Our Mercy work was created in 1994 specifically to help and heal refugees , in particular young refugees, war orphans, or others whose family life has been totally disrupted by the wars in Africa. The security of a stable home brings healing and education diminishes fear of the future, replacing it with hope. Hence our motto: Love changes everything. Mercy House embodies this and our history has proved this to be true.
And last but not least, we are happy to announce the arrival of OZO, a Schnoodle puppy, only 2 months old, into our Mercy family! Our American volunteers, Paige and Emmanuel, decided to adopt him and have not looked back. Like all puppies, he is a real joy-bringer and O-SO beautiful and cute. The photo shows him with his bow tie and in a doggie cart, dining out with Paige and Emmanuel. He will certainly be a much-loved and even spoilt boy! Welcome OZO!
These being the two big highlights of the Christian year, we have always had big celebrations on these occasions, with sometimes as many as 60 refugees who belong to our extended Mercy Family present, enjoying themselves, having Father Christmas arrive with gifts for everyone and the Easter Egg Shower at Easter.
During the past year with the heavy lockdown regulations, this has not been possible. But we weren’t beaten! We asked all our usual Christmas guests to come during the week before Christmas and collect their gifts and on 25 December we had only a small group for lunch and even a Father Christmas, but he did not arrive on the roof this time, nor come on a motor bicycle as in the past! He even considerately wore a mask! Likewise at Easter, we did manage to invite the larger group, not for our usual lunch but in the afternoon to catch Easter eggs, and this, as always, was an occasion of fun and laughter, as photos show.
Well, with Lockdown still very much on the cards and the threat of the 3rd wave, our scholars only go to school twice one week and three times the next. It has been difficult for them, as they still have to do a lot online and some do not have internet or laptops. But somehow they seem to manage, several coming to our premises to use our full time internet. We are supporting about 20 scholars again this year. One of our Mercy House residents is doing a 4-year Supply Chain Management degree through the distance learning university, UNISA. Another of our young men is studying IT at a college in the city centre and so on.
It is always sad to say goodbye to residents who, for one or other reason, leave. But this was also the case with our huge yucca plant, seen in the photo, gracing the entrance to our office. Our yucca started small! It was picked up as one only short stem of about 10 cm long on a heap of plant garbage by Diana many years ago. She liked it and took it home to put into a small pot. In no time it grew, and continued to grow fast. After a few years, this little pot plant not only had a few babies, but also reached the ceiling, so she brought it to Mercy House and we planted it outside the office. This was at the time we built our office, namely in 2009.
It did not take long for this lady to have many, many offspring! Soon there were many large yucca stems, even towering above the office roof, which often had to be trimmed or cut down. They had beautiful white flowers. We then decided to transplant some of these new stems to beside our play centre. As the picture shows, they too soon grew enormous and multiplied abundantly. The day came when we realized that the yucca outside our office was becoming so enormous that its roots began to interfere with the building. Regrettably, we had to admit that we would have to remove it, rather than rebuild office walls!
In early March this year, the sad day came when we had to do this. Even the roots had to be removed to avoid further complications. Now we have placed a bench and created a lawn and flower garden outside our office in memory of our mighty yucca, as the photo shows. It, too, will become beautiful. We are happy to say, however, that we had planted some of the off-shoots beside our play centre. They, too, are multiplying at an amazing pace. But we will not forget our Lady Yucca. May she rest in peace!
22 March was a public holiday – Human Rights Day. We called it “Make Mercy House Beautiful Day,” not without good reason. What a beautiful day we had as a community! It was beautiful, not just for cleaning up the house, and creating a lovely garden outside our office in the place of the Yukka we had to remove. Far more important, was the beautiful spirit which could be tangibly perceived all day. An atmosphere of togetherness, fun and joy pervaded. There was a strong sense of teamwork. All our residents, except for a few who had to go to work, joined in, each being allocated a specific task. Divan, Emmanuel, Brielle and Muzi, worked setting out our new garden. Kyle, David, James and the ladies gave a thorough cleaning in the kitchen. Brilliant and Riccardo repainted our two benches and so on. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy their task. We ended it all mid-afternoon, with pizzas and cold drink. It is truly amazing what working together for a common goal can do for community-building. Thanks to all who participated with such love and goodwill. We do indeed have a wonderful Mercy House community. We thank God for that.
Douglas came to Mercy House on 23 April 2019, to avoid political harassment and like problems in his home country. We did not realize what a great blessing was landing in our laps that day! Douglas is one of those human beings who says little, but whose shining example speaks volumes – actions and attitude speak louder than words – and this has indeed been the case with Douglas in our Mercy House community.
It was only a short while after he arrived in the country, that he was offered a job helping in a small business in town. He worked long hours, 6 days a week, never complaining, and was always so cheerful, welcoming visitors to Mercy House and helping others, including cooking. And when he did cook, he always shared his meal. He was not only always cheerful, but also remarkably humble. 
On Saturday 6 March 2021 Douglas got married to a childhood sweetheart. He had gone back to his home country for this great event. The photographs show what a beautiful and joyful occasion that was.
We are immensely grateful for the 2 years that Douglas spent with us and will miss him very much. He left a gap behind! But his example will live on in our minds. Go well dear Douglas. May God reward your goodness which shines out like a light in a dark world. We know that you will continue to keep that light burning…
We would like to thank Teacher Constance and her colleagues for arranging Zoom meetings on the 27th and 28 of April between the AISJ students and our refugee scholars. AISJ is an American school for diplomats’ children. They were keen to meet and know about refugees. There were three sessions with 3 different classes and our young people enjoyed it so much – wanting to do it again and also to visit the AISJ school – in Pretoria – as we did before Covid times. We hope this will happen once covid fears are calmed.
We wish to thank our refugee resident, Emmanuel Masengo, for doing the technical work at Mercy House on that day, to make the Zoom possible. We did not have hitches, simply because he is an expert and does a good job!
