News update from Joan Adams - February2009
11 – 02 – 2009 Dear Faithful Friends I’ve been meaning to start this letter to you for the past 2 weeks already but, in the rush of fresh dilemmas that present themselves at Morning Star each new day, most needing immediate attention, have been prevented from pursuing my heart’s desire! 2009 has been ushered in with a burst of activities! To think we’re already into February utterly astounds me! Admitting new children, coping with recent deaths, implementing changed staff positions, actively seeking additional premises, deciding on a new vehicle, organising our 2009 sea trip, dealing with repeated burglaries at our Kutlwanong Centre, addressing fresh social issues and completing my chemo sessions in-between, have all taken time and much energy. Yet, God is good and each day is a gift! All-in-all, 34 new children were admitted to our 2 Centres this year. We now have 85 little ones at our Welkom branch and 37 at Kutlwanong. Our Organisation has grown beyond my wildest dreams and is actually a medium-sized business today. Sometimes my heart is filled with trepidation as I stop and consider my lack of skills in heading up an organization of this size. Our new little ones settled quickly and we were amazed that there were so few tears their first day. Of course, they’re as cute as ever and, as always, have quickly endeared themselves to the Morning Star staff. Some are frailer than others, especially our new toddlers and babies, but, from past experience we know that soon, purely as a result of good nutrition, most will burst forth as new blooms and go from strength to strength under our loving care. Of our new children, 15 are already orphaned and 11 are already on anti-retroviral treatment. Our new children include 14-month old Thato, a little boy in liver failure, 2 ½ -year-old Pule (boy) frail and not yet walking and 11-month-old Karabo Matsididi (girl) malnourished & weak and more the size of a 3-month-old baby than a child almost a year old. Sadly, we have had a few deaths over the last while; 3 little ones still on our waiting list but also 9-year-old Shiwe Mbebe (the little girl in heart failure that you’ve long been praying for) and, more recently, 9-year-old Dimakatso Thaele who died in hospital from multi-lobe pneumonia. Shiwe’s death was keenly felt by all the Morning Star staff as she’d been a part of our Organisation since 2003 and we’d long prayed for her recovery. However, it was not to be; our Lord chose to take her home instead and we rejoice that she’s no longer struggling to breathe and will never know pain and suffering again. We’ve been involved in several heart-rending cases since reopening mid-January. The first one happened early on Sunday morning, 1st February. The Thabong neighbour-hood, where the 4 Makhubela orphans reside, awoke to the sounds of shrieking & yelling out in the street and, when they peeped through their doors and windows, it was to see the eldest Makhubela orphan, 18-year-old Nabraise, (epileptic) parading up and down the road in just her underwear, yelling at the top of her voice and attacking her younger siblings. 9-year-old Leonard had the good sense to run away but 4-year-old Anna was repeatedly being lifted into the air and thrown onto the ground and 15-year-old Louisa suffered bites to her arms and legs. Louisa, in turn, knocked her elder sister’s teeth out in her struggle to ward off the attacks. Nabraise appeared to have completely gone off her head! The neighbours were petrified and, until someone had the presence of mind to fetch one of Morning Star’s mothers (can you believe it) from the church service she was attending, the tirade continued unabated. Eventually, mid-afternoon, the police finally arrived and took the 2 older girls to hospital whilst the younger two were taken in by kindly neighbours. The second drama unfolded that very same night. It concerned our 16-year-old Joyce Motshebe (also long on our prayer list) who seemingly went out of her mind too and, in the dead of night, wearing just a short skirt (and nothing more) left her home and vanished into the dark. Her elderly, frail grandmother saw her go but couldn’t rouse the other sleeping residents in the home and persuade them to go out and search for her. Most distressing! Miraculously, Joyce took herself off to the home of Josephine, one of Morning Star’s staff members, who lives about 3 blocks away, and arrived safely! She stood at the gate shouting for Josephine to open up for her and, once inside the house, went from fits of screaming, crying and throwing things about to whimpering and calling Josephine her mother. Josephine struggled for over an hour to calm Joyce down, but to no avail. She had her own young children to consider so couldn’t contemplate going out into the night to take Joyce home. Not knowing what else to do, she finally called the police – and, when no response came from them, she rang Betts (who’s staying at my home at present) who woke me! After several hours the police finally arrived, loaded Joyce into their van, went and woke granny up and then transported them both to the hospital. The 3rd tale to relate concerns a little family – a mum and her 3 children – living out in the informal settlement of Hani Park. This was a Hospice case and, unfortunately, not one brought to our attention in time. The first we got to hear of it was when Lois, the nursing manager at The Pines, received a phone call from Thabong Hospice requesting assistance in removing the 3 children to a ‘place of safety’ as mum was too ill to care for them. After a series of phone calls, a government social worker went out to tell the family that the children were being taken to The Pines. But, would you believe it, she told them that should they leave home, they’d never see their mother again! (She should be struck off the role for this lie)! Predictably, the children then refused to leave. And, what happened next was a tragedy beyond words! The 9-year-old girl, together with her 7-year-old brother, went off to the railway line, waited for the next train to approach and, as it drew nearer, jumped onto the track, sat themselves down and waited for it to hit them! At the last minute the little boy managed to escape, but the little girl was killed instantly. Body parts were flung far and wide and the horrific screams of passers-by soon alerted the entire community. The poor train driver is absolutely broken and is undergoing counselling right now. I doubt whether the horror of the event will ever really fade from his mind! The question on everyone’s mind is “Did this little girl deliberately commit suicide? Was the family’s plight and her own sense of hopelessness so great that she saw no other way out?” We’ll never know for sure. The 2 younger children – one of whom is a 14-month-old malnourished baby – are at The Pines now and have settled quickly. They’ve already been taken to visit their mum and know there’ll always be contact between them. They also know that, once their mother is well again, they’ll return home. The little girl’s funeral is scheduled for this coming Saturday. Other cases we’ve dealt with of late concern our 13-year-old Lebohang Seithieso who was being starved at home as punishment for wrongdoing, 11-month-old Karabo Matsididi whose mother disappeared (and has not returned) after we helped her with a little money for the purchase of a primus stove and paraffin and 2-year-old Keratilwe Motladi whose relatives told us not ever to bring her back to their house in the afternoons! They actually told us that the child’s mother had left town and that we were to drop Keratilwe off in the Welkom CBD with some unknown man! We didn’t, of course, but were forced to have her put into a place of safety over the weekend. Mum came into Morning Star the following Monday and explained that she’d taken ill and collapsed in the street the day before Keratilwe was thrown out and that she’d been carried to her grandmother’s home to recover her strength. She also told us that her own mother and other family members had totally rejected her & her little girl because of their HIV positive statuses and that they were suffering greatly. Mother and daughter have now moved in with mum’s elderly grandmother and we can but trust that this new arrangement will prove both congenial and permanent. What else can I share with you?
Several churches have already invited us to visit them. Those of you who want to book us please note that we’ll be available to speak at meetings from 2nd – 18th May and that Jim Magness, our UK Co-ordinator, will be organizing our itinerary this year.
As you can see, there’s much to pray about, including the yet unforthcoming letter from the Free State Government re: our premises here in Welkom. I’ve recently rewritten to the MEC of Social Development, Ms Ouma Tsopo, reminding her that it’s almost 10 months now since my first communication with her and pointing out that nothing has been confirmed from any government department in the interim. And, on that frustrating note I end, yet aware that God knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.(Jeremiah 29:11). We do not know what 2009 holds but we do know that God holds the future in His hands. As ever, our Lord is on His throne, high and lifted up and we’ll trust Him as we move forward through the remainder of 2009. Yours in Him PRAYER REQUESTS FOR THE COMING WEEKS:
Please Pray for:
- back to News -
|