Mermaids - Netball

I've joined a local netball team run by Precious from Sithembakuye. Yesterday our team, the Mermaids, played our first match together against a team from Hillcrest High School. I last played netball 12 years ago at University and so I was glad that we weren't playing the first team from such a prestigious school! We hadn't had time to train together so it really was in at the deep end.

Thankfully for me, our team is very good on attack and my position is Goal Keeper, so I didn't see much of the ball but managed to defend ok when it did come my way. Netball is a big sport here for girls, but we also have to contend with the heat of Africa. It's supposed to be getting cooler now for Winter, but this week it's been super warm and sunny once again. Yesterday it was about 35 degrees!!

During the first half of the match, my opponent - the GS - was really rather short, and totally intimidated when she saw she was against me. It was fairly easy for me to put my arms up and totally block the goal from her!! They wised up to this and swapped to a taller player for the second half!!

We won 8 -1. It's the first match in my life where I've been on the winning side! Memories came flooding back of our College Netball team at Uni, where we were thrashed 40 -1 by Hatfield College and they never stopped fighting and pressing on for the whole game even though they were obviously going to win! The Hillcrest team were so glad of their 1 goal but we were extremely happy with our win. We were supposed to playing in a tournament this weekend but it's been postponed, hopefully to a weekend when it's not quite so scorching!

Kids' Club 5 - last one of term

Hand prints poster - Grade R-3

It's the end of term this week for Easter holidays and I had my last session with the younger kids yesterday. Once more we moved classroom, this time we were in the photocopying room for the staff! But that didn't worry the kids. It's quite hilarious when I get there on Tuesdays, I have to go round and collect my kids and their classrooms are at opposite ends of the school so I end up going round like the Pied Piper, I collect some Grade 1 kids and as we gather more of the kids they hold hands and follow me round, it's so cute!

Yesterday I took their shoe sizes and wanted to get their uniform sizes too. However most of their clothes have either no labels or the sizes have faded so it's difficult to work out what size they are. I did measure their heights though.

Afterwards we did a poster with hand paints which they loved doing. They also loved the baby wipes I gave them to clean up with afterwards. But the highlight of the session for them was the hand gel I got out afterwards. The kids go mad for this stuff and I had to make them line up at the end to give them all a little bit on their hands as they went out!!

So, this term I've managed to get to know most of my 40 children and the clubs are up and running. I'm happy with progress so far. It's all looking good for next term!

Street Child World Cup

Team India celebrate their victory at the Street Child World Cup!

All last week the world's first ever Street Child World Cup was taking place in Durban. We made it to the final day on Sunday, which also happened to be 'Human Rights Day' here in South Africa. I don't think that was a co-incidence. For the first time, these children have had a chance to be in the centre spotlight instead of forgotten and marginalised as street children so often are. The slogan for the World Cup came from a quote from a 14 yr old street child here in Durban:

'When they see me play football, they see me not as a street child, but as a person.'

Nine teams had been participating from England, South Africa, Nicaragua, Philippines, India, Tanzania, Ukraine, Vietnam and Brazil. The last 2 matches were due to be played in the afternoon. The first of which was South Africa vs Philippines. It was a good match and the presence of lots of South African supporters, complete with their vuvizelas and drums, made for a great atmosphere. South Africa eventually lost to the Philippines but it was an exciting match.

Then it was time for the final - India vs Tanzania. India won after some 'interesting' football. I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of football, I leave that to my boys to shout about. However the Tanzanian manager had a lot to shout about after one of their team got sent off for a tackle and then India scored on a penalty. I don't think the Tanzanian team were too happy to lose, but that was quickly forgotten as all the teams celebrated the end of what seems to have been a great week.

There have been some great stories coming out of the week too. You can read them on streetchildworldcup.org. They include the tale of a street child from Tanzania who had been traffiked to South Africa and had managed to escape and make his way to the Street Children World Cup where the team from Tanzania managed to locate his family at home and arrange for them to be reunited.

Sadly, even with all the awareness and media attention for Street Children this week, the Metro police in Durban were still going around rounding up any street children they could find and mis-treating them. There is a campaign to stop this ridiculous behaviour. It's thought that during the World Cup itself that the Metro police might round up all the children they can find before the matches start, ship them off up the coast somewhere and dump them in the middle of nowhere so that they aren't on the streets when all the fans arrive! The areas up the North Coast are really isolated and it would be difficult for children to make it back to the city without putting themselves at the mercy of truck drivers. Many would not make it back. Durban has several hundred street children and the local project working with them are trying hard to stop this round-up from happening. If you want to know more about them it's www.umthombo.org. On their website they chronicle all the dealings with the Metro Police and the latest on how the campaign is going. It gives a different perspective on a country preparing to 'Welcome the World' in a few months time.

Despite this embarrasingly awful behaviour by certain metro police, the Street Child World Cup has been a success. Keep your eyes on Brazil for 2014 for the next one!

Kids' Club 4 - coming together

(above) the younger group - Grade R-3

(above) the older group with me, Sean and Steve

I've now managed to touch base with 38 of my 40 orphans and tomorrow I hope to find the remaining 2. Their profiles are underway and I'm adding information about them as and when I can.

Last Thursday I was pleased to see most of my older group. For some reason an extra 7 children turned up and it took some explaining to them, by me in English and then by the kids in Zulu, that if their name wasn't on my list then they couldn't stay. I feel a bit bad about sending them off but the reality is that I can only work with a smaller group at this time and as we start up and if I don't take a stand then all sorts of extra children will be sent up to my sessions.

It was great to spend some time explaining to the children my role in their school and home life and to get profile photos and start collecting information to build up a picture of how they live. Now that I have my Hilux I can start looking into visiting their homes next term. The teachers want to come too to see for themselves firsthand what their children live with at home. The children are really excited about our sessions and I think it will be a good group, some lively characters coming through already! However, when I was clearing up I realised that at least 10 of them saw fit to steal the pens, so I think we might have to 'discuss' that somehow in tomorrow's session!

Then on Tuesday this week I managed to get all but 1 of the younger group together. We had to change classrooms as there were workmen in my usual place. This change of classroom disrupted the dynamic and we were frequently interrupted by wandering children from the playground. I can do behaviour management in any language, by the power of a simple look, however I feel that I should increase my vocabulary for telling children off as some of them are a little bit naughty. However it's difficult to remain annoyed for long, they are so lovely.

Communication with this group is still tricky. I would say that their level of English doesn't really extend beyond 'How are you?', so my Zulu is rapidly improving. Being a secondary school teacher it's also a challenge for me to prepare sessions for smaller children, but though it's a steep learning curve, it's all positive.

After school on Tuesday we went to watch the football team play a friendly against the team from the school for the deaf next door. My 7-year-old twins S and N came with me to watch and it was good to spend some quality social time with them, even if they did fling their rucksacks at me to carry for them as if I was their long-suffering mother!

Hilux!

I am so excited, not only to finally have my own vehicle (and thus bid farewell to an expensive hire car!) but also because of the way God answered my prayers about it.
Thank you so much to those people who donated money towards my vehicle fund - you know who you are! I'm really touched by your investment in this vital part of the ministry here and encouraged by your generosity. Now I can get to anywhere I need to be in the valley, and out again!


I spent some time looking for the 'perfect' vehicle for me here. For a while I've been praying for a Toyota Hilux as this is one of the few vehicles that can cope with the sketchy roads and tracks around the valley. However, for my budget there were few Hiluxes available and every time I phoned up about one it had already sold. I continued praying into what vehicle I should get and widened my search but this just got me a bit fed up. Fed up of looking into cars that had already sold or were not suitable for whatever reason.


I said to God 'I wish you would just show me the vehicle YOU want for me, or better still just bring it along!' I'm learning fast that sometimes God really does take my questions at face value because 2 days later it happened! I was supposed to be going out but I really sensed that I should stay in and let the boys go without me. Shortly after, my mechanic friend who's helping me look at vehicles turned up at my gates with a Hilux Raider that his son had decided to sell because they are moving away. He offered me first refusal at a decent price and took me on a test drive. It wasn't hard to see this was God answering my prayer - the vehicle is great - and it doesn't look too new, so troublemakers will be discouraged from stealing it from me!

Today was my first day with my new bakkie and I'm quickly getting used to being up high in a vehicle instead of being in a VW Golf that I've had for the past 3 months. So far so good. God promised me the perfect vehicle for me and He's come through big time! Hallelujah!! Now I'm just waiting to see what how He's going to answer my prayers for my future husband!! ;-)

Going deeper...

Reflecting on the past few days, I'm beginning to go deeper in the ministry with the children entrusted to my care and prayers. And things are starting to happen, which is really exciting!



Last Thursday, the Grades 4 and 5 started to tell me a little bit more about their family situations. Every single child in that group have lost their mothers and most probably never knew their fathers. They displayed little emotion in telling me this, merely a 'Washonile' (She's dead) from each child. In a place where this is true for a third of the school population, it's not surprising that they don't display emotion.

One girl has only recently lost her mother, as she's left behind a daughter who is now 1. Their 17 year old sister is caring for the baby, this girl and her twin brother, at the same time studying at a local high school. I love all my children but this girl is particularly endearing and it was touching that she wanted to pray at the end of the session. She prayed in English and gave thanks to her heavenly Father for 'this wonderful life that you have given us.' Considering all that she has probably been through recently, to be able to pray that with such conviction and joy is an inspiration to others and a testimony to God's healing power at work in her life already! It's exciting that the kids want to pray by themselves as well!

And then on Sunday I went up to GGA, the children's home where I used to live and work a few years ago. When I was there before I led the church service every other week with the children. It was a privilege to minister to these kids then and even more so now. For a while now a couple of the teenagers there have been leading the services every Sunday and they asked me to come and help them. Now that I have a little team of helpers (namely, my 3 housemates!), we are keen to minister to these children in whatever way we can.

It has been so encouraging to see these young people leading their 'family' in worship, Bible study and prayer. When I left in 2008, I had given my Bible to N, who stood before us all the Sunday before last and shared confidently about God's love for the children. L, who had often pestered me for worship CDs, now plays the guitar and leads the kids in worship. When I went up the Sunday before last I was struck immediately by the hunger that these children have for more of God. The Holy Spirit was very much in evidence there as the kids prayed and sang and danced!

These 2 teens asked me to come and help them out. It's been a hard year for the organisation with difficult things happening and the children for the most part are unsettled and unsure of their futures. There's a general unease in the atmosphere when you spend time with the children. I wanted them to experience God's peace for themselves in the midst of unsettled times. I spoke on Sunday about where Jesus tells us not to worry, but to seek first the Kingdom of God. And then in 1 Peter where it says 'Cast all your anxieties onto him for He cares for you' and leading onto Philippians about presenting our anxieties to God in exchange for His peace. (Phil 4)

I'd had an idea of how to lead this into ministry, which must have come from God as it was so simple and yet very effective! The children sat comfortably with their eyes closed and hands outstretched and I prayed for them and asked the Holy Spirit to come and show them one thing that was worrying them at that moment. They had to imagine that that worry was in their hands. Then they let their hands drop as if to drop the burden they were carrying and released that worry to Jesus. Then they put their hands out again, this time to receive God's peace and anything that He might want to say to them. We then listened to a worship song of God singing His peace and His promises over them. Try it!

I have never seen these children so engaged and focused. Every single one of them sat entirely quiet and engaged with God at some level. You could see on their faces the release of leaving at least one of their worries with God. Some children repeated the exercise several times as we sat quietly. There was a reverent hush as they did this, some children just sat there smiling peaceful and one or 2 swayed gently as they were filled with God's peace. No-one wanted to share any testimony in front of the whole group as of yet but in chatting with individual children later on they all said that they felt so much better afterwards. There was a noticeable change in the mood in the room as well. I actually think that everyone in that room, from the 1 year old up to a visiting friend from Zimbabwe who must be in his 50's at least, came away with something more of God after that time. I'm so excited as it was all God working, I merely facilitated the idea that came to me and let God work. This is only week one!!

Pray that as I continue to go deeper with these children, teaching them and helping them to encounter God on their level, that He would show me the way forward and teach me what to do to lead best. God loves it when people get desperate for Him, forget about other things in life and seek Him and more of Him. That's what these kids are doing and the experience of God's presence and love can only get deeper and better!! Praise God!