more issues for shack families

south africa has it's share of good weather but sitting on top of the mountains grabouw also has it's share of rain and when it rains it really rains, unfortunately with the rain and change of season comes the wind...

...many of the people in grabouw don't have the secure brick built structures and tiled roofs, in fact thousands of people live in little more than small sheds made from broken pallets, tin sheets and old pieces of wood..

...on tuesday night the wind blew and blew and when i went to run the soccer outreach in iraq (a local squatter camp, where many of the seasonal apple pickers and their families live and not just for the picking season but that is where they have built their family homes!) three of the 'tin shacks' had had their roof's/tin sheets/plastic sheeting ripped off and the local church (also a tin/wooden structure) was providing a home to the women and children who were affected.

spare a thought for these families who have now got to rebuild not only their roof's but also their lives as many of their possessions were damaged by water, what with the heavy rains that also swept through the settlement.

photo shows three of the boys who attend my soccer outreach standing outside one of their homes which lost it's roof.

children reunited

today the village of hope has good reason to celebrate as by the end of the day we will have placed 4 of our longer term children who have been staying with us in the children's unit back with either their biological or new foster families.

robin (9) and his sister lenna (1) have been found a foster family in grabouw. they will still be in contact with their mother and father (who both live in the town) and we will work with the local social workers to ensure that this placement works well for all parties.

kirian (2) and robert (3) have been reunited with their families, both have very tough circumstances to go home to, being HIV positive and living in poor conditions it's been hard to bring the families up to speed with the responsibility they have to their children ensuring that their financial, spiritual and health care needs are maintained.

all four of the children have been with us at the village of hope for over 6 months and the boys (aged kirian and robert) have spent most of their lives either with us or at the thembacare unit in grabouw and for them to be placed back home is a real achievement.

(the names of the children have been changed to protect their status but the photos show maz and lisa making sure the families understand the commitment they are making and another with the mothers first cuddle at home for many years).

building home, investing in lives..

today we had the honour to provide a 'new' home for one of the thembacare grabouw careworkers, the team from england wanted to bless someone or invest in something whilst they were over, so i arrnaged for a 'shed' (for want of a better word and believe me in our western eyes that's all it was/is) to be made and delivered flatpack into the new squatter camp of xola, rooidakke. the team didn't do much putting together, that was carried out by the guys who made and delivered, however what the team did was invest time, love and money into providing this amazing lady with a safe, secure and water tight home for the winter and we hope many more to come.

well done guys and get those photos onto facebook or flickr soon and we will set up a link for the world to see what you have done.

if others would like to invest in our careworkers lives then please contact me via our thembalitshauk web site and we will make sure that your money is spent well in supporting these wonderful ladies and their wider families.