You won't understand unless you go...

I first heard about South Africa and specifically Hands at Work when my father and two sisters went over and did a short 10 day trip with my church. I remember them coming back and trying to explain the experience, however the one constant phrase I heard from them was ‘We can try to explain it to you, but you won’t understand unless you go yourself’. This really annoyed me. Couldn’t they just try to explain? What was so difficult about it? This frustrated me, but also stirred in me a desire to experience what my family got to experience, and to understand what they were talking about.

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Mel's Story

My heart has been stirring for Africa for a few years now, so this year in September I decided to take the plunge, book a trip, and get over to South Africa on the ground to experience first hand the work that Hands at Work is doing.  Before I left I thought I had some idea of the situation in Africa and a grasp of the work Hands at Work was doing.  However until I saw, I really did not know.  However what I did see and experience...I was absolutely blown away. 

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Hands Australia supporting Ago Okota community in Nigeria

Lynn Chotowetz travelled to Ago Okota in October 2011. He wrote: “As we walked Ago Okota’s streets in the morning, we passed a woman frying fish in a pot of oil over a wood fire. There was a young girl (about 13) working with the woman; the girl had a baby tied onto her back. We talked to them, and I asked why the girl wasn’t in school. Very simply the woman explained that this girl had been sold to her by the girls’ parents, a very poor family living in a distant rural village. “She doesn’t go to school,” the woman said, “she works.”

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Three Aussies

In September 2011, Stephen Jones, an Australian serving long-term with Hands at Work in South Africa, had the opportunity to speak with three visiting Australians. Melissa Warren, Tim and James McLaughlin all arrived in South Africa and participated in the new volunteers orientation. Stephen asked each of them what was their motivation for coming to Africa, and received three different responses:

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A Vintage Affair

In May 2012, a team of 20 people from Whittlesea and Ballarat, Victoria, will head over to Zambia to support the work of Hands at Work in Africa where they will together run a camp for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children from several Hands community based schools. The team will also travel to South Africa to visit Masoyi Home Based Care and other local communities. The team recently hosted a fundraising event evening in Ballarat called the Vintage Affair. The aim of the night was to raise awareness of the plight of Hands at Work in Africa (Australia) and support for the 2012 Victorian team.

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MLC SCHOOL SOUTH AFRICA TOUR 2011

It is with a heart of thanksgiving and joy that I have the opportunity to write this report about “Reaching for Change” which has been the main purpose of this South Africa tour. I feel honored to have shared my passion for making a difference in the world with these dedicated young ladies from MLC and to work alongside these African communities.

On Friday 8 April, I, along with another teacher and 8 excited young ladies from MLC school, Sydney, set off on our first tour to South Africa. During the course of the 17-day tour, the team took part in voluntary work with young orphaned children and teenagers within a variety of communities (Masoyi, Sipumandla and Syatituka) through Hands at Work.

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