Author: Zeng Dieulv

On Tuesday, 26th April, six of our Mercy House scholars visited the American International School (AISJ) in Pretoria, which, as usual, they enjoyed very much. But the real highlight and fun was on the following day, when a large number of the AISJ pupils, with several of their teachers, visited us in Bez Valley. Many of our scholars attended this event. It is a wonderful exchange for both parties, each having so much to share and enrich the other. Most of the scholars at AISJ are diplomats’ children, so live very different lives from our refugee children, who have truly heart-rending stories to tell, if they are able! Our visitors came laden with loads of bags of second-hand clothing and tasty goodies for refreshments. Great fun was had playing games of different sorts. The photos reflect the spirit of the day.

(left) Nozizwe

We thank AISJ very sincerely for their tremendous support of Mercy House, also for the fact that they sponsor two of our children at school. Special thanks also to Nozizwe, our co-worker, who works there and arranges all these special events. What a blessing!

(from left to right) Diana, Father Jeremias, and Steven

We are happy to introduce our readers to our Kenyan co-worker, Steven Wanyoike. Diana met him at a retreat weekend in 2016, and, in the course of the conversation, told him about Mercy House. Being a Central African himself, he was very interested and expressed the wish to help. That was a gift that fell straight out of heaven! Steven has been managing a Kenyan company in South Africa. He has used his business skills to help our high school students with accounting, business studies and economics for several years. He dedicates every Saturday and Sunday morning to this service and it is a great help to our young people. His advice in other fields has also been invaluable. What is also very important is the father-figure role he fulfils with our young boys who do not have this stabilizing foundation in their lives. Sadly, Steven’s company is closing down and he will be leaving the country towards the end of this year. A huge loss to us, but we are grateful to have had him with us for these past few years. In the photo he is seen with Diana and Father Jeremias, former Comboni Provincial and a great supporter of Mercy House. Thank you and go well, Steven!

In late July we were able to give Esperance new hope (which of course is the meaning of her name!).  We had been able to obtain a donation for her to start a small business, which she plans to call: Safari Foods. She has high hopes, but for now, started modestly, as seen in the photo, renting half a tin shanty structure.  She sells dry food there and any second-hand clothing we can get. We were also able to get her a deep freeze and she takes orders from there for fresh meat, which she supplies.

Esperance

Life has looked up for Esperance at last.  She was only 18 when soldiers killed her parents in the on-going violence in Burundi.  She and her brother were being forced into the army, which they refused. They had no option but to flee and had to abandon their studies at university – her brother doing third year medicine and she was in first year. 

Esperance ended up in Cape Town where she did waitressing and amazingly managed to save enough money to do a degree at the University of the Western Cape in Social Science. This got her a job at the SOS Children’s Village in Cape Town.  Due to certain unhappy circumstances she had to leave Cape Town and came to Johannesburg. Once here she found it extremely difficult to survive and did not even have enough money to pay her rent, let alone support her only child.  This went on for some time…

 It was then that Esperance found her way to Mercy House, where we tried to find ways to help. She was overjoyed on hearing the good news in July that we had found funding for her to start a small business and texted: “I am so happy that I am laughing!” Well, it is a wonderful experience to bring a smile to the faces of people who are really desperately in need.  We thank the kind gentleman who provided her with the funding to get onto her feet. So far, her little business is doing well and we wish her everything of the best. May Safari Foods prosper and grow!

Diana

Her name is Diana Comacho – see photo. Her parents fled from the Frelimo war in Mozambique. She was born in South Africa. Sadly, her parents died when she was very young and she and three siblings were left alone with no relatives here to care for them. So, her brave older sister, a teenager at the time, had to do the parenting, no easy job when you have no income. The parents had both worked, but the children were left penniless. We found them, about 7 years ago, living on a stoep at the back of a house in Troyeville, really struggling.   

Diana completed her schooling at Jules High last year. Although it is extremely difficult for school-leavers to get work these days, she managed to find a menial job. Unfortunately, the so-called employers never paid her, so she left and is in need of some training. Mercy House considers it an honour, as usual, to be able to help: we are sponsoring her for a Beauty Course at a skills centre run by Bienvenue – a shelter for refugee women and children near Mercy House. We wish Diana well and hope that our efforts to help her will enable her to become self-employed.  

Nadine

Nadine works as a volunteer at the Catholic Refugee Office. She helps in giving out food and clothing to refugees in need. As she needs some qualification to enable her to get employment, she asked us to help her do a  3-month course in home nursing which also includes caring for people with dementia and alzheimer’s disease. We were happy to be able to help and hope this will get her onto her feet in life.

Paige

On Sunday, 1 September,  we were able to welcome three young Americans  to Mercy House. Paige Clark was accompanied by her husband, Emmanuel, and Tiwana.  Paige has just taken up a post as Student Counsellor at the American International School and Tiwana is their new Service Learning Co-ordinator.  They arrived in South Africa in early August this year, Paige and Emmanuel coming directly from the USA and Tiwana from an English teaching stint in China.  They are very enthusiastic about helping at Mercy House in whatever way they can. We already planned that our Mercy House young people will attend a Fun Day at their school on Saturday 5 October. They will even fetch them and bring them home!   We put up posters to welcome Paige.
In the accompanying photo she is seen receiving one such poster, which touched her deeply. We thank God for this unexpected gift and look forward very much to working with them to enable our Mercy work shine and shine ever more brightly. Welcome Paige, Emmanuel  and Tiwana!