soup and teddies

each and every friday we deliver soup into the community, we support two projects, a multi purpose centre in rooidakke and a small creche in the iraq informal settlement. last week we were not only able to provide the hot soup to these precious children, which is donated from the local rose and bull restaurant, but we also gave out some hand made teddies to the children which had been given to us by the local round table.

the teddies were made by the local 'teddy bear club' and we were able to get these to those children most in need, to see even grown boys of 11 and 12 years old receiving a teddy and hold it close to their hearts was a special experience, to think that these kids might not have ever had their own teddy before was somewhat humbling and we hope to be able to do this again some day.

crazy days.....but still loving it!

creche in iraq squatter camp with
the soup in the buckets in the foreground

today has felt like a week in one day....so many things have happend during my day, stresses, strains, highs and lows, but one thing that bought me back down to earth with a big bump was around lunchtime when i was able to 'do' the soup run.

the soup run is a 'service' that we have been providing for a couple of years now and is a partnership between us and the rose and bull restaurant here in grabouw, in fact all we do is transport the soup to those in real need of a balance meal and we have been totally blessed by doing this.

lines of adults and children at the
multipurpose centre, rooidakke

today i was running around like a headless chicken, meetings here, there and everywhere and was slightly late with the delivery, as i arrived at the multipurpose center in rooidakke i was greeted by lines of adults and children waiting for the arrival of the soup, perhaps the only meal that many of them will have today.

i hope the photos show the huge need that we have here in grabouw  and it is only our pleasure for the village of hope to provide this to our needy communities, non of this is for our own gain, we are just here to serve!

rose and bull doing souper work!

ok i am sorry about the play on words in the title of this post but it happens to be true!

this weeks grabouwer picks up on a wonderful story that we have been involved with for over a year now. every friday a local restaurant at the marsh rose mall, called 'the rose and bull' make up a wonderful pot of soup which we then deliver to one of the soup kitchens that we have relationship with in rooidakker informal settlement.

the work that this soup kitchen (and all the others around our town) does is amazing, not only do they provide a hot meal for literally hundreds of poor and needy people each day, but by providing that food they also enable the ARV (antiretroviral) and TB medication to do it's job properly as much of those meds can't be taken on an empty stomach....

the relationship with the restaurant came whilst we were in the bar watching some sport over a pint, and when asked about the work we were doing in the community it was easy to see how we could encourage them to get involved. the manager of the restaurant was happy to make the soup each friday but had no means or relationship in the community to ensure it got to the right people...the village of hope is just a conduit between the two parties but last week shane (the manager) came to visit the soup kitchen with us and was really touched to see that what he provides really can and does make a difference to hundreds of people.

that is our story, we might not be able to help everyone, and our main call is to help those infected by HIV and AIDS (especially children) but we can bring together those that have with those who have not and then let the relationship develop from there.

christmas in the squatter camps

i don't think anyone can really appreciate the poverty that surrounds our town until they have visited the poorest of the poor, not just on some township tour but walking, talking, sharing time and conversation in the very homes of the thousands of people who live in some of the worst conditions in the world. the contrast between the have and have nots is somewhat brain challenging but God has provided us with a platform to not only help but really engage with these people.

on fridays we are provided an amazing pot of soup from our local resturant (the rose and bull) which we normally share with a local soup kitchen that cares of the needs of a small number of people in the rooidakke informal settlement, however last friday (christmas eve) the centre was shut but we still had the soup to give out...therefore rob (house) called me to see who we could bless with it.

we made our way to the iraq squatter camp, which sits above rooidakke, in my bakkie and encouraged everyone to go and collect their pots where we then ladled out soup into litrelly hundreds of bowls...it was an amazing sight to behold as the rains fell on the tin shacks people were blessed with hot soup, full of meat for their christmas eve meal...

i thank God for the opportunities he places for us to be his hands and feet in some of the most shocking places of this amazing country of south africa.