Volunteer build, 21 October, Tembisa

Captions from left to right: the painting team, Pastor Alan and Xana in green t-shirts with their team and the other block laying team.

Double blessing for residents of Tembisa

Despite their busy schedule, 15 volunteers from the US-based Joel Osteen Ministries set aside a morning to help build houses in Tembisa, Gauteng on 21 October. The group was introduced to the project by Pastor Alan and Xana McCauley from Rhema Hands of Compassion. They along with five HOC staff also participated in the build.

As the day was short, the three teams worked hard and remained focussed on the task at hand. Two of the teams were mixing dagha and laying bricks, while the third team was painting the house to be handed over at the end of the day.

After lunch and a quick Q&A session on the housing situation and process in South Africa, the JO group prayed for the Rhema group and their continuing partnership and commitment to the housing project in general.

Elias Faba was the beneficiary that received his house at the end of the build, which he received in memory of his late wife, who passed away last month. He told Pastor Alan that this would have mean't so much for her to have lived long enough to see this special day. Elias and his family of five children have lived in a shack for 19 years. His new house will be full with all five children and his grandchildren living there. He is happy to move into his new house as he believes it will change his life and that his family will live a better life.

Several of the JO volunteers expressed that this had been a 'life changing experience'. A life changing experience for Elias as well!

"Thank you. It was an honor and pleasure to help build the homes. My life will never be the same. We will keep in touch. God bless you all and the work you are doing there" - Daidra Greathouse.

Caption: Elias Faba, the beneficiary, standing with two of his sons.

Southern Sun Group Vol Build, Cape Town 2009

Photos: the Southern Sun Group volunteers took their jobs seriously!

SSG enjoy their day 'out of the office'

It was definitely not just 'another day at the office' for the group of volunteers that participated in the final Cape Town volunteer build for the year. The 50 staff from the Southern Sun Group of hotels are used to working in plush surroundings in four star hotels, not mixing dagha and laying blocks to build walls on houses in a township.

The group did fantastically well despite a few setbacks, including dicey weather. There were seven teams, all involved in building tasks. There were some 2 stripers, but most were new faces to the programme. But everyone put their nose to the grindstone and achieved a great deal in a short time.

At the end of the day, the group celebrated with Cynthia Mbilane and one of her children as she received the key to her new home. Cynthia has three children and lost her husband last year. The family have always lived in a shack. So receiving this early Christmas gift was a wonderful experience!

Congratulations to Thandi's team for winning the day's competition.

Best wishes

Mandy and NMTT Team and MHI staff

Rhema Build, Tembisa, 10 October 2009

Captions: Rhema volunteers hard at work.

Volunteers with passion give back

It was a relief to discover that even the Rhema volunteers feel the 'end of year fatigue' syndrome! Their usual energetic and noisy arrival on site was replaced by a quiet, ordered arrival. But this does not mean that the volunteers didn't display their usual enthusiasm and passion to contribute to our project and the beneficiaries in Tembisa.

For this build, 11 of the volunteers sported four 'stripes' of honour. This means that they have volunteered on all four builds with which Rhema has partnered the charity. Congratulations to these loyal volunteers. But we must also congratulate all the three and two stripes, as well as the 'no strippers'.

The Rhema co-ordinators managed to source 115 volunteers for this final build for 2009, which is a big boost to achieving the charity's goal of recruiting 2000 SA volunteers this year. The total of Rhema volunteers this year has numbered 300.

The group was divided into 15 teams and 11 worked on block laying, 4 on painting. One of the teams was painting the handover house alongside Tembisa Councillor, Greg Malebo. The beneficiary, Paulina, was joined by some of her daughters, granddaughters and her great granddaughters. They were very excited at the prospect of seeing Paulina take possession of her new home.

With all the volunteers crowded into her backyard, Paulina was a little overwhelmed and quietly thanked them for their assistance.

Many thanks to Pastor Xana and Alan, as well as Michael Weldon from Rhema for their continued support and participation.

Mandy and the Team

Volunteer House Build, 8 October 2009 Overview

True Spirit of Volunteerism in Tembisa

Captions from left to right: Pauline Malatji with Councillor Malebo and a friend outside her mother's new home, Khuthaza volunteers, Blondie Njotini and Bonolo Senokwane sitting in the shade, Pauline with some of the volunteers after the house handover.

The blazing sun and heat in Tembisa on Thursday, 8 October, did not deter the spirit of volunteerism and excitement among the groups that arrived for the volunteer build. There were 75 participants in total: 50 from Khuthaza (formerly known as Women in Construction), 10 from Intaprop, 14 from Metropolitan Health Group and one individual.

Armed with their tools and supplies, the group was divided into 10 teams, eight of which were block-laying and the other two were painting. The team that painted the handover house was in very high spirits and could be heard singing in celebration of their joy in being able to hand 'their' house over to the beneficiary at the end of the day.

Despite the heat and hard work, the volunteers never complained and put their heart and souls into the day.

At the end of the day the group gathered outside the handover house and more joyous singing and ululating was heard. The beneficiary, Magdaleen Malatji, was not present at the handover as she is in Limpopo, but her daughter Pauline, accepted the key on her behalf from Councillor Greg Malebo. Magdaleen and her family have lived in a shack for the past 15 years. So it was a very special occasion for Pauline as she cut the ceremonial ribbon on the front door and invited the volunteers to visit her mother's house. She said her mother would move into the house this weekend.

When asked on her beneficiary profile if she thought her new home would improve her life, Magdaleen responded: "Yes, the struggle is over".

We would like to thank the volunteers for their support and participation in the build yesterday. Their contribution will be felt within the community of Tembisa for many years to come.

Mandy, Morne and the MHI Staff

Volunteer House Build, 8 October 2009

Captions from left to right: the Intaprop team, one of the Metropolitan Health Group teams, the house handover team of Khuthaza.

We have always thought that giving was about money, but giving time and our hands proved to be as equally satisfying. We learned brick laying, something we thought we could never do. Metropolitan Health Group, Team 2.
We thank and appreciate Mellon for having given us the opportunity to do the final touches on the house to be handed over today. The excitement was overwhelming, the spirit within that house was glorious and we could not stop singing celebration songs. We’ve learned a lot and we saw the excitement that goes through the family. It’s all but satisfying to the soul. Thank you from the house hand over team – Stunky, Thabile, Zodwa, Yvonne, Mirriam and Priscilla from Khutaza.

I’ve always wanted to be part of building a house, so for my 45th birthday present I asked my partner to support me to free up the time from our busy lives so I cold volunteer for a day or a weekend.
I’ve just had a wonderfully satisfying day of hard physical labour, slowly become more adept at handling a trowel and feel humbled at the thought that some people do this every day of their lives. How inspiring to be part of turning 40m2 of bare earth into decent housing for a family who told me they’ve been in their shack since 1994. I’ll most definitely be back! Lee Randall, Occupational Therapist..