The Power of Community

Soupa! - Boys about to get soup from Shannon and Rob

It’s truly been the Cape of Storms the past few days. We’ve had buckets of rain here, so much so we have lots of unofficial ‘water features’ springing up around the Village of Hope and I keep thinking that some people would pay a lot of cash to have one of those in their garden!

In this awful weather it’s, once again, those with the least that suffer the most. Unfortunately we don’t have the materials or money to fix every leaky roof but we thought that we would ask the local farm stall to see whether they would be happy to supply some extra soup in this extreme weather. Peregrine and Orchard Farmstalls, the two cafes in our town, already supply us with soup every Friday and here they are happy to go further because we have established a good relationship with them and they have recognised that they are in a position to help. Thanks to them we could bless many, wet, cold and hungry people who at least, if nothing else, can have something wholesome in their stomach today.

As the years go by we have been worked hard to establish good relationships with many local businesses who now happily go out of their way to help us because they acknowledge that we are making some kind of difference.

This year, we are blessed with another fantastic opportunity from local wine estate, Paul Cluver. They have an amazing amphitheatre in the woods which they are rebranding and basically handing over to us. The potential of this venue – now called Hope@PaulCluver - is infinite and I will be working with them to maximise every bit of it – although we will be doing this slowly to make sure we do it well ;-) Last year it was Hope Festival, now it’s Hope Theatre! You can read more detail about how it works on our website here.

We are so thankful for all the people in Elgin and Grabouw who are helping us to serve this community by supporting us with their skill and resources. I could list lots of people on here but I am worried I might miss someone out and that would be bad!!

I am confident that by sharing our skills, time and resources, we can shape our community for the better making a more dramatic difference to the vulnerable and marginalised in our town. If we get it right we could be a blue print for other similar communities in South Africa!

 ...Perhaps this time next year, when the weather gets bad again, even if we can’t do it, there will be someone able and willing and on hand to fix those leaky shack roofs!

Emily

soup run hits the news, again.

page 4 of this weeks elgin grabouwer

last week i was able to take our local photo journalist, peit marais, on our weekly soup run. as reported in page four of the elgin grabouwer, see image, peit captured the fact that although this is a service provided by the village of hope it really is one mans way of connecting those who are able to help with those that are in the deepest of need.

the soup run was really birthed out of a conversation had over a beer with a local restaurant manager and has blossomed over the last few years, where each and every friday we now collect soup which has been lovingly made by two of our local farmstalls, who also provide us with bread and pies and distribute it to three creches in the rooidakke and iraq areas of our town.

it really is a simple way of serving but really does show the local community that there are people out there who care for them, supplying a valuable meal to those poorest of children or people who need to take specialized medication on a full stomach.

we know that time is an important thing and we are blessed to be able to serve people in this way but for those with little time but a big heart this is a way for them to really feel connected to those that we serve each and everyday via our thembacare and village of hope projects here in grabouw.

for more photos of 'the soup run' then please visit the elgin grabouwer facebook page by clicking here!

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.

winter arrives with avengence

family sit around fire and potjie

on tuesday afternoon we were basking in temperatures in the high 20's and could hardly imagine that within two days we would be sitting with frost on the ground and the need of a fire to keep warm. not only have the temperatures dropped but the amount of rain, falling as snow on the high mountain tops that surround the village of hope and the town of grabouw, has washed away the roads and caused some homes to become very unstable.

this community sits with a real conundrum, the winter weather which is much needed by the local farmers to send the apple trees and vines into hibernation comes at a price for those living in the townships and squatter camps, these people who live in little more than 'garden sheds' with no electricity or even basic sanitation have a tough time even in the summer months. it is hard to imagine how these people survive these harsh days.

there were many who left without soup today

we are able to do a little bit to help, every friday we collect soup from a local restaurant and next week we are going to be distributing some of the children's clothes that we have been sorting from the donations we receive. however today there were so many people, especially children that we had to turn away from the soup run, to see their eyes full of joy turn to sadness is so tough.

if you would like to help us make a real difference to those either affected or infected by HIV, AIDS and TB, as well as supporting the children in the poorest of the poor communities then please get in touch.

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.

i'm hungry but i can wait.....

on friday afternoons we pick up soup from a local pub/restaurant who make this up for to provide 'a meal' for a local feeding project. well this friday we were a little late in picking this up so i had the chance to take one of our local boys with me (they finish school at 2pm here)...during the conversation in the car he was telling me of his woes, this little lad is only 9 years old, no mum and father in prison (for a very long stretch), told me that he normally goes hungry on thursday and friday evenings as his uncle doesn't always collect his pay until the saturday morning...'but that's ok' he said 'i am hungry but i can wait till tomorrow'...

..my heart just broke, but not just with this little guys story but of the thousands of children who live not more that 500 yards from my home, where i can take cold beer out of the fridge or cook up a meal from the 'stuff' we have in the freezer, who have a similar story of hunger, poverty, disease and woe,.......thankfully i was able to provide him with a bowl of soup from the feeding kitchen, which fed his belly that friday evening, maybe next week he won't be so blessed.....