Infinite Hope

October Update

2011-10-29T21:52:00.005+02:00

Phillip (otherwise known as Mfundisi or pastor) opened the Wellness Day in the customary way with a gospel song and a prayer. He then shared a devotion with those sitting in the room about God's faithfulness and steadfastness, even amidst illness or countless other difficult circumstances. Thembalethu held its fourth Wellness Day, the first the I was able to be part of. We started

April Update

2011-04-28T14:47:00.001+02:00

A Day in the Field We fetched Bonisile, our home-based caregiver, at the pre-arranged spot on her dirt road intersection, standing with her umbrella in the midst of a drizzling rain. With all this rain and the resulting mud, it was far from an ideal day to be doing home visits. Especially because I hadn’t been prepared for the drizzle and didn’t have anything but my fleece with me - no rain

January Update

2011-01-23T19:50:00.002+02:00

Compliments of the New Year to you all! Cleaning and sweeping and cleaning some more, installing new locks and sorting through keys, repairing donated furniture, assembling desks and bookshelves, installing sinks and computer software on new donated computers, installing outside lights and a whole new solar system (panels, batteries, regulator and inverter), and training our new admin assistant.

Family Pics

2011-01-23T19:37:00.001+02:00

The Meyer Family A happy little man!

Christmas Party for OVC

2011-01-05T19:19:00.001+02:00

With the new funding we received from the Global Fund, we threw a Christmas party for 75 orphaned and vulnerable children that we are providing psycho-social support to throughout the Amangwe Tribal Area. They have all lost one or both parents, or have a very sick parent at home, or are otherwise extremely vulnerable. It was a lot of fun to organize activities with them, but they all ended up

Summer with a Kick!

2010-10-25T18:41:00.000+02:00

Just as the summer fades away for you all in the Northern Hemisphere, it comes with a kick here for us in South Africa. There’s no fading or easing in for us, especially in Tugela Ferry. Spring simply means big shocks between cool and hot from one day to the next. Perhaps it’s the nights that are the nicest around spring – the night air is cool and refreshing after days that top 90°F. We are

2010-04-15T09:49:00.000+02:00

People often ask me what there is to do in a place as remote as Tugela Ferry (or the Berg, when I was living there). I used to wonder the same thing when I first landed in rural South Africa, thinking optimistically that with all the free time on my hands evenings and weekends, I could catch up on years of must-read books, teach myself to play the mandolin, and plant a phenomenal vegetable

Let me introduce you. This is Njabulo...

2009-12-23T14:34:00.076+02:00

If you were to get a tour of my life over the past year, Njabulo would be part of it. I've seen him multiple times every week, his smile has brought joy to my day as I brought him snacks or juice to his hospital bed. Let me explain a bit more of his story... At our monthly HBC meeting back in July, one of our home-based caregivers told me about this patient that had no one to look after him.

Zulu-ized

2009-11-01T19:02:00.003+02:00

While Emily was visiting, we went with some friends from Tugela Ferry to a Zulu Cultural village. Traditions and dress vary between areas, but here we are dressed in the coastal Zulu attire, slightly different as you'll see from our Zulu wedding reception pictures. Eugene is dressed her in the skin of the cheetah, reserved for the king.

Care Centre Building Progresses

2009-11-01T12:31:00.030+02:00

Burning to see the lay of the land. Leveling the land. The building structure goes up. Structure is up, slab is laid. We met together with the local area's Home-Based Care volunteers to dream, vision and plan for the future of our new Thembalethu offices and community centre!

Succulents, Joy and Building!

2009-08-24T20:11:00.018+02:00

You'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, the best not the worst; the beautiful not the ugly; things to praise not things to curse. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:8-9 Reflections on a Time of Change What a joy it is to think back over all that’s happened in the past few months. So many exciting developments! Visiting friends and family back in the USA, planning a wedding that turned out beautifully, moving as a married woman into a mission

Zulu Wedding Reception

2008-09-20T14:16:00.000+02:00

Need a Car. Got a car?

2008-07-14T20:02:00.000+02:00

Hi folks!I recently landed back in the Pacific Northwest’s summer. It’s LOVELY to be here, and even better to have a lovely summer wedding ahead of me! While I arrived thinking that I had a car to borrow, it unfortunately fell through at the last minute. Now I have six more weeks here, in the midst of wedding planning and catching up with many of you. If any of you have a car I could borrow, or

Life: Water, Power and LOVE!

2008-05-08T14:57:00.003+02:00

I thought for a change I’d send you an update on a more personal note, and as my friend Tim found the tales of my living situations to be so interesting, I thought I’d write a little about that for a change. At the bottom you’ll see the biggest news of all… so don’t miss the “Life in LOVE!” section at the bottom!On a brief Thembalethu note… Training, training, training! Yesterday was the final

Life in the Field

2008-04-23T21:15:00.006+02:00

The story of precious eight year old Sbonelo (his name has been changed) is one demonstrating the challenges and successes experienced by Home-Based Care volunteers. We went on our first home visit with Sbongile to see her patient Sbonelo was June 2007. At that point, we found his

2008-03-30T17:34:00.000+02:00

I still can’t quite wrap my head around the idea that March and April bring the cold, trees turning, and an end to summer rains. Yet, the battle here is on. Summer’s here, winter’s there. Autumn on its way here, spring bringing Seattle back to life. Summer and winter struggling day by day to see who will win out; a linen and tank-top day followed by corduroy pants and a jacket. Though autumn

2008-02-25T15:10:00.004+02:00

Thembalethu Report (April 2007 – February 2008)The past ten months since Thembalethu started have gone by in a flash. We’ve learned and done a lot in the process. A great deal of time has been spent in developing relationships, systems and policies, as well as the organization itself. Through the Home-Based Care givers generosity, and with the support of Winterton

Babes galore

2008-01-25T09:29:00.001+02:00

In desperate need for a place to live, Slindile (18) with four month old Alwande and 22 month old Lusanda "Buki" moved in with me in late October. What an adventure it's been to deepen my relationship with Sli, to to journey with her through raising two young babies. It has been a journey of joy and struggle: being waken many nights to crying babies, watching a growing Buki eat phenomenal

Battle for life

2007-12-13T17:18:00.000+02:00

Little Sandile here in the arms of his HBC volunteer Buyisiwe, was only eleven months old when he lost his struggle for life. He was HIV+, but the health system failed him. First they didn't have the special tests on hand to test infants under 18 months, then the results took 2 months instead of the stated 3 weeks to come back. When I accompanied his mother, ill herself, but getting stronger on

Lindiwe

2007-11-25T20:34:00.000+02:00

I met Lindiwe late one morning in the Home-Based Caregiver’s home. She was sitting on a Zulu mat on the floor, covered in a blanket to keep the winter

Not a family untouched

2007-10-15T08:14:00.000+02:00

During a recent home visit with home-based caregivers, we spent some time overlooking this small valley with houses and homesteads in every direction, almost as far as the eye can see. Over the past couple of months, it's become clearer to me that every homestead has a story, and almost every one of these stories is interwoven with HIV/AIDS tragedy. The more that I go on home visits, supporting

The Fires

2007-08-09T20:45:00.000+02:00

Massive veld (bush) fires combined with fierce wind that take out massive numbers of homes, an amazing and encouraging church and community response, funerals, orphan advocacy, working with government hectic… It’s been a very busy couple of weeks. In a recent conversation with my Dad, he quoted me a Chinese curse – that your life may always be interesting. Perhaps these Chinese had never

Home-Based Care Volunteer Profile

2007-07-23T08:41:00.001+02:00

Ntombi MayabaNtombi lives in Kwa Vala village has been caring for her sick and dying neighbors since 2005. She saw the assistance that her friend Elsie in neighboring eMandabeni was providing to the sick and orphaned, and decided to motivate her neighbors to do the same. Ntombi is now the leader of the KwaVala home-based care group, which consists of herself and two other active HBC

Challenges and Prayer Requests

2007-06-17T05:35:00.000+02:00

Hello Friends!Things are getting very frustrating here as the public sector strike has been on for over 2 weeks now. This means that the schools, as well as clinics and hospitals and all other government offices have been closed for this time. It’s really impacting the HBC volunteers and their patients – many are suffering without being able to get medical assistance, and they can’t afford to pay

Two Busy Months

2007-06-02T20:50:00.000+02:00

Thembalethu Update2 June 2007A Saturday breather, and a chance to get some word back to you all finally. Thank you all so much for making it possible for me to get back here, to support this work. Your generosity has been amazing! God is good and I’m so grateful for your partnering in this work! I can’t believe it’s already been two months since I arrived back here. After some initial settling

Thembalethu "Our Hope" Overview

2007-05-19T11:36:00.000+02:00

Thembalethu, a project supported by the Winterton Methodist Church, is a response to expand local initiatives, caring for the sick and orphaned in the Amangwe Tribal Area (Loskop). Its vision is: To share God’s love and hope to the communities struck by HIV/AIDS through training, empowerment and linkages to resources, assisting those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.The Situation: *

7 May: New Wheels and Getting Started

2007-05-16T09:30:00.000+02:00

7 May 2007 I feel I’ve really gotten started into the Emangweni community over the last week. The most exciting development is of course getting a new bakkie (pick-up truck)! I borrowed Sofi’s a couple of times over the past few weeks, but it’s been SUCH a blessing to not have to worry about the roads I drive on to get to meetings, to visit patients. And of course, having the capacity to

Hope for AIDS

2007-04-02T21:27:00.000+02:00

“I just went to another funeral on Saturday in eMoyeni. A lot of people are dying out there. A lot of people are dying everywhere here. Come back and let’s fight for them.”–Xoli Msimanga, Health Advocate and Friend, Amangwe Tribal Area Hope for AIDSMarch 2007Above is a picture of my friend Ncamsile's grave. She was 21 years old, HIV+, and the mother of Nomvelo (in the blue dress with silly