The House of Mercy Project

Update

2006-12-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

Last we heard all was well on the home front at Home of Hope. Gogo, Reynelle and the kids are doing well. Unfortunately, a fence has not been put in place, but they are hoping to resolve this problem in the very near future. Maureen continues to deliver fruits and vegi's to Gogo's Gang to help keep their tummy's full.

Some sad news...

We learned hat one of the little boy's, whom we spent a great deal of time with while there, father passed and he is now under the full time care of Gogo. I am constantly amazed by this woman's resilliance and dedication to these children.

Additionally, the child with severe arthritus at Keep Me Safe passed away in November. We hope that he passed quietly and free of the pain that plagued him.

Will provide more updates as they become available. Thank you again for reading this blog and your continued support of the House of Mercy Project.

Home of Hope Needs a Fence

2006-09-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends.

A quick update from the House of Mercy Project...

We received a letter today from Maureen, the woman who brings Home of Hope Orphanage and other local orphanages and shelters daily fruits and vegitables. She has informed us that one of the toddlers made his way down to the local store in the township and got into trouble with a bigger boy. This little one should not have wandered away, alas it happened (and happens all to often in this country).

We are trying to help raise funds to fence in Home of Hope so the little ones are safer. If you are interested in participating in this effort, please send your checks/cash (US Dollars and Checks are accepted) to the following:

Hope of Hope Orphanage
Attn: Ronel Ludick - Director Stand 2861
6 Paschendaele str
Delville
Germiston South
Germiston
Extension 9
1401
South Africa

Phone: 072 376 7787

Home of Hope Update

2006-07-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends.

As many of you already know, we have returned from South Africa. The adjustment back home was an interesting transition for my mother who was there for close to four months, and for me who was only there for 2 weeks. I think we have both learned to appreciate everything we have because there are people out there who don't have the same.

We received an email from Reynell at Home of Hope. It sounds like Gogo and the kids are all doing very well. The windy house is still in tact, with insulation and home comforts. We are thrilled!

A bit of bad news... Angelena, one of the orphans who is 17 months old, was diagnosed with HIV. She is in wonderful hands with Gogo and we hope that she remains healthy.

We will continue to post updates as they become available.

Bye Bye to Gogo's Gang

2006-05-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

We have officially said farewell for now to Gogo and her gang! We plan on offering assistance from home - whether it be fundraising or sending them goodies from time to time. I hope to be able to continue support for these beautiful people.

We are now on holiday visiting a different part of this beautiful country. Refreshing to see that the whole country isn't as desperate as the Jo-berg area, however I am only seeing this on the surface.

As I sit here on a wireless connection in a lovely hotel I am thinking about the villages we traveled through today and how people live so simply. There is something very charming about this lifestyle, though they are up against challenges I could never imagine.

Really makes me take a good look at the trivial things in life I get worked up over and remind myself to stop and just enjoy where I am, because that is what these people do.

I have benefited more from the people here than they will ever know, more than I can ever provide to them.

Sharp!
Cambria

5/8/08 - Shopping for Gogos Gang

2006-05-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today we shopped for Gogo's Gang! We were able to purchase new blankets, pillows and cases, a new set of bunk beds, new mattresses, two sets of drawers and a wardrobe, in addition to a new gas lantern and a alphabet poster for the wall. The day was full but successful and within our budget.

Gogo cried, the kids cheered and helped load the new items into the Windy House. Musa, one of the orphans, refused to bathe and eat. Now, he insists upon doing these things before he goes to bed!

Sharp Sharp friends,
Cambria

5/7/06 - Angelina

2006-05-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Angelina is an orphan that is part of Gogos Gang. She is almost 3-years-old, very small for her age, and it is suspected that she has HIV. She is currently on medication for tubriculosis, which from what I understand is the first medication before giving her meds for the HIV. She is a quiet little thing who will accept a hug from anyone. Gogo told us today that she old responds when spoken to in English and does not speak or respond in Zulu. We visited Angelina today when we went to see the set up at the Windy House. I wish I could take her home with me, but Gogo is a wonderful woman!

Gogo and the kids decorated the Windy House beautifully. We have yet to install the lock on the door, but they were so excited that they slept in it anyway.

After careful examination, we decided to purchase the Gogo Gang another bunk bed as they are expecting four more orphans next week, a dresser and a wardrobe. If the money stretches we may purchase a smaller storage shed to store their goods. We will see how well we wheel and deal.

Sharp Sharp my friends and know how truly blessed we all are!!

Cambria

Sharp Sharp - 5/6/06

2006-05-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

Today we picked up Laina's cousin Sally and headed to the Bramfischer Township (the forgotten township) to participate in the Saturday events. We packed up the car with 15 new blankets, 150 juices, 150 bags of chips and a ton of sweets and took the 45-minute journey into the township.

The township was huge - a labyrynth of dirt roads, children walking the streets and kumbis (a van/bus that is used predominately by the blacks). Anna, the woman who organizes the Saturday events at this township, met us at the entrance to guide us in. She is a beautiful woman who is working with Sally and the government to place an AIDS clinic closer to the township so it is easier with those with HIV to get the care they need. This has been a struggle because, from what I understand, the government recognizes the need but waits for private organizations to beat them to the punch. A typical scenario here.

We arrived at the township and there were a few children already at the event site. Shortly after our arrival, a church group arrived with sandwiches, games and activities, as well as their Sunday school teachers. It was a wonderful little event! Once Sunday school was complete, we sat on the ground and colored with them. One little girl sat down in my lap and fell asleep while the other children plated my hair. It's funny, they like to touch my white skin and my hair because it looks so different from theirs.

In the end we fed all of the kids (we counted 130) - their gratitude is incredible! They chased our car almost the entire way out of the township, with their thumbs up yelling "SHARP SHARP," which means thank you, love you etc. When you are in front of them they will touch your thumb with theirs and say "sharp sharp." Sharp Sharp to those children - they have no idea how much they have touched my life!

On our way home we stopped at Sparrows Village to visit the children. Sparrows is an AIDS hospice, the first one ever in South Africa. The facility is a series of domed shaped buildings, which help prevent bacteria from settling. Our first stop was the baby room. I held one little guy who had just figured out his feet. He was smiley and wanted to be snuggled. I picked him up immediately and held on to him for some time.

After visiting the babies, we vistited the playground group. There was a small group out there with their families. All of these little kids ran up to us wanting to be held. So, one by one, we picked each of them up. They were beautiful and happy. Hard to believe that they are as ill as they are.

Tomorrow we are going back to Gogo's to assess the needs of the Windy house. We suspect we will need to get some new mattresses and additional bunkbeds. I love going to see Gogo's Gang!

Sharp Sharp my friends!!

Cambria

5/5/06

2006-05-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

I arrived this moring at 9 a.m. The day has been full and my life already forever changed.

After a quick visit with the shower and breakfast, we were off. We brought sweets (candy)to the street kids near Mercy Haven. They have this beautifuly gesture with their hands that signify thanks in Zulu. They waved and hugged - they are filthy, but how can you not hug back. That alone was enough to fill me up for the day.

We also visited the Keep Me Safe home and I met two of the children. One little guy with severe arthritus and is suffering from hardening kidneys. He stayed in his cozy bed but gladly accepted the sweets we brought him.

After the visit to Keep Me Safe we went to a homeless shelter nearby that was formerly a high-security women's prison. I met a family of 4 - Johan (dad), Pooppi (mom), Lianna (2-year-old) and Carol (6-month-old). Johan was hired to do some plastering in House of Mercy and has remained a good friend to my mother. He and his family are incredible!! We brought them a barbeque, briquettes and lighter.

The highlight of my day was the visit to a township in Tedsonville where I met Gogos Gang - an orphanage associated with House of Mercy. Here, a part of the money we raised at the Progressive Dinner Party was used to put up a structure called a Windy.

A Windy is essentially a large, raised, wooden shed. Here, 8 children will be able to sleep in their own beds comfortably. Today the bunk beds were going to be installed, but that didn't stop the orphans from coming out to see us. We gave them sweets and toys and played with them until the sun went down. We took lots of pictures, they love the camera, jumped, played, snuggled - pretty much acted like a little kid. What an incredible South African welcome!!

The woman who watches over these children (about 20 or so) is called Gogo - Zulu for grandma. I loved her immediately! She was out playing with us, snuggling 2-year-old Angel, who is HIV positive, on her back in a blanket. Renelle, a white South African, has been working with Gogo to establish appropriate living conditions for these orphans. Renells is only 22-years-old and is adopting 8-month-old Daniel. She is incredible and we plan on visiting again on Monday.

I am so wiped out as I have been traveling for over 24 hours straight, so please forgive my sloppy writing. But I wanted to share my incredible first day! Tomorrow we are visiting the forgotten township and bringing sweets, toys and other goodies to 106 children. I am very excited!

Much love and thanks for all of your support!!

Cambria

Progressives Fundraiser

2006-04-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everybody who attended and donated so generously at this evenings fundraising event to benefit the House of Mercy Project! Tears came to my eyes and chills ran through my body on several occasions... Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I was able to call my mom when I got home... it was 9am South Africa time, midnight here. She was so excited to hear of the outpouring of love and generosity from Long Beach and promises to put all of this money to bettering the lives of these women and children who touch her life everyday! And you all have touched our lives in more ways than you will ever know!

We promise to send photos and updates as they become available (and when we find internet access). I look forward to seeing you all at the next Progressive Dinner Party.

Many, many thanks!

Cambria and Sally

Monday April 10th

2006-04-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

So today we delivered a couple of things to Mercy Haven and had a chat with Beverly. Mamma Tembi (Tammi) has left with daughter Julia to somewhere. Shame, she does not know or care where Tracy is!!

Off to the hospital to see our little chap. They said we couldn’t visit at the guard gate then ran us down and said it was okay. Just do not understand protocol at these places. We ventured into the hospital with Maureen but the lift was still not repaired so she stayed downstairs. Up the four flights of stairs again.

All new kids in ward 12 but our little guy is still here. Today we brought stickers to brighten the rooms. Head sister (nurse in charge) says go ahead but not to go into isolation.

We saw our little guy first just laying there. He smiled happily to see us but did not move. His IV was out and he was eating a cookie. The head sister said he would not be going home soon. We learned that his little kidneys are turning hard – don’t know what that condition is but not good in any case.

The nurse changed his diaper while I stood by. She said she was relieved that it only contained urine. Not sure what that means but assume it meant no blood. What a said little case. Mom doesn’t want him. Goes to a strange place to live with his brother and two sisters only to be taken away because he is gravely ill. Can’t imagine what will happen to him. We will continue to see him as long as he is close by.

Took the new clothes to Keep me Safe. What a joy – we had put everyones name on the parcels with the clothes and shoes inside. Thankfully no one was left out. They were thrilled. Probably the first time they had ever received “new” clothes. They all put them on for a photo session. Two pair of boys shoes too small. Two pair of jeans for the girls were too big. They were afraid to tell us of the misfit for fear that they would not get replacements. We assured them of the contrary and immediately went to the store for new purchases. Success!

Friday April 7th

2006-04-11T11:35:00.001-07:00

In order to get into the hospital, we are armed with our 44 stuffed animals (they call these soft toys) up to the guard shack. Thankfully the same guards are there that we had praised last evening for allowing our entrance. We were even allowed to park with the doctors.

Lift (elevator) still not repaired we dragged ourselves up the four flights of stairs. The place was buzzing with people this morning including prisoners dressed in orange and chained walking with guards thru the reception entrance.

On the fourth floor there were three other ladies. One doctor, one intern and one nurse with all 40 or so patients. We met our little man and were greeted with a smile before tears of wanting to go home. Brought him a stuffed lion to replace or add to his pink teddy bear. He accepted gladly then informed Laina that the little girl next to him had cried all night.

The doctor spoke to us briefly and advised that he was in for viral meningitis and pneumonia. He is on a 7 day IV treatment and that if he improves, he will go back to Keep Me Safe on Monday. Seems like anything with the work meningitis belongs in isolation but I’m not a doctor.

We circled the various wards with permission and delivered the stuffed animals. The older kids (8-10) smiled and thanked us. The little ones did not have much reaction.

The intern was a white gal who said they just need love. We were reluctant to touch them because we have no idea what diseases they may carry and the hospital has no facility to keep the kids apart. One small baby was obviously severely burned and was just wrapped in a fake fur blanket.

Diapers were soiled and dripping with feces as no one has had the time to clean them up. We could do this task but were afraid of the diseases so we did no. Hard to walk away from that but we did.

Thursday April 6th

2006-04-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Thursday Maureen and I did the bread pick up 6:15 am – only 80 loaves today. It will have to do .

We purchased the balance of clothes and shoes for the Keep Me Safe kids 12 sets in all. Shoes for each – sweat suit for each, jackets and jeans for the two teenage girls. Total bill less than 200.00 us dollars. This is where the dollar is extremely powerful but buy an inck cartridge for the HP printer 65.00 us dollars ykes.

Our list from Rebecca does not make sense as there is a toddler boy on the list and we have seen no toddler boys at that facility. Again this is not unusual as nothing seems to be as it appears.

We learned our little arthritis girl from Keep me Safe was hospitalized so we decided to pay her a visit. We had a picture of her from McDonalds and a pink teddy bear for her to cuddle.

Government Hospital urine and feces on the ground by the front door. We had arrived at 5 PM at the suggestion of the hospital as they said we would have to leave by 7 pm. It gets dark at 6:30 so we hurried. Had to park a block away from the front door. Guards at the door said we couldn’t go in unless it was our child. We begged and explained about our orphan and they finally let us in. 4th floor ward 12.

Upon enterance, we found no one – no one!! Found an elevator that was of course out of order. Trudged up the stairs one flight and found one girl who said we were not on the first floor and to walk up to the 4th – we huffed and puffed.and finally reached the 4th floor. Maureen had planned then declined to go with us thank goodness. She would have never made it.

Well we finally found ward 12 by a few brief signs on the wall. Again no receptionist or anything. We had a name that did not match any name we had previously been given. This is not uncommon as in the Keep Me Safe homes they identify kids with different names for their protection.

We just started going in none room after another looking for our little girl. Approximately 10 beds to a room – dark and hot. Babies with bigger kids maybe 8-9 years old. IV’s handing on nails on the wall. No one crying just sitting or lying in a crib with dirty linens. This is a hospital.

Finally we say our little girl in a room sitting in diapers with an IV. We exclaimed “there she is”. Promptly a friend of another patient said. That is not a girl I just changed him and it is a boy!!! Like we keep saying they all look alike.

He looked up with his sad eyes. Laina spoke to him in afrikanns and he responded especially after she reminded him that we had taken him to Mc Donalds. He actually smiled. Said he wanted to watch TV and that he wanted to go home.

The nurses were busy so they told us to move him where he could see the TV and to move him with his linens to the other bed. His linens were terribly soiled so we found some cleaner ones and made a bed and moved him IV and all.

His poor little legs do not even bend. He kept telling Laina that his knees hurt. They were all swollen with arthritis. Then he cried and cried because he wanted us to take him home. Interesting that he did not put up his arms and cling like other children we have met. He just cried and begged us not to leave him there.

There was a little girl 6 in the bed next to him that we asked to talk with him when we left to help him understand. She was in with a nasty broken leg where her aunt had driven the bakkie (truck) over her. Hopefully it was an accident. She was proudly going to leave the following morning with her pink crutches.

Sadly we left with only the sound of him crying in the background. We will return in the morning and distribute the last 44 stuffed animals that we brought from the US. Hopefully we will be able to get in again.

Friday morning we are off to Savanna Lodge with Cousin Vicki and fiancé Paul. Before leaving the area we make a stop at the hospital to see our little man.

Weds. April 5th

2006-04-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Went to see Tracy today – marvelous experience. Sharon and Grant McGill have dedicated their lives to raising teenagers much against the system’s wishes. They have a home in Benoni (birthplace of Charlese Theron) 20 children total. Tracy is in such a safe wonderful situation. I am so pleased.

All twenty children were there. You did not hear a word of anything but respect to one another. Each had their duties and the home ran like a well oiled machine. Immaculate home, every room spotless and decorated in bright cheery colors. They have 8 girls and 12 boys. The oldest boy still living there is 21. He has become a master chef being nearly totally blind.

Their concept is to have a family environment working together, playing together. They have a little business in the garage and workroom where people bring their children to learn pottery and carpentry. The wealthier people pride themselves in having their children take classes from the McGill’s.

They also are getting ready to market a toy made of wood that a child can make into a variety of toys and paint themselves.

They have a huge lot – probably 3-4 acres. This week is Spring break so the agreement with the children is that they will all work for four days then they will have the balance of the week for play. They were all working to clear the back of the lot. They have had this property for four years which had squatters on it when they moved in. They allowed the squatters to stay in the back structures until recently when they began renovation of them. They are hoping to have places where the older children can find a bigger sense of independence.

They have adopted the youngest girl there Porsha she is four. She had been kidnapped since the adoption and amazingly her kidnapper (her biological father) contacted them to buy her back. They did. They say that God paves their path and you can’t help but believe it.

They have had a child for a rather short period of time now who had been brought up with animals. Though he is chronologically 11 years old, his behavior is that of a five year old. They say this is not their first experience like this and are confident that he will adjust over time.

Interesting view I have not thought of that Sharon pointed out. Babies in these situations are cute and warrant a lot of attention. Girls as teens get a lot of protective attention because of pimps. The boys are rather left out. These kids at there home if they were on the street would invite the intrusion of the glue sniffers, drugs etc.

They invite the children to stay in their home as long as they wish as long as they follow house rules. No slacking. All attend school and grades are rewarded with television privileges. Those not making grades get private tutoring by Sharon and Grant.

These folks are given a lot of clothes etc. That was an interesting conversation as well. They do not store anything of this nature for the future. The children look over donations and if there is something they like, they can take that item but they must give up something that they have in return. They only keep what they use. Each child has an adequate neat arrangement of clothes and that is it.
They told us their expenses are 50,000 rand per month and they manage. They asked us for nothing.

They own completely their property. They have everything in a trust account so that if anything happens to the two of them, the business so to speak continues. Their children are older and confidently would maintain what their parents started. It was really an inspirational experience.

We spoke with them about the adoption procedure for Laina’s friends and they too are putting their feelers out but were disappointed to tell us that the “system” almost would put a child on the street before allowing them to be adopted. Crazy when there are so many orphans here.

Upon our departure we revisited Palco (veggie man) and set up a new photo shoot date for Tuesday at 5:30 PM. We’ll see if they show.

Tuesday April 4th

2006-04-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday April 4th

We learned today that Johnny is a no for adoption – apparently his father is still in the picture and refuses to allow him to go even though he does not participate in . We got two numbers of adoption attorneys maybe one of them will work out.

We made more peanut butter sandwiches last night for the street kids across from Mercy Haven. These little kids wait on the curb when we arrive in anticipation of a treat. Well today we brought sandwiches, juice and cookies. The came one by one and thanked us in their native way. While feeding the kids the police arrived with notices they posted on each of the houses. They are to leave by tonight or will be taken into custody.

This is not doubt the last time we will see these children. They will probably join other squatters on the streets of Reiger Park. These little guys will probably never see the inside of a classroom. Tragic is the only word to describe them.

The mothers always seem to be around watching their young ones. Whenever we provide treats there seem to be a group of men/boys that surround the area. I feel they are looking to take anything of value that we might give the children such as coins to exchange for alcohol or drugs.

There was an article yesterday that probably prompted the police to take action referring to the pimping and drug use by these neighbors and how negative it is to the Mercy Haven children and the Keep me Safe children. Rightfully the rif raf should be removed but you can’t help thinking of those adorable innocent children that have greeted us with waves and smiles and throw kisses good bye. Remembering just 7 short weeks ago they were scared to death of us and would never smile. Hopefully we created a few good memories for them.

We found where Tracy is now staying and we will visit her tomorrow. Having been abruptly removed from Mercy Haven has created a “sore heart” as Bev says. I have printed many pictures of her and we will go see where she is staying and make arrangements to keep in touch in the future.

The lady who has taken her in is Sharon McGill. She has 4 children of her own and 16 foster children. She and her husband built a huge home for children such as Tracy to provide a safe consistent environment where she will remain until she graduates from at least high school or maybe college and is able to go on her own. This is a blessing for Tracy.

The Mc Gills will not get any foster parent funding for keeping Tracy for two reasons. One is that she can only be paid for 12 children and she has exceeded that limit. Secondly, Tracy is from Zimbabwa which is a different country and is not covered in this system. Sharon says even if there is no outside sponsor to help with Tracy’s needs that she and her husband will never turn her away.

Today was our big photo shoot with Fargo the veggie man and his girls. Rude awakening after Maureen getting free veggies for two years from him we learned that his name is Palco not Fargo. We had an appointment at 5:30 only to find the whole place locked up and no one around. Welcome again to South Africa. Tomorrow is another day.

April 1 - Trip to McDonalds

2006-04-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Paste the following link into your browser for a photo show of the House of Mercy/Keep Me Safe field trip to McDonalds. For many of these women and children, this was their first trip to McDonalds.

http://www.photoshow.net/scripts_main/build/player.php?show=VrrPcUDcf

McDonalds – April 1st

Today was the day – 34 in total 12:30 we arrived – what a hit. Mc Donalds should be commended they were delightful to work with. We had an area blocked of by the playground. 34 happy meals with sodas were distributed then toys for each followed up by ice cream cones and face painting. Total cost 920 rands about 150.00 US worth every penny.

Interesting outcome from today. Laina has some friends in Arizona who would like to adopt a 2 year old boy. Laina was talking with some of the ladies and surprisingly Sharon, Johnny’s mommy said for her to take Johnny.

Much to our surprise!! She says that she cannot afford to put her two girls in school (8-9 years old both born in the same year) much less afford to bring up Johnny. She says she is serious and she spoke to Rose and Beverly. We all left telling Sharon that Johnny would have a fabulous life in America with some fine people and good education. She will give us an answer soon but it just may all work out.

Rose also approached me looking for a sponsor for Tracy. Tracy is 14 should be in 9th grade but is only in 7th due to the fact that she has never been in the same school for a full school year.

Tracy is a beautiful black girl. Her mother does not want her anymore and apparently Tracy does not want to be with her either. Tracy is going into foster care tomorrow or Monday. Rose asked us to meet with the foster parents. They are open to keeping her thru high school but they want sponsorship to pay for the schooling and uniforms. Hopefully sponsorship is not far away.

Tammy, Tracy & Julia’s mom will be moving on her own shortly. She is the lady who makes shoes for a living. She mentioned that as soon as she gets a sewing machine that she will be able to start her own business and sell shoes at the flea market, We are considering buying her a simple machine to help her out.

At our party we had the four new kids from Keep me Safe. What a sad situation. Their mother abused them. They are so withdrawn – they do not even know their names for sure. They had a good time today but only reserved smiles. Such a sad deal

Monday we went for a meeting at Mercy Haven to discuss Tammy, Tracy’s mom and Tracy and Johnny. For starters we learned that Tracy was removed yesterday due to her mother Tammy beating her and kicking her. She was taken to the new foster home. Bev says no one has ever seen Tracy lash out at her mother but her mother turns on her continuously.

I may sponsor Tracy myself as I feel she deserves the best. She is a delightful

House of Mercy Fundraiser

2006-04-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Please join the Long Beach Progressives at Biggs in Belmont Shore for cocktails, great conversation and learn about the House of Mercy Project on Friday April 28th, 6:30 p.m.

This is a small, no-host bar event. For more information or to RSVP, please contact fiveprogressives@yahoo.com

To learn more about the Long Beach Progressives and how you can start your own Progressive Dinner Party in your community, visit www.progressivedinnerparty.org

Thank you in advance for your support!!

Various Photos From South Africa

2006-04-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

Jungle Gym/Play Ground Equipment

2006-04-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

The new jungle gym at Mercy Haven!!

Boksberg Advertiser Article - March 24, 2006

2006-04-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome to House of Mercy!!

2006-03-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

Meet two-year-old Saiza and his friend Maureen. How could you not love a face like his?

Saiza lives in House of Mercy orphanage in Boksburg, a very poor town in South Africa outside of Johannesburg. He lost his parents to AIDS and he, too is infected by the HIV virus. This little boy has seen a lot of tragedy in his short 2 years of life; tragedy, hopefully, many of us will never know in our lifetime.

Sadly, this scenario is not uncommon in South Africa. Nearly 25% of the South African population is infected by the HIV virus or dying from AIDS. Every day on the continent of Africa an average of 6,600 people die from AIDS, 8,800 people are infected with the HIV virus and 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth or from their mother’s milk.

In February, two American women, Sally and Laina will be moving to Boksburg to begin a six-month stint of work at the House of Mercy orphanage and Keep Me Safe home for battered women and their babies. They will be taking much needed cash donations, clothing and lots of love.

The following blog is a journal of their adventure written by Sally. If you are interested in more information, please email houseofmercy2006@yahoo.com.

Helpful Websites:

AIDS Foundation South Africa
www.aids.org.za

Starcross Foundation
www.starcross.org

AVERT - AIDS Orphans
www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm

Sparrows Village Project
www.sparrowvillage.org

March 24, 2006 - Braamfischer Township

2006-03-29T22:57:00.000-08:00

Saturday's party was a hit – Friday evening we spread peanut butter and jelly on donated bread 140 of them – packed in sandwich bags each with one of Maureen’t home baked cookies –

We had party bags separated for boys, girls, and toddlers all with goodies we had divided as equally as we could from donations from home – crayons – coloring books that we separated (thank you Diane Swanson) mirrors in girls, paper airplanes, beads, stickers – you name it we packed it.

We had included packets of juice and popcorn in the packets. If they do not have anything to eat during the week – the juice and popcorn will give them something until next Saturday.

We left at 7 am to join cousin Sally at her home then off to the township. Bad news it was drizzling.

On arrival the kids started arriving including our little guy from two weeks ago who disappeared and returned with the single shoe still in tow, well guess what this little guy is a girl now named “Shoe”. She came running and was soaked from head to toe but did have on tennis shoes. We found a mother figure who took charge to get some warm dry clothes on looking like a girl with flowers on her jacket.

People from a church arrived to guide them thru some ball kicking and ring around the rosey. It started to rain – then pour – no shelter – we picked up the black plastic that was on the ground and everyone huddled. They all knew that food was to come so they did not care that it was raining.

Since we had packed everything individually we decided it best to distribute the packs and sandwiches and allow the children to take them home. We organized lines of boys – girls – toddlers. The flood gates opened – seemed like the lines grew but believe it or not we did end up with just barely enough bags for each child. I kinda think just maybe we had a couple of repeats but all was well.

The kids were so eager to see what they had received and eat the sandwiches that they stood in the rain with smiles on their faces.

Some of the mothers or grandmothers had huddled in Anna’s one room house to await the completion of activities. I had some extra combs, juice and loose popcorn in a box that they were all to pleased to take.

This was an extremely gratifying event. As we drove away the children were heading to their respective homes but they chased the car to touch us and thank us. Their symbol of thanks is to rub their thumb against our thumbs and say “sharp sharp” real quickly.

There were two girls there Saturday who had been gang raped. One, 8 years old apparently lost her mom, who knows if there was ever a dad, maybe just a sperm donor. This little girl was brought to Braamfischer to live with her grandma “Opa” who allows her to be raped every day. She is extremely withdrawn and truly looks pregnant if that is possible.

We certainly could not remove her from this environment but feel that she belongs in “Keep me Safe”. Maureen is going to speak with Rebecca to see if something can be done. There is just so much of this that goes on.

Right there after the party stood a black man with a police symbol on his jacket. We spoke with him and his reply was “I’m just a part time police officier”. What the heck does that mean? We again left shaking our heads.

Back to Samaritaan Huis – we have made the collective decision not to participate in their cause anymore. Sad to say but we have no sense that the things we have given and thought we wanted to give will ever meet their destination. The need for basics for the children is so great but the adults have no pride and no care to feed their children first but to rather buy booze and drugs. Very unfortunate for the children. The children need to be removed from the environment entirely but that is totally beyond our control.

We had gone over there on Friday afternoon, Minnie wanted us to buy a bed for a gal who had a bed last week but allowed a man in the house to sell it as well as a dresser. She took us into a house that had two women and 4 children – absolutely disgusting. They were morbidly obese sitting on chairs smoking. (Where do they get that money) We literally had to fan the flies to get into the house. It was so filthy. I’m sorry, you can be poor but you can still be clean.

For Saturdays party we were given 120 packets of instant soup that we really did not need for our party so we were going to leave them with Anna. However, when we had arrived at cousin Sally’s we learned that Sparrows were forced to dispose of tons of packaged foods that had been provided by Pick and Pay that had expired dates on them. This was disastrous as the majority of food products they had been getting were of this nature. They don’t know what they will do so we gave them the soup.

We ventured to Kimberly over the weekend to visit where Laina was born and parents had owned a hotel. We visited the infamous “big Hole” where the hope diamond was found – interesting.

Our trip there was exciting as we learned the true meaning of “potholes” man alive the potholes from the rains were like driving thru land mines. Picked up a few souvenirs to haul home and had a good time. I negotiated for a wood fisherman that a man was holding on the side of the street. Got a good deal 150 rand about 22.00 US – he put it thru the window to me – it weighs a ton. I have concerns that the 70 pound weight limit will be in one bag. Of course when I proudly brought it in the house, it was so crooked that it will not stand up on its own. Handiman Can, Steve will certainly work out something if I can get the bloody thing home.

Came home to three more parcels – 9 in all – think that is about all we will get. These were full of stuffed animals and more newborn clothes. We’ll find homes for everything shortly.

Update on three of the kids from our visit to the township on Saturday. A twenty old gal that I was unaware of her being beat and raped plus the two little girls spoken of earlier – due to our pursuit, have been removed from the township. It is our understanding that protective services came to the township after our call and took the girls. We had contacted both Mercy Haven for the twenty year old battered woman. Keep me Safe has room and have been in contact for the two little girls. They will be evaluated at the hospital and most likely will be placed at Keep me Safe. This may be our best effort since we have been here. There are so so many children in this same state of affairs. If we can help one, I will be pleased.

We stopped by Keep me Safe to get a head count for Mc Donalds and met 4 children that lost their parents last week 9,7,2,and 8 months. They are scared to death. We gave them some stuffed animals but nothing right now will replace their parents. They will join us at McDonalds.

Picked up veggies from Fargo – what a delight – the workers are a kick in the pants. They just love us because we take their pictures. Fargo and his wife and 2 children will also join us and McDonalds. He gives so much to the kids thru Maureen that we wanted to be sure to include them. We gave him 18 new T-Shirts compliments of Churm Publishing – they were thrilled.

March 18 - 19, 2006 - Samaritaan Huis 39

2006-03-29T22:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new project Samaritaan Huis 39.

There are 71 children in surrounding houses each with one bedroom, bath and kitchen. The lady on the right is Minnie who’s passion is to feed all of the children and their families in the neighborhood, most of which only eat 2 or 3 times per week.

Many of these kids do not attend school because they must have proper shoes and uniforms to attend and there are simply no funds to help. Note in the picture are some of the shoes we brought from the US.

We have spent $340.00 to provide food and soap that Minnie first requested. There is a newborn baby who is not nursing who we brought formula, diapers, bottles and a couple of sleepers for. We will learn morn tomorrow as to what we can do for them long term.

We returned the Samaritaan Huis to get details. We first learned that they are registered non profit which has benefits. They were receiving veggies and dispersing them to those who had arrived.

A lady who had passed away left funds for her daughter to use to help Samaritaan Huis. She is building a block building for storage behind Minnie’s House to sort and store donations, Frank and Minnie will then give the neighbors shopping rights i.e. 100rand value slip and they can select what they need from clothes to food for their home. This will reduce waste as some just take because it is there.

We met the family of the newborn girl, Bernadette. At first they were reluctant to talk with us though Frank, Minnie’s husband brought us in. They were understandably afraid that we were coming to take their baby away and that we were from Welfare Services. The place was a disaster and the father was real cocky.

After showing our US identification, he allowed us see the baby then he did not want a picture taken. He settled in and spoke a few minutes. Then he asked us to bring more formula for his baby tomorrow. We of course said yes.

On our way back to Minnie’s house Frank advised that the father of this child just got out of prison and is awaiting trial for double homicide. I guess he had beat the mother while pregnant and was taken to jail. Frank told us that we should bring the baby formula to Minnie as this father would sell it for drugs and alcohol. My mind has traveled to the extent that maybe he would sell that precious baby.

March 19

Rain today so we decided to help Maureen deliver bread since we have the only car running today. Went to the Samaritaan Huis and met with another “emergency”. We were frantically met at the car by Minnie with a sick child who is lactose intolerant and hungry so they fed the baby milk. He had vomited and broken out in a rash and was starving. They asked us to fetch some soy based formula which of course we jumped in the car and off we went. Two cans of formula costing 85.99 rand each (about 14.00 US) that no one had money for. They were extremely grateful and tears fled. What in the heck would they have done if we hadn’t come. I guess they just operate on a prayer.

We left there to get to our friends at Mercy Haven to deliver bread and say hello to Johnny and Beverly – that is a real treat as they know who we are. We then went to Keep Me Safe which I have preached that they are good to go, and they are as far as things. Three kids were there when we arrived that came running with smiles and arms in the air. One little boy (probably 5) ran up to me and grabbed my legs. Smiles, I spoke to him and he said nothing but hugged and hugged. As he walked away Rebecca told me that he can hear but cannot speak as his tongue was cut out when he was a baby. What in the hell happens in this world. I don’t understand. All these babies want is love.

Off we go now to make cookies for our street kids party – we have been packing and separating coloring books crayons sweets etc into packages for them. We will make popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches tomorrow to complete their bags. Pray there is no rain.

March 17-23, 2006

2006-03-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

We did some running around today with Maureen and delivered a few more things to the Mercy Haven - more playground equipment, five more duvets and a little swimming pool.

We played, as usual, with the kids and moms and had a photo shoot. One of our favorite groups - Tammy mom, Julia and Tracy, beautiful girls - advised us that they will be leaving the end of the month. They have been there nine months which is beyond the recommended stay. They so seem to enjoy the place but must be moved on to another shelter. Tammy will complete her skills training in two weeks. She now makes beautiful shoes and has been learning how to market them. I learned she also has a 19 year old son who has secured a job and a flat not far away. He feels he should support his mom and sisters but Mercy Haven is attempting to convince him that he should take care of himself and not feel responsible. All are HIV positive.

A new woman came to the shelter with her seven-month-old baby boy. They are adjusting slowly. I was told today that she had been going to college and was just a semester away from obtaining a degree in mining when she found herself pregnant. Her father kicked her out because he said he sent her to college for a degree, not a grandchild.

Since being pregnant and giving birth, she had been staying with friends. The father made threats to the friends, so she left there with a man who started beating her and her child. Fortunately she has ended at Mercy Haven. Rose says they are hopeful the welfare services will allow her and her baby to stay at Mercy Haven until she completes her schooling.

When we were at Mercy Haven a few days prior, all of the kids from the empty dirty houses were laying on blankets in the front yard, which is all dirt, so we gave them a few sweets. Needless to say they are now watching for us as we told them we would be back.

When we arrived today with our hands full, an older boy, maybe 19, approached me and asked for sweets. We did have them but I did not want to approach the crowd alone so I told him we would be back shortly and he backed off.

I am fearful in this area and there are drug dealers and pimps that live there with an abundance of children. I cannot imagine the condition these people live in. My understanding is that because they are black, they have squatters rights and no on can remove them.

After out visit at Mercy Haven we went to the children with our sweets. We had suckers, and small packs of treats. They came from everywhere. As we gave each child something, they did a little ritual as they do not speak English. This was their Zulu thank you. They patted their hands together almost in prayer then separated their hands swiping upward under their chin.

A side note, prior to crossing the street, I noticed one of the little girls who was there with a lady who had a chalk substance on her face. The little girl was 5 or six, took off her panties, squatted , did her business, mom helped put the panties back on and sat down and continued whatever she was doing. Did not even move away from the blanket. What conditions to live in! Surprising later on a return drop there were clothes on a line suspended between two trees. I wonder where they wash clothes?

We were out of time as we were to go to Cinderella Prison today but will attempt to go there tomorrow. This was a women’s prison which is now a homeless shelter.

March 18^th

We went to Cinderella Prison after delivering bread to a lady named Minnie in North Boksburg. Well we fell in love with Minnie and her cause.

She lives on Sky Street – she is white and lives there with her husband and severely retarded sister. Minnie and her husband literally feed the neighborhood. Maureen delivers bread there weekly and she disperses it evenly to all of the neighbors, black and white.

In this community, the people all live in one bedroom homes with a bath, kitchen and living room. Most cannot afford to pay for electricity or water but somehow they manage. Minnie extends an extension cord to them so they can heat water. Supposedly one lady turns an iron upside down and puts a pot of water on the iron to heat.

We had packed what shoes and clothing we had left thinking we would take it to the homeless. However, we gave it to Minnie to spread as far as it would go in this community. She was pleased to say the least. We asked her what she needed to help and she asked for food. She also mentioned that there was a newborn that would not nurse that needed food and nappies (diapers) and asked if we could we bring some soap so that she could bathe the children.

There are 71 children in this little community. Some had no shoes. One boy, who was about ten, had been left by the road after being hit by a car for several hours. His leg was in bad shape and needs surgery. Hopefully the “system” will fit him in to do corrective surgery.

Needless to say our mission for the day had changed. Off we went to Pick and Pay to attempt to put a little bit of food in all of those tummies. We bought shampoo toilet paper, basic foods, you name it.

Minnie did not expect us back so quickly but was as appreciative as could be. They don’t mind asking for things. She asked if it was possible for us to get lice shampoo for her as the children are infested. Of course we will on our next trip.

The kids of this neighborhood are gracious and helpful. I think they literally know where there next meal comes from, Minnie.

This does appear to be our next project as we feel we have done our part for the at Mercy Haven, but I am sure as the months progress and more women and children cycle in our assistance will be needed. We promised them a trip to MacDonalds which Beverly is making arrangements for transportation from the church.

Having nearly completed our project at Mercy Haven, our attention will be focused first with the Tembesa Township street kid party on Saturday then on to Samaritan House.

To Date we have spent approximately $3000.00 on the Mercy Haven Project. We still need to get sand delivered for their sand box and a couple of requests for posters and pool toys that will be delivered this week. If we have time, we will paint animals and flowers on the walls of the play area but we feel it is a happier place as it is and there are many starving children whose faces we would like to put a little smile with a full tummy.

We will take the children of Keep Me Safe and Mercy Haven to McDonalds a week from Saturday as some of them have never been there. Hopefully it will take their minds off of their typical day

Mercy Haven/House of Mercy completed projects:

Painted 6 bedrooms

Duvet covers 20 and duvets

25 Pillows

11 Mirrors

16 Hooks

8 sets towels and toiletries

Two sets bathroom floormats and seat covers

2 nightstands

1 shelving unit

swimming pool

jungle gym

Umbrella

two cars for playground

baby walker

hairdryer

Clothes (donated from USA)

Shoes (donated from USA)

wall creations

citronella candles/ food covers for flies

hula hoops - 3

Balls - 5

tyke bikes X3

Barbie Dolls (donated from USA)

Sweets and chips for Mercy Haven and street kids

Juice

15 stools

Toys – (donated from USA)

Trip to MacDonalds

March 13, 2006 - Back At Mercy Haven

2006-03-29T22:41:00.000-08:00

We have had such a fun time getting to know the moms and kids.

Our little precious mom Daphne with the year old very ill child has left Mercy Haven for a while. She is expected to return. Her daughter is extremely responsive where her mommy is there. She has been moved to St. Francis which is a very well run Catholic facility with hospital and hospice which we expect to visit on Wednesday.

Because the baby responds so remarkably when her mother is present, St Francis has made a place for Daphne to stay with her child in hopes that she will get better. Hopefully we will be able to see them both on Wednesday.

Also today, we were introduced to two new ladies Mercy Haven. Both claim to have been abused and are looking for safety. One gal they will keep but they will have to release another who arrived via taxi with furniture TV pots pans you name it, it arrived. The reason they cannot keep the gal is that she is from the Congo and government will not allow Mercy Haven to keep her nor will any other shelter.

The lady that will stay is quite off and repetitive in her conversation. She asked for cigarettes and smelled like heck. This lady happens to be white with red hair. I suppose more on her later. This lady arrived via the police which probably picked her up off the street.

We completed painting the last room and hung 9 mirrors – put hooks in the baths and rooms for the girls clothes. New rugs for the bathrooms and stickers – we put stickers everywhere. Kids and adults loved them.

When we were waiting for Maureen to pick us up, Rose asked if we wanted to go with her to the cresch (preschool) to pick up Wango and Amanda (mommy). We went thru Reiger Park which was another township that was no so scary but I sure wouldn’t get out of the car and go for a stroll. People and children walking the streets living in those metal sheds – looks like they haven’t been bathed in years.

We drove down a dirt road thru potholes. The preschool was beautiful for here – I don’t know how many children are in this school – there were rooms and rooms of kids but very organized and brightly painted. It was a treat.

So tomorrow at 8 AM we are to be at Mercy Haven with Maureen. The Boxburg Advertiser is doing an article on the two American ladies that came to So Africa to help with the kids.

We are also having the new Jungle Gym delivered at 8:00AM. Lets see if they do show as expected. These people seem on the up and up but to date no one has ever followed thru.

We plan on purchasing 30 pillows and pillow cases tomorrow. Amazing as we look around the room and realize the basic things that are not there. Little details mean so much. We do feel we have done a little something to bring a distraction to these hearts that have been so badly wounded.

March 11, 2006 – Empty Eyes – Forgotten Township

2006-03-29T22:38:00.000-08:00

So Today was a new awakening - imagine that you travel down an asphalt highway and look to the side and see structure after structure made of sheet metal. Government housing??? These are called townships.

This township of course is all black and I decided it is the Forgotten Township. This one has been somewhat lost in the government assistance. Cousin Sally wanted us to see the real thing!!

Off the highway are all dirt roads with huge potholes. Fortunately today there is no rain in fact it is really hot and humid. During rain the potholes fill and mud splatters.

Sally has a contact that she calls via cell and finally gets an answer. Thank goodness because this is a scary place.

We arrive at an open field and over 100 children appeared. These children, all with empty eyes, seemed to have never seen people like us before. These kids only eat two or three times a week and Saturday is the big day. They come from their shacks to hopefully get a meal but to sing and dance and pray. The majority are orphans. Dirty, smelly and hungry.

The lady who organizes them, (I am still unclear where the organization comes from) has them separated into groups for an activity. Today was the first experience with balloons. Trying to teach a child to blow a balloon is challenging. Even the ones with lesions all over their mouths from AIDS try and try. The look on one little guys face so proud to have blown a big blue balloon and when he looked away, much to his surprise, the air vanished and his balloon was flat. So he then learned to pinch and tie if off.

Later they played musical chairs but there were no chairs. Pieces of paper on the floor did just fine. They still referred to it as musical chairs not musical paper. They then danced and prayed and all the different languages.

It is hot today but the kids only have one set of clothes. Some were in sweaters that they were afraid to take off as then they would have no clothes. Amazingly all of them had shoes.

One little tike was about 2-3 years at most. He only had one shoe so he walked around barefoot clutching the one tiny shoe. About an hour into our visit, he took off down the road. Being a mom, I brought the situation to the attention on one of the ladies. I would never let a child of that age walk anywhere alone. The lady said not to worry that he lived just a couple of blocks away. Off he went and I’ll be darned if he didn’t toddle back about a half an hour later still clutching the shoe under his arm. I was guessing that maybe he went home to try to find the other shoe but to no avail.

Most of these children are orphans and you will see a child maybe 7 years old who is holding a baby sister or brother with no parents. The oldest takes care of the younger. Only a few spoke English but love has no language.

I understand that there is government funding for children who have parents. If both parents pass and the grandparents take care of the children, the grandparents get no funding. I have no clue where or if any of these children in the forgotten township get any funding.

Of course the empty eyes were upon us wanting to be touched, held and of course a photo session. They don’t especially want or expect to see pictures they just want to have their pictures taken. We learned that these children sniff glue to curb their appetite so they won’t feel the pain of hunger.

You often see children at the robots (street signals) begging. I guess these little ones are also sniffing glue to get thru their day. How do you feed all of them?

We left telling them that we would be returning in two weeks. We will take juice and peanut butter sandwiches we think. Maybe we can take them each a sweet and with any luck – more packages will arrive with toys and clothes that we can take. We hope to fix a small bag of treats for each and every one of them for our return visit.

Upon exiting the township a black man guided us out safely. There were several corrals on corners with various livestock – chickens – goats – sheep. We saw some children walking down the street having just purchased a live chicken, taking it home to be slaughtered for dinner.

There are so so many situations like this that we must stay focused and help one or two of the groups of children and hope that others like ourselves will take on a couple more.

The US dollar goes a lot farther here with few exceptions but lets face it we have already encountered over 300 children that are hungry and ill. We will go shopping tomorrow to see what we can get for them.

Tuesday March 7, 2006

2006-03-29T22:36:00.000-08:00

Off we go again to Mercy Haven – today two rooms please one blue for Sharon, Johnny and two sisters. Blue is the color of choice. Then to Wongo’s room which we will paint pink his mammas choice.

Wongo was born at Mercy Haven, he is two, and boy does he love to see his picture. His mamma Amanda is now 23 apparently had left this shelter a year ago and fell victim to rape and pregnancy again. Thou Mercy Haven is Catholic oriented, they were supportive of her and helped her obtain an abortion.

Proudly at 23 she has completed 11^th year education so social workers will allow her to stay at Mercy Haven until she completes highschool then they will train her to hopefully be able to support herself and Wongo.

We learned today that those who are at Mercy Haven get 150 rand per child per month. At todays rate that is about 22.00 US dollars.

We completed our painting project as Maureen picked us up (the car has still not been repaired) and we went off to pick up veggies.

The veggie pick up is always fun as the girls just love us. We took pictures of them that we had taken last week. They just love to pose.

Monday – March 6, 2006 - Sparrows Village

2006-03-29T22:34:00.000-08:00

Sparrows Village (www.sparrowvillage.org)– what an incredible facility – This is first ever Aids Hospice facility. A vision by a lady named Correen. She had a vision that someone would donate property and she would build a site for Aids victims and their families.

The entire place is built of dome structures. Some of which are connected by passages resembling tunnels. The idea of the dome is that dust and bacteria have no place to settle and are vented out of the structure giving the best possible situation so adults and children can avoid the common ailments that their bodies cannot overcome.

There are 206 children and 86 adults there today hopefully all alive as I write this journal. We first entered the infant section. There were nine beds – some had two babies in them. The volunteers were systematically changing diapers and feeding bottles.

My first encounter was a little chap who instantly raised his arms to be picked up which of course I did. This little guy was severely retarded due to mal nutrition in addition to the Aids virus. He was two and had been nursed to health however with little hope of being adopted into a normal life.

Overwhelming to think that every baby or toddler I touched today has full blown Aids. All of them crying literally for love and a chance to be held.

The volunteers are very limited here. They live on the premises and dedicate their lives to these people.

Several cases were that of mother dad and siblings living on the premises all with Aids.

One little one stole my heart. She was sitting on the floor crying and crying. She wasn’t yet a year old and her mommy had died the night before. For some reason she allowed me to pick her up and she just nestled into my neck and went to sleep with a big tear on her cheek. Of course when I put her in her crib she screamed and thrashed because she wanted me to stay and hold her.

We went to see the toddlers – they were having tea in the lunchroom. We were attacked by 40-50 little ones. They were trying to climb up our legs and around our necks. Just wanted to be touched and held. This happened over and over again and again.

The older children were at school with the exception of two boys who were extremely ill. One boy 9 years old had had a stroke a couple of weeks ago which paralyzed his left side. They are hopeful that he will regain use soon.

One section was arranged where a house mother lived and had three rooms, all domes with a lounge and kitchen area in the center. She was responsible for 14 children to see that homework was done etc. Understand that these children must all have medication 2 times per day. Two ladies engineer all of the administering of medication.

There is a pediatician and dentist that visit weekly. But that is a lot of people to see in one week.

There is a dome that is a chapel and another that houses a baptisimal pool. In the chapel they have regular services but also provide funerals at no cost to the resident or their family who have passed away from Aids.

There is another section of domes that house various crafts – some ladies were proudly making duvet covers and purses from scraps that had been donated. They sell them on the street in front of Sparrows village but have few buyers as it is not exactly a tourist attraction.

A lot to think about as we journey back to Maureens as we need to attend to Mercy Haven again tomorrow to paint 4 more rooms.

March 4, 2006

2006-03-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

No Sparrows Village today - we will visit on Monday.

We did visit a lady who has closed her preschool to devote her life to her newly adopted daughter. We were in hopes of buying her used playground equipment and learning games and toys. I think she thought she was going to experience the American dollar. Here equipment was ten years old and rusty – she wanted 15,000 rand for the total lot – approximately $3,000.00. No No – we would have to have it hauled. It needed sanding and painting. I truly think we can find some new equipment that will better suit the playground.There is all cement in the playground. No grass no sand just cement.

March 2, 2006

2006-03-29T22:28:00.000-08:00

Off to buy paint. A Hole in the wall where you have 5 choices of paint only so we go for it. Bargain paint is not a good idea.

We need to exchange us dollars for rand. Stopped at SABA bank to do so - #30 in line (que) cash in hand get to the teller and she says they do not exchange foreign money there. Maureen did not agree but we left with my us dollars in hand. The banker told us we have to go to Elsberg not far away but Maureen wants to try a couple of other places in town. I’ll just figure that out later. If we get cash thru ATM there is a 45.00 dollar charge so I would like to avoid that.

We arrived 2 ½ hours later at the Mercy House raring to go – kids are at school – room is cleared for our arrival yippee!!

First room was cleared for our arrival – yellow is the color of choice we are here doing what we want. Opened the paint – it was not sunshine yellow as it appeared in their sample but more of a butterscotch. We decided it would do. Pouring the paint into the tray came out like jellied pudding. Hummm – obviously this is to be another challenge in our adventure.

After two coats until we ran out of paint, the room has a few blue shadows showing thru but looks clean and nice – they are thrilled.

We moved to the bath and covered grey walls with two coats of lavender. This bath as the others have no mirrors and they would really like mirrors in the rooms and bathrooms to help raise the girls self esteem.

2:00 - the time we have been waiting for – the kids arrive home from school. We have lunch with them – not too much interaction. They couldn’t quite figure us out. By the end of lunch, we got them talking with us. Two little boys Johnny and Mongo age 2. Johnny’s older sisters age 6 & 7 Two older girls 9 and 12.

As we talked with them we got the attention one by one. The little boys we had brought sit down scooters that they rode and rode as the girls pushed them,

We went back to inspect our job the little 6 year old followed so we got out butterfly stickers which she used to decorate the lavender bathroom. She was thrilled to be a part.

Maureen picked us up at 3:30 so we said goodbye and told them we would be bringing goodies on our return Friday.

Tomorrow Friday we will look for some better paint and mirrors and back to the House for another day of painting and waiting for playtime with the kids.

Saturday morning we will be going with cousin Sally to her facility “sparrows”. I understand it will be a major heartbreak there – all kids with full on aids.

March 1st – a new say and new month

2006-03-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

Today was a better day however it was election day which becomes a holiday here so nothing much is open. Wanted to pick up paint but that will have to wait until tomorrow. We did however pick up veggies from a young man named Fargo just as he was closing his warehouse. Fargo generously gives Maureen three huge bags each – today – carrots, beets, spinach. We delivered a bag of each to the battered womens shelter and will deliver the balance tomorrow.

We delivered the first load of vegetables to Mercy House , made final arrangements for our painting for the following morning.

Thursday we will get something done ...

February 20 - Departure

2006-03-29T22:19:00.000-08:00

Departure date: February 20^th, 2006

Alas, the day has arrived for departure to the long awaited journey to the other side of the world.

Having just returned from a business/pleasure trip to New Jersey, my clock is twisted to say the least. 6 am – 6 pm who knows where I am. I awaken quite rested but still goofed up to what real time really is.

Our flight will depart 10:45 PM from San Diego. Using my cousin’s suggestion, my daughter and I are scheduled for massages. This is to help with jet lag. We give it a try. By noon I am ready for a long winter’s nap but no can do!! Still need to do some packing.

As of this date we have transported 6 seventy pound bags of who knows what including our own clothing to Oceanside. “Who know what” includes clothes that have been donated from newborn to adult for the orphanage and battered women. One bag for sure holds 100 pair of sand slippers and sandals that we purchased with donated funds from Walmart. At this point we do not know how we will succeed getting thru the check in process.

We are allowed 2 bags 70 pounds each with no additional charge – one 40 pound bag to take on board and a personal item. We are loaded to the point we can’t move. A shuttle is to pick us up in Oceanside so Cambria will deliver me to Laina’s around 5;30 for shuttle pick up at 6:45.

Shuttle pick – what a riot hardly any room for us be we managed with Cambria’s help to shove all bags into the shuttle. Good news on arrival to the airport a porter helped lug all the bags on a dolly and pushed forward to check in. Hummmmmmmmm check in clerk glared on our arrival eeeeekkkkk!!!

Well a couple of bags were over the 70 pound limit so we started moving goods from one bag to another to even them out. Our porter with a wink shoved a few passed the clerk without being weighed. We had been given quotes from 115.00 to 145.00 per additional bag. What were we charged---$100.00 each. So $200.00 dollars and off we went to the gate – no we stopped for our last American pizza before the gate. Yum Yum.

10:15 be boarded the flight to Atlanta – I went to sleep before take off and was awakened upon landing. The all time perfect flight Yea!!!

Atlanta to Johannesburg well that is another story – fell asleep in the airport on the floor – can’t figure out whose time schedule I am on. Boarded the flight at about 9:45 – lots of seats great------ What do you do next well of course fall asleep – 3 hours later I am awake for the balance of the trip – man alive 19 hours. We landed for fuel but they would not let us off the flight – they refueled and cleaned.

Finally we arrived thru customs without a hitch – exhausted and crabby to say the least. We were greeted by Maureen cousin Sally who gathered porters to haul our bags to 2 cars both of which were full. Prior to departure Cousin Sally showed her true colors with the porter who attempted to request 45 rand per bag instead of 5 for helping us.

Sally has her own group of homes she helps with which we will visit later.

We arrived at Auntie Maureen’s where she lives with Joyce age 84– a friend of 12 years. Maureen is 75. They live on pension money 780 rand each per month – Their rent is 2000 rand per month – do the math.

Cousin Sally took us to a local store to find a fan as it was so hot ant humid – hairdryer and various sundry items.

Maureen and Joyce are totally incredible people. Maureen sews for extra money and the barter for everything. These two women have dedicated their lives to feeding every child they can no matter what color or background. Maureen says she doesn’t care about the adults – the children have no choices yet in life.

Thursday a man named Tom came by with leftover bread – 40 loves of bread from his heart. Maureen gives whatever she may have which is sometimes nothing. Today was a good day as we had brought all those shoes from Walmart. Tom was thrilled and proudly took 3 pair for his girls.

We had several visitors who came by to see Laina as I attempted to regroup from multiple jet lag.

Friday morning we took our first trip to the homes that have been just in our imagination for the past 5 months. Joyce, Maureen, Laina and I were packed to the top of the boot (trunk). We first stopped at House of Mercy/Mercy Haven battered women and children on South Street in Germiston. Little Joyce help tote the bread into the facility as frail as can be . We were introduced to Beverly . Years back this facility was for drug and alcohol rehab. She was once a victim herself of heavy drugs and alchol proudly sober for four years and now employed by the facility.

Beverly gave us a tour of the 100 year old facility. There is a welfare worker, Rose the secretary, director and a psychologist available for both the moms and kids. I’m sure they are paid barely enough to feed themselves but are totally dedicated to the cause.

I was impressed at the logistics of the facility. The ladies and children are cycled in after being rescued by police thru acts of violence. They are first sent to be examined for physical evaluation. Some little girls as young as 6 months have been sexually abused.

Apparently the twisted idea is that if a man with HIV has a sexual encounter with a virgin (no matter how young) he will be rid of the virus. What a misconception!! The stupidity of the race and the abuse to the children.

After the people are cycled in, they begin immediately on a rehabilitation program. The children are sent to hospitals as needed. They have meeting rooms where they share and are given guidance to help them retrieve their self-esteem and gain some.

As is possible, the ladies are taught a trade and sent to school (not like our schools of course) some learn to make shoes jewelry which they sell at the flea markets. Some learn computer skills, I’m unclear as to where they get jobs but apparently they have some outservices available.

They attempt to cycle the women and children out in six months but no one is put on the street until they are ready.

There is also a small chapel, kitchen sitting areas and they do have a couple of televisions that appear to be in good order. There are 9 bedrooms each with 3 beds(new beds provided by Rotary), a small cabinet for each. Rotary has also reworked a couple of the bathrooms and replaced a couple of windows. The rest is a disaster.

We met a young lady named Daphne who said she is 23 (looked 15). She was learning to make shoes at a cardtable which they refer to as their skill center. She told us that she has a daughter who is one year 3 months who is in the hospital. Regretfully she did not know she is HIV positive and nursed the baby. Her little girl has full blown AIDS and tuberculosis which is a common disease related to AIDS. They must first control the TB before attempting to treat AIDS. She weighs less than 10 pounds but mommy says she is doing better. It is rather doubtful she will survive to see her second birthday. I am sure this is one of many encounters we will experience during our stay.

We asked Beverly what she would like to see in this House to make it better. Surprisingly as I would have thought she wanted to fill the cupboard with food. She asked to make the bedrooms more cozy and feminine. She also said she would like to see duvets for the beds. Most of the rooms are grey with no decorations on the walls.

We left this facility to visit and of course deliver bread to Keep Me Safe House. This is a house in need as well but the comparison is unbelievable. Keep Me Safe has been sponsored by Unilever. They have done an incredible job. Two rooms each have 9 beds (3 sets of bunks) immaculate!! One room for boys the other, girls. This facility is run by a lady named Rebecca.

Only two children were there when we arrived as they were all off to school. Two little beautiful girls 6 years old were home from school. Beautifully groomed – spoke directly to us. When I asked to take their picture, they posed like models. I was impressed until I learned that they were trained to do this for men who raped them.

We left the facility with a plan in place. We asked Beverly to request from the ladies what color scheme they would like to have in their rooms and we are off on a new paint mission. And here we thought we were done painting.

We have commissioned a resident to make bedspreads and window coverings as needed. We will paint rooms to coincide with the bedding.

We are ready and anxious to begin our first chapter but we are going to the bush to look for animals for a couple of days with Laina’s cousin Vickey and her fiancé Paul.

Many children we spoke to on the street some standing all alone or in groups – where do they go at night? Who nurtures them?

As we continued our day we wanted to check out squatters camps. Families live in cardboard boxes. Blocks of them. One sighting that plagues my mind was a cute little girl 6-7 walking by for camp was grabbed by her arm by a Blackman probably 20 years old. My first thought was that this was her big brother, As she forced her way to get away from him it became apparent that he wanted sexual favors. The saddest is that no one helped her. She kicked and got away.

We will help in some small way!!