Team members were called in on Saturday and we quickly made plans to go up and feed everyone...which were reported at 250 people and growing. We got lunch up at midday and began making another batch of soup for dinner. The crowd was growing.
On Monday morning the camp had swelled to 650. We served Pap (corn meal) that night by popular request of the Zimbabweans - and it was a much bigger hit than the soup.
By Tuesday the Municipality had finally been able to make arrangements with some local catering companies, as well as providing cooking facilities to the refugees. This means that our emergency food provision is no longer needed, for now, and life isn't as frantic as it was over the weekend.
Last night our team went up to the camp and we spent time talking to a young 20-year-old Zimbabwean woman name Isabelle. She has been in South Africa for 3 months with her husband and had a two month old baby girl named Cynthia whom she delivered while here in South Africa. She told her story about being the youngest of 6 - she has 5 older brothers.
She and her husband left their country to come to South Africa to make some money. Sadly their timing got them caught in the middle of all of this. Her family must be so worried about her. She is younger than our own children.
This tragedy has started to provide names of people to us. Real people with their own lives. For the moment we are visiting the camp every day to try to encourage them during these desperate days.
Monte Christo Ministries (MCM) was established as a South African charity in 2004 and works with disadvantaged communities in Paarl East. Their programmes include community sports, HIV/AIDS education and leadership skills. For more information on their work, please visit www.montechristoministries.com
World Emergency Relief (WER) is an international relief and development charity and was established as a UK charity in 1995. We work with disadvantaged communities in over 20 countries across the world and support a range of projects, including education, healthcare and orphanages. For more information on our work, please visit www.wer-uk.org
