Schools are back in South Africa, functioning in such a way that the learners between grades 8 and 11 attend on alternate weeks. The grade 12 learners, nearing Matriculation, attend every day. However all pupils are allowed to attend for lunch during break, which helps with food provision.

We are currently supporting eighty individuals. Sister Grace is finding new problems with taverns opening and several families are in acute need.

ACTS OF MERCY REPORT MARCH 2021

DUTIES:

Sister Grace reports, “I made routine home visits to identify those in need and followed up on those taking chronic medication to ensure they are adhering to treatment and are doing well. I found 3 patients who were very sick, living in an informal settlement without food or any source of income.” They are foreign nationals without documentation and have children to support. “I asked the local home-based carers to continue checking them and to help with treatment support on a daily basis. Food parcels were delivered by volunteers and others sent friends to collect on their behalf as they couldn’t reach the supermarket due to ill health.”

CHALLENGES:

• Poor living conditions with shortage of water, no electricity or sanitation
• For no apparent reason, children are not attending school and just sit at home helping their parents with house chores
• Increase in teenage pregnancy
• Dysfunctional families who are alcoholics and fail to support their children as they spend money on alcohol
• Job retrenchments due to Covid – 19 challenges in some sectors
• Huge families unable to buy enough food to last for a month
• Chronically ill patients living alone with no family to support them
• Alcohol abuse and gender based violence increasing as taverns and bottle stores are re-opened
• Foreign nationals have no access to any grants nor government subsidies
• Some applications for help are not as desperate as the majority

Some needy cases

• Two learners at Meetsetshehla School are from a refugee family (Mozambique) who require regular feeding and help. with clothing and school uniform. They need ongoing social support.
• An 18 year-old boy from a needy family needs help with school uniform and clothing.
• There is a homeless man on the main road of the town who is in need of placement in a place of safety and who also needs assessment in the district hospital. We have written to the Dept. Social Development about him.
• A widow with no documentation.
• A boy who lost his Mum and her partner due to alcohol poisoning is receiving bereavement counseling.

PROGRESS:

• Many learners are back to school and have access to daily food supplements from the feeding scheme.
• Short term employment of community members in surrounding schools will help them to earn income to support their families. The contract started from December 2020 – March 2021.
• Some families found employment while others are receiving the temporary Social Relief Grants.

HEALTH EDUCATION:

During home visits, Sister Grace educates families on the importance of regular hand-washing and the wearing of masks when in public places. She has checked on teenage moms and their babies well-being to ensure they are properly looked after as most of them are left at home with grannies.

FINANCIAL DONATIONS:

Many thanks for the financial donations that went into Acts of Mercy fund and will benefit those in need. May God bless you all. Please click here for details of how you could make a donation.