Jon Mycio, a student from London, Ontario, Canada is mobilising his friends to care for the poor in Africa. While Jon was serving with Hands at Work in 2011 he sowed in to communities in South Africa and Zambia and the experiences he had sowed something deep in him too.
Now his university Bible Study has committed to sacrificing student luxuries so that children in Malawi can have a better life.
Becky Green is Head of Missions at The Forge Community Church, Debenham, Suffolk, which has been partnering with Hands in Zambia for several years. Here, Becky writes about her experiences during her recent visit with a team from the church:
Christina and Douglas are brother and sister.
They live in the community of Maposa, Zambia and attend the school there. Christina is 7 years old at a guess, and her younger brother is just 12 months. They are inseparable.
We visited Maposa on a Thursday. Earlier in the week, as a team we were looking at what it means to be made in the image of God, and how this has to shape our response to the poor. On the Thursday I saw the image of God played out, right there in Christina and Douglas.
The school at Maposa is large, with about 350 children in total. The day was manic with us deworming the children, doing eye tests and playing games with them. All the children were so keen to join in and were running around in the persistent sun just excited to be with the Muzungu’s (white folk).
However Christina couldn’t play with us or the other children. She was busy. Every attempt she made to separate herself from Douglas was met with screams and tantrums. The poor lad just didn’t want to be apart from his loving and caring older sister. But she didn’t make a fuss. She dutifully hung on to him and comforted him.
It made me angry to start with that a 7 year old girl had this responsibility, literally strapped to her back. That she had to care for her brother and missed out on playing. I don’t know her family situation, I don’t know if she lives with parents, grandparents or others. But it was pretty clear that she does a lot of the caring for Douglas.
The remarkable thing is that no one taught her that. No one sat her down and said this is how you look after your brother. Remember she’s 7. There’s this inbuilt compassion and nurturing ability in her very being. Something that makes her love, care and look out for Douglas. There’s God inside her.
If I ever needed a picture of being made in the image of God, it was right there in Christina. With our heavenly father’s compassion and grace she was imaging God.
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 26th 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.
By Jungjoo Pak
“MOOOOOMMY~.” My days often start with my almost three-year-old son hollering for me to come and get him out of his crib. Who needs an alarm clock when you’ve got young kids eager to start the day? Most of my days are spent running after my two very energetic boys (Owen who’s almost three and Oliver who just turned one), cooking meals after meals and wiping the floor countless times. Faces and names of the precious children I met in Africa on my last trip in 2007 often seem so distant and irrelevant to my hectic day-to-day life. I know this about myself—my tendency to be so self absorbed and caught up in my own world. That’s why I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to volunteer with Hands U.S. office for the past several years. More than my small contribution to Hands, I really do receive so much more by staying connected through my involvement. Every story I read from the different communities adopted by Hands reminds me of the stark reality I saw, touched and felt back in 2007.
How can I ever forget a precious little girl named Thandazile who fell asleep to my “amazing grace” lullaby with tears rolling down her small cheeks as she drifted into sleep? She couldn’t have been more than two at the time. Yet when a bus came to pick her up from a Hands care center to take her back home at the end of the day, she just got in line and walked up to find herself a seat in the bus. Her independence at such a young age was a necessity for survival. The image of this little toddler walking up to that bus is still so vivid in my memory. Now with children of my own, these memories dig even deeper into my heart.
It does seem so overwhelming to think about all the orphaned children in Africa who are desperately in need, both physically and spiritually. But I am so encouraged by Hands’ focus on reaching one child at a time. One of the songs that spoke to me so deeply during my trip to Africa was a song called “He knows my name.” This song talks about how our heavenly father knows every child’s name. Though often lost in a seemingly insurmountable “number” of orphaned children in Africa, every child is known by God! This is the approach I’ve been trying to take—trying to be faithful with the opportunities God is giving us in reaching and supporting the most vulnerable children in Africa one child at a time.
When it came time to plan for my younger son’s first birthday, which tends to be a pretty big deal in my culture, I had a vague desire to somehow use the party to remember and support many precious little children in Africa as we celebrate my precious little son’s first year of life. At around the same time, I became aware of a small community in South Africa called Oshoek. This community had been in relationship with Hands for a few years and infrastructure has been put in place to bring in practical help (such as providing one nutritious meal a day for the most vulnerable orphans in the community). When I found out about Oshoek, I wanted to connect my son’s first birthday to the lives of children in Oshoek. We sent out invitations to our family, friends and co-workers along with a note that asked our guests to consider bringing a donation for Oshoek instead of a gift for Oliver.
The party was held at a local park on a beautiful Saturday morning with 80+ guests. Along with cupcakes and a popcorn bar, I put together and displayed a poster of Oshoek that included a brief community profile along with pictures of the community and its people. Through the party we were able to raise $855. I was overwhelmed by the generous response of our guests. I am reminded through this that there really is no village/people too remote or too small for God. I know that it is ultimately the Lord who caused us to come to know and remember Oshoek.
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.
Loveness walks to visit the patients and children whom she serves. Most of their homes are deep in the Zambian bush.
It is Tuesday. The sun is particularly hot and the sand below her feet is dry. Loveness is accompanying a care worker on one of her daily home visits. They arrive at a home nestled in the bush, where a grandmother sits on a grass mat, and leans against the wall of her home. She has been sitting on this mat from the time the sun rose, and will stay there until she is ready to go to bed. She is the guardian of Agnes*, her seven-year-old granddaughter. Agnes’ mother passed away due to HIV, leaving her behind with her memory, and her disease. Seven-year-old Agnes and her grandmother take care of each other, but there is no source of income, and their small home is not secure and is falling apart.
David Da Costa is a musician from Mozambique, living in Australia. Him and his wife, Carly, give time volunteering for Hands at Work in Australia. Inspired by stories of desperate African communities, they wrote this song and we are giving it to you now as a free download.
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Diamonds in the Dust from Hands at Work in Africa on Vimeo.
“Diamonds in the dust.” It’s a beautiful phrase that we have been using in Hands at Work right from the beginning of our history. -Hands at Work Founder, George Snyman
Buried in the backrooms of poor communities, these youth are truly our diamonds in the dust, and worth a lifetime of searching for and discovering them.
The community-based organisation “Shalom” operates in three communities near Kabwe, Zambia. These communities are components of both rural and urban Zambia, with much maize and bean farming. Most people who live in these communities are street vendors, peasant farmers or make their living wandering the streets asking for casual work. There is very little industry, and poverty is rampant. Water access is unreliable, and often dries up during the hot seasons in August through October.
Loveness Chitafu coordinates the Shalom Community-Based Organisation (CBO) in Kabwe, Zambia. This CBO is comprised of volunteer care workers who have given their lives to support the most vulnerable children in each community.
Like diamonds under pressure and heat transform from coal to shining crystals, some of today’s orphaned youth who have gone through great adversity and pain, are becoming sparkling gems on this earth.
Read this story of one such youth: Fortunate Maile, age 24.
Fortunate Maile is one of the 50 million orphaned youth in Sub-Saharan Africa.* She lost her father as a baby and was raised by a single mom until her mother also died when Fortunate was at the tender age of 15. Left alone with her two older brothers, her small family now lacked the most basic necessities of life; with no parents they had no guidance, discipline or oversight, no one to cook food for them, no one to help them through school.
Fortunate was left vulnerable and especially susceptible to any man coming along promising the things that teenage girls want – clothes, phones, food, love. Fortunate had a deep felt need.
She dreamed of having a big job that made lots of money so that she could take care of her needs but also help many others that faced the same dilemmas.
Eventually she was found by volunteer local care workers who were caring for children like herself. Through them and other youth leaders she also got involved in the work and learned her own God-given potential as a leader.
Fortunate Maile (second from left) with fellow youth leaders and school peers at Venda University, South Africa.When Fortunate finished school she was supported by Hands at Work and found bursaries that took her to university to become a social worker.
“Now that I have been supported to achieve university, I see the purpose of my life. My parents were taken from me so I would be completely exposed to the pain and problems in my community. I have lived those pains, and when I finish university, I will return and make a difference in my community,” she says.
The condition of her community becomes her main motivation to study hard at the university.
“I have left someone back home with no food, without blankets, without anything, and this person has been waiting for me to come back to help them to change their life.”
This past December, she continued to encourage and guide youth across many Hands at Work supported communities by leading youth camps.
Christa Roby, a massage therapist in British Columbia, Canada, volunteered with Hands at Work for six months in South Africa in 2010. Two years later, she feels an undeniable pull to return. Read her reflections as she prepares to pack up her life in Canada and follow her heart, and God’s calling, to Africa.
"For me, it's harder to be away from Africa than it is here... It’s where my heart is. After being there so much and having that time with the people there, and seeing someone who has so little, but gives so much, it just becomes something you want to be a part of, something you want to share in...It's raw, it's innocent, and it’s a deeper sense of fulfillment."
Read the rest Christa's reflections on coming back to Africa in the Chilliwack Progress.
"I soon realized that making the decision and actually doing the follow-through are two very distinct acts. But no matter how big the effort to follow-through would be, I knew in my heart I would walk it out."
To raise money for her trip, Christa hosted a charity gala in her hometown. Read about it on the Hands at Work Canada Page.
Florence and Paul Chong travelled with their three children from Toronto, Canada to South Africa in March 2012. For two weeks, they exposed themselves to life on the other side of the world. Here Florence Chong reflects on "the best experience they have ever had as a family and as individuals."
The Chong family's relationship with Hands at Work was sparked by the eldest of their children, 8-year-old Nathan Chong. Nathan decided that, in lieu of gifts for his birthday, he would raise support for orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa through Hands at Work. He raise $300 CAN for the organization, but not just that, he inspired his family to make the trip to South Africa to see the results of his efforts for themselves.
We had never thought about going to Africa, not even for a vacation. We had always financially supported missions in Africa, but we thought that going there was for the called passionate few.
Then God moved us by using our 8-year old son Nathan. It started with Nathan's 7th birthday party. Instead of receiving gifts, he raised a small amount of money for Hands at Work. From there, God led us into a friendship with Hands at Work. Eventually, God prompted us to take our three children, aged 3, 5, and 8, to visit the Hands at Work Hub in South Africa. Initially, we were hesitant, but God was increasingly clear about His intentions. We knew we’d better obey.
Sipho, 15, bakes in the sunlight as he lays sprawled on a trampoline after a busy weekend. He is participating in a camp for children of the community that are of his age – a treasured opportunity. His smile has not ceased since he joined with thirty other campers in a dancing and singing session, which ended moments ago. The sun warms his body, and the memories of the weekend warm his heart.
Kids’ camps were introduced in South Africa by Hands at Work in 2005. Children aged 10 -18 arrive by taxi during holidays to Sanderson Farm in Mpumalanga, where they are shown to a comforting room in which they will stay for three days. The days will include lessons centered on relevant life issues for these children, such as HIV/AIDS awareness, safety and precaution in their communities, relationships with God and each other, and what it means to be a leader. The children are invited to explore their communities and to consider the problems in which they can have an impact.
McKenna and Maleah (left) raised funds for Hands at Work through their love of basketball. They also joined the UK team on a trip to South Africa in February.A 10-member team from Locks Heath Free Church in the United Kingdom recently returned home after a two-week stay in our South Africa offices. The group represented their church, which has been supporting a community in Belfast, South Africa for four years. They visited the community to see first-hand who their support and prayers were affecting, to encourage the care workers who volunteer there, and to gain a new perspective from the other side of the world.
“During our time there we met the volunteer care workers from the local church and the orphaned children who will benefit from the funds raised here. We joined the care workers in their daily visits to the vulnerable people in the community and quickly grew to admire and respect their commitment.”
Prior to leaving the UK, the team organized a fundraiser to benefit Hands at Work. They staged a ‘free throw’ basketball contest with a goal of making 3000 baskets over the course of eight consecutive hours. The event was successful, as 3002 baskets were made, in addition to a total of £735 donated to support Hands at Work. Upon reflecting on their experience in South Africa, and visiting the community they were supporting, Sharon, a member of the team, felt that the things they had seen and felt in their hearts would leave a lasting impact on their lives.
“There is so much that I want to take back with me. We went out [to Belfast] on Monday, and we came across this little girl named California. This little girl was so precious, like a diamond. She really shouldn’t be alive and she sang to us. Her hurt and her pain was in her singing, but she was singing that she was only bearing the pain that God had carried and that He had gone to the cross so that she could be saved. She was such a thoughtful person to meet, and God has given her life. I will take that memory back among many other things.”
The group was inspired by what they saw, and concluded their stay with a promise to share the memories with their friends at home, and eventually a return visit.
“The scope of the problem is huge in Africa, but we’re grateful that our family and friends could make a difference by contributing financially and personally to encourage the care workers and orphaned children in Belfast.”
10-year-old Londi and his gogo live in a small, run-down mud hut in the rural village of Siphamandla in north-eastern South Africa. He is a friendly boy who says he loves his grandmother very much and hopes she will live a long life, especially because she has taken care of him since his mother died when he was very young. The grandmother cannot work, and the two survive on a meagre government child care grant.
Londi is in Grade 3 at Mpakeni Primary School, but because he has no one to help him with his homework, school is an uphill battle for him. Londi’s biggest concern, however, is the state of their home. The stick and mud shack is likely to fall apart when the heavy summer rains pound down on it.
Boys who attend free community school with Michael, run by volunteers in Ago Okota, Lagos Slum, Nigeria.
10-year-old Michael is a vulnerable child living in the Lagos slum of Ago Okota. In 2010 when his mother could no longer afford to feed and keep him, Michael was given away to another poor family. His job was to work for the family, walking the streets selling rice and beans and passing the income over to his new guardians. He dreamed about attending school, but wasn’t allowed. He had joined the tragic situation of thousands of children walking the streets of Lagos: modern-day slavery.
Lainess with the children she cares for - Thandi and her younger brother TamandaniOne of the children being impacted in Malawi is Thandi. She was 12-years old when her mother died and her father, as his culture customarily dictates for a male widow, abandoned the family. Thandi was left alone to care for her 18-month-old brother, Tamandani. Living in their rural Malawi village, Chinku, there were no social services or support to aid them.
The situation had seemed hopeless until a local woman named Lainess, whose church was mobilised by Royie and the Hands at Work team, came to their aid. Lainess had suffered the early death of her husband and had been struggling to make ends meet. But after hearing the stories of what was being done by the churches in nearby Mgwere, she felt compelled to participate in demonstrating the compassion of Christ and joined others in her community to become part of the Chinku volunteer care worker team. That’s when she decided to open up her home and take Thandi’s family under her care. Lainess does everything she can to fill the gap left by their parents; in order to secure milk to feed young Tamandani, Lainess regularly makes the day’s journey by foot to the city of Lilongwe where she is able to get milk from an organisation operating there.
Growing in understanding of the needs of vulnerable children in her community like Thandi & Tamandani, Lainess helped her church join with other churches in the area to launch a school and care centre. It’s a safe place for Thandi & Tamandani to come and just be like other children their age while Lainess is learning to be a mother for two more very grateful children.
Six-year-old Maywa Tanda lives in a community in northern Zambia. At the age of three, she lost her father to a vicious attack by men in her community who left him to die from his serious injuries. Traumatized by the incident, Maywa’s mother fled to Luanshya with her and her sister Belinda. The two little girls became orphans soon after when their mother became ill and passed away.
Esther is a careworker at Siphumulile Home Based Care in South Africa“I was spending my life sewing comforters for a living to support my 3 children with my husband. I have always had a place in my heart for the children, especially those living below their means. In my community, if a hungry child came to my house, I would always feed her. God had blessed me with food every night and I was happy to share what I had with any child in need. It hurts my heart when a child tells me he’s hungry, it makes me feel like I am hungry also. So when a local clinic member told me about the group of Christian volunteers going out to care for those in need, I left my sewing behind to join them in becoming a careworker. I worked with several other women who cared about children as much as I did to fundraise so that we could feed the children of our community who needed it the most. We pooled together what we had raised and bought potatoes and machines to make chips to sell, and used the money to buy food parcels and other necessities to give to the children.” –Esther, a careworker from Siphumulilie Community Based Organisation who recently was involved in the Careworker training, Walking with Wounded Children.
In the southern city of Likasi, Erick Rukang oversees Hands at Work’s local Service Centre operating in the DRC. His job, to form and facilitate care teams in the region’s most broken communities, demands a lot. It demands meeting with church leaders to help them discover their God-mandated responsibility to care for the orphaned and the vulnerable. It demands walking with care workers into the homes of abused and orphaned children to demonstrate building relationships that heal and transform.
The community of Toyota, 7km from the Service centre, is a place where such indispensable relationships are formed. Erick has helped mentor and train a team of local volunteer care workers who are touching and transforming lives in Toyota. The team operates a school and provides a hot, nutritious daily meal for the community’s most vulnerable children. They also visit each child in their homes.
One such child is 6-year-old Gracious who lives alone with his blind mother since his father passed away after suffering for a long time with tuberculosis, a disease closely related to HIV. Gracious’ widowed mother would have struggled to provide for even basic needs for a growing boy if not for Erick and the Toyota care worker team. But with their help, today he is a happy and healthy boy attending Grade 1 at the Toyota community school and receiving a nutritious meal 6 days per week.
