Aletheia Intl Ministries – June 2016 – Updates from many projects

We continue to be excited by all that we are doing and the progress we see in all our projects. We thank the Lord that he can use us in this way and pray that through us, the love of Jesus will be spread to those who need him in their lives.

Limpopo Project

In our previous newsletter we mentioned that we had purchased a kitchen unit which included cupboards and a sink. Unfortunately the picture we had seen on the supplier’s website had led us to believe the unit included the extras, but after contacting the supplier, we were told that the unit did not include the sink and additional cupboards. We were put into contact with a gentleman by the name of Marius, who was really helpful. After explaining the problem, Marius arranged for us to get the entire unit, including the additional cupboards and sink at their cost price, thereby handing us a huge discount. Thank you Marius! We are just waiting for confirmation of when the units can be delivered to the supplier’s Njelele branch in Venda. This is at least close enough for the Pastors to be able to collect the unit from there.

Aletheia currently provides R6,000 ($390) worth of bulk food donations per month to the four feeding schemes in rural Limpopo. More than 700 women, children and families are fed between the feeding schemes on a daily basis. They desperately need additional support as the unemployment rate in that part of the country is extremely high. The dads and moms migrate to the urban areas in search of work, leaving their children in the care of their grandmothers. In many cases the parents only come home once a year, if at all. These children are raised by their grandmothers with little or no money to buy food and clothing. Many of the children are orphans, and rely solely on the feeding schemes for their meals. If you feel led to give towards this much needed cause, please get in contact with us.  

Children at the Limpopo feeding projects

Mandela Day

Every year the whole country spends 67 minutes on charity projects for Mandela day (18 July). Aletheia sees this as an opportunity to get people involved at the daycare centres we support so that they can experience spending time with the children and helping to uplift the daycare. This year we are organising special projects, which individuals and/or companies can get involved with, at four of the daycare centres we support. We are excited that Woolworths Jabulani Mall has already agreed to take on a special project at Mom Batha on the day. They have donated money which will be used to buy and install ceiling boards at the daycare centre. The staff of Woolworths will then come on Mandela day and paint the ceiling. We are extremely grateful that a major retailer like Woolworths supports us as it raises much needed awareness for the plight of the children we support. 

We are still looking for support and volunteers to help us with projects at three more daycare centres on the day:

• Motswedi Daycare: This year we want to repaint the classrooms at Motswedi, as well as the outside playground equipment. We need donations of 20 litres green, blue, red and yellow paint, as well as paint brushes, paint thinners and drop sheets. Total needed for the project is R2,500 ($165).On a more urgent note, Motswedi has three children sized toilets, all of which have no seats. The cost of three new seats is R1,300. ($85)
• Zemani Lekang Daycare: Zemani is also in need of a paint job on the classrooms and outer walls of the daycare. We need donations of 20 litres white paint, and an as yet undecided colour for inside, which we need 20 litres of. Total needed for the project is R1,500 ($100).
• Indumisu Daycare: Indumisu needs 40 sleeping mats for their children, at R100 each. That’s R4,000 ($260) total for the project. 

Aletheia has supported the above daycare centres for years. They are all situated in poverty stricken areas and operate with very little income. The children come from poor homes and even when the parents can’t afford school fees, the children are never turned away. They are always guaranteed a meal. In addition, the teachers are really passionate about teaching the children the basics of preschool education. These really are fantastic centres for nurturing these young children and they really need all the support they can get. In spite of their dire circumstances, the children are always so excited to see us, and they are always smiling! Even if you are not in a position to offer donations towards Mandela day or volunteer on the day, the centres are always in need of clothing, food and toiletries. 

Child headed homes

Last month we mentioned that Aletheia has identified four child and granny headed homes who are in desperate need of dedicated support. The first family mentioned are the Myenis, 5 siblings ranging between the ages of 7 to 16. Their parents both passed away a few years ago, and Getty (our Soweto project co-ordinator) is helping to look after the children. Below is a report on the second family:

Madi Family

The four Madi girls lost their parents a few years ago, the mom passing away while giving birth to the youngest sibling (2 years old). Their ages range from 2 to 22 years old. Ncobile, aged eighteen, is a very bright girl who was awarded a scholarship this year to further her education. She desperately needs a laptop to do homework/projects on. If anyone can assist with an old laptop, please let us know. The girls had their grandmother move in to help look after them, but she is not well and is too old to work. The grants the family receive are minimal and hardly cover the basic essentials. This family also needs dedicated monthly support in the form of food, clothing and toiletries, especially nappies for the little one.

Getty and Connie with Smangaliso and her two year old sister

Getty meets with several teenage girls from the child headed homes in her neighbourhood every Friday. This gives them an opportunity to discuss any issues, problems etc they may have, which is a huge help for the girls, especially as they do not have parents to go to for advice. She has recently started meeting with the girls from Mom Batha’s feeding scheme as well.

Mom Batha – PDSA day

On 30 June, the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals will be hosting a vaccination drive for all the animals in Dube Hostel, at Mom Batha’s daycare – Siyathuthuka. This is a fantastic opportunity for the local people to have their pets treated for free, in addition to attending a workshop on proper pet care. Animals are very important to us, so we are very excited to be joining forces with the PDSA on the day. We recently received a donation in excess of 600 litres of cooldrinks from Kingsley Beverages, which we will use on the day for the children. We aim to make the day as fun filled as possible for the children, so if you have a special talent (eg face painting, singing, playing a musical instrument, magician etc), why not consider joining us in making the day special for the children. It is also a wonderful outreach opportunity in the Dube Hostel community.

One of the feeding scheme boys with some of the dogs that hang around Mom Batha’s

Donations

Last week we received large donations of chips, powdered jelly, biscuits, crackers, and fruit bars and sticks from Mission 96, all of which was distributed between the four daycare centres in Soweto. The timing was perfect, as the centres were celebrating children’s day so they were able to make up goodie bags for the children. Audrey from Zamani Lekang was crying when we delivered the treats, as she had wanted to make up goodie bags for the children, but was worried about having to spend money which they did not have. It’s moments like these that just make it all so worth it for us. We are extremely blessed to be able to help make a difference. 

The fantastic donation of chips, biscuits and fruit bars we received 

Last week Morné, Getty and I took some donations of food to Motswedi. Dudu and her mom, Gloria, run the centre. They have roughly 25 children in their care, and when we arrived, we found Dudu on her own. Gloria went out to take care of some business for the daycare, so Dudu had to look after the children by herself. A lady had dropped her grandchild off that morning, and Dudu asked her to stay and keep an eye on the children while she made food for them. We then decided to stay for a while and help look after the children as well. After spending a couple of hours on the playground with more than 20 children, we definitely have a newfound respect for daycare centre staff! 

On 8 June, Joshua Jordan, the son of Vince Jordan (One of our supporters) will be coming out from the States for a month to spend some time helping us here at Aletheia. We are very excited to have Joshua come and help us and he can gain first hand experience of the work we do. 

Personal news

About three weeks ago Billy had a shoulder operation to repair a torn rotator cuff and bicep. Although the operation was a success, he is still in a lot of pain and cannot do daily tasks without a lot of difficulty. He also had a knee operation ten years ago, and about a week ago the knee was very swollen and is still painful. He is now having to walk around with a crutch, as well as having his arm in a sling. Please keep him in your prayers.  

Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

We thank God for each and every one of you!

Connie, Morné and Aletheia team