Reawakening in South Africa: Mafambisa Visit – July 2022

After a three-year gap due to the pandemic, our team from St Andrew’s, Biggleswade, was finally able to travel again to South Africa and visit our partner community of Mafambisa. I had supported from home my two eldest children and my wife, who were part of previous teams, and seen the effect it had in their lives. However, hearing stories and seeing the change in others didn’t quite prepare me for the impact of actually being there….

 The whole experience, from our initial arrival at the Hands at Work Village, where we were overwhelmed by the welcome from our hosts and a group resident for Foundation Training, to the Care Point and community visits, the times of prayer and worship, and the interaction with the children, gave our visit added impetus and purpose. 

 The obvious presence of God with us on the trip led me into a depth of relationship with Him that I hadn’t realised I had drifted from over the last couple of years. The thread running through our journey was God’s positive power underpinning our very human, and sometimes feeble, endeavours, to serve Him in the communities which we visited. This was seen most vividly in the words from Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength’, which consistently recurred in our prayer, thought and song. He did indeed give us the strength, gifts and encouragement to do His will in all aspects of our trip. 

 Each day at the Care Point, and each Holy Home Visit, was surrounded with God’s presence. The days were all so different – often with laughter, sometimes with tears, sometimes with hard graft and sometimes waiting and listening, but each full of God’s blessings.

 A new dynamic for our church was under-eighteens being part of the team this year. Ben, aged fifteen, and Jack, eleven, contributed greatly and played a big part in every facet of the team. Their mature approach to preparation and prayer, and their insight into the joy and needs of children, were inspirational and valuable lessons to us adults. As one of the local Pastors from White River said, “they are the church of today”.

 During our time in South Africa, Jack often led us in poetic prayer. Here is the prayer he composed at the end of our visit:

As we have been at the Care Point

We have played and sung

Which was really great fun

It has been wonderful to be here for two weeks

Some children have been a bit of a cheek

So all I want to say is

Thank you Lord for this amazing opportunity. 

God, before I came here I knew some about you

But as I have been here I now know what you always do

You have blessed us all

Who are big and small

 So here is a prayer for you to say

Thank you Lord for being here today

 Amen

International Office Gathering 2022

 In August there was the opportunity for representatives from the various Hands at Work International Offices to gather, hosted at the Hub in South Africa. These are important opportunities for the UK to meet with the US, Canada, Australia and Germany to build relationships, share experiences and learn from each other. They are also great reminders that we in the UK are part of a global community of people just like us, committed to supporting the unique model and work of Hands at Work in Africa.

 With everyone gathered in one location it was also a good opportunity for Africa to lay out the plans and priorities for the next few years and for the International Offices to discuss opportunities for the global Church to support those plans. You’ll definitely be hearing much more about these over the coming months, but we were excited to hear about:

0-5s provision – Expanding provision at Care Points explicitly supporting mothers and Caregivers to enable 0–5-year-olds to develop well and give them the greatest chance of success as they start their young lives. The programme of support includes important development issues such as sleep, play, eye contact and verbal interaction. 

Youth Development provision (initially for young men) – Children who approach the end of their schooling and start to lose regular contact with the Care Point face huge pressures and challenges. The Youth Discipleship Programme is designed to nurture and support these young adults in order that they can become men of integrity and maturity. It builds practical skills, attitudes and disciplines to encourage them to be a husband of one wife, to provide for their family, to contribute to their community and to follow Jesus. 

Community gardens – Care Points have often provided a good environment for communities to work together and nurture community gardens that can provide some additional food for the Care Point. With the volatility in food pricing and the likelihood of increased scarcity, the plan is to further encourage and incentivise this by paying for produce from community gardens at the same rates paid in the open food market. This obviously helps keep money within the community, but also encourages working together and the development and employment of practical skills to the benefit of the community.

 Investment incentives – Hands at Work is exploring ways to provide additional practical support to communities through the provision of incentives to Volunteers who serve the Community Based Organizations to support an investment initiative. These may take the form of money with which to buy seeds or livestock to generate a small sustainable income, enabling the Care Workers to support their families whilst remaining a Volunteer at the Care Point.

Although these are exciting developments, there was also no avoiding the inevitable discussions concerning the global economy and the pressures facing supporters of Hands at Work from across the world. We are really grateful for your committed support and realise that this generosity comes at a cost to you - thank you. We strongly believe that God is in this work and in these plans, however, and so we are committed to supporting them, including raising additional funds where we can. We’ll keep on asking and trust that God will provide! 

Dreams and Visions for Under-Fives

Those of you who have visited some of our partner communities in Africa will be very familiar with the sight of babies and toddlers tied to their granny’s or older siblings’ backs.  I guess that, like me, you will have marvelled at the skill with which they are attached so securely. But perhaps we haven’t thought about what long hours of being carried in this way does both to the child and to the granny or older child.

During their recent visit to the UK, Carolyn and George Snyman, the Co-founders of Hands at Work in Africa, shared with us some of Hands at Work’s dreams and priorities for 2022, one of which is for work with under-fives.  Carolyn asked us to think about what it is that the child sees when s/he is attached to her Gogo’s (grandmother’s) back, and of course the answer is “just her Gogo’s back”! Carolyn reminded us that a child’s early years are vital to their physical and emotional development, which is why Hands at Work is creating a programme for under-fives in the Care Points across all of the eight countries where we serve. The idea is to make the Care Points safe, nurturing places where toddlers are fed, able to play, learn and grow, and have space to sleep, which in turn gives their grannies a few hours of freedom to tend their crops or fetch water, and their siblings the freedom to attend school, or just to play and be children.

Alicia Ralph, one of the Canadian long-term Volunteers based at the Hub in South Africa, was given the task of making this dream a reality across Africa.  She began by appointing Under-Fives Champions in all of the Service Centres across Africa, and communicating to them the five principles underpinning the work with under-fives, which are: security, food, love, sleep and play.

These Champions have the task of appointing a Care Worker for the under-fives in each of the Care Points, and of teaching, supporting and encouraging them in their work.

During our visit to Hands at Work Care Points in Zimbabwe in July, David and I had the privilege of seeing what the under-fives programme looks like in practice. We saw Care Workers who had really caught the vision of nurturing the little children at their Care Points. One of these is Florence at the Chinyausunsi Care Point, one of the communities supported by Hands at Work UK which does not yet have a partner.

Florence had created a kind, safe and caring atmosphere for the children and was teaching them through play and song. They even had a special song which they all sang as they trooped off to the lavatories together! There was a designated space for under-fives work which the Care Workers had created by sectioning off part of the children’s shelter, with blinds made from mats, rush mats for them to sit on, and mattresses for their afternoon nap.

The work that we witnessed at Chinyausunzi and some of the other Care Points we visited in Zimbabwe is being replicated throughout all of Hands at Work Care Points in Africa. The under-fives programme is just one of the 2022 Hands at Work ‘Dreams and Priorities’, which are making a real difference in the lives and future prospects of some of the most vulnerable children in Africa.

Jane Newsome

October 2022

Mafambisa Fortnight

Action during the Pandemic

During July 2021, when a team from St Andrew’s, Biggleswade, should have been visiting Mafambisa and other communities in South Africa, the church put together a Mafambisa Focus Fortnight to raise awareness of their partner community, to pray for the children, the Care Workers, the Caregivers and the Service Centre team.

The Fortnight included posts on social media and the setting up of a Just Giving site to raise funds for one of the capital projects that had been highlighted in Mafambisa Community, our partner community which is a rural village in the east of South Africa. This project was to raise sufficient funds to build a house for one of the Care Workers.

The Care Point has 100 children on its books – the most vulnerable children within Mafambisa. Since 2015, St. Andrew’s has supported around half of the children at Mafambisa Care Point alongside a few other churches.

Let's Raise the Roof

Moray Coast Trail 18th-21st October 2021

The sight of the Maposa Care Point without a roof and with the walls broken down that Jane and I witnessed in 2019 has been a symbol of vulnerability and need that has stayed with me as I walked the coastal trail. It rained for the greater part of each day of the walk, and so I was really thankful for Gore-Tex and good equipment! Proper shelter is a basic human need and even more so as the poorest communities feel the full vagaries of weather patterns affected by climate change. The children of our communities need protection from the extremes of heat and drought, through to the impact of heavy rain or cyclones.

Maposa is just one community with this basic kind of need and so the money raised from this walk will go towards funding a variety of projects in the coming year within the different countries we work in.  These will include not only such things as a new Care Point, but also children’s shelters, kitchens, play structures, etc… 

It was great to be able to visit our newest Hands at Work Partners, Turning Point Church in Forres, not far from Inverness. This year they started to partner with Matsinho B in Mozambique and we were able to forge new relationships with them as well as friends in Filling Station Scotland. Visiting the area also gave the opportunity to walk the Moray Coastal Trail. The route runs 71 km from Forres to Cullen beside the Moray Firth, combining beach walking, coastal paths, quiet roads and old railways. It is a beautiful part of the world and in the course of the walk I saw dolphins cavorting in the sea (apparently the furthest North they venture), seals and a variety of birdlife. The wind picked up on the final day and there were some spectacular seas.

Thank you again for your interest. We are delighted to announce that David raised the total sum of £3,400! If you would still like to support this appeal, it’s not too late to do so on:

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/David-Newsome5

Diversity Day at Wolgarston

Diversity Day at Wolgarston High School is organised to take place in the summer term each year and its aim is to bring the students into contact with a wide range of activities and talks from a variety of cultures.

As we have a link with the community of Mafambisa in South Africa, we thought it would be helpful to ask Hands at Work to come in and talk about the lives of the children and their families in communities like Mafambisa to help our students understand their situation better. Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to have Jane and David Newsome lead these sessions and be willing to answer questions from the students.

Hundreds of students have developed a better understanding as a result and this has gone on to help us with our fundraising, because the students know where their money is going and how it will be used to improve the lives of the children in Mafambisa. For the last few years we have also been lucky enough to arrange Zoom calls with the Hub in South Africa, which has brought a whole new dimension to things and provided an even better feeling of connection between those at Wolgarston who took part, and Hands at Work.

Borehole for Miswa

Chrystalla Spire shares with us how the St Albans team organised an event to raise money for a borehole in the rural community of Miswa in Zambia.

“We found out about the Hands at Work Community Investment Projects during a (virtual) Hands’ Team Gathering in May this year. David Newsome from Hands at Work UK explained that teams were being asked to consider raising funds for one of the many community projects being undertaken by Hands at Work during 2021.

As a team we had remained informed of, and continued to pray for, the very many challenges being faced by Hands at Work and the communities during the pandemic. Fundraising for one of the projects seemed like a good opportunity for the St Albans team (made up of people from The Abbey and St Luke’s Church) to regroup, demonstrate our ongoing support, and raise awareness for Hands at Work.

A happy evening was spent selecting the project for which we would raise funds and coming up with an appropriate fundraising idea. Given we had chosen the Miswa borehole project, we felt a water-themed family afternoon in the summer (by which time we hoped the pandemic restrictions would be lifted) would be a good idea.

St Albans Cathedral very kindly gave permission for us to hold the event in the Deanery Garden on Saturday 24th July, so we were all set.

Plans got underway. We had Zoom meetings to discuss the format of the event and the games and activities we would have. In the build up to the event, we received a very generous donation of £200 from the St Albans Lions Club – a great start!

Following a week of cloudless skies and balmy temperatures, we awoke on the morning of 24th July to a sky full of rain-filled clouds. Luckily, we had set up gazebos the previous day (we had seen the weather forecast!), but we knew people wouldn’t turn up if it rained.

As we arrived at 10am to finish setting up it was raining, but as the morning drifted into the early afternoon the clouds disappeared. All that remained of the rain was droplets on the gazebos, as if to echo our water theme for the afternoon.

At 2pm people started to arrive. Adults and children participated in the games and activities, including stocks (with Cathedral clergy volunteering to be the ‘victims’), hook the duck, pin the borehole and more. We drank tea and ate cake, candy floss and popcorn. There was a lovely, happy atmosphere of a summer fete, almost forgotten from a pre-pandemic time! 

Linda's Story

Hi, my name is Linda Weller and I have had the privilege of being introduced to Hands at Work through the enthusiasm of Nick and Heather Lawrence when they shared their passion for the organisation and their heart for Africa at our church, through sermons, meetings, and times of prayer. As my daughter had spent half of her gap year in Mozambique many years ago and some of my family had also been to different African countries, I was keen to know more.

When an opportunity came to accompany them both on a two-week whistle-stop tour of some of the communities supported by Hands at Work in Zambia, in July 2017, it was too good an opportunity to miss!

.

Staying at Kachele Farm, Luanshya, and then visiting centres near Kitwe and Kabwe and Malakota community (having some sponsorship from our church), I was introduced to the vision of Hands at Work and their excellent structured system of support for each community. Humility and servanthood in action impacted me wherever I went, from the Caregivers, Care Workers, staff in the service centres and those in leadership. The commitment of those who face the daily grind of long walks to cook and serve meals for the children and then visit families to give support was both beautiful and humbling! The children too, who had so little, but were so special and so responsive in singing and games – it was an incredibly moving experience! So much so that, when a second opportunity came to visit again in 2019, returning was a priority. I wanted to see the Caregivers again; would the same ones still be there? Would I recognise any of the children? What changes would have taken place?

It was during this second visit and the changeover of flights at Johannesburg airport that I spotted the most stunning wall hanging/banner in one of the shops, that had panels representing so many different aspects of African life. It was so colourful and striking that I was determined to find it again on our return visit to the airport to take a photo of it. The more I looked at it, ideas for creating something similar to represent Zambia, and the community of Malakota in particular, started to form in my mind. To be able to capture some of the scenes commonly seen, the people visited, and the flavour of everyday life there would be a useful reminder to pray for them.

Having collected some photos from our trip and selected a few significant ones, I contacted a few friends who are experts at banner making, who have stayed or lived in South Africa and who are very artistic. With their inspiration and help in photocopying the prints onto fabric, suggestions in use of lettering, and gifts of more African-print fabrics (plus a suitable animal print duvet from a charity shop), a small team of us set to work to create the panels. Then Lockdown came! Initially that delayed everything as other sewing needs demanded our attention, but latterly it helped as there were fewer distractions to our time. Advice from a quilting friend of highlighting panels by mounting them on black fabric was the final touch I needed to bring it to life before assembling it all.

Looking at the photos reminds me of the Holy Home Visits and the prayer requests made. Seeing the team of Care Workers, I remember some of the needs they shared, and their responsibilities. Images of their homes and the shelters for serving food remind me of their poverty. The minibus reminds me of the incredibly bumpy tracks and long journeys made for the daily visits. I wish I could also capture the birdsong but the poinsettia had to be enough to represent the beautiful and stunning flowers often seen along walls and in trees. And the monkeys… well, they are just so cute and mischievous!

The banner now hangs to one side at eye level at the front of our church. As services have now resumed, it gives people the opportunity to ask about Malakota and will, I hope, remind others to pray too. My final task is to give names to the photos and then to pin prayer requests to it to keep it up to date and remind us of the prayer needs of the community.

The banner has been both a challenge and a labour of love and I hope it will encourage others to have a go. It isn’t perfect and is deliberately child-like, as was the one that motivated me, but it has blessed me to produce it and will hopefully bless others too.

Hampers for Chilabula

Greenfinch Church in Zambia

When we discovered that our Greenfinch team could not travel to Zambia in 2020, we were keen to bless the Care Workers in our partner community of Chilabula in lieu of a visit. So we arranged, with the support of Hands at Work, for the purchase and delivery of ‘hampers’ containing items ranging from toiletries to fertiliser, as well as a bible in the local dialect of Bemba.

Hands at Work was able to send a video back from the Care Workers singing with joy about their hampers and bibles, which really engaged everyone at Greenfinch.

We have a whole bunch of people in our wider church family who knit blankets for distribution from Kachele. They all knitted for England (or should I say Zambia!) over Lockdown – so much so that the church was overrun by blankets. So our knitters have turned to hats as a new project, keeping an engagement with our African outreach.

We have also previously published a Facebook page for the times we run a trip to Zambia so that our church family and other supporters can follow our teams. However, we have now started posting general updates such as news about the COVID pandemic from Zambia, just to keep people focused on our partnership even if we cannot visit.  

We are also asking those who have been out on teams to make short video messages which we have sent to Chilabula as an encouragement via WhatsApp.

As, sadly, we will not be able to send a Greenfinch team in 2021, we have been able to fund works in Chilabula to improve facilities for the children – water-filtering equipment and repair of the Life Centre windows and doors.

We have shared this with the church through regular communications, and Chilabula features on our weekly prayer request email to the whole church.

Out of sight but never out of mind! 

Rachel & Garry Summers on behalf of Greenfinch Church

Curry on Fundraising!

The restrictions of the last year or so have meant that fundraising has been more complicated to organise than in previous years. But Hannah, a Hands at Work advocate from St Luke’s Church in St Albans, came up with a plan to raise money for Hands at Work by selling tickets to a virtual cooking masterclass where professional chef, Doug Crampton, led people through how to cook a delicious 3-dish Thai meal one Saturday night.

Impacted by her experiences on previous team visits to South Africa and Eswatini, Hannah shares: “Hands at Work is a charity so close to my heart. The amazing Care Workers in Africa faithfully cook every day for children who wouldn't eat otherwise, often when they themselves have little to eat. But they also sit to eat with them, and offer them a safe place to play, be known, and be loved”.

This online event was a great opportunity to share about Hands at Work, advocating and raising money for some of the most vulnerable children and families across eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Classed as an essential service, Care Points, where children come for food every day, have been able to remain open throughout the pandemic, providing children with much-needed nutrition and love from the Care Workers. 

With messy kitchens, new cooking skills and tasty food to eat at the end of the event, it was a great evening, made even more fun by getting to see how everyone else was doing on Zoom and the accompanying WhatsApp group. 

The total amount raised for Hands at Work came to a fantastic £1,400! 

If you would like any support with fundraising for Hands at Work, or you have a fundraiser that you would like to tell us about, please email becci.leung@uk.handsatwork.org.

Yasmine’s Story

Here at Hands at Work we love to hear people’s stories and today we have a great, inspiring story from the UK to share with you. So grab yourself a cuppa and get comfy as we chat with Yasmine Morson-Mills who, at 19 years old, has set up a business during lock down with her mum, Esther.

Hi Yasmine! Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Yasmine Morson-Mills, I’m 19 years old and I live in Stafford. I finished my A-levels in Summer 2020 and I am currently setting up my own business whilst continuing studies online.

And what’s your connection to Hands at Work?

I first heard about Hands at Work in a school assembly at Wolgarston High School in Penkridge, which is part of the Link for Life Partnership. I desperately wanted to go on the first visit with the school but there was a lot of interest. Three of my friends were picked to go, which was hugely exciting, so I helped them to fundraise and listened to all their experiences, until I was able to go myself in August 2019.

What did you do on your visit in 2019?

We visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, which was an incredible experience, and then we headed to the Hands at Work Hub in White River. After settling in, we visited Care Points from Monday to Friday. We visited the communities of Mafambisa, Share and Zwelisha, as well as attending the morning meetings at the Hub, including ladies’ prayer. On the last weekend we visited Kruger National Park and Kaapsehoop.

How did this trip to South Africa impact you?

The trip I took to South Africa massively impacted me and my whole future. The drastic differences between our ways of life changed the way I look and feel about a lot of things. For example, I think about a little girl at Mafambisa who watched me write with a pen and she commented, saying how beautiful my pen was. It drastically impacted the way I thought. Such a simple object in my life was a treasure to her, which was extremely difficult to accept.

Is there a particular family or child who you met on your visit who has stayed with you?

A particular story of a child who impacted me was of a little girl named Thobile* from Mafambisa. Towards the end of the day on our second visit to Mafambisa, a little girl came up to us and started playing. Although she was very shy at first, she ended up playing with our hair and sitting with us, and it really stood out to me. On our last visit to Mafambisa (the next day) we were making Holy Home Visits and Trudie, a member of my team, and I went with Prudence and Melody, two Hands at Work volunteers, on a long walk – and it was to Thobile’s house! I couldn’t believe that we were going to the home of the little girl who had made such an impact on me the day before. Her house was right on the edge of the community, a good half an hour’s walk from the Care Point, which this little girl walked alone. Thobile lives with her aunt and other family members and they all share a hut made out of corrugated metal sheets leaning up against one another, one of the worst buildings I saw on my home visits. We spent a long time chatting to Thobile’s aunt about their situation, and learnt that they were refugees from Mozambique. We walked back with Thobile to the Care Point where she would receive a hot meal, and spent the rest of the day with her.

What are you doing now?

As well as continuing to advocate for Hands at Work at events and churches, during lockdown my mum and I set up a business selling ethically sourced tea and coffee called The Tea Bees. We have included Hands at Work in the business in many ways, such as through social media, blogs on our website, and fundraisers. We also have a unique code for anyone involved with Link for Life and Hands at Work to use at the checkout that gives 10% of that purchase back to Hands at Work. I wanted to include Hands at Work in the business because I really want to continue my support towards them as well as advocate to our customers by sharing my support and stories.

I am also a part of the Link for Life group, which holds meetings to organise fundraising, events, and to share updates from Africa. We support one another to advocate for the children and families cared for by Hands at Work.

This sounds great. Where can we find out a bit more about The Tea Bees?

We have an Instagram page called @Theteabeesuk and our website is www.theteabees.com

What’s next for you?

When it’s possible, I hope to return to South Africa for an extended time. I will continue advocating for Hands at Work through my business as well as in my everyday life.

Thank you for chatting to us, Yasmine, and for all that you do for Hands at Work. Wishing you all the best with The Tea Bees!

*child’s name changed

Hands at Work UK is supporting a new community!

Waiting in line at Chinyausunzi Community, Zimbabwe

Chinyausunzi can be found within the greater community of Sakubva, in the town of Mutare in the east of Zimbabwe, close to the Mozambique border. The many one-roomed homes in this community were originally built for migrant industrial workers but now house multiple generations of families, leading to massive overcrowding and very poor sanitation. Extremely high levels of unemployment and high rates of HIV/AIDS, TB and infection within Chinyausunzi have a devastating impact on the thousands of families who can barely afford food for a single day, let alone clinic fees.

The Chinyausunzi CBO was started in 2016, after Care Workers from the nearby, existing Sakubva CBO realised that some of the children were walking long distances to get to the Care Point. Chinyausunzi was established on the other side of the community and now cares for 150 of the most vulnerable children, led by Care Worker Florence.

Although Hands at Work in Africa has been in Zimbabwe for many years, this is a new country for Hands at Work UK to be partnering with and we are looking forward to bringing you more news and updates from Chinyausunzi in the new year.

Hands at Work UK Young Adult Weekend Away 2019

At the end of November, we spent a very cold and foggy weekend at a retreat in the West Midlands with 13 young people from across the UK who had previously been out to Africa on teams with Hands at Work.

Team members are often really impacted by what they’ve seen and experienced in Africa and return home and are not sure what to do next. The culture in the UK can offer many challenges to these young people. How do they live out how they’ve been impacted by Africa in their own culture and contexts? We discussed, explored and reflected on this topic with voices from our international Hands family encouraging us throughout the weekend.

The young adults dug deep and showed a deep understanding of Hands and the nine commitments – in particular ‘denying our culture’. The final activity on the weekend was to write one personal goal and one goal for the group to make sure we put actions to the things we had discussed.

It was a great weekend and the beginning of an emerging community of young people who are passionate about serving the most vulnerable in Africa, and in the UK too. We hope to run another weekend in 2020 so watch this space.