Besides these, who actually stay in the homes, several “helpers of the heart” from the Hillcrest Christian community, are of invaluable help.

…Tove now adds some of the latest news:

Dear Friends of Project hope

This time you are going to get some more update concerning some of the children that are under our care.

As you probably remember, we have 14 children shared between two houses. In one of the houses there are only boys, together with their foster-care parents, Nelly and Gershom. In the other house we actually have 9 children, because their foster-care mother also has two of her own children staying with her.

The houses are adjacent to each other, and they have each their own running of the home, but the two homes are often together and from time to time have meals together.

In the house where Eunice is mom (a lovely and warm-hearted woman, who is 40 years old), we have a mixture of the big girls and the small children staying. One of these is Thembi, the 18-year old girl, who is deaf and dumb, and then there is her little brother, Mxo, 4 years of age. Both these siblings are HIV-positive.

At an earlier stage I wrote about Thembi and Mxo, but just recently their sister, Lindo, 13 years old, turned up (nearly “out of the blue”). A certain lady down in the valley has been following her from a distance, and could see that she was being treated very badly by the family with whom she was staying. This woman knew Eunice and about us, and she arrived one day, because – as she put it – “perhaps we would be able to take care of this girl”. Lindo had told her that she had a sister and a little brother. At the ensuing reunion there was much excitement and tears of joy were flowing. Lindo, was able tell us about Thembi and Mxo, and the terrible hardships which they had been through in their young lives.

Lindo (left), Thembi and one of the small Hope children

The three children have had the same mother, who is now dead, but they have three different fathers. She told us that Thembi has had to fend for herself since she was 10 years old. At that time the mother was sick and died shortly afterwards. The father didi not wish to have anything to do with her, since she was deaf and dumb. She has therefore

had to live on the streets in the whole of that period, and later she had to take care of her little brother. Lind was separated from her siblings, and was placed under “guardianship”, where she was terribly abused. Very often – while the family was eating – she was sent outside to wait until they had finished the meal. Sometimes several days passed in which she received no food. She was treated like a slave: went to school, and when she came back, she had to do the the cleaning, make food, and take care of the family’s children. Now she stays with us and keeps very close to her big sister and little brother. She is obviously timid and insecure, but we believe that God will heal her many wounds as time goes on. We keep on telling her that no one is going to come and take her from us, and we can see that she is beginning to relax. We have also been told that Thembi survived these years on the streets by receiving food for sex. Most of the children in Project Hope have been through similar tragic passages of their lives. And then we have the twins, Sani and Nkosi, who came to us just 1½ years ago. Theirs is quite a sunshine story. I saw these boys many times down in the valley, while I was working down there during our first two years in South Africa. Both of them are slightly mentally disabled, and when I first saw them, they behaved extremely primitively. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with them. They had no parents, but were in the “care” of an aunt who already had a good number of children herself and was suffering from AIDS. The two boys slept randomly in all sorts of places, and they lived by begging for food. Sani and Nkosi I must confess that when a social worker brought them to us one day, I was terrified. Since I had seen how their behaviour was, I wondered if we ever would be able to give these boys a life, and whether they would be able to be integrated with the other children. But my fears were put to shame, because nothing is impossible for God. The two boys did not seem to know what a toilet was, so they “did it” just where they happened to sit or stand. They had their own special language by which they could communicate with each other…a language that none of us understood. But within a short time, with good food, with a bed to sleep in, and safe and loving surroundings, an incredible change found place. They started to have natural fellowship with the other children, began to speak the Zulu language, and learnt the basic skills of life. They have now been going to school (for disabled children) for a year, they have received awards, one for good behaviour, and the other for improved social behaviour with the other children in the school. They have become two enjoyable, happy boys, who are coping better and better with life. It is only God who can change people in such a way. And now for some news about the latest arrivals: Mbali A few weeks ago a girl, Mbali, 16 yrs old, was brought to us. She was found at a bus station in Pinetown, where she had been staying for a whole week. Hers was again one of the many tragic cases which are all around us. Her mother had just died, and the father was long since dead. She had been staying with a friend of her late mother for about a month, when she was chased away. This woman did not care about the girl, but said: “I was your mother’s friend, but not yours”, so get OUT of my house”. This was obviously a traumatic experience for the young girl, so she came to us, where she received lots of love, food and a bed to sleep in. However we could not promise her that she could stay with us for always. In the mean time we had discovered some relatives of hers in Zululand, including an aunt and some brothers and sisters. So the next thing that must happen for Mbali is that she must return to the family in Zululand, which she seems to accept; and she has even expressed that she is looking forward to this. Mbali About half a year ago we came into contact with Mandla, 13 years old. Gershoms wife, Nelly, who has worked as a social counsellor in the valley nearby, noticed this little neglected, and partly lame boy. She saw how much he suffered, had no parents, but stayed with a drunk aunt and a woman she was living with. They neglected him badly, and he got very little food, because the government-grant (for children) was used up for beer-drinking. He goes to a good boarding-school which has about 300 disabled children, but every time there were holidays, he was never fetched by anyone. He always sat as the very last child and just waited and waited. The directors of the school were anxious for the boy, but were able to get hold of the aunt. When she finally came she was always irritable and half drunk. Nelly went to the welfare authorities and reported this case; she was given permission to let Mandla come and stay at Project Hope. The young, thin boy has clearly brightened up with new hope for his future. The grant which the government provides for orphans and handicapped children, now goes to caring for Mandla, so that we can pay for his schooling and uniform. The payment at the boarding school had never been made at any earlier stage. The aunt is furious. She came here some weeks ago, angry and drunk and demanded to get the boy back, but did not succeed in her errand. She had only been after his money, so that she and her “friend” could continue with their drinking. This is just a little glimpse of real life, as it is for so many children, too many children. Many thanks to all of you, dear friends, for your love and prayers! Greetings of love and our wishes for a great festive season, remembering Him, who gave himself for us! Tove and John Thomsen Thanksgiving: - For God’s blessings on John’s trip to Botswana in the beginning of November’05 - The Lord’s protection of the HOPE-children and the co-workers Prayer Requests: - Funds for the building of a ”Hope Children’s Village” - That all the children’s ID-papers may be completed soon - A continued successful building-up of relationships with the Zulu church-leaders - - Continue praying for “Children’s Ark International” (Sweden), who are supporting Project HOPE, and who presently are working on an extension of their fund- raising work. To the top