Something both new and highly significant happened today. It started with a phone call last week. A church leader in Amanzimtoti called me to ask for my help. His church was scheduled to host the monthly pastors’ fraternal luncheon, scheduled for today. To make a long story short, they weren’t able to, and he didn’t […]
You’ve met Sibongiseni before in previous blogs and you may know him by his English name, Robert. Sibongiseni roughly translates, “Be thankful with me.” What a great name! I first met Sibongiseni in June 2008 – on our first trip to South Africa. At the time, he was a leading regional sales manager of pool […]
We currently have a Masters in Social Work candidate interning with us. We’ve tasked her with gaining a comprehensive understanding of the social services “system” here – and to make recommendations to us in terms of the way forward. The child welfare unit in the area is completely overwhelmed with cases (about 250 per worker) […]
A while ago a coworker from EMCC, Lou Geense, came to me and suggested that we consider applying to the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB) for some funding to go towards our farming training and food security project here in South Africa. On top of that, he shared a story about some farmers in Alberta […]
I’ve never really thought of myself as a project coordinator, but I certainly am at the moment! As I write, we are having 2 new rooms (photos) built within a very large room, and giving major facelifts to 2 other rooms. In what used to be our Social Services (crisis food and clothing) room, we […]
We had no idea how significant it would be to get away with the SOH staff for a time of rest and reflection. When we conceptualized the idea of a staff retreat we had considered all the usual retreat type meetings and activities. A lot of thought went into topics of discussion and Dan played […]
It may seem like such a small word, “Hope,” yet it has the surprising capacity to awaken, persevere and overcome. Where hope exists, anything is possible. Where it is absent, there is no greater hell. A person’s eyes can tell you in an instant if hope is present. Eyes overflowing with hope invite change. Eyes vacant of hope feel like wells of despair. By far the greatest poverty is not the absence of money…
This just in: If you don’t set goals, you’ll hit them every time. ‘Tis the season for strategic planning, something that really excites me! We have begun an exciting planning process for Seed of Hope Community Development. Later this year we should have a bold new 3-5 year plan – tracks on which to run […]
Her name begins with a “T” and she is a beautiful young child with HIV. Her mom is in hospital with HIV and may not survive. Currently she is living with her Aunty who is struggling to have enough food to feed T and her young son. Here’s a stat that just came across my […]
January in Kwazulu Natal is extremely hot and humid. We applaud our Simunye children’s workers for their dedication to investing in children no matter the weather. This photo taken above was on a 32 degree C day with an indoor temperature of 30 degrees. Humidity of 70% or higher makes the temperatures feel 5 to […]