Our final days in Matlosane… Monday 12 March 2012

On our last Sunday with Bishop Steve and his family we shared a “farewell and thank you”  meal together.  We agreed how our time with them in the diocese had gone quickly and that there was still so much that we hadn’t seen.  We have some sense now of just how large the diocese is and the scale of travel involved for all those who are ministering, especially in the many rural areas.

Bishop Steve, his wife Brenda with Letlotlo,
Leruo and Gnata, with Ivy their helper 

On Monday 12^th we rose with the family to say goodbye to them … Brenda off to work as Senior Environmental Co-ordinator at a gold mine, and Letlotlo, Leruo and Gnata off to school.  By 7.05am they were all gone.  We loaded up the car and said a big thank you to Ivy who is the housekeeper/family friend/helper for the Diseko family… she was always kind and so willing to welcome and help us…even though our limited Tswana meant that we couldn’t always say thank you very well.

Bishop Steve with admin staff from the
Matlosane Diocesan office.  Ruth (left) and Mable

We then joined Bishop Steve in a final visit to the diocesan office, where we were shown the plans for a heritage site to be built on the ground where Archbishop Desmond Tutu was born.  We met the diocesan office staff, Sonia, Ruth and Mabel  and Bishop Steve prayed for us, for a safe journey, as we left.  We were each given a Matlosane Diocese badge, which we all put on.  Andrew and Sam were especially pleased as it was a bit like a “Blue Peter Badge” …. I had no idea how helpful the badge was to prove on the journey as we met a policeman who was an Anglican too and he recognised the badge.

We arrived safely just after 6pm at Mercy Air and have been resting and enjoying some family time together.  We are so grateful for all we have experienced and encountered in our time in Matlosane – all the people we have met, the kindness care and hospitality.   We will not forget them

Thank you for following the blogs and please carry on following for more details about our links with Matlosane.  Especially, you may like to follow a team of people from Lichfield who will be coming to Matlosane after Easter 2012 to help with some training for Sunday School leaders.

Please continue to pray for the church and people in Matlosane as they face ongoing challenges…and they will pray for us too.  It is exciting to think about where and how God may use this partnership.

Thank you and God Bless

Richard, Rose, Andrew and Sam Westwood

Sunday 11 March 2012...St Andrews Boikutso, near Lichtenburg, (in the north of Matlosane Diocese)

Our final Sunday in Matlosane was spent in different places.  Rose, Andrew and Sam went with Bishop Steve and his family to a church in Kanana, near the town of Orkney – about 20 minutes drive.  I had a longer journey, about 1 hour & 20 minutes to the township of Boikutso, just outside Lichtenburg-

These long journeys and early starts are routine for priests here in Matlosane.  Many of them will have several churches (or chapelries) to visit within the same parish ona Sunday.  The parishes are often huge, so the distances covered can be very large.  They would appreciate our prayers for God’s care for them as they travel

I had no idea where the church (also called St Andrews) was and had arranged to meet the priest, Father Joseph Ngiidi at a petrol station at 7.30am.  This all went according to plan.  I was glad to arrive safely as I had travelled on the same road on which, two weeks earlier a guinea fowl had flown into the windscreen and cracked it when we were in Bishop Steve’s car.  I found myself driving astride the centre line and looking closely at the verge for most of my journey… thankfully the journey went well.

Canon Joseph Ngidi (left) & Father Ghoro Mogami -
Ministers ar St Andrews, Boikutso

Inside St Andrews Boikutso

Having been met by Father Joseph, I followed him to the church and we joined those preparing for worship. The sights and sounds and actions were more familiar now – one of the servers lighting charcoal on which to burn the incense which would be generously used in the service at various points.  My role was to preach and as all the readings were in Tswana I had to take it on trust that the readings I had used were the ones which had been heard by the congregation.  (It turned out that they were)… All the same I listened intently to try to see if I could recognise key phrases (like “Jesus”) which I knew should come at the end of the Gospel reading.

I still haven’t got the hang of the skill of preaching with a translator… unlike Rose’s experience of hearing Bishop Steve with his translator -  I don’t think that the person who translated for me knew me well enough to know where I was “going” with my talk.  Nevertheless I trust that the message encouraged them to trust the Lord Jesus and follow him.

I found that the service was reverend and worshipful and even though most of it was in a language I do not speak –I could especially sense that the Lord was present as we gathered to receive bread and wine in Holy Communion and in the beautiful singing which followed.

After the service Father Joseph and his wife Obertina, took me along with Father Ghoro the deacon for the church took me around the township of Boikutso, The community is perhaps one of the most needy I have come across… 2/3 (66%) unemployment and poor housing for many of the residents means that life is heard for lots of people who live here.  There were (as in all the townships) a collection of tin “shacks” put up at the edge of the “formal” housing… But there were more of them here… without electricity or sanitation… I wanted to take a photo, but I was the driver, and anyway it felt like I would have been intruding. 

This must be such a hard place to live in.  But how good that there is a church here…  St Andrews Boikutso gathers members to worship God, even though lie is hard.  There are talks of using the back to the church for and Internet café, which would help township residents get access to jobs which are advertised on the internet. 

The scale of the problem for communities like Boikutso is massive… politicians have make promises to people in these sort of situations – but they are still to deliver on them. 

Whilst we have been in South Africa there have been, in various parts of the nation, protests and demonstrations involving people living without water and electricity and with poor schools for their children.  It is no wonder that they protest – who wouldn’t, when you can see across the road and work daily with people who have these basics, and luxury on top as well. 

We went on to have lunch with the Masia family (with whom Rose and I & Andrew and Sam had stayed earlier) before I returned to Klerksdorp.  Our conversation over the meal covered the distance which South Africa has come.  Father Ngidi told me of the harsh way he personally had been treated under the apartheid era… “And yet,” he said, “here we are!”  We agreed that it was by God’s mercy that South Africa had not descended into civil war.  It has certainly come a long way…. But there are still such a lot of things to put right, injustices to correct and attitudes to change. 

In praying for South Africa, perhaps we can pray “Lord have mercy” and do the same for the UK too.  We do not know what God having mercy on these lands on their people will look like, or when he will answer that prayer… but we can be certain that His mercy is a good thing to pray for.

Richard

What we believe... Rose... Sunday 11 March 2012

Today I went to St Monica’s in Kanana, a township of Orkney, near to Klerksdorp. I went with Andrew and Sam, the Bishop and his family. The service was mainly in Tswana, but also some English and some Xhosa. The music seemed to have an ‘African’ rhythm and arrangement with a lead singer and group responses.

I was fascinated to watch how Bishop Steve and the interpreter worked together to communicate the message to the congregation; when he spoke in Tswana, she spoke Xhosa, when he spoke English, she spoke Tswana and when he spoke Xhosa, she spoke in Tswana. They switched languages within the same sentence, moving fluidly from one to the other. The whole thing seemed to be organic; the two speakers weaving their speech together. At times, as the Bishop increased the volume and speed of his speech, as for example, when he was emphasising a point, the interpreter would raise her voice too. Sometimes they were both speaking at the same time, overlapping the stream of words. I asked him afterwards if interpreters were selected because they had a particular gift with language. He said that this particular interpreter was lay reader in the church and therefore was a preacher herself; she knew where Bishop Steve was ‘going’ in his sermon and believed passionately in what he was saying. It was therefore easier for her to help him to communicate this to the listeners.

I couldn’t help thinking about my job as a Speech and Language Therapist in the UK. We often work with interpreters to communicate with parents, carers and clients. The therapist and the interpreter need to work closely together. This relationship works well if the interpreter knows where the therapist is ‘going’ with his/her questions or observations. Interpreting isn’t just translating the speaker’s words: An effective interpreter knows the purpose of the interaction and helps to communicate this.

I must have had my Speech and Language head on that morning because I also noticed that I could read the Tswana words in the Liturgy and the hymn book (though the longer words and sentences were difficult for me).  The written Tswana matched the spoken Tswana, so I could read it without understanding it. I could match the responses to the familiar English responses being used at St Andrew’s church in Great Wyrley that morning. This was especially evident in the Nicene Creed, when we say what we believe as Anglicans. It struck me that the Anglican Church is a worldwide church whose members all repeat the same creed in whatever language they communicate in. The last part of the service is when the Minister sends the congregation out ‘in the power of the Holy Spirit to be a living sacrifice’. I realised that that is the most important thing for me…..to not only say what I believe with the world church, as in the creed, but then to try to do what I am then called to do as a result of that belief i.e. to offer my soul and body as a living sacrifice.

It has been such a privilege to take part in the worship of so many Churches in this diocese. I am so grateful to our hosts for sharing their lives with us and in particular their journey with Jesus. The Sunday services are different from each other and are different again from the services I take part in at home, but when it comes down to it we can all say the same creed and we are all trying to serve the Lord Jesus in our daily lives.

Rose

Friday 9 March 2012 A visit to the Apartheid Museum

If I’m honest I can’t say that I was looking forward to going to the Apartheid Museum, when Bishop Steve said it would be a possibility.  The effects and legacy of the apartheid era are all around South Africa – and a day looking long and hard into it was always going to be difficult.

We were not allowed to take photos and without giving a room by room, photo by photo account of the museum it is difficult to portray the day… but I will have a go.

Your ticket has printed on it (randomly) either “white” or “ non white”  and you enter the museum, segregated into different routes.  Sam and I were non white, Rose, Bishop Steve and Andrew were all “white.”  Of course its not fair… but this is the very point.

The museum is filled with photos, video and information points about the set up, development, maintenance and opposition to the policy of apartheid.  All within a concrete and caged setting which seemed to reflect the separation and oppression which were so much a part of apartheid.

A key impression for me was the role that Britain and its empire and economic dominance had in some of the early days of white settlement in South Africa.  The rush for gold and diamonds by British prospectors and the aim  big profits The Anglo Boer war established in many in white South African- a mind set which was one of defiance and embattlement – a kind of siege mentality, which carried on into the 1930s when the rising numbers of black citizens began to be mistreated on a more systematic basis.

It is easy to travel through the museum and mock the ridiculous laws which the apartheid governments came up with- almost as if to say… “we would never do that!”  But the seeds of apartheid are things which are common to all cultures, the lust for power and keeping it – and the greed for money and more of it.    When privileges we have enjoyed become threatened in order to bring about a fair and just life for all… many of us respond in a similar tone to the way that the successive apartheid governments did.

Similar sort of arguments and reasoning are often used to prevent fair trade initiatives, or to defend the arms trade, or of land claims for oil, or for world trade tarifs… even down to the sort of tax systems that we think are fair, or…. or… or   … we can fill in the gaps with our own experience.

In saying this I am not saying that all these issues are the same as apartheid… It’s just that, having been to the Apartheid Museum, you cannot help but make the connections between the recent history of humans in South Africa and the ongoing decisions which our governments and multi-national companies make -  So what we vote for and support with our trade has a significance.

There is a hidden warning to us all here, to watch out for the deceitfulness of wealth and greed and to beware of the addictiveness of power and influence… in our private as well as community lives.

The museum also catalogues the resistance movements against apartheid, both in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.  There are moving sections, including a room with hangman’s nooses in listing the names of the many people who died in custody or were executed in the course of their opposition to apartheid… The official causes of death recorded include entries like “fell against chair during interview and died from head injuries” 

The museum journey also leads though the painful journey between 1990 with the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid and the 1994 elections when South Africa teetered on the brink of civil war.  More people died in this period than in all of the previous era of apartheid.

Yet one comes out of the museum with a sense of hope.  This is because the script of the previous decades has dramatically changed, and since 1994 South Africa has defied the forecasts of doom and, against all the odds found a path of peace.  The truth and reconciliation commission and the role of Archbishop Desmond Tutu is also highlighted.

For me all this speaks of God’s mercy on a whole nation.  Many people worked and prayed for a peaceful way through the troubled times and, whilst the museum makes it clear that there is a long way still to go… a different and good future is possible for South Africa.

We also had time to visit Soweto and see the former homes of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as the Hector Petersen Memorial (a young school boy killed  by police gunfire in 1976 as he returned from school – caught up in school pupil demonstrations against the education reforms which would make Afrikaans the language used for teaching them)

It was a long and tiring day, and Andrew and Sam toggled between shock at the information and being overwhelmed by the volume of it.  But they did well.

If you ever have the chance to go to the apartheid museum… take it.   www.apartheidmuseum.org It gives a sobering and important insight into South African history and into the pitfalls into which all humans and societies can fall.

Richard

Wednesday 7th March 2012- The cost of compassion

Mr Mothupi, Rsoe, Andrew and Sam & Chickens too

Our final day in the area around Delareyville began with a visit to the village of Middleton C, where we went to see Mr Mothupi who has turned his village home and plot into a chicken farm and small holding.  His energy and enthusiasm were infectious as he told us about how he uses his small plot for good.  He buys chicks at one day old, and then feeds them up until they are 5 weeks and then sells them in the local rural villages to people on limited income.  Mr Mothupi has had an eventful life.  He was a freedom fighter during the apartheid era and ended up having to live in exile from South Africa in Uganda… where he picked up farming skills and met his wife.  He was saddened though at the current state of South Africa, how many young people seem content to rely on state grants – or want and easy life, rather than being prepared to work for their income.  There was a sense for me that, though he was proud of his part in the struggle for freedom- that he was said at the way that freedom was being used by some.

We moved on to Sannieshof, about 30km away and met Father Hendrik Mpolokeng one of the priests in the parish of St Justin’s Sannieshof.  He took us, along with Archdeacon Guma to see three different projects which the Anglican Church has, or is developing, links with.

Senior Ladies who sew school uniform

First was a senior citizen’s sewing project… the ladies who gather have a cottage industry which makes school uniform for the local schools.  We were impressed by the design and quality of the clothes they made.  The ladies were proud of their work and the income helps to add something to their state pension.  Once again, there was a note of regret that younger members of the community were not involved , as there was no promise of income – until the clothes were sold- and the work is detailed, skilled and hard- the ladies come every weekday to do their sewing work on high quality machines.

Members of the Boineelo Drop In Home Based Care Team

A few yards around the corner- and we met the Home Based Care Volunteers at Boineelo Drop in Centre.  A  team of 10 unpaid volunteers (men and women) work in partnership with a local clinic to give support to orphaned and vulnerable children, support those affected by HIV/AIDS & other chronic conditions, supporting 305 people. They carry out basic tasks such as cleaning for those who are too sick to help themselves.  The team need equipment such as gloves to be able to do these tasks safely.  Bringing older people to the clinic is a challenge, when there is no wheelchair – sometimes the seniors have to be brought in a wheelbarrow.  A wheelchair is on their wish list. We heard about some situations where vulnerable older people were imposed upon by younger members of the community to give them some of their pension.  Disturbing though this is, we thought of situations in the UK where older people are vulnerable to others in the community.  We realised that social problems which have their root in the selfishness of the human heart, sadly,  will show themselves in every culture.
The team of volunteers are keen to start a community food garden and a hospice… ambitious plans They were encouraged to hear that the Diocese of Matlosane has funds set aside for community gardens and Archdeacon Guma offered to help them work through the process of becoming a Non Profit Organisation (the South African equivalent of a registered charity) so that raising funds could be less hard– we prayed together before we left- asking that God would give them what they needed. 

Emily and Father Hendrik wih the
children who come every day for food

Our final visit was both deeply disturbing and also very moving.  We pulled up outside a regular 4 roomed village house, the home of Emily Badula.  Emily is a primary school teacher- but school had finished by the time we arrived.  There were lots of children in her garden and yard as she came out to meet us.  We heard how since 2006 she has been feeding he vulnerable and neglected children in her neighbourhood, some of whom would otherise go to look for food at the local dump (which we passed on our way to the area).  It started when she noticed children at her school who fainted because of hunger

Emily in her kitchen

– she started giving food to the neediest once a week, from her won pocket- and it has grown to a meal every day for more than 30 children.  Often she does not have money to buy food and will ask, “God, let me get food to feed these children!”… she is known in the local stores who will sometimes give her food when she asks as she is known for the work she does.  Many of the children are at risk and some have been abused by others in the community.  Emily’s work and love stand out as a beacon of light for these children.  All this is remarkable – and Emily was excited and encouraged to see us, welcoming us warmly into her home.  But the strain and of the compassion and need which she feels is great.  When we thanked and encouraged her for the great work of love she does… the cost of her compassion could be seen in her eyes.  She does all this single handed.  Friends have helped, but drop out when there no payment for them.

Father Hendrik and Archdeacon Guma encouraged her to ask the parish council for funding for the next year, and Rose and I encouraged her to believe that this was God’s work and that we would be able to find people who would support the local churches help for her.  Surely this is true religion, to feed orphans and vulnerable children.  We felt sad that though there are many churches of many denominations in the area, that up until now it does not seem that there has been much support for Emily’s costly care.  Perhaps we don’t know the whole story, perhaps there will be more help forthcoming.  Whatever, we were glad that at least now the Anglican Church will be able to encourage its members to be involved in this kind of care- and we are grateful to Father Kendrik and Archdeacon Guma for bringing us to meet Emily and the children she feeds.  We hope thatour promise to Emily to find some support for her in the UK will not be empty… if you are reading this… could you help please?

There was an uncomfortable feeling as we drove away and headed back to Klerksdorp to stay at Bishop Steve’s home… the feeling that we had seen some very sad aspects of South African life today.  South Africa is a beautiful country and it is hard not to love it....Certainly we have met some courageous and faithful people, working at great personal cost – but to only look at these acts of love and courage, would be like focusing on the sticking plaster, when there is a serious wound underneath.

The disturbing questions will not go away – Why are children sometimes treated as a means to a social grant, and then left neglected?  Why do some people prey on vulnerable people?  Why do men act with violence against innocent children?  Why do people (like us) who say we love God, sometimes shy away from the loving acts and involvement to which God calls us. And the questions keep tumbling hrough our minds.  Like all the big questions, the answers to these are not easy or comfortable.  And they are not questions only for people who live in South Africa –

A visit to South Africa holds up a large mirror to our own life and culture… and sometimes what we see is not what we would like to.  I can’t help wondering what I will think and feel about the needs of my own community in Great Wyrley (and the communities I have visited here) when I return home.... And whether  those thoughts and feelings will lead to action.

Compassion is costly.  But if we call ourselves Christians then we are to follow the Lord Jesus and I believe that we will, like Emily in her efforts to feed the children, be given what we need to do the work God calls us to.

Richard

Tuesday 6th March… People who bridge the gap…

Today we have visited so many marvellous people in the Delareyville area.  Here are some of the details...

The home based  care team at Kopela

We visited a home based care project in Kopela where ten volunteers; (six women and four men),  visit 359 orpahaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) in their community. (Many parents work in Gauteng and may only get home for the school holidays, though some do manage to get home once a month).The care workers come from a number of different local churches and receive no pay for their work. They may put themselves at risk because they protect the children from people who might try to exploit their vulnerability. The orphans are grieving for the loss of their parents from AIDS related illnesses but don’t feel they can speak about their pain. The grandparents they now live with are also grieving for the loss of their children. In this situation the role of the care worker might be to be a bridge to help the grandparents understand why their grieving grandchildren have become difficult to manage. The care workers also maintain a vegetable garden to supplement the children’s diet and to support the community. They now have a good source of water and have been able to fence off the garden but still need a hosepipe, a watering can and a wheel barrow.

We felt privileged to share in the hopes of this team. They really are doing a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances. We hope that they can continue to support the growing number of OVCs in their community.

Mrs Magauta Legodi at Lillian Lehetla Special School

Many of the schools in this area are ‘Full Service’ schools. These schools offer support to children with special needs. However when the needs cannot be met in the mainstream setting they can transfer to a special school. We visited a special school called Lillian Lehetla School. This is a popular school for children with special needs and so the Principal Mrs Magauta Legodi has to manage overcrowded classrooms. The school takes children from five years old to eighteen but as there is no nearby provision for adults with learning difficulties, she often keeps them until they are twenty-one. Some children travel 85km (50 miles) by bus to school each day. This means that they arrive very tired and may not get back home until after dark. An occupational therapist comes into school once a week but there is no Speech and Language Therapist, nurse or Physiotherapist. Mrs Legodi’s teaching staff include sewing, woodwork, metalwork and gardening in the curriculum but the teacher will only have one assistant in a classroom of more than 20 and so following individual educational plans is very difficult though the staff attend workshops to update their skills as often as they can. Mrs Legodi and her staff are doing a very difficult job. It is so good to see children with special needs in an educational setting. They seemed confident and happy as I was shown around the school. They have recently celebrated their 25^th anniversary at Lillian Lehetla school. I hope Mrs Legodi will be able to lead them from strength to strength for years to come.

Another school we visited was Manamolela Primary School in the village of Atamelang.  We were greeted by the Principal Mrs Sonja van Niellelle, a passionate and dedicated woman, whose love and commitment for her learners and staff oozed out of her at every turn of the conversation.  We met the reception class … 71 children in one classroom, with two teachers… all seemed calm and purposeful, despite the limited room to move.  Somehow some space was made and the reception children sang for us… with pride and confidence- with vigorous actions.  Here is  short video clip of the song. 

Grade 1 class at Manomolela with Teacher Tshalo Shuenyane

A proud and passionate Principal -
Mrs Sonja Niellelle with one of her pupils
Senosi Motlanke

We called in on the Grade 1 class, with around 32 children, who were keen to tell us (in English) about themselves.  One of the strategies which the Principal Mrs van Niellelle has put in place is to make English the language used for teaching (as opposed to the mother tongue language of Tswana).  This makes Grade 1 a difficult step (hence the smaller classes – others grades rise to 40s) but it means that the children are better placed to carry on learning and able to pass the grades and so progress through the rest of their schooling.  Mrs van Niellellee – shone with an energy and fervour which was such ad force for good.  She is being the bridge (along with her staff) to help her students to better opportunities… it was a joy to meet her.  Thank you Sonja!

Archdeacon Guma with Education Area
Manager Mr Silas Mbiphe

The education theme in our day had begun when we met Mr Silas Mbiphe who is the Area Manager for Education for Greater Delareyville.  (Archdeacon Guma is his deputy, overseeing the secondary section).  Silas is a quietly spoken man, who has a steely determination to make sure to that education for the children in the area is as good as it possibly can be.  And his resolve has produced results… the % of students passing their matriculation exams (like A levels) is excellent, rivalling many private funded school in the province… three schools produced 100% pass rate.   All this in an area where there are many rural schools, with children living on farms.  This makes getting to school hard when rural roads are wet.  Also the parents often do not have e good experience of education themselves and so may not be able to support their children with learning at home.  The energy and commitment of Silas and his colleagues like Dr Guma is impressive and makes the possibility of education being a bridge out of poverty for many children in this area.  It is a long slow job, and resources are scarce…. But the people we met have showed us what a difference individual commitment and determination to make a difference can make.

Principals United

Our final meeting of the day was with three Principals of local schools (three primary and one secondary) who are interested in forming partnerships with similar schools in the Lichfield Diocese.  It was humbling to hear them quietly own up to the real challenges which each of their schools face – as well as sharing the successes of recent times.  Common features were that each of the schools have many learners who are vulnerable children, with parents who have died or are working away in Johannesburg. This brings social problems for the children – an understatement if there ever was one! There are issues in the communities of teenage pregnancy and drug and alcohol abuse…   (sounds sadly familiar to UK ears too)…As rural schools all of them face difficulties for their students in gettging to school in wet weather, since roads my be impassable…in the face of all these issues it would be easy to be downcast, but the principals, Mr Dinoko Mphumela, Mr Mohau Marumoloa, Ms Sarah Mokakale and Ms Esther Mohulatsi – were all resolute about making the difference for the children in their care.  Our role now is to be a bridge for these schools and find willing schools in the Lichfield area who would like to partner with them.

We have been so privileged to meet many other people today and our apologies to them if we have not mentioned them or done them justice… but it has been wonderful to see so many people being “bridges” in the communities we have visited…. So many of them, talking about how they are able to do what they do because of God’s help.  Perhaps there is a message for us in the UK in this… that we should consciously seek God’s help in our endeavours, whatever field they may be in… and then we will find that God gives us “our daily bread” -  what we need for each day’s tasks. 

Lord then please give to us – and all we have met – our daily bread.

Richard & Rose

Monday 5th March 2012- White River, Mpumalanga to Delaryville, Matlosane

A big day today…  we left Mercy Air at 8.30am  and arrived at a guest house in Delaryville in Matlosane at just after 7pm.  We were glad to be met by Archdeacon Marshall Guma – who treated us to our tea at a Wimpy ( bit like a Little Chef restaurant).

A welcome from a Delaryville Sunset

Andrew and Sam have been heroic… over 10 hours in the back of the car (with a couple of stops to help us keep going) – at least Rose and I had the driving to break up the day.  690km covered- I think that’s about 430miles… something like Birmingham to Aberdeen... we wouldn't have tried this in the UK... then again, there is far less traffic here than in the UK.

We were so glad to know we were on the final stages of our journey as we neared Archdeacon Guma’s home town of Sannieshof- about 30km from our destination.  His area covers the south of the Diocese of Matlosane and we will be visiting some church members and projects tomorrow.  He is a warm and personable man, and was on excellent terms with the staff at Wimpy. He was gracious and understanding about our delayed arrival (we had naively hoped to arrive about 5pm). We are looking forward to our two days with him in this area.

We were greeted by a quite wonderful sunset, and the views around the rest of the sky were stunning too, pinks, blues and purples. Thank you Lord – for a safe journey and the views we have enjoyed.

Richard, Rose, Andrew and Sam

Rest at Mercy Air, White River... Saturday 3rd March 2012

 Sometimes, it’s not until you stop that you realise how much you need a rest.  That is a little how we have felt in the last few days.  We have really enjoyed meeting new friends in the Church and communities of Matlosane and have enjoyed wonderful hospitality – but it has been very tiring too.  So we have really appreciated the chance we have had to sleep and rest well whilst here at the Mercy Air base in White River, Mpumalanga.  We have had time to think, write and reflect on our time in Matlosane and it has been valuable to do this.  We have also had time to find out some more about the Mercy Air organisation… and we thought you might like to hear a little about it too.

Pilot -Paul Middelton with one of Mercy Air's planes

Mercy Air is a Christian Charity based in White River, which uses light aircraft and a helicopter to fly people, goods and equipment to remote places in other parts of southern Africa. (A bit like MAF Mission Aviation Fellowship, with whom they often work in partnership).  There is a small grass airstrip and a heli-pad all set in the grounds of a farm.  The farm allows the organisation to offer hospitality too – which we have been glad to make use of.  Most frequently, the users of the hospitality flats are missionaries from Mozambiuque who come for a rest, and a chance to get their cars serviced or have medical needs attended to.

Mercy Air's Helicopter

Mercy Air sometimes will take on commercial hired/chartered flights, so that they can use the income generated to fly others in need at no cost or subsidised rates -  eg medical evacuations.

Every boy's dream!  Andrew and Sam in a "Kit fox" plane
built at Mercy Air (think Meccano but very difficult)

Our friends Paul and Cathy Middleton have worked for Mercy Air for several years.  Paul is a Pilot of the planes and Cathy is a midwife and nurse trainer as well as overseeing the hospitality side of the organisation.

Rose with Paul Middleton Inside the "Kitchen" Container

We have been staying here at an interesting time for Mercy Air.  They have been planning for several years to set up a “remote base” in Chimoio in central Mozambique.  This is to allow them to refuel and have storage and a place to stay- so that they can cover more of the northern remote regions of Mozambique.  This is now nearing completion and another remote station is being planned in Marromeo, Mozambique.   Part of the ingenious plan for this second base involves using converted metal storage containers for living accommodation.  They have been converted here at Mercy Air, fitted out with kitchen, sleeping and washing facilities and will be transported to their new site in the next week.

Looking from the outside, it’s not possible to tell what is inside, but the team involved have been creative  in their work- including air conditioning for the sleep unit  (temperature are often around 35^oC).

The "Sleep" container (with all important Air Con)

The work here is steady and purposeful for most of the time- maintenance, planning, & communication but with an increase in pace when a flight has been scheduled.  Often there will be a sudden surge in activity if a flood or medical emergency demands a fast response – all of which makes the routine planning and maintenance all the more important.

It has been good to see how another part of God’s church is quietly getting on with the job he has called them to… supported by other members of the one church across the world.  If you would like to find out more about the work of Mercy Air then you may want to visit their website www.mercyair.org  or Paul and Cathy Middleton’s blog which is at

www.pcm-mercyair.blogspot.com

We will leave Mercy on Monday 5^th March for an 8 hour journey to Sannieshof in Matlosane and feel well rested for the next stage of our visit.

Richard