ouseholds
live near to their extended families and may receive limited amounts of material
support. This leaves the children to survive on their own with very little adult
support. South Africa Trip - May 2006 (Links for Pictures at the bottom of this narrative)
In early May of 2006, Sandy and I
were asked to join a team of Adventist educators and administrators to view
a Hope for Humanity (the old Ingathering) project in South Africa. Our task
was not to build a building, or evangalize a group of people. Our task was to
try to understand and empathize with another culture, a culture in crisis. We
visited a Hope for Humanity project called Nhlenelo, near Dwarsloop, Mppumalanga.
Nhlengelo is a special place for children living in child-headed housholds,
households in which both parents have died, most likely from HIV-AIDS. At Nhlengelo
these children receive hot meals, guidance from adults, help with their home
work and daily lives, and much much more. The program began with Paul (Papa)
Mawela, a retired pastor in the region, who felt that he was conducting too
many funerals for young adults. "Almost every weekend we were burying a
young person, who was leaving children behind," said Mawela. "One
of my own church members approached me and told me, 'Pastor, I am HIV positive.
Am I still welcome to be a member in this church?' That gave me a challenge.
And I discovered she was not the only one who thinks that to be HIV positive
is to be like a leper, you must be thrown out. There are many in these communities
[who feel that way]."
Mawela and pastors of other Christian churches in the region have formed a community-based
organization to help take care of those suffering from the disease. "The
project is called Nhlengelo, a Tsonga name for standing together against an
enemy," explained Mawela. So we said, "Well, let us stand together
against the enemy HIV-AIDS and other illnesses found in the community."
The goal of the program is to encourage other pastors and conference officials
to come and see the community- and home-based projects, and then begin similar
programs in their own communities.
Caregivers from Nhlengelo go out into the community to bring hope and help to individuals living with HIV-AIDS. Though their work they provide a practical example of the love of Jesus. Nhlengelo also serves as a training center for those who want to help people living with HIV-AIDS in the communities throughout South Africa.
Projections indicate that the number
of HIV-AIDS orphans in South Africa reached 800,000 by the end of 2005. The
African family care system that once would have absorbed children without parents
into a communial life can no longer be relied upon to fulfill that function,
although many child-headed households
live near to their extended families and may receive limited amounts of material
support. This leaves the children to survive on their own with very little adult
support.
Children who lose their parents are left alone to deal with their grief, are plunged deeper into economic crisis, and become responsible to care for siblings with little or no support from impoverished communities. Children as young as 10 years old are forced into the role of "head of household". They are too young to assume these responsibilities, yet they have no choice.
Throught he Nhlengelo project, Hope for Hunmanity is seeking to help these children. Their dedicated team of caregivers visit the children in their homes, and welcome them to the care center every day. They are also providing after school meals and family support at the schools in the area. Their support includes a daily hot meal program, as well as provision of staple food items like corn meal, beans, vegetables and cooking oil. When possible they also provide charcoal and soap, clothing and blankets.
Trip Overview
We flew from Baltimore to London, then from London to Johannesburg. We stayed one night in Jo'burg and had a short tour of the city. We left the next morning for the six hour drive to the project. As there are no housing facilities inthe Dwarsloop area, we stayed 1.5 hours away in the Kruger National Park at a game park called Skukuza. As this was inside the Kruger National Park about 12 Km, we were able to see many wild African animals as we went back and forth to the project each day. We visited the project all day Thursday, Friday and Sabbbath, and were able to have the Sabbath School and Church Service for them on Sabbath. Sandy had the mission story, wow what a challenge to bring to this area a story about hardships in other areas of the world, but 'Mama Sandra" as she was called, did a great job. "Papa Larry" had the lesson study. While at the project we were able to join a group of caregivers as they made their ronds inthe community, actually going into the homes for the infirmed. It was a wonderful and yet humbling experience. We dedicated the new Lapa and bore hole (well) which were provided through Hope for Humanity funds, as well as visiting with the children both at the center and at their schools.
We then were able to do some video interviews for a Hope for Hunanity DVD on Sunday. Monday we toured the park (wildlife drive) and headed back to Jo'burg - a total of 18 hours on the bus that day....
The next day we toured Soweto, Nelson Mandela's childhood home and had dinner in a Soweto home. That evening we flew to Cape town. We spent the next two days touring Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years, Table Mountain, and Cape Point and saw the Jackass Penguins.
Pictures
I have divided the pictures into three separate files, one for the Nhlengelo project, one for the the wildlife in Kruger, and one for the other areas visited.
I hope you will enjoy and email me with any questions.
Sight-seeing pictures