Community Care Project brings hope
In the first 6 months of 2009, Community Care Project (CCP) talked to 3,500 children in school about HIV. It identified 1,343 orphans and vulnerable children who needed support and put that help in place, and 524 home visits were made by church volunteers. 87 church volunteers were trained.
Here is a story about just one of the countless families CCP has been helping…
CCP has been working with the Zondi family for several years. Cindy, the mother, was HIV-positive and had four children – 16 year old Gugu, a 12 year old boy, and twins, aged 6, who are HIV-positive. CCP supported the family through Cindy’s final illness and when it was obvious that the children couldn’t be cared for by other family members, they found all four a place in a local children’s home. At a recent CCP reunion, Gugu asked if she could share her experiences, hopes and dreams with others. It is hard to explain in words the impact of what Gugu shared. This is what she said:
“... I live at Ethembeni children’s home with my two younger brothers and one sister. I never thought that some day that I would live at a children’s home. From last year my mother was very sick in the hospital and we lived alone, but I was not afraid because of the special people in my life (CCP workers). They were there through the good times and the bad times … In that time I started to trust in God as my Saviour. I believed in him. I have hope that Jesus has a good future plan for me and I hope that my dreams will come true and I know that God will wipe away all the tears in my eyes.”
More recently Gugu visited CCP and updated Rob who works there with some good news and some bad news: Gugu had a job as a live-in domestic worker with all bills and food paid. She wants to be a police woman so CCP has agreed to help her get her driving license – a pre-requisite for joining the Police. The bad news was that her brother had been arrested and is now in an adult prison at age 15. He stole a mobile phone, and then a vehicle from the children’s home. When asked if CCP has made a difference in this family’s life, Rob replies: “Most definitely yes. But, can we control all that happens to them? No. But this young girl knows the Lord and He will continue to protect her until her dream of protecting others becomes a reality.”
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