyman will travel to the UK this January to challenge churches about their role in caring for the orphaned, widowed and the dying, to cast the Hands at Work vision, and to attend strategic meetings with the organisation’s country offices and partner churches and donor organisations.
His itinerary is as follows:
Ipswich - January 17-18 |Speaking at The Forge Church |Sunday 17
London - January 20 |Pastor's Conference at Christchurch, |Fulham
Staffordshire - January 22-25 |Meeting with Staffordshire buddies |program volunteers
Birmingham - January 25-27 |Speaking at The Blue Coat School, |Harborne January 27 AM |Meeting with Zambia Live team (partnership between Zion Church & The Forge) |January 27 PM
Flora is 15 years old. Life began well for her, her 3 sisters and 4 brothers. Unfortunately, sadness came in her life as her father died when she was only 12 years old. Then the hard work began, as she was now responsible for the family as her mother was also sick and could not work. Flora, grade 8, has missed much school due to the problems often missing school to sell vegetables and charcoal by the roadside. The family received help from Gondola Home Based Care (HBC) in 2007. They have helped with food, clothes and are now helping with her education. She knows her mother will die soon, but Flora wants to complete her education and believes this will help her take care of her brothers and sister and get them through their education as well.
We successfully ran a training workshop for the care workers in Sakubva, which has subsequently resulted in improved relationship building between the care workers, OVCs and patients/primary guardians. The training was also successfully closed with a ceremony that saw the caregivers being awarded with medical aid kits. We managed to invite local authorities, including the Councillor for the Sakubva ward, the Deputy Director of the Mutare City Health Department, one of our trustees, Dr. Geoff Foster, and our country representative, Emily Dinhira, all of whom were present and spoke at the ceremony.
Martha is a 7 year old girl in grade 1 in the Kikula Community School in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She lost her mother when she was only 3 years old and soon after her father abondoned her and her 3 siblings. Martha was taken by the aunt to stay with while the other 3 siblings were taken to Lubumbashi to stay with other relatives. Life is not easy for the small girl with her big new family where the income was not enough to support all the children for feeding and Schooling, but today Martha is attending School for free in our Kikula Community School and receiving a nutritious meal per day together with other friends at the feeding point. Above all she is also enjoying Home visits from care workers and this is bringing a new level of trust and security to the girl.
For the last five years now, Heather Lawrence has spend part of her summer holiday training teachers from the Community Schools we support in Zambia. In previous years , she has worked with teachers from the Luanshya area at Kachele farm, but this year, three others from the UK delivered a programme to these teachers designed to enable Lead Teachers to train others in their community and further afield. It has been immensely encouraging to see how these Lead Teachers have grown in confidence and skills since Heather's firet visit in 2005. They continue to listen to new ideas and take on board all suggestions readily. It is heartening to see they have implemented previous suggestions, adjusting them to suit their own circumstances.
From left to right: Blue, Jayne, Jo and Heather with Luanshya teachers
With Luanshya covered, Heather was able to train a group of teachers from Kitwe, north west of Luanshya. Most of these teachers are
Samuel and Juliet Zulu and their children moved to Kachele Farm in Luanshya, Zambia, on 29 September 2009, and the Farm is quickly becoming a hub of Hands at Work activities year-round. Some of the activities happening at Kachele Farm in 2009 included training for Hands at Work staff from all over Africa, hosting five international teams from the U.K. and Canada who also used the property for kids’ camps and teacher training, renovating the farm house, raising chickens, and completing construction of a new house on the property. Hands at Work is excited to welcome Samuel and his family, who moved over 500 kilometres from his home in Chipata, Zambia, in order to manage the Hands at Work property and expand activities there. Since Samuel arrived, two hectares of maize have been planted and planned activities for 2010 include growing rape and other veggies, installing a new septic tank and a simple irrigation system, and renovating additional existing structures into accommodation.
The vision of Kachele Farm is four-fold: 1.) to provide psycho-social support for orphaned and vulnerable children through kids’ camps, 2.) to train and encourage community volunteers like care workers and community school teachers, 3.) to improve food security for orphaned and vulnerable children by producing food and serving as a model to teach on food production, and 4.) a place of retreat for Hands at Work family members who are in need of solitude and restoration.
Thank you to all of you who have stayed at the farm over the past several years and helped contributed to help make all of this possible.
Christa Roby—from Chilliwack, British Columbia, in Canada—has been volunteering for Hands at Work in South Africa and in Kabwe, Zambia. A registered massage therapist, Christa had no idea when she applied to volunteer with Hands at Work whether her skills would be useful in Africa, but she came with an open heart to serve. Since October 2009, Christa has trained volunteer care workers in 12 villages in massage therapy. Care workers are being empowered when they see the impact they can make in the lives of their sick friends and neighbors with only their hands. Read more about a home visit Christa made with volunteers from Katondo Home-based Care in Kabwe, Zambia.
“Peter had a stroke in Feb/07 and had lost function of the right side of his body. I asked Floyd (one of the volunteers) to begin with working on his back while I worked with the right leg. I showed Floyd how tight Peter’s hamstrings had become and also how to assist them in relaxing. Peter explained that he is only able to move around on his back. I was confused, so he took the opportunity to go to the washroom and show me. From his bed he lied on his back and
My name is Jarna McLaughlin and I recently went to South Africa with a team of 18 people from my church (President Avenue Community Church) and some interstate friends to volunteer with Hands at Work in Africa. While in Africa our main task was to kill the worms through the de- worming program. Amazingly worms can take up to 30% of children’s nutrition so you can understand the importance of this program. You know how Jesus fed the 5000 with bread and fish. Well we fed 500 orphans with peanut butter sandwiches, chips, really strong cordial and a de-worming tablet. We typical Aussies make a competition out of everything. So the ultimate peanut butter buttering race happened every night.
There are so many sad and inspiring stories I would love to share but, as this is an article and not a short novel, let me tell you about one 5-6 year old girl who particularly touched me. We were in the Joy community doing the de-worming program. On this
During 2009 between April and August, four teams from Zion Christian Centre, Halesowen and The Forge Church, Stowmarket visited some of the CBOs supported by Hands at Work in the Luanshya area of Zambia. Zion has been partnering with Hands and sending teams for the last 5 years and the partnership with The Forge has been running for the last two years, the latter taking more of a leadership role this year. The focus of the four teams was rural development, healthcare, a children’s camp and teaching teachers.
Rural Development
This team focused on rural development and building work. They ran a 2-day training session at Kachele Farm for 19 Zambians using the ‘Farming God’s Way’ programme. They were able to introduce more hens to the farm, a stock of food and provision for safe storage. They also built a compost bin and bought Moringa trees to be planted out later.
On the building side, the team carried out school roof surveys at Mwaiseni, Chibuli and Maria Chimona; built roofs at 2 of the schools and left trusses left. They discovered that the well at Chibuli was not working and were able to carry out a repair.
Hands Canada celebrated their first ever National Conference & Banquet in Calgary on November 21, 2009. From the humble beginnings of the five people that Lynn Chotowetz asked to help out a couple of years ago, we had over 120 people at our evening banquet. They came from Parksville, Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Major, Winnipeg, Toronto and Masoyi. Hands Africa's first ever international volunteer, Maggie from Toronto, was in attendance.
We have connected with several new churches and many new volunteers and donors and we had representation from Westside Kings, First Assembly, Lakeview and St. Martins churches to name a few. The conference itself was
Written by Sheila Mwanza, eighteen years old and a volunteer teacher in Mulenga community school near Kitwe, Zambia. As Sheila volunteers her time to teach primary school students who cannot afford to attend government schools, she finds herself learning and growing as well.
Moses is 6 years old and is in my class at our community school in Mulenga. Both of his parents are dead. He lives with his grandmother who does not work and is not able to take care of him. Moses’s parents both died of HIV/AIDS. They left three children, Moses and his two brothers. The other two brothers, one who is blind, live with their uncle. I’m afraid that Moses, the youngest in his family, is also infected with the same disease as his parents, and I would not be surprised if I was told that he has tested HIV+.
Can you imagine a 6 year old child having to start taking ARVs and then be on them for the rest of his life? Like all of us, this child could not decide for himself into which family he would be born. But God decides in which family we should be born, and does not make mistakes. He puts us into a family of his choice for a purpose.
George Snyman recently visited Minnesota to speak with area pastors and to meet with past (and hopefully future) Hands at Work volunteers. Here is an update of his time there from a few former Hands at Work volunteers: Dara Hillstrom and Kristy and Keith Kes (pictured below).
On an unusually warm day in November in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as we walked from the restaurant to the car, George said with a shiver, "Wow, the weather is really getting bad now!" I chuckled thinking of what the weather actually could be, and will be like in the coming months.
People drove for hours to hear George's message on his first trip to Minnesota. There was a morning meeting for Pastors and Church Leaders. This meeting surely had the Holy Spirit present! It was a small group of less than ten of us present, but as George said, "I have spoken to groups large and small, and all that matters is that God is moving in the hearts of those who are present." We could not agree more. Each person who was present had a heartfelt desire for the Lord and the lost and suffering.
The same could be said of the evening event. There were tears of compassion shed for our dear brothers and sisters in Africa, who are enduring suffering and hardships. All who were in attendance were touched and moved as George challenged us, as the the church in North America, to not accept the AIDS pandemic, but rather to decide that it's time we draw a line and say that, "This is enough, we're ready to fight against this greatest humanitarian crisis of all time."
George offered an open invitation for all to come and see the work of Hands at Work - to go and love and touch people, like Jesus did. The heart of Hands at Work is real and motivating as you listen to the stories and the passion spoken from George's heart.
I believe there were hearts that were touched in Minnesota that now will be praying for the widows and orphans of Africa and those faithfully serving with Hands at Work. May this be the start of more involvement from the people of Minnesota! We pray that Minnesota will be a state that is on fire for God and HIS people around the world!
Thank you George for sharing your time and heart with us. We pray that as you travel around, speaking out God's heart for the lost and suffering, that all will have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts that will break for God's people in Africa!
In Christ,
Dara Hillstrom and Kristy and Keith Kes
On an unusually warm day in November in Minneapolis , Minnesota , as we walked from the restaurant to the car, George said with a shiver, “Wow, the weather is really getting bad now!” I chuckled thinking of what the weather actually could be, and will be, like in the coming months.
People drove for hours to hear George’s message on this first trip to Minnesota . There was a morning meeting for the Pastors and Church Leadership. This meeting surely had the Holy Spirit present!! It was a small group of less than ten of us present, but as George said, "I have spoken to groups large and small, and all that matters is that God is moving in the hearts of those who are present". We could not agree more. Each person who was present had a heartfelt desire for the Lord, and the lost and suffering.
The same could be said of the evening event. There were tears of compassion shed for our dear brothers and sisters in Africa, who are enduring suffering and hardships. All who were in attendance were touched and moved as George challenged us, as the church in North America, to not accept the AIDS pandemic, but rather to decide that it’s time we draw a line and say that "This is enough, we’re ready to fight against this greatest humanitarian crisis of all time."
George offered an open invitation for all to come and see the work of Hands at Work- to go and love and touch people, like Jesus did. The heart of Hands at Work is real and motivating as you listen to the stories and the passion spoken from George’s heart.
I believe there were hearts that were touched in Minnesota that now will be praying for the widows and orphans of Africa and those faithfully serving with Hands at Work. May this be the start of more involvement of the people of Minnesota ! We pray that Minnesota will be a state that is on fire for God, and HIS people around the world!
Thank you George for spending your time and heart with us. We pray that as you travel around, speaking on God's heart for the lost and suffering, that all will have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts that will break for God's people in Africa!
George will also be attending various meetings during the week with Anchor Churches, Foundations and Friends. If you would like more information on a particular event or arrange to meet with George, please contact lisa@ca.handsatwork.org
Hands at Work in Africa CEO and founder George Snyman will travel to the US in November/December to challenge churches about their role in caring for the orphaned, widowed and the dying, to cast the Hands at Work vision, and to attend strategic meetings with the organisation’s country offices and partner churches.
Hands at Work in Africa CEO and founder George Snyman will travel to the US in November to challenge churches about their role in caring for the orphaned, widowed and the dying, to cast the Hands at Work vision, and to attend strategic meetings with the organisation’s country offices and partner churches.
Tuesday, 20 OctCommon Good Foundation Insights Evening, Common Ground Café To all interested in HIV and rural social development issues and to all seeking social justice. Arrive between 18h00 and 19h00 for fellowship, cappuccinos and finger food. Guest speaker, George Snyman will begin at 19h00 and we’ll open the floor for questions afterwards.
Thursday, 22 OctPreferred Future Connect at Life Church, Sea Point (10h00-13h00)
Katherine Callaghan is a nurse from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She volunteered in the DRC for one month in April 2009
Stepping onto African soil is something that I’ve always wanted to do at some point in my life. In April this dream was fulfilled, serving with Hands at Work in the dusty soil of Congo. My time there in Africa had been challenging and inspiring, a time of restoration and discovering beauty.
Hands at Work sent me and another volunteer, Dayla, out to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and we had the honor of seeing and sharing in the work that is being done day in and day out. One day during our time in the Congo exemplified this service, so let me share it with you. We were given the opportunity to go to a school run by volunteers of the community based organisation in the city of Likasi called Toyota School. It had been arranged that we would spend a morning with the children and volunteers, playing games and teaching Bible stories. The school teaches grades one, two, and three and has over two hundred children from the Toyota community, all of whom are orphans or children in a vulnerable situation. The school is run by volunteers from the community who invest in, build up, and serve these children simply because it is what the Bible says and it is what God has called them to do.
Hands at Work in Africa will be at Why Everything Must Change, Foundations for Social Justice Conference featuring The Shack author, Paul Young, October 23 – 24, 2009.
Last year October, Living Truth, based in Toronto Canada, aired two programs highlighting Hands at Work in Africa’s work in Mozambique and South Africa. The telethon raised sizeable funds to care for the vulnerable children of Africa by providing access to education, healthcare and food security through care centres.
Due to the success of the programs, Living Truth returned to Africa to film updates from the countries they originally covered, and also to highlight new areas in which Hands is working. The programs are about to air in Canada and parts of the States.
11 Oct 2009 Mozambique 18 Oct 2009 South Africa and Zimbabwe 25 Oct 2009 Malawi
“How many children do you have?” I asked him as we passed through the solid metal gate guarding the entrance to his “mansion.” I knew he called it that, always following the reference with a carefree laugh, to warn us of the simplicity of his lodgings.
yard and a large field to Mulenga. As he enthusiastically pointed out the house from which the twenty orphans are fed daily amongst the mass and spread of huts far in the distance, we pretended to know exactly which hut he was pointing to. It didn’t really matter; we knew the beautiful work he was doing there, we knew the beacon of light that house was in the sea of darkness surrounding it and in the lives of the children
