Author: Zeng Dieulv

Saturday, 26 March, was a day of blessings, joy and gratitude at Mercy House. Quite unexpectedly, members of SVdeP, Honeydew, arrived with their car laden with much-needed utility items for Mercy House. It could not have been at a better time, since the very next Saturday, we were to have our quarterly cleaning day. They have come again several times, bringing loads of needed goods and, most especially, beautiful warm winter blankets. It was a great pleasure to have members of SVdeP with us, and they, in turn, were so pleased to get to know about our work. The photo shows us with some of our Mercy House boys, and members of SVdeP. Thanks a million, SVdeP. May your generosity be rewarded in the ways you need it most. Every good wish from us all.

It is always a joy to help others in whatever way we can. This is why Mercy House exists! A new opportunity presented itself when our resident, Brilliant, could get a job delivering, but needed a motorbike to do so. It is indeed very rare for any of our young people to be able to get work, so we did not want to miss this opportunity. Of course, we always have to acknowledge our donors, who make it possible for us to do these things. Take a bow all you out there who support us, and check how your money is used. In February 2022, we were able to buy a brand new motorbike for him, which has enabled him to now be employed and get onto his feet. Again, this is exactly why we exist! See happy boy on his bike in the photo below.

We are proud to say that we are assisting as many as 22 young people with their schooling this year. The stationery bill alone for them all came to around R10 000! It is a tall order, but the need is great, and we have risen to the challenge! They spread out over 11 different schools. In addition to the schooling, we are also supporting Dioscor through a 4-year degree in Supply Chain Management. At the end of last year, Moise completed a two-year course in Information Technology. We are currently trying to find a course in Sports Management for one of our boys who matriculated last year. In the photos below, you can see Peter, whom we enrolled at Phoenix in March as a grade 8 student. We have 7 students there this year. The other photo is of Joyce, whom we enrolled for grade 1 at Bertram’s Junior.

John was brought to us from Goma, DRC, when he was 7 years old. (see photo of him with Sister Fidelis at the time). His parents lost their lives when he was only a few months old in the violence in Eastern DRC. We put him through school and he even had the honour of being elected head boy ( see photo below).

Having completed English exams in catering, he got a job at an upmarket retirement village north of Johannesburg. Unfortunately, due to Covid, the restaurant where he worked, was closed. Since then, he has not been able to get work, so we have equipped him with the where-with-all to get his own business going. Attached is the flyer designed by our USA volunteer, Paige, and house leader, Zeng, which we hope to distribute. All systems go to try to get his catering business off the ground. Good luck John.

“Ma Berthild” came to us in the year 2009.  

She came from Rwanda attempting to get away from constricting fears and political tensions which had resulted from the Genocide in her country. Once she had found a secure base with us, she brought down her only son, Dioscor. “Ma B” has been with us for 13 years now, and we hope she will stay, as she has become our house mother and is an integral part of the family. 

 We were able to put Dioscor into the excellent Dominican Convent School, where he matriculated. He then asked us if we could help him to do a degree in Supply Chain Management, which, we are told, is a very good choice relevant to our modern situation. Thanks to our very supportive Holy Family Sisters, we were able to commit to supporting this 4-year degree with UNISA, a distance learning university, and he is now halfway through, doing very well. 

Dioscor’s amazing commitment to these studies is most admirable. In the photo, he is seen with his mother on the right and Mari Bernard, also one of our Mercy family, on the left. In addition to caring for our Mercy House, Ma B has developed a large vegetable garden nearby and on this particular day, they were working in it. Ma B brings her own products to Mercy House and all enjoy the fruits of her labours. We are grateful for Ma B and her son, who are a valuable part of our Mercy community.

On Saturday, 11th June, an outreach group from the Kingdom of Sons Ministries, headed by Ms Rafilwe Dombo, came to give our young people a day of reflection and fun. Following input on the search for meaning of our lives, small workshops were held on relevant topics. This was followed by a good lunch. It seems that it was a valuable exercise and our young people enjoyed it. It also made it clear that our young people are searching and need a lot of guidance.   

See attached photos.

It has been a very refreshing and community-building experience to work together to keep and increase the beauty of our home. Firstly, we thank Diana and Tim Gordon Grant for organizing the revamp of our kitchen. Whilst it had become well-worn, it looks beautiful now, as the photos show.

Then, on 16 June, we had a “Make Mercy House more Beautiful Day”, with all residents available working together, mostly repainting, but also with other needed tasks. Danny and Zama repainted the play centre, Moise, the washline area, Gerald, the food storage cupboard, Buyonde the garden gate, Volunteer Emmanuel from USA and Eddie repainted the window frames, USA volunteer Paige and Masengo did inventories of stationery, linen and toiletries cupboards, as the attached photos show, but there were plenty of other jobs done. All in all, it was an extremely happy and joyful day working together and the results were quite uplifting, and encourage everyone to take extra care of our property in the future.