Author: Zeng Dieulv

On Sunday, 11 February, we had a wonderful surprise! Angolan, Jacinto, came to visit us. He had moved into Mercy House in the late nineties as a young boy and stayed with us for about ten years. At that time there was terrible insecurity and unrest in Angola, amounting to war. His mother wanted him to get him to safety and engaged an Angolan man to take

him to South Africa and care for him. The man brought him down, but did not honour the agreement. He left the young boy alone in Johannesburg without any place to stay. This was how he got to us.

We put Jacinto into school. He distinguished himself by bringing to Mercy House an unwanted puppy that was being thrown away – setting the precedent that also dogs are welcome! We called her Princess and she was hugely loved. She stayed with us until she died in old age. After he had left school, Jacinto decided to go back to Angola. There he married Teresa and both got jobs with an airline company in Angola. They now have three children.

We were extremely happy to see him, but even happier was Jacinto himself, to see old friends and to see how much Mercy House has developed since he was there. We were able to buy him a laptop, since they are extremely hard to get and hugely expensive in his home country. Go well, Jacinto. You will always remain part of the Mercy family. Thank you for coming.

Saturday, 25 November 2023, was a great day for the family of Mama Lawi (also known as Anamarie). It was the wedding of her oldest daughter, Ester, to David Kahigima, whose parents were also able to attend.  The venue was a really beautiful place near Mercy House – the Observatory Golf Club. Their church service was conducted by their pastor in the beautiful garden and the subsequent reception was in the club centre.  What made it all the more special was that the bride’s mother made many of the dresses that the bridesmaids etc wore. So much preparation and hard work had obviously gone into this.

This year we are supporting 20 young people with schooling in one or another way. We have 2 students in matric, whom we have been supporting since they were very young, and last December, our young Congolese orphan, Princess, passed matric with a Bachelor’s pass. We thank Mr Paddy Faller, who did the mammoth task of getting the required stationery wrapped to order for everyone.

LASTLY, WE THANK OUR TWO HOUSE LEADERS, ZENG AND MASENGO, FOR THEIR TIRELESS DEDICATION TO OUR MERCY WORK.  WE COULD NEVER ACHIEVE ANY OF THESE THINGS WITHOUT THEIR REMARKABLY COMMITTED AND EFFICIENT RUNNING OF OUR MERCY WORK.

It is always so affirmative when former volunteers take the trouble to come back from overseas to visit after their service with us. This has occurred several times.  Claire Giulani, from Italy, lived with us as a volunteer in late 2015 for 3 months. She was a ray of sunshine helping in so many ways. On return to Italy, she married and returned on a visit in 2019 with her husband and child. On 28 February this year, she came again with her husband and now three children. It was a very joyful occasion and we thank Claire and her husband for coming and for their kind donation towards our work, as also for their faithful and on-going interest and support.

Paige and Emmanuel, the American couple, volunteered with us for three years, until December 2022, when their visas expired.  It was a great joy to have them visit us on their first holiday in July 2023.  In countless ways, Paige and Emmanuel’s contribution to our work was amazing and they left an indelible footprint behind.  We wish them well and miss them.

Indeed, there are few things as binding as working together for a common goal.  This proved to be true again on Tuesday 21 March, when we had our regular Cleaning Day.  There was such a joyful atmosphere, and this is so good for building community spirit.  Each resident is given a task in the common area, be it painting a wall, cleaning window ledges, chairs, kitchen cupboards and so on.  It works like magic. And, of course, we had a tasty hot dog lunch with cold drinks afterwards.

Since our motto is to create: “Something Beautiful for God,” we do not only try to keep our place clean and in good repair, but are always endeavouring to make it more beautiful! To this end, at the beginning of March a handyman, Willie, laid down beautiful brick flooring on our outside patio, beneath the beautiful bougainvillea tree.  This has made a big difference.  Our people love to sit there, particularly on hot days in Summer, but the brick flooring also keeps mud away after the rain.  We are very happy that we were able to do this.  Thanks again to AISJ, whose kind support enabled us to do this.    Then we decided to do brick paving on our top grassy patch, which is always wet and muddy, due to the water table beneath the ground.  It too looks splendid, thanks again to the Holy Family Sisters for their donation, which covered the cost of this.