My new friend Sylvia

Here’s a story about my good friend Sylvia.  She grew up about 4 hours away in a more rural village and then her family moved to the township of Mamelodi outside of Pretoria. Now, with her husband and family, Sylvia lives in Block KK, Soshanguve.  I met her about four months ago that is when she began sharing her story and her heart.

For a long time Sylvia has had a heart for God and while living in Soshanguve her heart for God has led her to start caring for her neighbors.  It first began about three years ago when a baby girl was brought to Sylvia’s house.  The baby was three months old but was so malnourished it only looked about 1 month old and her skin was starting to rot and become infected.  The most rotten parts of her skin were her private parts.  This baby was living with some distant relative but totally neglected and ignored.  Sylvia couldn’t stand by and do nothing.  She did her best to contact social services to in order to find help, but like many people in this country, Sylvia only met social workers who were only concerned about their position and did nothing to help the community.  Many promises were made that came back empty.  Sylvia encountered this country’s inadequate social welfare system.  The government is filled with people only appointed because of their connections instead of their ability to provide the service they were hired to do.  (I have run into this problem many times during my 4 years in South Africa.)

Well, Sylvia decided to take matters into her own hands if the government was going to fail.  She contacted several people who might be willing to help.  Through this she was able to get free donations of food and clothing to help some.  She went door to door in her Block to survey those who needed help but wasn’t receiving any.  She found 54 orphans from 22 families that were in need and received no help from the government.  She took four of these orphans into her home doing the best she could.  She told her story to Rianna, the woman she works for as a domestic worker, and Rianna took it upon herself to help.  Eventually Sylvia and Rianna made it on the Nation’s Talk Radio Station to share their story and frustration in the lack of basic social service.

It was soon after this that I met Sylvia and knew walking with her was what God was calling me to do.  So I started by listening and praying.  Colletta joined with me in this venture and we began visiting families and encouraging Sylvia.  So far, we’ve helped Sylvia begin a community garden and we are working with her to get a piece of land to build to community center/safe house in order to support those in great need.  This will not be a short process, but in the end we hope it will have a long lasting impact.

And I have to admit that the hurdles we have to overcome and move past can sometimes seem discouraging to me, but Sylvia is always there with a positive attitude and a trust in God that keeps me encouraged.

Doug