|
SOUTH AFRICA
LINK
The Bolton
& Rochdale District support the work of Phakamisa out in
Pinetown
,
South Africa
. Glenda Howieson who co-ordinates this work is coming over to the
North West
in April.
There will
be a celebration event on Saturday 17th
April at Bolton Methodist Mission, Victoria Hall.
The evening
will consist of;
6:15pm –
AGM
7pm –
Buffet
8pm –
Entertainment
The Buffet
is £5 per person and tickets will be sold in advance
For
Tickets please contact:
Dawn Meeson
at Walkden Methodist Church 0161 703 9505
OR
Tel:
Jill at Victoria Hall 01204 522569
Email:
Jill at victoria.hall1@virgin.net
Post:
please send cheque (made payable to Bolton Methodist Mission) along with a
stamped addressed envelope to:
Jill
Heppolette
Bolton
Methodist
Mission
Knowsley Street
Bolton
BL1
2AS
Please
join us on the day for the AGM & Entertainment at no cost.
(There
will also be a retiring collection at the end of the evening, towards the work
of Phakamisa.)
To
download a poster about this event, please click
here
_______________________
The Bolton and Rochdale Methodist
District has links with two Circuits in South Africa : King Williams Town area (Eastern Cape) and Pinetown,
Durban
(KwaZulu Natal Province)
Two specific
projects/needs have been identified and it was agreed to raise monies in the Bolton
& Rochdale District for:
King
Williams Town area (Eastern
Cape)
:
1. Queenstown
- £3000 for new toilet & shower block in orphanage for street
children
2.
Zwelitsha - £2000 to support children's
soup kitchen
Pinetown
(KwaZulu Natal):
"Phakamisa"
at
Pinetown
Methodist
Church
,
Durban
,
Kwa
Zulu
Natal
Province
, incorporating Educare, Sisanani
sewing group, Soup Kitchen and
John
Wesley
School
 Pinetown
Methodist Church,
Durban
There
are ongoing
links & support at individual, circuit and church level, particularly for
"
Phakamisa" in Bolton Mission, Farnworth & Worsley, Leigh & Hindley Circuits
and currently District Network.
The
District aims to:
1.
Continue to raise money for Educare and Sisanani
2.
Explore and support outlets for economic empowerment projects - beadwork and
sewing, especially when on sale in District Churches
The "Phakamisa"
Project reaches out to extremely impoverished communities 30 mile radius around
Pinetown. Phakamisa seeks to uplift and empower those in need through the
provision of education, training, resourcing and support – ‘a hand up, not a
hand out’
Ecomonic
empowerment programme
93
Vegetable gardens
New
training kitchen - teach nutritional cooking skills using vegetables from
gardens
Beadwork
– Christmas decorations & jewelry
Weaving
& embroidering grass mats & crosses
Sewing
– making dressing up clothes & soft dolls for Educare centres and now
‘to order’ -children’s
dresses and liturgical stoles
Products
for sale from Sisanini
sewing
Educare - supporting grandparents caring for HIV/AIDS pre-school grandchildren
PHAKAMISA
NEWS:
June
2009 (Please click here)
March 2009
VISITORS:
Phakamisa
got off to a flying start, with Dawn and Christine, of the U.K. volunteering
here for 3 weeks. Their hands- on- assistance, insights and reflections
were very valuable.
EDUCARE
NEWS:
Childminders’
Course:
This
course trains people teaching 0-2 year old children. Our first group of ladies
completes the course at the end of March. Already we have seen an
improvement as their little children have blossomed in a structured environment.
Accreditation:
The
arduous process of accrediting our Early Childhood Development Course material
continues. As part of the process, the staff has received training in
assessing,... and all the while, the Educare teachers continue to learn how to
teach more effectively.....and.....the government schools continue to send their
teachers to us for training....so we certainly must be on the right track!
PSYCHOMOTOR
NEWS:
Caryn
Green is voluntarily assisting Elaine Osborn, our psychomotor expert, every day
this year. Her help is invaluable as is Helen Anderson’s, who comes in 1
morning a week. The children from the wandering teacher classes are benefitting
enormously from their highly specialised lesson at the church each week.
CAREGIVER
GROUPS:
The
number of Caregiver Groups continues to grow rapidly as more and more children
are orphaned and carers seek support.
This
has necessitated us offering an additional training class as the other classes
were overflowing. They are: ‘Simple Sewing’, ‘Healthy Cooking’ and
‘Home Based Care ’.
VEGETABLE
GARDENS:
Our
wet summer has resulted in very poor yields from the gardens but, 40 of
Phakamisa’s vegetable gardens are part of a government pilot project growing
soy beans, so our gardeners have been encouraged and motivated by this
challenging privilege!
TRAVEL
FUND: No one is immune to
the global financial crisis. The poor are affected in a life- threatening
way, where even food is prohibitively expensive. As many participants
prioritised their expenses, they found they could not afford to travel to
Pinetown to attend the workshops, so we took a step of faith, and are providing
transport for everyone to attend the workshops, using the local public transport
system, affectionately known as “The Taxis”. It is proving to be a great
success!
THOLUTHANDO
our HIV AIDS Support Group;
This
group provides invaluable support to each other as they work through the crisis
of contracting a disease that still has an enormous social stigma attached to
it. ARV’s are more easily available in South Africa, but tragically, many do
not admit to being HIV +ve, or cannot afford to eat properly and so die before
getting on to the life saving medication! Tholuthando, however, celebrates
living life positively. They are even learning to cook pumpkin pie and
other exotic dishes, to increase their vegetable consumption and so build their
immunity!
ECONOMIC
EMPOWERMENT:
This
continues to grow under the watchful eye of Hilary Coombe, where the motto is:
“You name it, we’ll make it”!
FACTORY:
We
have a large order for sewn, screen- printed conference bags for the U.S.A. The
Fantasy clothes continue to be made, delighting young children as they dress up!
Shweshwe items are our new- found ‘brand’. Small items like hats, cushion
covers, table mats and runners and individual orders are produced along with
traditional Shweshwe outfits and 1st communion dresses for our local
market.
BEADWORK:
The
beadwork ladies are expanding their jewellery and gift range to include unique
orders for companies and gifts. Our web site: www.phakamisa.org displays our
range.
FOOD
PRODUCTS:
The
Kitchen is cooking up a storm- caregivers are producing jams, pickles, biscuits
and cakes which are being sold at ‘The Shop’ at the church; through the
Hillcrest Aids Centre Shop and for individual orders! Large scale catering for
events at our church have been culinary treats!!
CRAZY
FRIENDS: Alan and Chummy are
walking from Cape Point to Kosi Bay- 2600 kms to raise money for Phakamisa.
Please view their web site www.cape2kosi.com
to follow their progress!
......IN
CONCLUSION:
Our
ladies are growing in confidence as their skills improve. Their ability to rise
above their circumstances continues to inspire and challenge us!
Glenda
Howieson
STATISTICS:
EDUCARE:
150
teachers teaching 8000 4-6 year old children.
60
childminders teaching 800 birth-2 year old children.
CAREGIVERS:
180
Caregiver groups with approx 1700 caregivers caring for over 6000 orphans of
0-18 years.
ECONOMIC
EMPOWERMENT:
Factory/
sewing ladies: 19
Beadworkers:
22
Greeting
card makers: 2
Kitchen
team: 4
VEGETABLE
GARDENS: 84
Gardeners:
900
Families
being fed: 1000
THOLUTHANDO:
30 members
PHAKAMISA
STAFF-
Full
time: 14
Part
time: 11
Volunteers:
MANY J
Phakamisa
Quarterly newsletter September 2008
“Too often we underestimate
the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life
around.” Leo Buscaglie .
Zola
Masikane, one of our
Caregiver leaders was deeply troubled after she visited the home of a member of
her group. She had found an alert, 11 year old little girl, Siphesihle,
imprisoned. Imprisoned in her body and imprisoned by circumstances.
Siphesihle had been a bright,
very active 5 year old, managing well at school, until she began to stumble and
fall for no apparent reason. After a few tests, she was diagnosed with TB of her
spine. It was really difficult for her mother and granny to get her to hospital
for her treatment as they had no financial means and their little tin house was
a long way from the nearest transport route. Poverty imprisoned Siphesihle.
Her mother and granny did not
understand the severity of her illness.
Ignorance imprisoned
Siphesihle.
Her health continued to
deteriorate as there was no access to water and sanitation.
No bulk services imprisoned
Siphesihle.
Re- infection by the TB virus
in a tin house with no windows for ventilation became a reality. Poor housing
imprisoned Siphesihle.
6 long years passed and her
legs withered away and control of her bladder and bowels ceased. Inadequate
health care imprisoned Siphesihle.
And then Zola came to
visit:’...the smallest act of caring has the potential to turn a life
around’.
Later others from Phakamisa
visited and Siphesihle was asked what she really wanted to do. “I want to go
to school’, she replied simply:- An impossible dream for an imprisoned child,
but ‘the smallest act of caring has the potential to turn a life around’.
Her Mum agreed that the family
would find a way of surviving without her disability grant, which would be
needed to pay her school fees.
Ethembeni School for the
Disabled, which has a long waiting list, was contacted and an appointment made
to interview Siphesihle-after which she was accepted!!!
‘...the smallest act of
caring has the potential to turn a life around’.
The long, seemingly
unattainable list of requirements for boarding school was circulated - hearts
were moved and provisions were provided for her to go to school- ‘...the
smallest act of caring has the potential to turn a life around’.
But on her arrival at school,
it was discovered that she had bedsores. She was not even allowed to
unpack her bags. She was sent straight back home, and told not to return
until the bedsores had healed. Was she about to be imprisoned by poverty,
ignorance and poor facilities again?
Six weeks later the bedsores
had still not healed, but thanks to the intervention of a friend, the correct
dressings were accessed and the school agreed to have her return, on condition
she brought the dressings. This time, her bags were unpacked and her class mates
welcomed her by taking her on a tour of her brand new environment in her
repaired wheelchair. Life was turning around!
A few weeks later, Phakamisa
received a letter from the school, enthusing about her ability, her competence
and her happy disposition. They are already sure she will receive an award at
the end of the year for her outstanding academic ability!
“Too often we underestimate
the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life
around.” Leo Buscaglie .
Phakamisa’s beadwork ladies,
who support orphaned and abandoned children, are rejoicing. They received an
order from the Church of the Resurrection (COR), for 8000 bookmarks with little
beaded crosses attached, which they were able to fill in 2 short weeks! (That on
its own, was an achievement!) In devotions they were thanking God for the gift
of that order and the income it had generated.
Ntombifuthi excitedly related
that her family would enjoy a celebratory meal with meat instead of only beans
and cabbage for supper. Then she soberly added that she would share her
income with 3 very young children, whose mother had died and they had and no
money for her funeral “...the smallest act of caring has the potential to turn
a life around.”
Neliswe has recently moved into a new Reconstruction and Development house.
She told how her neighbour had visited with great concern as she had not seen
Neliswe for a few days and feared she was ill. When Neliswe told her she
was working very hard because had to bead 400 crosses for an order, her
neighbour just wept. She was desperate for work, so she could earn money
to feed her family. Neliswe promptly offered to teach her how to make the
cross and shared her order with her neighbour. .... “the smallest act of
caring has the potential to turn a life around.”
‘Too often we underestimate
the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life
around.” Leo Buscaglie .
May you allow your life to be
turned around, as you turn around the lives of others!
With loving gratitude from one
whose life is turned around constantly.
Glenda
Howieson.
| 