June 2004
East London

E-newsletter #7

Celebrate some good news with us!

Brown Motsau, who was previously denied a visa to visit the United States, succeeded the second time around. Thanks to the prayers of many, and to letters of intervention from Ohio’s two senators and from members of the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, the consulate in Johannesburg reversed its original decision. Now Brown will be able to join the delegation from South Africa traveling to the States next month for Joining Hands Against Hunger events in Cleveland and Tacoma.

While our minds are occupied with upcoming events on a far away continent, local happenings of not so good news continue to capture our attention. Every Monday morning at daybreak Stella and Bulelani arrive at the curb in front of our house. Monday is rubbish removal day in Cambridge, and this mother-and-son pair is there to sort through the neighborhood’s refuse. They set aside plastic bottles for refilling in spaza shops, cardboard for recycling, and discarded food and clothing items for personal use. On the day we took these pictures, Bulelani, who turns 4 on August 26, found a beat up old plastic toy truck in one of the bags of garbage.

Getting acquainted with Stella and Bulelani is no easy task. Stella speaks Xhosa and a bit of Afrikaans and is equally surprised by our desire to talk with her and by our inability to communicate in Afrikaans. The few Xhosa words we try to throw into the mix make the conversation even more confusing.

Verbal interaction is not a requirement for grasping the significance of this scene of dehumanizing poverty. Even without many words being exchanged, Stella’s and Bulelani’s faces and the injustice they represent are with us whenever we place an item into the garbage can in our kitchen. Yet, the situation of the garbage sorters outside of our gate is not an exception but rather the norm for so many people here in South Africa and worldwide.

Under the headline “Destitute folk eat rotten food,” the East London daily paper recently told the story of Tamara Somyeliso. Interviewed while rummaging through dumpsters in the back of a Shoprite supermarket, Tamara said: “I am doing this because I am trying to avoid a situation where my children choose prostitution as a solution to hunger.” For a number of families in Mdantsane this wasted food is all that stands between them and starvation. Everywhere in the world, the rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer. The resulting indignity, injustice, desperation and death call us to actions for change. Can we learn to share more than our trash?

Ken and Susanne

To support our ministry financially

Contributions from individuals may be sent to: PC(USA) Individual Remittance Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Please write “JHAH South Africa” and “Designated Account # H000109“ on the check and on the cover letter. Send a copy of the cover letter to: Presbyterian Hunger Program, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Or click the "give" button below to donate online.

Financial support for the educational and advocacy work of the JHAH Mission Group in the Presbytery of the Western Reserve may be sent to PWR, 2800 Euclid, Cleveland, OH 44115.

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 61