Taking Notice of God

February has arrived and we count our blessings to still be out here in South Africa doing God’s work. We have become very used to our busy lifestyle and have enjoyed being able to continue supporting communities and initiatives through the Cuddle trust. We pray for continued guidance in our work and blessings on all that we do. We know that all is in God’s hands and that no plans are able to be undertaken without His support. We are thankful for the many God moments which are revealed to us every day, which just help to strengthen our faith and keep us motivated, energized and determined to be able to continue to serve. 

This month we have been working on the following projects:

1. Feeding scheme: A soup kitchen at Green Village, with a food parcel handout

We have continued to support the community at Green Village. Handing out hot food every week during the P2P/T2T campaign, we were also able to hand out some food parcels. We have now set up a routine for the soup kitchen on the second Friday of the month and food parcels/ Vegetable parcels on the 4th Friday. The community are always so thankful for our support and show their appreciation and give thanks to God for the help. 

A God moment for us is that a French family (Michel, Isabelle, Yuel and Camille) who are currently traveling and looking to participate in some Volunteering work. They have been a big help with providing extra hands to continue with the work. We thank God for the willingness of their help. 

Leona, Charles and Val dishing out food

2.Bible club with Bible lessons, stories and guidance with the youth at Green Village

We have continued to support this valuable input to give the younger generation some guidance, hope, Bible lessons and activity. The children are always so eager to participate and look forward to our fortnightly classes. We are starting to get to know them better each time we visit and we love seeing their smiles and enthusiasm. We have started teaching bible lessons from the beginning of the bible, trying to give them a better understanding of the lessons and all the men and women of faith. The children may never get to travel the world but they are enjoying getting to meet people from far away countries, hear their different accents and hear stories from their countries they are from. We normally have between 16 to 30 children attending. This month they have learnt about the 7 days of creation, the first sin of Adam and Eve. The children also received their stationary packs which had been put together by Seth Thomas and Bekah Entwistle. They loved their packs and were thrilled to receive them; they all say thank you very much

The smiling faces of the children after they received their stationary packs

3. Little Brinks

Continued support given to this amazing project to help Kathy be able to continue with her incredible work with her home of safety. We have continued with our weekly visits to support little Brink’s home of safety. We enjoyed playing educational and fun games with the children, helping them learn through play and have some important quality time spent with them. Their smiles, interaction and laughter are always a treat. Having our French volunteers is fantastic and a real God send as it has meant that they have been able to return for an extra day of spending time with the children. 

Our French volunteers and Lexi and Zante Furstenburg playing with the children 

4. Days for Girls making distribution of reusable sanitary products and food parcel distribution:

Once again, we visited Ernita (The Blueberry farms) in Wellington to the Days for Girls enterprise there. Support given with improving their products to work towards achieving the Gold standard. A lovely group of ladies, now in their new sewing hall and with new matching uniforms. Also issued out some food parcels to these ladies, they will know who is needing them most within the community and will distribute them to the most in need. Looking forward to continuing to work with these ladies in the community. Days for Girls success story - this lovely group are the ladies of the sewing enterprise on a berry farm in Wellington. These families are all seasonal workers, and were in need of a more regular source of income in the non-working seasons. Along with the Days for Girls project, we were able to train the ladies to sew washable sanitary pads and hence earn an income - while also assisting the blueberry farm to become more eco-friendly.

The sewing training started in October/November of 2021 and since then they were practicing in a shared communal hall - so needing to pack up each night and carry sewing machines and material to their individual homes. In December we went and did a presentation to the 600 odd ladies working on the farm - and shared the DfG (Days for girls) product with them. The enterprise started getting orders and we were going through each week to make sure that they were maintaining quality standards. This photo is a celebration of where they now are actually acknowledged as an income-earning enterprise with products of a high standard - they are selling and getting in orders from neighboring farms. This means we will be going through there and other farms in SA to do more presentations, which in turn will generate more orders and hence more income - and more "green" farms overall. They now have their own dedicated "hall" with cutting tables, storing cupboards and sewing tables. These ladies all started as just volunteering their time and their sewing skills - and since January have actually started "earning" a regular paycheck. A real-life story of the Cuddle trust motto of Helping others to help themselves and we give thanks to God for all his help and guidance with all the work we do. 

5. Pamper day and Days for Girls distribution at Hopefield School

Leona and I had a busy morning with a Days for Girls presentation at Hopefield primary school. The girls enjoyed learning more about their bodies and receiving their donated packs, they were also treated to a pamper morning with face masks, creams and lotions and extra treats in their bags to take home with them. This was able to be achieved as it was a blessing of love from Edinburgh to Hopefield Primary School. This school is in a very poor area with a very high rate of alcoholism amongst parents and drug-use amongst teenagers. The principal identified 30 girls that attended a Days for Girls information/pamper session, where they were able to learn more about the uniqueness of being a girl – and moving from girl to womanhood – and the physical changes that come. We discussed the importance of cleanliness and hygiene (washing hands and face correctly; then we did additional face wash with special skincare products; and then applied 2 face masks (1 for pimples; and 1 for hydration), as well as chatting about menstruation – what to expect and the importance of exercise, diet and hygiene.

To close off the morning, we practiced some self-defence moves, as well as speaking about human trafficking. Our aim was not to make them fearful – but to just be more aware of the dangers that can come their way. Their excitement and happiness reached fever-pitch when we gave each one of them a complexion bar soap (specially to help with those pimples); naturally perfumed body soap (to let them smell delicious) and body lotion (to keep their skin soft and hydrated). 

Our thanks go to the sponsors for blessing them from afar. They have made a difference – immediately with the products that the girls received – but also long term as you gave us an opportunity to be able to chat to the girls – educate them about menstruation and pregnancy; let them feel like gorgeous ladies having a morning at the spa; and saving them money with the Days for Girls kits that were distributed. The girls left the classroom all saying they felt ‘stunning’ and had huge big smiles all round. Hopefully they left with a dream and goal in their heart to know that the world they are currently living in is not necessarily where they need to stay, but with hard work, focus on education, and looking after themselves (diet and exercise) they can take control of their circumstances and their future.

6. Sunflower Children Creche visit and support

We have had a couple of visits to Jacqueline's Sunflower nursery school to see how they have been getting on. They are always so pleased to see us. The nursery school is looking so bright and cheery with all the artwork and it is lovely seeing the children using the newly covered tables and enjoying the upgraded nursery school. Jacqueline and AB are a real inspiration with their commitment to helping out the community and teaching the children. Charles and I visited again at the end of February to introduce the French volunteers (Michel and Isabel and children) to Jackie and AB and to spend some time with the children. The children have been loving playing on the painted road track and enjoy their bike rides along the roads. Michel and Isabel are going to be able to offer a few extra visits to play educational games with the children and give Jacqueline and AB some valuable support. I am looking forward to visiting them again to finish off some of the painting on the road track.

The children having so much fun on the road track painted during the P2P campaign

7. Fundani Education container

The Cuddle Trust have been allowed to use a plot of land on the premises of Little Brinks to have a refurbished container where classes can be held. We enjoyed holding the regular Saturday morning bible club with the children from Wolwerevier. We were pleased to welcome our French volunteers who were a great help with supporting the activities for today's lesson of Adam and Eve and the first sin in the garden of Eden. Well done Zante and Lexi for all your acting out and remembering your lines. 

The harsh reality of poverty can be seen by some of the children turning up with only 1 shoe. Not even fitting the correct size but it's all they have. The children never complain and are just grateful for what they have, such a huge lesson for us. We can so often grumble and not notice all the many blessings we have. God moment: We have been contacted by someone who is wanting to donate a sum of money towards buying the children a pair of shoes. We are looking forward to taking this initiative further and the children are going to be so excited about their new shoes. We thank God for moving people to donate to such a worthy cause and provide for these children who have so little.

When a picture speaks a thousand words

Not even a pair of shoes between them - and neither the right size either.

This is the reality within which we are working, doing our best to offer these little ones the opportunity of a better future than this.

8. Christ clean up coming soon

Beach clean-up time at Bloubergstrand Rock pools. We were joined by our French volunteers, Keletso Bongani Ndlovu, Sipho (who has recently moved to Cape town from Kempton Park) and also some friends of Lilandi’s. There were also a few other people who signed up on the day. Trying to make a difference with the environment clean ups and lots of opportunities created to have conversations with others. We once again donned our bright blue t-shirts and met together to do a few beach clean-ups. This has now become an international effort with various groups across the globe getting together to help make a difference to the environment. 

Thanks to Bekah Entwistle who has created an Instagram page which unites a global community with 1 goal. To show Christ’s character through world-wide community clean-ups as we wait for his return. If you would like to join the group then just search for Clean-up for Christ on Instagram and follow. God moment: at the last clean up there was a homeless couple, sleeping rough behind the sand dunes who had asked Charles for help. He and Hendri went to the shops to buy them some food to help them get some nourishment. They were very thankful. This month the gentlemen returned and joined us with the clean up as he felt it would be his way of thanking us for our support and help as he was so hungry at the time and did not know where they would get food from to survive. He felt that by helping with the initiative it would be a good way to give back and give thanks for the help.

9. Creche course

There is lots of work happening with the plans of doing the first Creche course here in Cape Town. Lucas, Leona, Liezl and Hendri plan on traveling to Kempton Park to run the course there while Lilandi, Llewellyn, Stacey and Val will be running the course at the Fundani Centre here in Cape Town. Lots of preparation work and praying for God’s blessing on this work and safe travels for Lucas and Leona and Liezl and Hendri and their family. 

10. Ongoing support with ecclesial duties (participating and presenting) and faith strengthening

We have continued to support both the on-line zoom church and Cape Town ecclesia with duties. We have also been able to give support to Hendri and Liezl and all the family here with managing life with twins. Tyler and Teegan are growing well and God’s strengthening hand has been placed on them as they grow and flourish. We have enjoyed spending time with the little babies and we thank God for the blessings of their lives. 

11. Distribution of football kits at Wolwerivier

Charles helped Hendri Viljoen with clearing the soccer pitch and sorting goal posts for a sports donation for the Wolwerevier children's team. Hendri distributed their brand-new football kits, they were all delighted with big smiles and lots of energy. Again, thanks go to the many people who donate to very special causes. The effect it has on the children to know that there are people who care about them has a huge impact on their lives. 

12. Soup kitchen at Wolwerivier Community Settlement

It takes a lot of work to prepare for these feeding schemes. With a large shop to buy all the ingredients and then about two days of cooking and chopping. This time we were starting off the once-a-month soup kitchen for the Wolwerevier community, focusing on feeding the children. Once the huge pots of soup were ready for feeding some hungry children we traveled to set up and hand out the pasta and soup/stew. We fed around 70 children, dishing up huge portions that they could take back to their families. 

Soup kitchen tonight at Wolwerivier community, some very thankful children who said they enjoyed the food and apples

13. Ongoing improvements, renovations and building work to various properties

Charles, Lucas and Hendri worked hard on another awning cover at Hopefield, this will now house the caravan better and provide better shade and accommodation at their property and more shade parking to help with the intense heat in the area. Charles also finished off fitting glass to the shower room

In Conclusion

We are very thankful for the experiences we continue to have while doing God’s work out here in South Africa and have enjoyed seeing and acknowledging all the God moments that happen to us daily. It is a constant reminder for us to always be aware and take notice of how God works in our lives, no matter how small. We are looking forward to continuing on this journey through-out 2022.

We continue to attend regular planning meetings to discuss ongoing plans and support needs, these are often changing as new projects and needs are highlighted and we are about to get very busy again with our next round of planned projects and creche courses and continuing with the ongoing projects and supporting the communities around us. 

May God continue to bless all the work being done out here and we ask for his continued grace by providing us with guidance and safety.

All our love in the Lord
Charles and Val
Cape Town, South Africa