World AIDS Day/Food Parcel Day

The other day I was reading in the Economist an article called "How to Feed the World". It started out with the following paragraph: In 1974 Henry Kissenger, then America's secretary of state, told the first world food conference in Rome that no child would go to bed hungry within ten years. Just over 35 years later, in the week of another United Nations food summit in Rome, 1 billion people will go to bed hungry."

Tuesday, December 1st was World AIDS Day. In South Africa it is a day of reflection, prayer, celebration and remembrance. Since 2004, Open Arms has been recognizing World AIDS Day in South Africa at the JL Zwane Centre by distributing food parcels to members of the HIV/AIDS Support Group, the Orphan Program and senior citizens in the Guguletu community. Last year we distributed 350 food parcels, this year due to the financial situation in the US and the devalue of the dollar we distributed 250. Even though it was a smaller amount the feeling among the community remained one of hope and relief. It is an interesting concept to many of us when we say that someone has no food. I remember growing up and being hungry and going into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and just hanging on the door and saying to my parents, "we have nothing to eat" and they would look at me like I was crazy. It wasn't like we didn't have food, oh my word, we always had food, but that day it just wasn't what I was hungry for. Most people in the townships do not even have a refrigerator door to hang on and if they do it is the size of the coolers we take on a picnic, so when they say they are hungry they really are. When I am in the grocery store I look at what people are buying, the most common purchase is a loaf of bread and when I say a loaf of bread that is it. It is normally someone with a child, just a loaf of bread because it is cheap and filling. Open Arms' food parcels are made up of staples such as rice, maize, flour, sugar, oil, samp, beans, pilchards and chicken. The cost of a parcel is $40, it will feed a family of seven for one month. It is more than just a loaf of bread.

Food parcel day is a great day to bring the many friends of Open Arms together. We had 2 white South Africans, 2 coloured South Africans, a Canadian and 7 Americans that were visiting from different areas of the US. They all came together as one group with one mission, to help some of the 1 billion people in the world to not go hungry. We started unloading the truck at 10:00 AM, by noon all the parcels were assembled. It took a lot of teamwork, sweat and muscle. People started coming around 1:00 PM to wait to be called to receive their parcel. It is done very orderly. Rev. Spiwo and his wife Zethu call out the names and the people come and take their parcel. Due to the weight of the parcel and the number of items, many of them have family members or friends to help carry the food to a nearby taxi. (Remember most of the people in the townships do not have their own form of transportation.) The most frail of them all somehow manage to lift their buckets with a smile on their face and a big hug for us. By 5:00 PM all the parcels had been distributed. It was a very long day filled with many different emotions but I think we all went away with the knowledge that there were going to be some very full and happy stomachs that evening!

I had an interesting situation occur the other day. I went into the Woolworths (grocery store chain in South Africa) store near my flat to arrange to pick up 50 of their reusable grocery bags. These bags are very colorful and Open Arms uses them to distribute small food parcels to senior citizens at the CPOA in Guguletu. (We will be distributing 50 bags this Thursday, December 10th.) The manager asked me what I was going to do with all these bags. I explained about Open Arms and our work in Guguletu at JL Zwane and the CPOA Senior Centre. He asked if we were a charity organization. I said yes and than he asked me to write a letter to Woolworths telling them about Open Arms and our programs and to bring it to him the next day when I picked up our bags. I brought the letter the next day and thanked him. Around 8:00 PM that evening I received a call from Woolworths telling me that they would like to donate food to the JL Zwane Centre but that I would have to pick it up the next day at noon. I said I would be happy to and would it fit in my car. "No", he said, "you must bring a bakkie (a pick up truck)". I called Spiwo and arranged a truck, driver and two young men to help. They were right on time at Woolworths to pick up the food. We brought it to the centre and unpacked everything. The next day was church service and to the surprise of the congregation we were able to offer them bread, fruit and vegetables. Once again we could smile about the fact that more people within the community would not be going home hungry that day. I also felt so grateful to Woolworths for their compassion for the people of South Africa.

Photos:

1. Unloading the truck from Elite Foods.

2. 5 gallon buckets filled with food.

3. The Food Parcel Brigade.

4. People waiting for their food parcel.

5. How about this for a balancing act!

Bye for now...

Refugee Service at JL Zwane

Last Sunday, November 29th, JL Zwane hosted a special church service to welcome refugees from the Cape Town Refugee Centre. Instead of preaching to the congregants Rev. Spiwo Xapile made the following statement: "My intention is not to preach today but to listen to your stories." The refugees came from all over the continent of Africa; the Congo, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia, Rwanda and Burundi. Appeals were made for South Africans to rid themselves of xenophobia and accept African refugees as human beings. The senior manager of the Western Cape Immigration Office, Richard Sikakane, attended the service and remarked that the influx of foreigners was an overwhelming challenge for the Department of Home Affairs. He commented that: "They are people like us. Let's look at them and treat them like people." It is stated that black-on-black hatred is a big problem in South Africa. One Zimbabwean remarked "Other races don't hate each other but black people hate each other. In Zimbabwe there is no South African or Congolese. We are all one nation." Having to leave their homes, family and country is hard enough for many but to not be accepted in a country of fellow Africans is very confusing to them. They have had their dignity taken away from them and hope someday to be accepted and treated with respect. A young woman from Angola stood on stage and recited a poem she wrote on xenophobia, the congregants were on their feet applauding her, this time she felt loved and accepted.

During the course of the service, Siyaya, the musical group from the JL Zwane Centre, performed songs of hope and love inspiring the congregants to get up on their feet and dance and sway with exuberance. Great Sound of Vision, a band made up of blind refugees from Zimbabwe assisted by Zimbabwean musician Patricia Matongo, had the crowd screaming for more. Near the end of the service Rev. Spiwo asked all the children to come to the front of the stage. They all ran up together, his words to them were: "All I want you to do today is go out there and play together, just play together as children!"

Those words ring true for both children and adults, just go out there and play together!

Photos: 1. Rev. Spiwo, elders of JL Zwane and Rev. Mel assisting in the service.

2. Siyaya performing their songs of inspiration.

3. Great Sound of Vision and twins Obey and Gracious.

Bye for now...