home for holidays

holiday time was always something that i looked forward to when i was at school, the thought of endless days of free time occupied my mind throughout the term and the last day was always something that i looked forward to. my mum worked in a school so she was always around to look after us and dad would take time off work to take us to interesting places or even to visit relatives who lived near the sea.

here in south africa things are different, most of the children that we work with love going to school, unless it's raining of course!, they see their education as a way out of the poverty and hardship that they live in day in day out. holiday's means time when they aren't gaining the knowledge that was denied many of their parents.

holiday's are not when most families make time to take a drive to the country or spend the day lazing by the beach, the children we work with live on the bread line, most parents are earning a few rand a day to pick apples or grapes which grow in abundance in our valley and therefore aren't around to entertain the children, times away from school can be lonely and fearful times.

however some children just love holidays, and one of the children is a girl who used to stay with us at the village of hope who has just arrived home for a long break from here special needs boarding school, which is situated about 2 hours from grabouw. it was a real pleasure to help her uncle, who was also a patient at thembacare in the past, make contact with the taxi firm who were struggling to find her house in the rooidakke township and deliver her home...the photo shows them in a warm embrace.

please pray for her time home, with a family that is currently struggling and for the thousands of children both in our town of grabouw and throughout south africa and the world for whom holiday times may not be the luxury that we used to long for when we were at school!