40 Days of Prayer
Hands at Work
Meet Mwete

Raising a large family isn’t easy but Mama Safi isn’t alone in caring for Mwete. He has a bigger family of support at the Care Point, with the Care Workers and the other children.

Meet Mwete
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Youthful Perspective (CAN)

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Kristal Hoff is a high school teacher from Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada and has been involved with Hands at Work for the last three years. Her work in Malawi had inspired her to, upon her return to Canada, fight not only for the material liberty of school children in Malawi, but also for the spiritual freedom of high schoolers in Canada.

Some classes are held under a tree at this Malawi community school, a far cry from the school in LloydminsterIt all started when my feet were getting itchy. I had been in Africa for just over a year and a half [volunteering with Hands at Work] and then came home to teach at the high school [in Canada] I had attended: Lloydminster Comprehensive High School. My heart was still pumping hard for Africa and I just couldn't quiet myself about it. It's like that scripture where Jesus says if the people didn't speak, the rocks would cry out. I started just dreaming with a few teachers about the possibility of a partnership between the Lloydminster school and the Malawi community school. I dreamed up how it could work out: For the school to sponsor a group of 50 kids they would need to raise CA$9000 a year, which worked out to less than CA$1 per person per month. How easy! I had a few core teachers excited and then got the administration [of the school] on board.

Kissing camelsLloydminster is a very busy city with lots of big paychecks and lots of big dirty trucks. The dream was to see these kids see beyond the bubble of fast oil money in Lloydminster and begin to understand a bigger purpose for themselves. When I was teaching, I found that many kids have no appreciation for school anymore because they can easily quit and get a job on the oil rigs. I also found that many of the students I was teaching came from families that made it big in the oil boom and as a result never had to face suffering. It was interesting because when I thought of this relationship, I was more passionate about the transformation of the school and the student body in Canada than I was about the school in Malawi. It would be easy to find money for another source to help take care of the kids in Malawi, but I felt so strongly that it had to be these Lloyd kids.

In the words of Adam: A beautiful transformation (Part Two) (SA)

I have all but forgotten what a lie-in feels like: Early mornings, late nights and everything in between spent under the scorching African sun, makes for a pretty exhausting couple of weeks. 6 o'clock starts aren’t as much a problem as having to endure, daily, the nagging from those I live with as to why I don’t join the sunrise jogging team! Every evening we spend an hour or two in someone’s home talking through the day’s events as we try to process the things we’ve seen, heard and experienced.

It has been quite draining physically, emotionally and spiritually. And yet, whilst I have found myself exhausted, I get up in the morning not because I have to, but because I know God has something new in store. Every day I am walking not only into the lives and stories of the world’s most broken people, but also deeper into the heart of the Father. It is an adventure through and through: exploring the heart of God. Living in cross-cultural community, encountering people in the most distressing situations, being invaded by the lives and stories of those you would otherwise never hear of, all of this offers God the most amazing opportunity to teach and to transform you. But nothing can prepare you for the kind of transformation that takes place through three days spent living in an orphaned household.

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Volunteers in Action

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Earlier this year on our facebook fan page we asked you to share with us photos and reflections of your time with us in Africa. There was an outpouring of responses and here are some of them. To learn more about volunteering, click here. To read about Adam Bedford's (UK) experience of the six-week orientation programme, click here.

In the words of Adam: The whole point is relationships (SA)

Are you considering volunteering with Hands at Work? Have you ever wondered what it feels like to jump into a completely new cultural experience? Adam Bedford, a 22-year-old university graduate from the UK, shares about his experience of the six-week Hands at Work orientation programme for new volunteers. He lives at the Hands 'village' in South Africa.

I first touched down on African soil in April 2010 in beautiful rural Zambia. At the time I was halfway through my studies and the thought of visiting Africa, let alone moving there, was little more than a romantic dream for the distant future. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, a free ticket to Zambia landed in my lap.

The church that my parents were leading had come across an organisation/charity/family - I wasn’t sure what it was back then - called Hands at Work. In the hope of identifying a community they could support they decided to send a small group of five to Africa and asked if I would consider being a part of the team. I don’t remember having to think about it for long.

The two weeks spent in Zambia left an impression on my heart that would leave me restless for a long time. I had stumbled upon God’s heart for the world’s most vulnerable people and discovered this wild group of Christians committed to transforming Africa in His name.

Some people just don't count (NIG) (CA)

"Nigeria and the people in Ilaje who lost their homes recently are heavy on my heart. I can't stop thinking about them," Hands at Work volunteer, Kristal Hoff, recently wrote.

In a 2006 report, the World Bank identified nine Lagos slums requiring an urgent response. Hands at Work is active in three of these slums, including Ilaje which is notorious being perched on the edge of an ocean bay and extending out over the water with homes built on stilts.

Read Kristal's thoughts on the recent developments in Ilaje below.

In 2009 I had the opportunity to visit Nigeria, specifically a community called Ilaje in Lagos. I blogged about it here. Ilaje was fascinating because half of the people lived on the land and half lived on the water in these wooden shacks on stilts.

I recently discovered that the government demolished all the homes that were on the water, leaving many families homeless and hopeless. Some have secured shelters on land but many have left looking for shelter elsewhere.

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A Peculiar Work, a Letter from Lynn

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What a peculiar work we’re a part of!

A new group of international volunteers has arrived with us at the Hub in South Africa and yesterday I heard how one of them struggled to raise funds to come here: he sold his few possessions to pay for himself to come serve the poor in Africa. Of course it had been scandalous to his friends and family, but he was convinced it was part of God’s calling for his life.

That conversation came after I’d spent the morning with a team of care workers in a Bushbuckridge village near the South African border with Mozambique. Sitting with the care workers, one of them a woman in her mid-forties, had explained to me the impact that her husband’s death had on her life: she was left to care for six children (only four were her own), she has no job and she’s battling serious health issues herself.

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This is My Story (SA)

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Elvis Mahlanya, a self-portrait

Today Elvis Mahlanya, a strapping 22-year-old, is rather known as a passionate social change-maker, than an orphan. The product of the close relationships Hands at Work volunteers forged with him, Elvis shares his story below as only he can tell it.

No one can tell this, only me. I am Elvis, the eldest son of the late Sinah Mahlanya who was basically a single parent. She passed away in 2004 when I was just 15-years-old. In her absence I had to take over responsibility for my younger brother, Africa, who was just 13 and my sister Tebogo who was just 6 years old. I had to make sure that I could address their needs all by myself. Everything from fetching water down by the river and providing food for us became my responsibility. Most of the time I had to ask help from my family members or friends. I remember being scolded and shouted at by my own uncle as I tried to advocate for my brother who needed school shoes. His were torn in such a way that he could not wear them. Some days he just went to school barefoot.

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Sipiwe's Story (ZAM)

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Six-year-old Sipiwe poses for a photo in front of the Susu community school run entirely by volunteer teachers and staffSix-year-old Sipiwe lives with her grandmother in rural and remote Susu*, a community nestled in thick, African bush about 40km from the mining town of Kabwe in Central Zambia. Susu is an extraordinarily poor, under-resourced and spread-out community isolated from Kabwe and its education institutions and health facilities. It takes the residents of Susu about three hours to cycle to town to buy even the most basic of supplies.

But one thing Susu is not lacking in is initiative. Local leader, Sunday, with the aid of a band of volunteer care workers and Hands at Work, birthed new hope for the community: Susu Home-Based Care. In the short few years that the organisation has been running, Susu has started to transform. The community now boasts a profitable hammer mill, a vegetable garden watered with water extracted from the earth through a borehole and the beginnings of a three-roomed school building. (Undeterred by the absence of infrastructure, the community school – run entirely by volunteer teachers – currently has its classrooms in the church building and under trees.)

Bikes for Baraka (ZAM)

Team leaders in Baraka, Zambia, receiving new bicylces

Late last year, the volunteer care workers in Baraka, Zambia, identified a need within their community: Being in a rural location often means care workers must walk long distances to visit orphans and families in need of home-based care. Homes that are far away are not visited very often because the distance is difficult to cover on foot. Not only is home visitation sometimes difficult, there is also the problem of transporting sick children to the clinic or the hospital - both are far from most homes. In addition, the task of gathering supplies for the local care centre means that volunteers often must walk 5km to the road, hitch a ride 20km to town, buy supplies and do the trip in reverse with supplies in tow!

A Dire Dilemma - Sam Shin's impressions (SA) (US)

Full-time UK volunteer, Catherine Clarkson, with the Shin kids as they serve chicken feet and broth at a South African care centreSam Shin, his wife Shua and their four children have been a part of the Hands at Work family for the past six weeks whilst this church-planting family have been on sabbatical. They desired to "rest in Christ" and to expose their children to the reality of life for orphans and vulnerable children in Africa.

The Shin family fully embraced the Hands at Work 'culture' and have taught us what a Godly family looks like. They've essentially become working limbs of this part of the Body of Christ. We will miss them when they leave tomorrow.

Below Sam shares about the hope we have in Christ. For more on their African adventure and photos, visit Sam's blog.

We made another round of visits to Belfast, a poor region in the eastern part of South Africa. And as we made our way up the home of a girl about 16-years-old, we noticed she had began to weep. She was sitting in a chair wearing knee-length, striped stockings. We sat around her as she sat there, crying. When we asked her to share her story, you could tell she was hesitant to say too much. Our group was large as my family of six was there along with Levy who is the regional coordinator, a couple of care workers and a couple of field workers.

When Levy asked if anyone had any encouragements for her, I couldn’t but say something. Hopefully I didn't speak because I felt that as a pastor everyone was waiting me to say something, but instead it was because the Lord had laid something upon my heart. I shared with her from 2 Corinthians 4: Those in Christ have a treasure in a jar of clay. Even if that jar should break the treasure is secure because God has secured it through His Son’s blood.

Beautiful Feet: Sindisiwe & Banele's shared birthday story (SA)

Sindisiwe is a Hands at Work monitoring and evaluation officer based at the Hub in South Africa. Sindi's birthday falls on 22 June and last year she discovered that then six-year-old Banele, in the care of Hands at Work partner organisation Siyathuthuka,* shares her birthday. So, as an act of kindness, she had sent Banele a small gift.

Sharing their birthday: Sindi and Banele (7) enjoy the cake Banele had hoped forThis year, determined to meet him, she bought him a set of clothes that she planned to take to him on 'their' birthday. Little did she know that Banele had told his gogo (granny) that he would like a cake to celebrate his birthday.

On Wednesday, the double-birthday day, two long-term Canadian volunteers with Hands at Work, Lise and Jon, drove to collect Sindi from the Hub to take her to Siyathuthuka. The Hub utilizes office space on the Africa School of Missions property and when Lise and Jon pulled up, they met a group of students who had been waiting for a minibus taxi. They were headed in the same direction as the Hands at Work crew.

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Running for a Purpose

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James Moreland (in photo on right with friend) ran the Edinburgh Marathon in May 2011. At the age of 18 years, 1 day and 20 hours, he became the youngest person ever to have run the Edinburgh Marathon. Below is his story of about why he decided to do it and the trials and triumphs along the way.

Last November while sitting in a Saint Andrews pub on the east coast of Scotland, my friend and I made a deal to run the May 2011 Edinburgh Marathon together. Now, my friend was a runner; I was not. I kept myself reasonably fit—a 30 minute jog around St. Andrews would be more than sufficient for me—but forget about a gruelling 26.2 mile (42.1 km) annihilation around the Scottish capital!

I first heard about Hands at Work through my mum Judith who travelled to South Africa to witness the work out there. Seeing her return really compelled to help was actually quite infectious, and after reading through the Hands at Work webpage, I too came to really respect the work that is being done. To me it felt like a perfect demonstration of Christians showing others–especially the poor and needy–God’s love and compassion for them, putting into practise one of the two commandments Jesus highlighted: love your neighbour as yourself. It’s a brilliant display of Christian ‘brotherhood’ as people come together—local churches offering love and support and oversees volunteers using their giftings to serve. I can’t emphasize enough how inspired I was by Hands at Work and I found God really challenging me to give and serve more, which is ultimately why I felt running the marathon to raise money for Hands at Work was a perfect opportunity to support the work. So I would run the marathon for Hands at Work, and I would do it in less than 4 hours.

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Teams!

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As the northern summer is now in full swing, so is our busy season of teams and visitors. This week we’re featuring the Forge, a church partner from UK who is serving with Hands at Work in Zambia right now. Read about their experience here and follow them as they blog and tweet.

Have you recently visited Hands at Work? Would you care to share about your time with us? Comment on this post, connect with us over Facebook or one of our other social media and share with us and your friends about your experience.

Here are some easy ways how:

Facebook Fanpage – Become a fan, leave a comment and post your photos to our wall.

Facebook Cause – Join and invite your friends to do the same. Start a new fundraising goal and challenge your co-workers or classmates to be a part of bringing healing to vulnerable children in Africa.

Twitter – Follow George as he tweets. Re-tweet your favorites and spread the word about Hands at Work.

Flickr – Are you on flickr? Connect with us and we’ll share a thousand words a hundred times over.

YouTube & Vimeo – Took some video while you were here with us? Upload to YouTube or Vimeo and tag it: “Hands at Work in Africa”



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We're all on the same road, it's just a very long one (ZAM) (UK)

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Oliver Westmancott is the non-medical member of a team from The Forge, UK on a short-term, well, medical trip to Hands at Work communities in ZambiaToday we visited two different schools on the same day. This begged the obvious question: How far is it between the two?

The reply was insightful: "They're on the same road, it's just a very long road."

Two schools. Both on the same road. Both community schools. This basically means that they are run by volunteers and get no money from the government, but are, crucially, free to attend.

We have to feed the kids before we deworm them. They don’t eat everyday and if a kid is properly full of worms it's not good to give them the tablets. It is worth giving that a second thought: They don’t eat everyday. It's not that sometimes they skip breakfast, it's that some days they don’t eat. At all. The food we provide gives the tablet something to work on.

The food is appreciated, but is just so temporary. It probably doesn't last much longer than our visit. Even the deworming needs to be repeated in six months. On its own it's not going to transform their worlds.

Double entry: Todd and Katie returning to SA

June, 15th 2011: I remember, before I left Canada over a year ago, thinking to myself that the only way I could possibly survive being away for this long would be for Todd and I to build meaningful community in Africa. And luckily that is exactly what has happened. The team here in the Congo and the community volunteers quickly adopted us in as family. One man in particular sticks out to me and his story is what I want to share with you.

Kabongo with his wife and many children, sharing an evening with Katie and ToddHis name is Papa Kabongo. We can always spot him in a crowd because he is always wearing the most brightly patterned shirts, the true Congo way. He moved with his family to Kambove a few years ago to take a job as a Primary School directeur or principal.

Kambove is a mining town that was thriving 20 years ago causing an influx of people, but due to political issues the industry has since plummeted leaving many families without any source of work. This has resulted in decaying infrastructure and extreme poverty. And in any situation of poverty it is always the children who are left most vulnerable.

As principal, Kabongo was confronted with the large number of orphans who were approaching him for assistance because they could not afford to go to school. As he became involved in their lives he started developing a heart for the orphaned children in his community and a dream began to grow to see them receiving care, support and education in order that their futures are filled with hope.

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16 June 1976 Student Uprising in Soweto (SA)

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Hector Pieterson became the subject of an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto Uprising when a news photograph of the dying Hector being carried by another student while his sister ran next to them, was published around the worldWhen high school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. It is commemorated today by a South African national holiday, Youth Day, which honours all the young people who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education.

In 1953 the Apartheid Government enacted The Bantu Education Act, which established a Black Education Department in the Department of Native Affairs. The role of this department was to compile a curriculum that suited the "nature and requirements of the black people." The author of the legislation, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd (then Minister of Native Affairs, later Prime Minister), stated: "Natives [blacks] must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans [whites] is not for them." Black people were not to receive an education that would lead them to aspire to positions they wouldn't be allowed to hold in society. Instead they were to receive education designed to provide them with skills to serve their own people in the homelands or to work in labouring jobs under whites.

An excerpt from 16 June 1976 Student Uprising in Soweto

Primary Caregiver Coaching Programme

 “When my orphaned children would come to me saying they were hungry, I would say: ‘Go to the graveyard and tell your mom.’ Now I am different. I know that these kids will sometimes misbehave because they are coping with grief.” – A granny attending a Primary Caregivers Workshop. She attended her first one just 1 year ago. Today she gave her testimony.

The HIV/AIDS situation came like an unexpected storm that devastated many of the significant resources/belongings children had in their lives. Today, children are left deserted by their loved family members. There has not been a devastation of this magnitude before. The orphaned children are going through a very difficult time in their lives because while they are developing they are forced to give up their childhood and face adulthood responsibilities. This is a serious burden in the lives of these children.

George in the UK

George Snyman, Hands at Work founder, will be in the UK from 10 - 20 June. Don't miss him!

HAMPSHIRE
Venue: Locks Heath Free Church, 255 Hunts Pond Road, Titchfield Common Fareham, Hampshire
Date and Time: Sun, 12 June at 9AM and 11AM (both morning services)

ST ANDREWS LANDYWOOD
Venue: Tea at St Andrews Landywood
Date and Time: Tues, 14 June at 5:30 - 7:30PM

SUFFOLK

Venue: Morning service at Greenfinch Church, Greenfinch Avenue, Ipswich
Date and Time: Sun, 19 June at 10:30 - 12:00PM

Venue: Forge Church, Debenham Leisure Centre, Gracechurch Street, Dehenham, Stowmarket
Date and Time: Sun, 19 June at 6:30 - 8:30PM

Todd and Katie: Building Relationships (DRC)

Katie and Todd in traditional Congolese wearAs per usual, Katie and I have been encumbered by a few unexpected twists and turns. In the last month we’ve spent almost as much time away from our beloved Congo as we have within its borders.

The first time was for the Hands at Work Celebration in Zambia, April 11-16. The most interesting part about that trip, for me, was the opportunity we had to spend time with some of our Congolese friends away from their familiar surroundings. Traveling to another country for a week is almost unattainable for many of these people even though the border is a mere taxi ride away. It put us on a level playing field in some ways. We were no longer the only ones feeling out of our element and we were no longer the only ones that needed a translator. That week away impacted our relationships in a special way that was not lost upon returning to the Congo together.

Then, a few weeks ago, Katie was feeling weak and uncomfortable in numerous ways. We found a doctor to come to the house to do some tests and found that she had contracted malaria. Some friends in South Africa encouraged me to bring Katie back there for a short time to allow her to be near a reliable clinic in case her sickness escalated. When we left, we didn’t say goodbye to any of our friends because the decision to leave happened so quickly. We felt like we left our relationships, and our work in Congo, unresolved. Being pulled away without warning uncovered our true feelings to return to Congo as soon as possible.

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Is this the way to Amulo? (ZAM) (UK)

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Leon Evans, a good friend of Hands and senior pastor at Zion Christian Centre in the UK, wrote about his recent trip to Zambia with Hands at Work on his blog.

"Is this the way to Amulo?" Sounds like a really annoying song that was out (again) a few years ago. Actually, it was what I found myself saying quite a lot in a car whilst bouncing on roads, that had more potholes than road, just outside Kitwe in the Copperbelt mining region in central Zambia.

My wife, Allison, and I had just left a conference hosted by Hands at Work, an amazing organisation - actually, more of a family - who support projects all across sub-Saharan Africa that are actively reaching and serving widows, orphans and vulnerable children. Now the conference was over and we were off to Amulo for a community stay: the chance to stay with a local household and spend 24 hours with a family.