You met our Sam Simonenko last year when she came all
the way from California to help HHTH in our Charity work here. Sam is generous,
loving, and kind. She has an African heart.
Janco picked her up in Nelspruit and they drove 6 hours to reunite with
us in Louis Trichardt where CJ, Wayne and I met them. Though she had already traveled for two
days, she was eager to get to work!
Sam was ready to start her mission.
Janco took her to the Game Store (like a mini Wal Mart), and here she
LOADED up Jabulani (our trusty Landie) with mattresses, toys, blankets, food and sundry items. She and CJ bought a Landie full of
food - Mealie, tea, Rice, sugar, dry
milk, beans, and LOTS of pop corn.
Sam and CJ sorted through their copious supplies to make up food kits to
pass out.
(They made up countless packages of food to give out in each village.)
Food is a gift they all cherished.
(Popcorn was on the top rung of the hit parade for the Villages.
Adults and children scooped it up and had a lavish
treat.)
Even though the '60's are well over, this little girl knows exactly what to do with her
hula hoop.
To
be able to play for just a little while pulls these people out of the darkness
of poverty and into a brighter day. It
took the girls (CJ and Sam) 5 hard days to get these supplies to all the
Villages. They sorted, popped
popcorn, and made individual food packets by night and passed the packets out by
day in the villages. They were the
"food earth angel brigade. "
Mosquito nets are always a huge hit.
For more years then I can count, Mike and Cathy McCarthy have
provided HHTH with mosquito nets for
250 people yearly. That means 50 people per village clamored for the coveted,
life saving nets. Advertisements in the area caution that the mosquito can
create a pandemic capable of killing over 10,000,000 souls it is more possible
for this devastation then even war.
Sam bought mattresses and food for all the Creches.
(This Belini Creche teacher was mega grateful for the fresh new mattress
so her tiny charges can take turns napping.)
This little old lady was harvesting tiny nuts to feed her goats.
We
passed her on the side of the road at
8:30 a.m. working on her hands and knees in the already sweltering
heat. When we came back that way at 4:30 p.m., she was
STILL on her hands and knees with no food or water, doing this back breaking
job. CJ couldn't take it.... she
jumped out of the car and gave the lady an armful of food, which she gratefully
accepted.
The girls also distributed food when they visited Swaziland for a few
days.
(It
is 't hard to find hungry people all across the "dark continent.")
Photo 9.
Sam has a special gift for finding exotic and interesting friends to
help.
(This young man tearfully expressed his gratefulness for her genuine
kindness. The joy truly blesses the
"giver.")
You might ask, "What good can it possibly do to feed
a person for just one day?" If you
have never been poor or went without food, you might not know. Since I grew up
in severe poverty, I can tell you, ANY relief, even for only one day, is a
precious glimpse of hope. It is at least one day of relief from gnawing hunger.
For just one day you can fill full.
It reminds me of the starfish story that many of you
know. Thousands of starfish were
washed up on a beach and languishing on the sand. A man was seen down at the
beach, rythmatically stooping
down, grabbing a starfish⭐️ and slinging it back into
the ocean, where it slid back into exuberant life. Another gentleman who had
been observing him, and could see the thousands of beached starfish said to him,
" what on earth can you do to help these countless stranded creatures? What difference can YOU make?" As this hero grabbed another starfish and
threw it back to life, he responded, "It makes a lot of difference to that one
one!" While sustainability is great,
and HHTH has so many projects that are; offering relief and hope has an
important place in life's struggle to find our way too.
Until next time...from the Bush with love ❤️,
Sidney and the HHTH Team
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