HHTH "took" to the Bush to experience life as our
orphans do in their environment. We
want you to know these vulnerable children up close and in a personal way.
(L
to R: CJ, Angela and Sidney on the jungle trail.)
We struggled through the tangle of trees, thorn
bushes, weeds and vines, where everything looked like a "Tarzan of the Jungle"
movie set. The Settlements are all pretty much the same... with mud huts called
"rondevals," thatched roofs and dirt floors.
(Several huts make up a family settlement.)
(Most of the time, the family cooks outside, but if it is cold to them,
they build a fire on the floor and cook inside.)
The people in the villages basically live an outdoor
lifestyle, and they sleep in small rondevals. Most do not have electricity, and they must
walk quite a ways to fill up their water jugs.
The children are designated as orphans if they have
lost both parents and there is no one to care for them... OR, if there is only
one parent but who has no job and they struggle to survive.
(Troy Moyo is one of the children Sidney and
Wayne sponsor.)
He lives with his mother, but his sister has been
caring for him since he was a young boy.
When he started receiving food, he wasn't doing well in school because he
was hungry all the time and couldn't concentrate. Now his chances are greater to
do better in school.
(Buhlebenkosi and her mother stand at her father's grave. Life is stark
when a father is lost to the family. )
Buhlebenkosi Zikhali lives with her mother who has
never remarried. They do not know what the father died from. He is buried on
their settlement where he is honored by the family. Buhlebenkosi' name means God's Beauty, and
she is one of Kai and Shana's tribe.
"HE IS STILL JUST A CHILD BUT HIS HEART IS
BRAVE"
(Trynous on mattress on
floor in his little hut.)
Trynous' father abandoned him and his mother when he
was a very young boy. When his mother remarried not long ago, her new husband
did not accept Trynous, so his mother left him in a little hut and moved away
with her husband. Now Trynous lives
alone at age 14, in a small hut with no one to care for him. He must fend for
himself as he doesn't have any relatives in this area.
(Trynous receiving food from his sponsors
Kai and Shana.)
Standing behind this large stack of food, Trynous was
overcome with tears of gratitude for Kai and Shana's generosity in feeding him.
All these children's stories seem hopeless, but, really their stories testify to
the value of their sponsors' "giving hearts," and how very essential you are in
their lives.
(Praise proudly displays her letter from her
sponsor, Betti Alessandri.)
This letter was so important to her, that Praise has
saved it all year. The letter is proof to her heart that someone cares for
her. Praise is one of the six children
that Betti sponsors. The food, clothes, shoes and school fees mean everything to
these marginalized children.
(Sebuza)
Sebuza is one of 4 children sponsored by Liz and
Brent Kearns. She was so happy to
receive all the wonderful gifts from Liz and Brent. She also loved reading the letter from her
sponsors.
(Shamain shared her good grades.)
She feels really good earning high marks and likes
math. She also showed us her letter from her sponsors Alan and Ann Salomon from
last year.
Shamain's sister Brandy was standing near her and
very timidly asked if she could be on the list to receive food. She eagerly showed us her good grades
too. With a sinking heart, I had to
tell her we would have to put her on a waiting list for sponsors until we could
get back to the states to find someone willing to sponsor her. The look of lost hope fell across her eyes.
Their old grandfather tries to take care of them and 2 other children. But there
just isn't enough. Her clothes were so
worn we gave her a dress and school bag from amongst the many we and volunteers
had made for all our orphans.
(The material for Brandy's was came from our dear friend Jonathan
Flanary.)
Jonathan owns the successful Aiden's Fabric Store and
has been donating large quantities of fabric to HHTH to make all the clothes,
pillow cases, ground cloths, baby carriers and wrap around skirts with matching
headdresses for many years. He lives in South Carolina and himself is involved
in missionary work in Guatemala.
Jonathan, your incredible generosity brings so much joy to the gray lives
of these children.
(Miracles come in fleeting moments almost unnoticed.)
Angela and John, our new Aussie friends promptly
offered to sponsor Brandy when they heard her story.
(Brandy in her new dress and bag, smiling
with fresh hope.)
"THERE IS ALWAYS THAT ONE CHILD... THE ONE WHO STICKS
OUT..."
("Leave It" stands in the shade by a tree on
his settlement, contemplating us.)
Leave It is one of our delights with his vivacious
personality laced with a huge portion of mischief. He also belongs to Kai and
Shana's tribe and is one active little boy. We noticed he had ring worms as many
children do here because they live in the dirt and go barefooted. HHTH supplied
the guardians with detrol, a disinfectant so they can wash the child's head and
clear up the ring worms.
Leave It is one of the many victims of some
of their tribal customs. If a man
loses his wife and remarries after that loss, his new wife is obligated to accept
his children as her own. However, if the wife remarries and her new husband does
not accept her children, she must leave her children with her family and go with
her new husband. So many children are at the mercy of the Mother's people and
must hope that they will take them in.
(Prichard stands tall in his brand new
school shirt.)
Prichard is one of 2 boys sponsored by Barbie and
Jeff Weisserman, and he made it clear to us how grateful he is that they chose
him.
(Babongile means "Thank You.")
Babongile lives with her father and other siblings.
She is sponsored by Ginny Wisely, whose 8 year old daughter, Anna, prays for her
African sister every night. Anna, saved her allowance and sent $10 to us to get
Babongile a gift especially from
her.
(Over 50 years ago, Sidney wrote books for
her children.)
One was "Kaykapoo The Jungle Kuckoo." She revised it to be made into a coloring
book for our Monde orphans and Todd ran off 50 sets for the children to color.
The children's creativity sprang to life and they colored these books
beautifully.
(The Monde primary children wrote letters to their sponsors.)
Their expression of gratitude just for food was
humbling.
(Babongile's letter)
(Our Sizinda High School Students ponder how to
express themselves to their sponsors.)
It still mystified them that strangers from a far
away continent would care enough about them to provide them with food and
necessities.
All these children feel abundantly blessed to be
sponsored by you. They are grateful for the positive changes your help has made
in their lives.
In poverty of this sort, choices have to be made that
most of us would never have to think about. Instead of choosing between several
options WHAT we want to eat, they must calculate their supplies and how many
days before they can buy more then they must decide if they can have one meal or
two that day.
The children on our waiting list just hope
they will be one of the lucky ones chosen to be sponsored. If you are interested in blessing the world of a child with food and essentials it is only $25 per month. You will not only
bless their lives, but you will fill the goodness in your own heart for doing
so. You will make a drastic change in
their life.
If you want to be part of our this tremendous effort
to save some of the vulnerable children in our world, please contact HHTH on the
information below:
Sidney Bonvallet
248-514-3022
email: sid4wayne@gmail .com
Or
CJ
Christopher
248-496-3052
email: hhthafrica@gmail.com
Our life on this planet is more noble and worthy when
we hod out our hand to help those who struggle for life.
We are so grateful for the ones who are already
helping us with these remarkable children. Just consider the "greatness" that might be released by you.
These are just a few of the children HHTH helps in
Zimbabwe. There are more in South Africa where we are working at the
moment.
What a privilege it is to work in God's plan to
change lives.
Until next time...
From the Bush,
Sidney
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