village of hope christmas newsletter

News from the Village - Christmas 2009.

Summer is coming, witchdoctors, and kids returning home.

Well we thought that October was a tough month but I think that November has topped it. That said we are still pushing forward and making a real difference in the lives of the children that live with us on the Village of Hope and those we seek to serve in our community. I can't say too much but please pray for us as we come up against local opposition, including witchdoctors, as we work in what is a very poor and needy area of the world.

As I sit writing this, World AIDS day is upon us (December 1st) and whilst we are working in a community where around 34% of our population is infected with HIV there are still many thousands of people who don't even know their status. It is our aim to encourage people to get tested because once their status has been confirmed we can work effectively on a programme which will stabilise their health and provide them with a hope for the future.

Unit News

This month we have some wonderful news to share, one of our little three year old boys has been placed back out with his family! Whilst saying goodbye is the hardest part of our job we are delighted that the Grandmother proved to us that she was a very capable carer and we trust God that she will continue to provide the boy with his ARV (anti-retro-viral) treatment. This will ensure that he remains healthy for the rest of his life....please pray for them as they return to their family home in the Eastern Cape.

Not all our children are so blessed though. The circumstances of some of our children cause us to think about the deeper things of life. Our newest child is less than two weeks old. He was born prematurely to a mother so sick with AIDS that she is blind. The hospital discharged the mother the day he was born to live in a tin shack with his family who thought that feeding the baby sugar water would help him! The difficulty is that there is little help for thousands of families in our town and this kind of story is all too familiar to us. We are now caring for this boy at the Village of Hope until he is stabilised and we will continue to work with his family as we seek to provide them with the skills required to care for such a needy child.

We might also have to take back the eight year old girl who had been placed home as her mother has already passed away and the remainder of the family are making this child’s life quite terrible. Please pray that we make the right decisions as we seek to work with this family.

Community News

During November the weather decided to brighten and it has been hot and sunny. Great weather helps as we run our sports outreach programme in the poorest areas of our town (although last monday was so hot that we had to cancel the clubs!). It is amazing to see the children develop week after week, whether in our soccer and netball outreach or at our bible clubs. The kids we serve are wonderful, so well behaved and eager for the attention we are able to give them as we seek to instill in them some basic life skills.

Arron and Sandra have been running the Wednesday afternoon Kidz Club in the 'Yellow Church' whilst Reagan has been 'having a break'. Daz, and Trondor, one of our long term volunteers, have set up a new soccer club in Waterworks squatter camp, which seems to be taking off very well despite the glass in the sand pitch!

On the last weekend of November we were able to assist with the planning and running of a Community Day. This was the idea of some of the Dutch students who are on a university placement in Grabouw. Many of them have been involved with the Village of Hope projects, either as Social Workers, Sports Outreach Workers or Physio Therapists. The day had three themes, Health, Culture and Sports, with the main aim being to get people tested for HIV. Unfortunately, this didn’t really happen because all the children who attended weren't accompanied by their parents. Aside from that, the day went really well and everyone seemed to have had a wonderful time.

Farm News.

During November we had a locally based German company come and install four solar panels on each of the buildings. These are linked in to our existing water heaters and because of the wonderful hot and sunny weather we have been having we are currently being supplied with 'free' hot water. The idea and donation for this came from a UK based Trust and we thank them for their support as we seek to reduce our costs here on the Village of Hope.

There is still no news on the irrigation system, which is key to us expanding the work that we do on the land. However we have placed a proposal for funding with a local agricultural college as we seek to work together in using the land to provide food for our children's unit as well as providing a place where students and local people can learn new farming skills.

Volunteers

Rob, Emily, Rosie and Isaac seem to be settling in well to the Village of Hope team. It has been useful for us to have Rob around as he is also a member of the ThembalitshaUK board and we have had some good meetings bouncing ideas around and overcoming some challenges we have experienced over the last month.

Jess and Fran make a great team and they were joined by Giles Joiner for a week. They have been working on an 11am-midday slot with the children each day which they and the children are really enjoying. Our volunteers are also key for our children's outreach and Fran has been helping Tim in Iraq setting up a new netball club and Jess, as well as having her hair coloured, has been helping Arron and Sandra with the Wednesday Kidz club!

IMPORTANT INFO

2010 is already full until end of July, we currently have only a couple of weeks in April that are not filled with volunteers, if you are planning a trip please contact us BEFORE making any final plans!