GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES

Once every 2 months we take food up to Ndwedwe. A soup kitchen for orphans in the middle of nowhere run by Jabu and vincent, a couple we met through the bible education centre who are now our baptised brother and sister. We had taken food up in november, the next one was due january. Jabu had asked us to give the children there a christmas by giving each child a present. 3 weeks in advance this was no problem, we asked people in the meeting to donate old toys. Kim had kindlt wrapped all 50 toys up for us and we were ready to go. December 23rd, a day before we were due to go to Ndwedwe we got a phone call from Jabu requesting a whole lot of food that we must bring also. Each person in the meeting normally brings one food item and together they collect enough for us to take to ndwedwe. How were we going to collect this shopping list of food in 8 hours?

We stood outside the supermarket with a trolley and some leaflets and prayed. Each leaflet had one food item on and we handed them out to everybody that entered the supermarket. It was such a fantastic experience! most people that we handed out a leaflet out to bought what was on it! We filled 2 trolleys to the brim! There was way more in there than Jabu had asked for!

When your working for God its incredible to watch how he blesses your efforts!

and this is something that can be done back in england!

Taking matters into your own hands

Phil and i had parked on a backstreet road of Durban city centre, a last minute decision caused by the desire to buy a fresh fish from the fish market. We got out the car as it started to rain, the streets of Durban now looking wet, drab and dirty but still littered with people and street sellers selling everything from the chinese market to traditional medicines home made in used spirit bottles. All of a sudden in the next street down was shouting and arguing by a group of people, they were joined with everybody else who had heard the noise nearby and came running towards them to watch the action. This was also the same street the fish market was on so we too were crossing the road with the rest of the mob heading down to the action. 15 seconds later 2 men appeared walking towards us restraining a boy no older than 16, he was scruffy, dirty and had his trousers hanging half way down his bottom presumably from the struggle he had to just put up. They had a group of people following them saying "shaya, shaya", which from my zulu knowledge means "hit him, hit him". The boy had been stealing. Its the culture in zulu, if anyone is caught stealing the passers by around them with catch, hit and beat the person. This is a measure they take to ensure the person does not steal again, or anyone else for that matter. The police are not involved and are aware that this is the practise, but let's face it, what are the SA police going to do? The zulu way is much more effective.

It's the same in many of the townships, there is a lot of respect and strong bonds within the community. If a man is known to be guilty of rape, stealing, beating his wife etc he will be taken by the community to a public, busy area and beaten for what he has done. Its very much like going way back in time.

I requested to eddie that we go and visited Siyandas mum, she also happens to own the cutest looking house in the village. She had something cooking in a cauldren over a fire outside her round hut. We had just caught her about to embark on another chore. Probably one of the worst in my opinion but one i was quite excited about seeing being done as id heard about it on my last visit to candu and the concept of which has and will never leave my mind. It was time to apply another coat of cow poo to the floor. I could see she had already per-selected her cow dung, it was laying on the floor next to a bucket of water. She had prepared the room by moving the two beds into the centre of the round hut and prepared herself by taking off her skirt and leaving just her underskirt on. On the floor on all fours she broke off some of the co dung, poured water on it, began kneeding it and before you know it's liquid poo. It's smeared into the floor then scooped away with the side of her hand leaving a thin wet layer behind and in a lovely rainbow shaped pattern.

*The above is an extract from my book 'Egg boxes are for insulation', a photographic book giving insight into how our brother and sisters live in South Africa and will be available for sale summer 2011*

TODAY

i just love the zulu's.

Just look at them praise God!

part 2 of the Afrikhono course

First of all you need to read my blog further down about the Afrikhono course.

Now the students have completed the course they need to learn how to sell their products in order to create sustainable self employment. Tuesday i took them into town with their products to teach them how to sell a) to the public b) to retail

6 out of 9 turned up (one reason they don't have a job in the first place), a few of them have real potential, a couple on the other hand didn't understand basic principles of selling i.e. smiling and making conversation with the customer.

Selling in the office of the stationary shop. The office ladies loved the retail escape away from their desks

conclusion: get inside the offices to sell

Selling to the customers who cant walk away in the food court

The students with their items

Selling to the BAT centre the earrings and cards on consignment: SCORE!

Next week they will experience selling on a market stall!

Food parcels

A new feeding scheme has been started over here. Once a month 200 orphans that have been identified by the local hospital will receive a food parcel enough to feed them for a whole month. Most of these kids look after themselves and their younger siblings and live in a small tin shack. They live in a valley, it took them 45 minutes to walk up the valley to come and get their food parcel. They then had to walk back down carrying the food parcel that some of them could hardly lift. We were warned not to go down there.

There was a girl named wendy, dressed as a boy, we thought she was a boy until we found out her name. She dresses like that because she is on her own and if she looks like a boy there is less chance of anything happening to her. Then we discovered that her mother is in hospital and she cant attend school because there is no-one to pay for it or supply her with the uniform and book. It costs £10 for school for the year!!! One of the volunteers here is sorting out getting her into school, but how many others are there that don't attend school because they don't have £10?!

Indali Yengubo

Indali yengubo, zulu for jumble sale. Everyone needs to experience a jumble sale at Lamontville. We hold it at our good news centre, this was our 3rd and all three times they have had the same reaction. We didnt need to advertise this one. We told the 20 kids at cyc about it the night before and the word spread round the neighbourhood like wild fire that night. The lamontville ladies were waiting eagerly at the gate from 7:30am. By 8am they had let themselves in and had their faces pressed against the windows sussing out which table to go to first. Liberty was nominated to open the door for them - a dangerous job. Just watch her make a run for her life...

The ladies dying to be let in