Monthly Archives: August 2012

James Butler, a long-term World Vision supporter, is in South Africa right now. Take a look at the first instalment of his blog as he reflects on the joy and challenges of being back there.

 
We’ve travelled a lot before, so we were ready for the flurry of activity, sorting out injections, travel money and anti-malaria tablets.  But this time it is all wrapped up in the excitement of seeing Dieketseng.  How will she react to meeting us?  How will we react to seeing her and her family?  Our packing list was extended – what gifts could we take that would be appropriate for a fifteen year old from a totally different culture? 

And then there were the other gifts kindly donated by friends and acquaintances – some used football kit for children in the project, some pens and pencils for the schools, where we know resources are so limited.  And perhaps most bizarrely, an advent calendar from our primary school (yes, it is August) because they had come up in correspondence earlier this year with Dieketseng, so we had to take an example to explain.  Thank God we convinced BA to give us some extra baggage allowance!

Touching down in Africa

After a long flight, watching the whole continent pass below us on the in-flight map, finally we land at O R Tambo airport and we’re in South Africa.  Returning after a few years, we can see the improvements made in infrastructure – the airport buildings are massively improved and all the facilities rival Heathrow.  Luckily, this time the baggage handlers are not on strike and we are soon on our way towards Limpopo.

Once clear of the airport and the city outskirts, all those things one forgets about South Africa come flooding back.  Everywhere is brown – such a contrast to green and verdant Oxfordshire and an indication of how water is a scarce resource here.  Attitudes to personal safety are so very different – one rarely sees pedestrians, or animals, on the M4 at home, but here both are common place.  And, most heart-wrenching of all, are the townships – mile after mile of tin shacks, clearly lacking sanitation and providing a desperate environment to raise a family.  Such a contrast to our air-conditioned comfort in our rented SUV.

The Sugar Man

Buying gifts for a sponsored child is a moral minefield.  We have so much and, materially at least, they do not.  What would be a small sum for us would be a significant sum for them.  But we want to be sensitive, to not appear ostentatious or patronising.  Perhaps that’s our Britishness?  Unfailingly worried about being polite, about doing the ‘right thing’. 

All of that is a long-winded way of explaining why we ended up at the Sugar Man this afternoon.  We had bought some little gifts for Dieketseng, but had learnt from a previous visit that useful household items made good gifts for the family.  The Sugar Man is the trading store that sells the sorts of food rural black South Africans eat every day.  This was nothing like Tescos or Waitrose.  Essentially a warehouse unit, there were no frills and goods were just stacked on racking from floor to ceiling.  That air of chaos which permeates much of African commerce was certainly in abundance.  But the owner (Afrikaans and a symbol of the economic apartheid that seems to pervade longer than the abandoned political apartheid) was very helpful and was keen to ensure we created a box of provisions that would serve Dieketseng’s family for weeks to come.

And this was post-apartheid South Africa in a nutshell.  Theoretically equal, but systemically divided on colour lines.  The Afrikaaner shop owner was full of respect for us, probably the first white customers she had had this year.  Yet she barked orders at her black staff, physically punched one of them at one point and left us embarrassed and awkward that the poor staff had taken this abuse in order to serve us.  When you live in a liberal circle of friends in multicultural Britain, you just cannot understand how someone’s character changes instantly, purely on the basis of skin colour.  And I am sure she didn’t know she was doing it.

Now well-stocked with gifts we were ready to visit Dieketseng and her family. I’ll tell you all about our wonderful reunion in our next blog.

In the mean time if you’ve got any questions for us about South Africa or our trip please feel free to post them below and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Any views or opinions contained in this blog are those of the individual author and do not necessarily represent those of World Vision.

 I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Zimbabwe, but I’ve breathed in enough Zimbabwean dust this week that I feel Zimbabwe will never leave me!  These notes don’t really do justice to such a wonderful week, but I hope they give a flavour of what my sponsor visit was like.  It’s too hard to explain what it feels like to see hope in the eyes of a child, to hear success stories from people close to giving up and to know that my small amount of money each month has something to do with it.   

So, we are gearing up to leave Zimbabwe but have an opportunity to see some of the work that World Vision is doing besides child sponsorship.  This is exciting – I’ve already told you about meeting the beneficiaries of some goats which provide milk, meat and the ability to pay for school fees, and now I’d like to share some other remarkable ventures. 

Community Milling 

We went on to a project where a community have put together a group who organise milling of corn.  World Vision has provided a grinding mill and the community have hired a room and a grinder and they grind maize into flour.  The profits, which are made through charging for grinding other people’s maize, are being used to pay school fees for orphans and vulnerable children in the community.  The community leaders were so proud of what they have been able to achieve due to World Vision that they invited other beneficiaries to come and meet with us. 

We were greeted with Dancing and singing

We were expecting to meet with 6 or 7 people so imagine our surprise when we walked into a room of over 100 people.  They all sang for us and were pleased to stand up and say how they were being helped to look after the orphans of their communities.  Some had been provided with sewing machines and were selling clothes, some had been given goats and some farming supplies and seeds.  All of the people present were working to help others.  We had taken a short DVD to show them how people in the UK were raising money for them, and had a small laptop to show it on.  We had not expected so many people and so while Ian showed the DVD a number of times so that they could all crowd around and see it, Saul and I took the children outside and played with bubbles and balloons with them.  We were ambushed!!  It was a great fun time for us as children of all ages joined in and enjoyed us blowing balloons up and then letting them go while they chased after them!

 A Revitalised Health Clinic

6 ½ years ago we were able to visit a clinic that World Vision had helped build.  The nurses’ homes were built, the waiting area, the surgery and even some houses for expectant mothers to stay in while they waited for the birth of the babies.  Unfortunately it was not being used as there was a big problem with stagnant water and supplying clean water, and also problems with staffing.  I had really wanted to revisit this clinic but wasn’t sure it was possible. 

 Imagine my delight when we drove into the clinic to see washing on the line of the nurses’ station, solar panels to provide a small amount of electricity, expectant mothers staying in the homes and nurses with patients clearly being treated!  The lead nurse explained that they were finally able to open 5 years ago and it was just in time for a bad outbreak of cholera.  Without the clinic, many people would not have been able to reach the next local doctor and would have died.  Having this clinic was a real life saver.  They currently see approximately 50 cases of malaria a week and are able to treat the sufferers who would not necessarily have been able to travel the longer distance to a different clinic. The clinic still has many needs and is overworked due to the massive area it covers and the many illnesses presented, but they are happy and grateful for the opportunity to work in this needy area.

Growing  Young Gardeners

Children tending their garden

Our last World Vision project was one that will remain in our hearts a long time.  All 3 of us came away from it feeling inspired and enthused.  We met a man named Retson and his family.  Knowing that we were to visit, Retson had invited many of his neighbours (remember no-one lives next door, so they all had to travel some distance) so that everyone could learn something from his garden, and meet English people.  A few years ago, Retson had some land on a steep hill in Northern Zimbabwe.  He wanted to farm the land and so, against the advice of the local people, he began to make his hillside flat enough to farm.   This is still a work in progress and will continue to be so for some time. 

He now has an amazing garden full of fruit and vegetables including: avocado, peach, pomegranate, tomatoes, beans, peas, onions, bananas and many, many more things.  He explained how he set up a terraced irrigation system fed by a natural spring, how he plants so that he has natural pesticides rather than using chemicals and how he never burns anything as he uses all natural rubbish as mulch instead of fertiliser.  The other local farmers were having this translated for them into Shona so that they could use the same ideas in their own gardens to make them more profitable.  He is now helping about 20 orphans and vulnerable children (a vulnerable child may have only one parent or may be suffering from a physical disability) by paying their school fees from his profits. 

Simba, one of the keen young gardeners

However, he is not satisfied to give them just the basics of what they need: food, shelter and education.  He has a dream that every child should have something more in life.  In order to achieve this dream, he has set aside one area in the garden that the children are in charge of.  He has planted it with tomato plants and has estimated how many tomatoes should be harvested from that size area.  When these tomatoes are sold, he should be able to afford to send these children on their first ever holiday.  It may only be to the local town (approx. 60kms away) for one night, but as none of the children have ever been there before it will be wonderful for them. 

All of the other neighbours also have children to support through school and they face similar needs to Retson.  The farms are being trampled by cattle due to lack of fencing and those with water are unable to keep fish as small reptiles and large birds keep stealing them.  It is an easy solution for us, but so difficult for them to raise enough money to pay school fees and buy fencing – which one is most important?  For them, they feel the children are!  Retson explained how much of his learning and some of his set up equipment came from World Vision and how he thanked God for all the help he has received.  His son is helping out in the garden so that he can learn to continue this work for many years to come.  We were treated to a meal of local food at the end of this visit and enjoyed having to eat it with our fingers, which is the way they would normally eat!  Great fun this once, but I do enjoy my knife and fork and clean fingers!!

 I hope to be able to share more of my experience with people face to face over the coming months.  A few groups of people have already expressed an interest to hear more and Ian, Saul and I will be visiting them as soon as we can.  If there is more you’d like to know, please ask … and if you ever get the opportunity to visit your sponsored child … GO!

Please do ask if you have any questions about our time here in Zimbabwe. And if you’ve been inspired and would like to sponsor a child you can do it here. Thank you.

In her 4th blog World Vision Sponsor Samantha talks about visiting the school that her sponsored children attend…

Bright and early we set off on our way to the school that our sponsored children Prescilla and Precious go to.  We went via a different area to visit a child called Beauty who is sponsored by a church where some friends of ours attend.  This was another experience!  There was no road OR dirt track to her home and we went off road and just hung on to the car hoping to stay upright! 

Giving Beauty her gift

Beauty’s home was slightly smaller (only 3 huts) than Prescilla’s home, but we were made to feel very welcome.  The weather was quite cold and so we were taken inside where a fire was burning.  Again, the men were given seats and the women were on the floor while introductions were made.  We had been given gifts for Beauty from the church and it was now time to give them over. 

Unfortunately you may remember that one of our bags went missing during our journey to Zimbabwe … this bag had the gift for Beauty in and when we got our bag back, that gift was missing!  We had replaced it as best we could and we still had the letter and photographs to hand over.  These gifts went down very well with Beauty and her family.  We were so privileged to be spending time with this family and to hear how they have been assisted by World Vision.  The parents had quite good English and were keen to extend their thanks to Astcote Methodist Church. 

We left Beauty and headed on to Prescilla & Precious’s school.  As we drove in we saw approximately 120 children sitting outside waiting for us!  This was not what we were expecting as the school is closed for the winter holidays, but these children had come to see the Sponsors!  We were given school desks to sit at as the children performed for us.  They recited bible verses and poems and then Prescilla took part in a choir singing to us and then in traditional dancing. 

The school children at Prescilla and Presious’s school

We were able to hand over gifts for the school and then to share in some chicken in the head teachers office.  This in itself was great as last time we were here the office was out of use as the roof had been blown off and so we had done some fundraising to provide a roof – good to see it put to use! 

I was given some time to talk to the children which was intimidating as my Shona is non-existent and their English is developing at best!  So, with translation I was able to express some of my feelings for the work that the teachers were doing and also to encourage the children in their studies.  The children lined up in their outside assembly area to receive a pencil each from our gift to commemorate the event of a sponsor visiting their school.  I offered the teachers a job swap for a term or two as the opportunity to work in constant sunshine appeals, but I’m thankful they took it for a joke as I’m not sure I could cope with no toilets!!

After saying a final good-bye to Prescilla, Precious and their mother we drove away.  I don’t expect I’ll see the girls again, but I’m hopeful for their future as things have definitely improved for them over the past 6 years and look set to continue improving.  They may not have lots of material goods, but they want for nothing and have prospects due to an education and a healthy start in life.

We got to finish the day with this rather lovely sunset

Later in the day we went to see some children who have benefitted from a project run by World Vision which gives them some goats.  They take the goats, breed them and then sell the offspring or use them for meat.  The project raises money through this and the money pays for the vulnerable children (many of whom are orphans) to go to school.  Speaking to the these children and the guardians who care for them, it was so good to hear their stories and dreams for the future.  The children are all attending a local school and are taking care of the goats too.  They hope to make enough money to buy some cattle and breed them.  There is such a positive feeling here and it is infectious!

If you’ve got any questions for me or my family about our trip or what life is like for children here in Zimbabwe please post them below and we will get back to you as soon as we can. You could also take a look at my previous blog if you want to know more or take a look at our photo album on Facebook.

Samantha Turvey is an enthusiastic World Vision sponsor. She is travelling in Zimbabwe with her family, and blogging about her experience and how this amazing country has changed since her last visit 6 years ago.

In her 3rd blog instalment Samantha tells us about the highlight of her trip so far…

Driving over the dirt tracks and beginning to feel too hot and sticky for comfort ended when we saw the school that Prescilla and Precious attend with 2 of their siblings.  We stopped for a moment to take a look, knowing that we were to visit there tomorrow, when we saw a girl come towards us from the school.  It was Prescilla, who had been there waiting for our arrival.  Her face broke into a wide smile when I jumped from the car and she gave me a big hug.  Immediately I was aware that her English had improved – she was able to greet me and ask me to walk with her to the school so that she could show me her classroom.  She informed me that she is now in grade 7 and was working hard. 

Walking to Prescilla’s classroom – it was a great reunion after 6 years!

I walked with her to the school and around her classroom, where they had obviously been learning about letter writing just before the holidays.  I explained that I also taught letter writing to my class in England and we compared techniques.  After a quick chat and introductions with the teachers, we squashed Prescilla into the car and headed to her home.  It was about 20 minutes in the car to the girls home, which they have to walk everyday to school, in the heat and in the rainy season.  Precious was waiting at the entrance to their home for us to arrive and it was so good to see her again.  Both of the girls have obviously grown over the last 6 years, in height as well as in confidence. 

We were introduced to the whole family, including father, mother, first born child, other siblings and extended family too.  Some friends of the family were also around to meet the sponsors family!  It was a fantastic day.  We were able to extend greetings from our family and give pictures of our family to the girls.  We were also able to give small gifts to everyone that had taken the time to meet with us – this was thankfully expected to be a large number so we had plenty of small toys, balloons, pens etc to go around.  When we had finished this we were taken by Prescilla and Precious and their father to see their land including their gold panning business on the river that backs their land.  On the way back to the home we were taken to see a garden that the girls are tending.  It will provide tomatoes, cabbages and other vegetables for the family to eat and to sell. 
 

My son Saul in front of the river – making sure he stayed a safe distance from any crocodiles though…

Let me describe their fascinating home – it consists of 5 or 6 buildings built traditionally, some circular, some square and with thatched roofs.  They are mainly built of brick and they are very cool inside.  When we are inside them the men get to sit on chairs and the women and children sit on mats on the floor.  Since we visited 6 years ago, 2 of these buildings are new. 

Surrounding the buildings is their farmland.  Last time it was grown up with sugar cane, ground nuts, corn and tomatoes which were for feeding the family only.  This time the harvest has just happened so the area is looking quite bare.  They were able to grow cotton just for cash and still have enough food for the family and some extra for selling.  The family own some goats, which is a change since we last visited.  Last time they only had one goat and we were able to give them a male goat to help with reproduction.  We asked after our goat this time and were informed that it was eaten by a crocodile whilst drinking at the river.  This is a threat to the family whenever they go to collect water or wash there! 

Traditional Handwashing

After seeing their vegetable garden we went back to the home and were thrilled to be invited to eat with Prescilla and Precious.  Their mother washed our hands and then offered plates of small beans for us to eat.  The World Vision staff who were with us explained that it is polite to accept food when it is offered and we were happy to do so.  Just when we were feeling full, we were given another plate FULL of more food.  There was Sadsa, a semolina type of staple food, which has little taste on its own but is very filling, also some rape, which is a cabbage like vegetable, green and quite salty.  We ate as much as we could and were very grateful as it filled us up for the night.
 
As we were leaving we were presented with a gift from the family which was more than we were expecting.  Prescilla and Precious’s father was keen for us to share our journey and visit with others as their family are so happy and thankful for what World Vision is doing for their children.  It was an emotional day, but knowing that we will see the girls tomorrow when we visit their school is a blessing.

If you’ve got any questions for me or my family about our trip or what life is like for children here in Zimbabwe please post them below and we will get back to you as soon as we can. You could also take a look at yesterday’s blog if you want to know more or take a look at our photo album on Facebook.

Samantha Turvey is an enthusiastic World Vision sponsor. She is travelling in Zimbabwe with her family, and blogging about her experience and how this amazing country has changed since her last visit 6 years ago.

Day Two:

As we drive along a road that leads to Zambia we are saddened to see many mangled cars rotting by the side.  We even saw a large articulated lorry just a few minutes after it had landed on its side and the police were just arriving.  Talking of police, there were many stops on the road where police were involved in checking for car radio licences – a bit like a TV licence but needed for every car radio!

A herd of Elephants near the side of the road

The most exciting road side activity though was when we saw a herd of 12 elephants, including a very small baby, just a few feet from us.  We stopped and looked as they walked past, not seeming to mind us at all.  This was just the first of many groups of elephants to be seen walking free.

Geckos are abundant, crawling on walls and ceilings and up trees.  They are many different sizes and colours which makes each one interesting!  Spiders are big but there aren’t many thankfully.  Amazingly we walked out of breakfast today to find 3 zebra eating grass right by us.  We watched a hotel worker walk right past them … so we did the same.  It’s great to see them with no fences, but a bit scary too as we remind ourselves that they are wild animals!

Day 3:

We have arrived at the local World Vision ADP office to the news that our lost suitcase has arrived.  This is great news as that particular suitcase has gifts in for a school where we hope to visit with some teachers and children later this week.  The school gifts have been donated by Staples in Canterbury, OSO in Buckingham, Stony Stratford Community Church and Southwood School, where I teach.  After everyone being so generous we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to pass on these gifts!

My son Saul with the Zebras

We have had the chance to speak with some of the people here to find out about changes in the area since World Vision started working here.  It is encouraging to hear!  Some of the impressive changes are: World Vision are working with the health department to give nutritional information to people; clinics are being opened in more rural areas so everyone has the opportunity for health care; immunisation is more wide spread with the result that infant mortality has dropped by almost 50%!

Day 4:

This is my main reason for being here!  I sponsor two sisters through World Vision.  This started with me sponsoring one girl, Prescilla 10 years ago.  I was able to visit her 6 1/2 years ago and as a result of that visit I began to sponsor her younger sister, Precious.  I know so few sponsors are able to visit their sponsored children, so I am privileged to have been able to come here twice.  This time I am visiting with my husband Ian and my 15 year old son Saul.  The trip to the children’s home takes approximately 3 hours from where we are staying and only 20 mins of that ride is on recognisable roads!!  I feel nervous and excited together and it’s hard to explain just what is going through my head as we travel towards their home.  I’m grateful that it is winter as the rivers are passable, unlike last time when the rainy season meant flooding and danger near rivers.  Winter here is not like winter in UK – the weather is approximately 25 degrees and sunny, there has been no rain since March and we are in short sleeves most of the time.

The road towards Prescilla and Precious’s village

As we travel towards Prescilla and Precious we check that we have everything we need – Gifts for the family, hand wipes and bottled water etc.  Their home has no toilet facilities so we are drinking enough to keep safe, but not too much!  We have asked for packed lunches so the family don’t have to feed us and as we stop to eat something we chat about our expectations.

This is Saul’s first time in Africa and he is fascinated by the scenery and looking forward to meeting a family living in such a rural location.  He is also pleased that the roller coaster ride of a journey has stopped for a few minutes and that we can get out of the heat of the land cruiser for a short while – as are we all!  At 15 and having grown up in the UK he is amazed that they manage with no electricity, no running water, no X-box!!!  He is interested in the way he will be treated as we have been told that men are more highly regarded than women in the rural areas and that respect is a big issue.  We have been practicing a special handshake that is supposed to express respect to those we meet!

Next blog will give all the details of our special visit to Prescilla and Precious and their family – including a few surprises that we really weren’t expecting!

If you’ve got any questions for me or my family andout our trip or what life is like for children here in Zimbabwe please post them below and we will get back to you as soon as we can. You could also take a look at yesterday’s blog if you want to know more.

Samantha Turvey is an enthusiastic World Vision sponsor. She is travelling in Zimbabwe with her family, and blogging about her experience and how this amazing country has changed since her last visit 6 years ago.

Things are changing in Zimbabwe, more cars, more shops, but still no McDonalds! Samantha Turvey, an enthusiastic World Vision supporter, is in Zimbabwe with her family right now and is blogging about her experiences and how this amazing country has changed since her last trip 6 years ago… You can follow her over the next few days as her trip unfolds and her and her family meet their sponsored children.

Day Minus One

I’ve been to Zimbabwe once before (6 years ago), my son who is 15 is visiting for the first time. Getting ready for our flight we talked about what we are expecting to see…

Some friends we made along the way

Wasteland, Deserted places, Lots of white people amongst the black faces, Green lands, People begging, Traditional Clothing, Multi-cultural faces.

We wont have long to wait and see if we are correct!

Day One

We have arrived after a very long flight.  We are tired and slightly stressed after losing some luggage between South Africa and Zimbabwe.  The bag was full of gifts for a local school near our sponsored children. It was great to be met by Edson, the World Vision staff member who is to drive us around to the various areas that are being supported by World Vision.

6 years ago we travelled through Chinhoyi during rainy season.  The views were green and the rain heavy.  We stopped to buy water in a large supermarket which was empty apart from a shelf of water and about 6 loaves of bread.  The journey this time was different in every way.  The view was dusty, brown and dry.  There are trees growing but not many and they are not big.  Lots of areas are blackened by fire.  We were told that these bush fires are small but frequent due to the dry grasses.  We saw several on our journey – some next to the road, some very near homes.

A small bush fire next to the road

We stopped at the same supermarket to buy water – what a difference!  Every shelf stacked high and lots of food to choose from.  We were still met outside by beggars, but the car park was busy with cars and shoppers.  The shops in town were open and busy and there was even a fast food restaurant with its own armed guard.  No McDonalds in Zimbabwe yet though!

As we drove through Harare (the capital city) we saw many changes to what it had been like 6 years ago.  There are beggars still but many, many more cars on the road which means someone is richer!  There are still men cooking and selling corn cobs by the road but now they are joined by lots of different stalls too.  There are shops open and lots of people in and out of them.

We aren’t seeing many people in traditional clothing but it’s amazing to see babies strapped to women’s backs with towels and all sorts of things being carried on peoples heads, including sticks, bags of shopping, suitcases and even a mattress!

If you’ve got any questions for Samantha and her family about their trip or what life is like in Zimbabwe please feel free to ask below and they will get back to you as soon as they can!