September News

This month is a cause for much celebration for us here at Village of Hope. Last week we received the news that our project is officially registered with the Department of Social Development. It has taken a very long time to establish with, which government department we should be registered to and what kind of facility we should be registered as. A process of over 4 years to be precise! Maz and her team have had lots of to-ing and fro-ing to do and red tape to wade though, but finally we have the piece of paper (laminated, scanned, copied and soon to be elegantly framed!) to prove that we are acknowledged by the government and officially allowed to be in operation as a 12-bed partial care facility.

What was ‘funny’ was that all the other social service organisations in town found out the result before we did. Apparently it had been confirmed a week previous to us knowing. Slightly back to front we think!

The only slightly element that took the shine of the news is that Tim and Maz weren’t here when we found out but we look forward to celebrating with them when they return from a break in the UK.

Children’s Unit
The unit has been nice and busy with lots of visits from some of the children’s parents. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, we’ve been able to send another little boy home to live with his mother (read the full story here) and another child’s mother, the girl who has difficulty walking, is being given her last chance by the social workers to prove that she wants her daughter back. She has to demonstrate this by coming to visit regularly and taking responsibility of caring for her daughter on those visits. We are hopeful that a reunification is possible for this little girl and her mother too but it has to be for the best intentions of the child.

Sports
This month has been rather frustrating for our sports team with so many afternoon clubs being postponed due to the intense storms we’ve been having. They are trying to make the best of the bad weather and using that time to sort out mountains of kit and prep for a sports Saturday they are planning in a few weeks. We are praying that the weather will be slightly more friendly by then as the children are really looking forward to a bit of healthy competition.

Other News:

Cycling:
On 13 September 12 cyclists in 2 different countries took on Thembalitsha’s cycle to the sea challenge. You can read more in ThembaCare Grabouw’s blog but we wanted to mention it because of the huge representation that came from our Village of Hope volunteers and friends. Shannon, Josh and Emma all completed the cycle here in South Africa covering 200km in three days (in awful weather sometimes) and our friends in the UK: Trefor. Dan and Cara Williams and Andy Gilbert completed the UK challenge which was to cycle to the sea, 100 miles in 1 day! Way to go guys!!!

Dancing:
Over the same weekend as the cycle, we were also given the opportunity to benefit from auction items sold at the annual Elgin Barn Dance fundraiser which is held here in Grabouw. Seeing as though most of the rest of the VoH team was off cycling, it was up to Emily to represent the project! Thankfully she didn’t have to dance too much and only had to speak on stage for a couple of minutes. Getting guests to bid on the items was a hard sell but the evening resulted in a haul of R5000 which is not to be sniffed at. Yee Hah!

Volunteers:
Our trusty past volunteer, Tyler Snelson, has popped back for a brief visit. Tyler is from Texas and has volunteered with us numerous times in the past. It’s always great to see people come back and reminds us of how big the Village of Hope family has become. We are sure he craftily planned is trip to coincide with National Braai Day (September 24)!!


How You Can Help
We are never short of ideas on how you can help us out!!!!
• Become a regular monthly giver - Regular givers are like gold dust to us!!!
• Fundraise – Commit to shave your head, host a quiz night, do a sporting event!!!!! – The possibilities are endless and can raise R10000s with enough enthusiasm!
• Pray – need we say more?!

For more information contact us fundraiser@thembalitsha.org.za


Volunteering
We rely heavily on committed volunteers to do the stuff here in South Africa. It can be a fantastic way to give (and receive!) However, we do have some criteria you have to meet in order to apply. For more information on volunteering for Thembalitsha please check out our website or email us at volunteer@thembalitsha.org.za.

Also, please do NOT book ANY flights before your application form has been accepted. Thank you!

Best. Result. Ever!

Our number one goal for every child who comes to us at Village of Hope is to see them reunified with their parents. Often, that result is not always possible. Often, the child ends up with a member of their extended family, an Aunt or a Granny and sometimes we have to feed them into the foster-care system. So, on the rare occasion when we are able to place a child back with their Father or Mother our hearts do a little leap of joy! It is the Best. Result. Ever!

This week we are going to be able to do just that with a little boy who has been in our care for the last 6 months. He was referred to us because his mother had been defaulting on his ARV meds (HIV medication) to the point where he had ended up very poorly and in hospital. He couldn’t even sit up because he was so weak. Now he is a walking, talking little tinker and always entertaining us! He is particularly fond of music and loves to play the guitar with Shannon.

This little boy’s mother is only just 19. She is HIV positive herself but had kept her positive status (and her son’s) a secret because of the fear of how people around her would react. She hadn’t even told her mother. What a huge burden to bear alone! She had a job and her son was cared for by neighbours whilst she was working. She had not realised the serious consequences of defaulting on her son’s medication and because her neighbours were not aware of his status they did not know he needed any medication at all.

Whilst her little boy has been in our care, she has been to regular counselling and even felt confident enough to share her status with her family. It is clear that she really REALLY loves her son and I would go so far to say that I don’t think she would have ever considered defaulting on the meds had she realised how severe the consequences were for her son.

Her family are extremely supportive and the local social worker, along with our wonderful social worker, Emma, have concluded that it is suitable and safe for her to resume full time care of her son. So, over the past few weeks she has been coming to Village of Hope every day to learn how to care for him and administer his medication. It has been so fantastic to see Mother and Son bonding and playing together. They really do love each other and his face lights up whenever he sees her. The House Moms have been observing her closely to make sure she is doing all things necessary to care for her child and he has even been on two visits home to try his new environment out.

On Friday we will be waving goodbye to him (although I am sure we will see his cheeky face out and about in the community), confident that we’ve done our level best for this little one and excited for what lies ahead for him and his mother.

Like I said: Best. Result. Ever!

By Emily

If You Want To Go Far, Go Together

Hi-5s and pats on the back to all of us because we’ve survived our first week without Tim and Maz and without any major hiccups. Always a relief! We have a month to go before they return from the UK and our aim until then is to keep the wheels of the project on and running smoothly until then!!

However, as we waved them off at the end of August I was struck that, for once, I didn’t have the usual feeling of fear or trepidation. There was no sinking feeling or thought of ‘oh, no, what’s going to happen now!’ and I actually was quite happy for them to go! This wasn’t, contrary to what Mr and Mrs Walker might be thinking right now, because I was sick of the sight of them and needed a break (!) it was because I realised that:

1. God’s got us covered
2. We’ve survived in the past – in spite of children suddenly falling sick and having to be rushed into hospital, employees quitting, sheds being blown down in storms and numerous other 'coincidental' happenings

And importantly

3. We have a wonderful support team of long term volunteers around us to share the burden of responsibility

I can’t be thankful enough for these volunteers, each of them giving of their time and skills so generously to assist us in our mission here at Village of Hope.

With them by our side we are more than equipped!

Melissa and Barbara are keeping the Children’s unit ticking over, Emma is soldiering on (at a scary pace!) through the social work cases, Shannon is running our Rainbow Smiles club for us and providing worship sessions for the team and Josh, Sebastian and Shana have the sports clubs nailed! What a team! And it is so obvious that God has assembled them here for such a time as this. There is no way could have afforded such skilled people working here if we had to pay for them and they are serving us so graciously.

Thank you:
Barbara Wood, Emma Podmore, Josh Houltram, Melissa Kidd, Sebastian Griffith-Head, Shana Cox and Shannon Jones!!

Where in the past it would just have been a few of us trying to keep the SS Village of Hope afloat, we now have wonderful people to share the burden. Of course, it still isn’t easy. Most of us live together, on site and we have the challenge of getting along together at home AND at work. BUT it’s a unique adventure at the same time.

Some of the team have personal blogs which I’d urge you to dip into. It really opens your eyes to the life of a volunteer here.

Shana: http://shanainsouthafrica.wordpress.com/
Shannon: http://eachstepbyfaith-shannonjones.blogspot.com/

GO TEAM!

-By Emily