Our visit today was to Bukuzibu - a place name which means 'problems'. This gives you some idea of the sort of community we are in. Poverty, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS are big problems here, but the church is mobilized and God is on the move.
The church in this area which we are visiting is rather wonderfully called "God is Able Church", and the school they have started is called "Bright Futures" - wonderful names of hope in the place of 'problems'!
The church, under Pastor Moses - a hands-on, practical man - has been partnering with TAIP for a few years now, and he is now one of their local co-ordinators. Through TAIP, his church have developed programmes of home-based care for the sick, youth life skills, and also caring for 20 orphans who are part of their 200-strong primary school.
Their resources are scant - the church-cum-classroom is a mud brick and timber construction with old exercise books stuffed in the cracks (I'm not sure if they are just stored here or whether they are actually part of the design of the building!) We were treated as honoured guests and seated on wonderful home made chairs, crafted from the local trees.
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| Honoured guests with the church/classroom in the background |
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| Timber walls double as blackboards, and little faces peep through the cracks |
We shared worship and prayer and joined in as Pastor and pupils constructed a new plate stand for the children's mealtimes - again using timber from the local trees. You can imagine them constructing the church in just the same way. P7 boys did the hard word of sawing, with some fairly token help from us!
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| Making the plate stand - these boys knew one end of a saw from another |
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| Pastor Moses supervises |
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| Kathryn lends a hand |
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| The finished article |
More wonderful children enjoyed our games. There are so many children here, and Fred tells me that when he sees them he just feels like crying. The needs are huge - many of the local kids who hang around but are not part of the school are dressed literally in rags. Fred explained on the way home for lunch that there is nothing that these poor farmers can do to improve their standard of living except to earn money through enterprise. They can grow food and keep some animals for themselves, but they have to make money by selling goods in order to pay for school fees and medicines. It makes it all the harder for the people to survive. Again I am conflicted - ancient ways of life are surely worth preserving and cherishing - but who can deny these children the right to clean water, education and proper health provision? These kids have a "Bright Future" only if "God is Able" to change the hearts of those who have the power to help.
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| Rachel and Sarah blow bubbles which the children love |
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| Everyone wants to have a go! |
In the evening, Esther and I talked until late with Fred, Timothy and my namesake Martin (TAIP's overall co-ordinator in this region) about many things to do with church, youth, sexuality and culture. Fred is such a gentle soul, but it was great to see him getting really passionate as we talked about these things.
"No-one cares about the people here", he told me, meaning the poor in this rural area. Thank God that he does.
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