how to make someone's day.....provide them with candles and matches!

barbara and our good friend
outside his small home

you may remember the story about a young 16 year old boy that has become a great friend to me, read the short blog post from december 2010 by clicking here, well yesterday, via some funds that were donated from a generous guy in england we were able to bless this local teenage boy with some basic supplies.

the photos show barbara wood, from aylesbury, southcourt baptist church, with this young guy both inside and outside of his small wooden shack in the zwelitsha (iraq squatter camp) here in grabouw. this guy is such a blessing to me, as he helps me to translate to the younger xhosa speaking kids at our sports outreach each tuesday afternoon.

you couldn't imagine the delight in
receiving a couple of candles and a few matches!

he was so happy with his parcel, which included some tinned and dried food, as well as deodorant and much to his delight some matches and candles. we (thembalitsha/thembacare/village of hope) don't normally hand out support in this direct way, as it can create a culture of reliance upon us to provide, which is obviously unsustainable and doesn't empower people to help themselves, however there are some exceptions to every rule and it was such a humbling experience to know that these few supplies will help this young guy not only to have a fuller stomach and less body odour but also light for him to do his homework in these dark winter evenings!