DWALENI

Dwaleni sits further off the tar road with less access to resources than many communities in South Africa. Ten Thousand Homes began partnering with Sizanani Home Based Care for weekly feedings in July of 2009, starting with just a handful of hungry children and now expanding to hundreds. Providing food opens the doors for relationship and creates the opportunity to have an effect on the lives of these kids beyond receiving a hot meal.

Over 300 orphaned and vulnerable children flood in each week to the Thursday afternoon feedings in tattered school uniforms, starving for spiritual, emotional and physical nourishment. Despite devastating hardship and oppressing needs, a surprising passion and creativity flow through the children in this community. Ten Thousand Homes staff and visiting teams are amazed weekly by the ways God has infused a hunger that goes beyond physical needs in this energetic group of children.

On a typical Thursday afternoon, you’ll find the yard full to the brim with eager hearts, hands and bellies. The avocado tree is full of boys, the young girls are braiding a visitor’s hair or skipping rope, and the older girls are writing letters or practicing dramas. At any given moment there will be an outburst of song or dance.

A culture of hope is being created amongst circumstances that seem hopeless. An understanding of home that goes beyond four walls and a roof is being built through consistent love, provision and safety.

Ten Thousand Homes is honored to join alongside the hard-working women from Sizanani Home Based Care who go above and beyond their jobs to serve the “least of these,” noticing the unnoticed in their community. We recognize the importance of encouraging and pouring into these women who pour out so much each week. We’re excited to see how God provides for His children in Dwaleni as the Body of Christ comes together.