Saturday, August 3rd-kwadebeka service project for children's care home

Helping Hand effort at the care center for those in need

On our P-Day, we decided to work...and went to a care centre in Kwadabeka, which is a township about 20 minutes north of where we live. We had heard from Brother Rieckhoff that they would be working there fixing windows, painting and putting up shelving for this children's care home that is run by donations only. The Kwadabeka Ward was doing this as a Helping Hands project and had been working on it for several weeks.

Today they will finish up an ongoing project

We arrived at the chapel and had to call and ask Bishop Rieckhoff to come and get us to take us to the care center. When we arrived, he took us on a tour of the place and told us all the things they were trying to do there. He said that the ward would probably take it on as a long term project, because of all the things that still needed to be done.

Cleaning up the mess 

These guys replaced the windows on this side of the building. Apparently, kids walking home from school like to throw rocks at the windows, so who knows how long these new windows will last. You can see the rows of the garden they dug to the left and these guys are mixing tinted plaster that they are applying to the outside of the building.

Replaced Windows

The guys working on it were very shy, but smiled each time I took their pictures. and even posed a bit eventually. They all had smiles on their faces and none were complaining that they were giving up their Saturday again to help this care centre and the children who attend there.

Pumla, in the middle is the Center Director

There were three ladies there, so I spoke to Patience a bit (The tallest one) and then got them to pose for me. They were very nice and very grateful to be getting the work done. I learned that the Pine Town ward Relief Society sisters were making clothing for the children that attend the school and that someone was donating books to fill the new shelves being built. The Kwadebeka sisters were making curtains. It sounded like it was going to be great when they finished it. They were also planning a garden in the back to help support the food supply for the children.

When I asked her how she got started doing this, The Center Director, Pumla, (In the middle of the photo above) took me back to her office. The room was hardly big enough to do more than sit at the desk or chair in front of the desk, but she had a nice computer and printer that was donated, as well as filing cabinets and desks...all from a lady in Pinetown that was remodelling her home.

Pumla telling the men what she wants done.

Pumla Mbelu said that in 1999 she was a volunteer going door to door to visit those with aids and those in extreme poverty. She was so distressed by what she saw, especially by the young children whose parents had died leaving the oldest one as the head of the household, many times that person was less than 10 years of age. She decided to start the crisis center to help those children who had no place to go, to help them learn skills, get food and help them when they were not in school to get medical attention, etc. Many of the 150 children she sees everyday are also HIV positive. Most of the volunteers at the center are HIV positive as well. All are getting treatment at a clinic nearby the care centre. Pumla takes them herself and makes sure they get treatment. She said one of the children was picked on at school and the clinic refused to treat him, so she said, "I marched over there and got that child some treatment. They see a lot of me now."

None of those who work there get paid. For a while, the Rotary club in Kloof was giving them money to keep their center going with food, etc. But, the Rotary is not helping anymore and they are trying to survive on individual donations. She said that a lot of people have given them money from time to time, but no one has offered to actually do the work, like our church has. She sounded amazed when she talked about how they had been there every weekend for weeks and how wonderful it will be when it is finished. She said they have small fundraisers, like selling chips and drinks to the community to try to earn money to help buy school uniforms. She sounds pretty worn out.

Checking to make sure properly sealed

The inside was looking pretty good, walls painted and bookshelves being made to fit the walls, The guys were touching up painting. Not as many people showed up this Saturday. Some Saturdays they had 20 people or more show up, but every little bit helps now that they are almost finished. I might see if they want me to paint a mural...wouldn't that be fun, if I could find the time.

The place clearly needed Helping Hands

Even though it went so well, there are so many things that still need to be done. The slab in front of the entry door is raised a bit, so that all the water pours in the front door when it rains. Bishop Reickhoff said that they just needed to break up the concrete and put a steel grate over the area, as there is a sunken strip below for the water to drain. He doesn't have the tools, but will ask around.

It just breaks our hearts to see all this poverty and need, but at the same time we can't help but be uplifted to see how many people are trying to make it right. Great stuff today.