The Weather Report

Friday June 26, 2009
The Weather Report!
As a child I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago. As I remember it, our weather report was rather simple. It was sunny or rainy, dry or wet, unless we were threatened by a hurricane and that seldom happened. When I moved to the United States, things became somewhat more complicated. There were now four seasons to be reckoned with, each with its own charm, but seriously it was the winter with its snow and , worse, ice, to which I paid the most attention. Here in Cape Town, South Africa, it is even more confusing. For one, the seasons are switched around and I still have not learned to listen to the weather report every day. I have learned I cannot read the skies It is true that you can have all four seasons in one day, something that drives me crazy but there are more serious weather issues. Winter in the Cape means very wet, windy, and all together very cold conditions. Most of the houses, including the one in which I live are unheated and you feel the damp here even more than in the US. But what I experience in the comfort of my apartment is nothing compared to those of the women in our EM class. Their zinc and wooden shacks, coated with plastic and newspapers and scraps of carpet are not suited at all to this weather. With no proper flooring water seeps in underneath. Paraffin heaters and other heaters are often tipped over and the sound of the fire engine headed to Masi is constant on my street. Recently there have been more. Most of those who live in these temporary homes are backyard dwellers, that is, they rent a space in some one's backyard. In Mashiphuemele as in other informal settlements, the government has promised to build new homes for those people who own their plots and right now they are ready to do that in some places of this township. That means the eviction of some of these squatters by their landowners, who, last week in all of the rain, ordered many of them to leave with no prior warning. Their possessions were dumped on the street and they did not react kindly to this. We have had fires and protests and the sound of the fire engines and police cars are more frequent than ever before. When I asked some of the women in the class if they had been affected, they said to me, "not yet." Now the situation was personal and I admit, I feel so helpless. The solutions are not easy to come by. The housing, shack problem is directly linked to education, jobs and money, all of which is in very short supply here. Almost all of the people in Masi have migrated from the poorer and more rural Eastern cape in search of employment to help themselves and the families they left behind. It is in conditions like these that we and other like minded people have been called to bring hope, not easy but no less fulfilling.

A Day to Remember

Friday June 26
A Day to Remember
It all depends on what is important to you. On Thursday June 25, the world was shocked to hear of the death of super star singer Michael Jackson. Because, depending on the time of the year, we are either six or seven hours ahead of Eastern Standard time and therefore nine to ten hours ahead of the West Coast, the news came here when it was already Friday but still Thursday in the United States. Needless to say, it has created as big a stir here in Cape Town as it has all over the world. In South Africa we did have some competing stories. For example, Bafana, Bafana, the national football team played Brazil. Against all hopes they lost and are no doubt thankful Michael pushed them off the front pages of the news. I have watched with interest as stories that have the power to change nations, such as that in Iran have been pushed to the background because of the Jackson death. Like most everyone else I was shocked but perhaps not surprised. It is a sad fact that creative genius in almost any genre creates havoc with people's personal lives. But long before the news of Jackson broke through the media I was celebrating June 25 for a very precious reason. It was my mother's birthday. Well into her eighties she has battled and triumphed over different health issues and served as a rock of love, direction and an example of incredible faith to her children, grandchildren and countless others in the churches, Bible studies, horticultural groups and other places. We all depend on her prayer life and I recall many times when I travelled in some risky area of the world, I told people I was confident because my mother was praying. Today she is a friend, confidant and advisor to all of her family and none of us look forward to the day God will call her home and she wil join our Dad in heaven. In 2007 my mother already 80, took the long journey and came with me to Cape Town! In one day we both say goodbye and affirm long life! I loved to see Michael Jackson perform, but my mother 's impact is the lasting one!

A Door Opened

Open Doors
Friday June 19, 2009
I spend a lot of time thinking about the impact of the work we do here in Cape Town. Some of it is easy to measure. For example, in the last three years we have given new sewing machines to women and a few men who completed out sewing class. When I write about the sewing class I am still astounded that it is connected to me, someone who does not sew and understands little, as much as people try to help me. But I have come to realize better the impact of this ministry. A few days ago, I surprised our principal helper Namgamso working on a project. She had come very early to the sewing class, which i realize is her workplace since there is no space in her shack for any privacy or time to work on her own. I recognized she was making some items for a woman whom I had met. When I asked Namgamso what she was doing she was hesitant but I assured her I was pleased she was working on something that would help her earn some more money. I explained to her that I was more interested in taking her photo because she was an example of how life changed because of the work of EM. We have started a successful home bags business that is now owned by the women but we have also opened a door for her and others to earn extra income. Namgamso is part of the bag team and has also done work for Living Hope and others. Khumi made the curtains for Living Way and among other things, sewed bean bags for children involved in another ministry. Right now there are offers for them to be involved in tee shirts and hardly a week goes by without someone asking if they are available to sew one thing or another. I also get a lot of ideas for things they could do. I explain that they can sew anything if someone can finance it and also bring the market as well. So when I assess what we have done, I include the door of opportunity we have opened for many of the women. I can confidently say, as I told Namgamso, that none of this would happen if we had not been there. What is always harder to measure is the impact on their lives, but there too, we can be thankful for the chance to be with them, teach them, learn from them and let God do His work in their lives.

Youth Day 2009

Youth Day in South Africa
Tuesday June 16, 2009
Last June, together with my sister Aurora, her husband Verne and my brother Norris, we made the trip of a lifetime to a safari in Kruger National Park and then the mouth-opening scenic drive back to Johannesburg. At one stop, the 'Potholes' we ran into this group of students whose amazement at the mountains and waterfalls were just as big as ours. They were gracious and posed for a picture. I thought of them today, Youth Day in South Africa. It marks 33 years since Hector Peterson was killed as he and thousands of students took to the streets to fight the low level Bantu education they were forced to endure. My family visited the memorial that marks that fateful and history making day. As usual, where I live in the town of Fish Hoek, you would not know why but I have enjoyed listening to the speeches from leaders to the youth. One of them was given by the controversial leader of the African National Congress but something he said caught my ear. He appealed to the youth to 'stop sleeping around' and have one partner and protected sex. Sleeping around he said is equal to suicide. This is very important as studies show multiple partners is one of the biggest causes of HIV here. Into a glimmer of good news that HIV testing and condom use is up and so new infections among teens is down are terrible realities that multiple partners and "sugar daddies" who prey on young girls is up. We have a long way to go and Malema's call should be urgently heeded by the young people. It should be part of the solution offered in this titanic struggle.

More about Masiphumelele

More on Masiphumelele

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Here is just a bit more about Masiphumelele, the informal settlement from which almost all of our learners come. In the photo, Beauty and Khumi and I are outside the shack where Khumi lives. I am moved to share this with you because the women and men associated with this ministry live in a constant state of ferment. I live in an apartment that faces the street and have become accoustomed to the sound of the ambulance since the hospital is the next street away and then to either the police or firefighters almost always headed to Masi, as we say here. Last Friday I turned on the news to hear there was yet another protest there, this time for housing. Perhaps, more than any other problem, housing is the number one challenge for the local and national government in this country. Masi is just one hot spot and these statistics will show you why. Originally founded or started in the early 1990s, Masi then had about 10,000 residents. Since then the number has swelled to more than twice that. Some argue this has been the result of the policies of the ruling government that encouraged people to flood to the Cape. Today there are more than 25,000 people in Masi and they are jammed into perhaps no more than two or three square miles. Much of the land is wetland and some of my former students lives in these shacks that are soaked with water. I have visited them there. The people here long for better homes. So much of the soil is sandy and I hurt for the children who play in all of this dirt and consequently have so many problems. The truth is, most people flock to the Western Cape, an estimated 100,000 people every year from the Eastern Cape to find jobs, any job that will help them take care of themselves and their families back home. Added to this are thousands of 'foreigners" from other African countries and these informal settlements are powder kegs that take little for them to blow up.

Reality Intrudes

Reality Intrudes
On Sunday afternoon I took some flowers to two women in the Health Care Center. One was Khumi Morare, about whom I and many others have written much. The other was a young girl I did not know but every time I visited Khumi my heart broke when I saw her in what was the last stages of AIDS. She seemed so lost and so alone and I wanted to do something special so I took her a small bunch of flowers. When I got to the center she had been moved to isolation and had no idea I was there or that the flowers were there. Today I learned she died that evening. I must confess that in the work I do here with women, most of whom live with HIV and AIDS, I can get overly optimistic. I deal with women who are more well than sick and am tempted at times to think that all an HIV positive person needs to do is take the pills, the anti-retro viral drugs, and all will be well. This week I have learned first hand that this is not so. The face of AIDS is so ugly and a person dies with so little left of his or her person and dignity. I am thankful to be part of Living Hope that offers care and love to men and women as they are either nursed back to a measure of health or eventually die from the virus and its related illnesses. I have also learned that stigma , stress, lack of education, poverty, ignorance and difficult life choices combine to defeat many a strong minded woman in her fight against HIV and AIDS. You can never assume a person is taking the drugs as required and, even then, it can be brutal for the body to adjust, especially if that person had already been so weakened by the time they got their first treatment. I am grateful for the part we as Evangeline Ministries play as we work with these women to teach them sewing and basic computer skills; to help them with self esteem issues and encourage them in God's love for them. We however see them when they are doing better and can be lulled into thinking that all is forever well. Not so! I am humbled when I think of women and men in hospitals, health care centers, hospices and other places who take care of people who suffer from HIV and AIDS. May God give each of you, wherever you are the grace and love to do your jobs and we should all pray for a cure for this virus.

A growing love for the Bible

Saturday June 6, 2009

Bible Lessons

From the beginning of the sewing classes, we enjoyed afternoon tea, a relic from my past in Trinidad and Tobago and a staple of South African culture. I added fruit to the cookies so we have a more nutritional tea time!

We also included a time to reflect on a verse from the Holy Bible where I did all of the talking. This has had mixed success mainly because of language and cultural barriers. The first step I took to overcome this was to give each student his or her own Hxosa, Soto or English Bible. This improved matters some as they could now fgollow along with the Scripture passage. Another step was needed however. I decided to invite some Xhosa speaking teachers to speak to the class but, as yet, this has not gone as smoothly as I hoped. Then my friend Brigitte suggested I give them a passage, have them read and reflect on it and ask them what words most touched their hearts. To my delight, this, so far, has been the best way. After an hour of sewing and chatter, they enjoy the silent contemplation. When I ask them to share the words that most impress them, I am thrilled that they are the same words I had intended to share with them. So far, they get it right every time. They now participate with enthusiasm and I am also surprised to see which of the students speak up.

This has taught me a valuable lesson. We can depend on the Holy Spirit to touch lives through God's word, without any help from us, for most of the time. Doing it this way has released me from the sense of spiritual failure to help them understand what they are reading and now trust in the Spirit whose ways are of course, so much superior to mine.

That's what friends are for

Thursday June 4, 2009

Thank you Brigitte!

Sooner or later I knew it would happen. I would have a crisis and would have to lead the sewing class. It happened today. Two of three helpers were sick and I had no choice but to take the entire class. Usually I am there to see things start and back to have tea and lead a short Bible study but today I was in charge. To be in charge is OK if you know what you are doing but when I comes to sewing I do not. Thankfully I have friends who do and one of my special friends here in Cape Town is Brigitte Murphy. Brigitte is a poet and artist and excels at those things which baffle me. I had the good sense to call her and she came and worked with the class to decorate the black skirts they had sewn. I enjoyed watching her interact with the class and they loved her. I also realize that the mission here is shared by family and friends at home, around the world and here in Cape Town. I am so grateful for all of you.

Welcome Mandiswa

June 1, 2009

Meet Mandiswa

I want to introduce you to Mandiswa Tshaphela who works with the women in the sewing class to introduce them to basic computer skills. Mandy as she is known began in April. She came to us once she had completed her own training while she worked as a baby sitter. She always had a desire to teach and helped her former instructor in the her classes. She has come with such determination and enthusiasm to help others and I love to see her work. We began computer classes one year after we started the sewing course. I realized the women needed more of a challenge and also more information because they all had children and some cared for grandchildren. To the best of my knowledge, none have a computer at home, but they have seized this opportunity to learn. It makes my heart skip when I see the older women working so hard at their stations. The computer class is also open to others on the campus where we are, since few, if any of the workers have themoney or opportunity to learn computing skills. There is a huge need for this but classes are expensive for the men and women who live in Masiphumelele and our class coexists with another for people who can afford or who are helped by caring people and employers. All but two of the computers we use , were donated locally and while I am sometimes offered equipment that is past its time, I am always grateful for people and businesses that donate once they hear about the good cause of Evangeline Ministries.

A Babbie Mason surprise

Monday June 1, 2009

Babbie Mason visits Cape Town!

I guess just about every Christian woman in the Western Cape knew famous recording artist and song writer Babbie Mason would be in South Africa, in Johannesburg and Cape Town as part of the Beauty for Ashes conferences. I had no idea, but after a week fighting flu, I was more than ready when my friends urged me to come out to the Saturday lunch and session of the meeting. Once there, and without checking the program, I paid for one session since I wanted to go and see the beached whales near my home. When I opened the schedule,I was happily surprised to see Babbie Mason was there to give a concert. I promptly paid for the rest of the event and settled down to enjoy the speaker and Babbie's music and ministry. I have loved her music and collected her records but I also have another special memory. Years ago I was in Uganda at a conference and Babbie and her husband Charles came to the meeting. As I remember, they were there for another engagement but when asked to come to us they agreed. It was not one of those high profile events, just the end of a church conference, but Babbie had the crowd on its feet. It meant so much to me because I had just been contacted and told my father was close to death. So far away and with so many miles to home before I would know one way or another what happened to my Dad, I allowed Babbie's music and words of encouragement to fill my heart with strength for the journey ahead. All of that memory flooded my heart as I listened to her sing again.

Being here in Cape Town is a great place for me, because it is where God wants me to be. It is also a place to which people love to come and I have enjoyed concerts with many Christian artists and heard world famous Christian speakers here. What made this encounter even more precious was that I was able to give Babbie an African print tote-bag, made by the women with whom I work. She graciously accepted and said she would treasure the gift. Thank you Babbie Mason. You are one of God's treasures and gifts to women everywhere.