Mission at the Eastward
{MATE}
THE MATE / MACFARLAN
SOUTH AFRICA PARTNERSHIP:
Village of Sompondo is at the base of the Amatola Mountains & waterfalls; Hogsback Mtn. is in the background. Buildings in the foreground are in the Auckland Village.
WHO WE ARE…
WHAT WE DO…
Part of the village of Macfarlan – the church is just right of center at top. Scottish missionaries founded 1st mission station here in 1827.
Our PARTNERSHIP…
… is exemplified in this picture: Winnie Maneli serving afternoon tea at a roofing project in the Dyamala village in 2002.
We are engaged in a relationship that addresses the alleviation of the legacy of apartheid – hunger, poverty & disease – through self-empowerment, respectful dialogue, and sustainable projects.
What started in 2000 as a sister-church relationship has grown and expanded to provide community-wide programs in the Tyume Valley where Macfarlan is located.
ONGOING PROJECTS:
Health Projects:
· Home Based Care Kits for AIDS patients dying at home. These provide bedding, ointments, salves, adult diapers, wash clothes/towels, rubber gloves, etc.
· Home vegetable gardens for HIV/AIDS families, helping them raise their own food for good nutrition. Soup kitchens were not viable because transportation is so lacking in the area - Grannies and their orphaned grand-children just cannot get there, as shown for the village of Dyali.
Village of Dyali – 5 km from former soup kitchen at Upper Ncera Clinic.
· Assistance to a local doctor who is providing ARVT drugs free of charge. No government program has reached this area yet; HIV/AIDS is quite visible every Saturday – the day for funerals.
Agricultural Projects:
· The Home Gardens project has grown from the initial training of 17 families in 4 villages in February 2007, to about 180 families preparing winter gardens now.
· The Home Gardens Health Project for HIV/AIDS families has about 60 families.
Ernest Jwambi, Patricia Peters & Ed at her Home Garden – one of the best!
· A well, pump, irrigation system and fencing of a 2-hectare area was completed in 2008. While the initial ‘for-profit’ mini-farm has not worked out, other potential uses are being explored.
Winnie & Ed {co-chairs of the Partnership} displaying the fruits of the Partnership’s collective labor from the Home Gardens Project.
Visits to Macfarlan:
MATE has sent a delegation to visit with our brothers & sisters in Macfarlan in 2002, ’03, ’05, ’06, & ’08, and in 2004 we brought 4 adults to Maine for 3 weeks. Many church dinners, plus rummage & bake sales helped raise travel funds – MATE does not use donations to cover travel expenditures.
MATE helped build this church roof in 2002 in the Village of Dyamala.
Cooks preparing a feast for their guests, workers and their families. A real treat!
Our most recent Visit – Feb. 08:
Bonnie holding an AIDS orphan
A Granny with her AIDS orphaned granddaughter – 85% of AIDS orphaned children are cared for by their Grannies.
THE MACFARLAN Community –
The Macfarlan congregation spans an area covering 14 rural villages in a semi-arid region nestled within the Amatola Mountains of the Eastern Cape Province. It is about 100 km inland from the Indian Ocean coastal town of East London. The Tyume River runs through many of the villages during the rainy season – it trickles through the rest of the year.
The people are of the Xhosa clan, and while many speak English, the Xhosa language is predominantly used. The Presbyterian Church in this area dates back to 1827, when missionaries from Scotland founded a mission church in nearby Alice.
Apartheid ended in 1994, and it was in 1999 that the former black and white churches came together to create the “Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.” In the summer of 2000 Rev. Qina and his family visited MATE, and the Partnership was born.
Rev. Qina {Macfarlan} and Rev. Planting {MATE} celebrating the Partnership.
NEXT TRIP TO MACFARLAN
TARGETING AUGUST 5-19, 2010
Would you like to join us? One does not have to be a member of a MATE church to join the partnership, and we are opening this trip to anyone who supports our mission. Simply call the phone number or send an email as shown above. Also – log onto the Website and check out our page.
A potential project – help complete new church in Sompondo – replacing wattle & daub church built decades ago.