Have you ever stopped to consider your life and wondered how you got to where you are today? I often do! If you asked me three years ago to tell you where I would be today, in May 2008, I would never have guessed that I would be living in South Africa , a part of Hands at Work in Africa. The past 3 years have changed my life completely. My name is Carly, I’m an ordinary 28 year old woman, who was living an ordinary life in Sydney, Australia. I wasn’t the type of person who dreamt big or looked to do ‘missions’, I simply prayed that God would use me, in whatever way He chose. It’s been an adventure ever since…

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Last week on home-based care in Masoyi, South Africa I met a lady named Helena. She was about 50 and dying of AIDS. I've never seen anyone so skinny. Just bones. A neighbour lady would check in on her everyday—but this neighbour was an old granny who was looking after 8 orphans (some were her own grandkids, some were from the community). 8 little kids and a dying neighbour.

We got to wash this lady, and talk and sing with her. She wanted us to sing the South African national anthem—I'm afraid I wasn't much help. We washed all her clothes and blankets—African style, in the river. I was so happy to be there, to help this dear woman who was suffering so much. Helena died a few days later, but we were able to get her into a hospice for her remaining days so she could die comfortably.

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A new session of Footprints is upon us! How exciting to think that this will be our 4^th group of Footprints volunteers to join the Hands at Work team for mid-term volunteer service. Training officially began on 25 February 2008, but preparations began long ago, including prayerful consideration of which projects will receive the volunteers when they complete their 10 weeks training and depart to act as “scaffolding” at our projects across Africa. Please remember to pray for them.

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Brook Bruns
One bright day last May the three of us who were the February 2007 Footprints cohort, walked our final trip down the winding South African dirt road that led from our accommodation to the Hands at Work in Africa staff base. We admired the majestic view of hills filled with huts in the distance, and we teased and joked with one another, remembering our 3-months training time together and anticipating the 6-to-9-month journey we were each about to embark on at separate Hands at Work projects across Africa.

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Construction of the ground-breaking Hands at Work village continues! A large crew of local workers overseen by volunteer Michael Kaufman and construction manager Sal Hunziker have sweated out 10-hour days getting to roof level of the Footprints training and accommodation center and have also started the staff accommodation. A strong boost is expected on October 17 when a construction team from Westside King’s Church in Calgary arrives to lend a hand.

In a previous post it was written that Hands at Work “needs to be off ASM by the end of the year.” This was incorrecly taken by some readers to mean ASM was throwing us into the street on a whim. That is not the case. ASM is also a growing ministry, and a phased transfer over the next few months to the new property will be done in line with the expansion of both ministries. It was, in fact, ASM who generously provided the land for the new Hands at Work village. And the incredible opportunity to move together as a family of staff, footprints, and visitors to our own land far outweighs the challenges!

After cutting their teeth at the Hands at Work base in Masoyi, South Africa for 10 weeks, the February, 2007 intake of Footprints volunteers was sent out across Africa. Here’s an update.

In May, Brooke Bruns from Fargo, North Dakota arrived in Gondola, Mozambique to work as a project home-based care nurse with the Rubatano team, doing daily home visits in the community, operating a baby clinic and furthering development of a patient database system for the project. She will continue the work of two other Footprints volunteers, Sarah Irish and Ginna Hardie. They return to South Africa in mid-July before returning home to the US in late July, after serving 9 months as nurses in Gondola. Watch for Sarah and Ginna on a speaking tour of the US in September and October.

After a month of added preparation for her project, Megan Christopherson, from Phoenix, Arizona, arrived in Luanshya, Zambia

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