Shongwe 2011
Posted 2011-11-29
Shongwe, a small impoverished area located in Mpumalanga just on the boarder of the Kruger National Park, is known for its amazing sunsets and great rain storms, it is also a place that Dac Systems holds close to their hearts.
Every year Dac Systems’ rallies the staff, family and friends and tries to get as many people to join the annual team build / outreach programme which is a life changing experience for all of those involved, whether they are the inhabitants of Shongwe, or the Dac Systems’ team that goes along.
"The Shongwe Project” was started by an amazing woman by the name of Sally McKibben. Sally, after travelling the world and working for a few charities, finally landed up at the local hospital as a volunteer, settled and made Shongwe her home after hearing from God that this was her calling. Sally runs the Thembalethu Care Centre throughout the year, and through volunteers and donations, is able to care, feed, clothe and educate the people, love is something she is happy to give for free in our Savour Jesus Christ’ name.
The Dac trip occurs once a year in August and runs from the Friday to the Monday, and if anyone thinks they are going to the Kruger National Park for a holiday are surprisingly shocked. The purpose of the Dac trip is not only to have a company team build, this is seen as an added bonus, but the main focus is on building a house for someone chosen out of the community as a person in need. Not only does the Dac staff get down and dirty with building a house, but there are also other events that happen. On the Saturday there is a Kids Club held where Dac Staff play with, feed and entertain on average about 100 children.
This year, Dac Systems introduced something new, thanks to one of our Director’s wives’ and her book club which raised over R2000.00 we were able to have Johanna Masasana, one of our General Assistants teach a few women how to make jewellery, this was exciting for them as it was the first time they had done anything like it and they were very happy to learn a new skill that they could use to make additional income for their family.
Although the number of people that came on the 2011 Dac Shongwe trip was a little less than usual it still turned out to be one of the best trips that we have had so far, enjoying the company of previous employees and bonding with the current or new ones. As always we set up camp in the Kruger National Park Berg-en-Dal camp site which is great as it provides us with easy access to Shongwe every day, although this year the house that was built was in Jeppe’s Reef.
After arriving on the Friday afternoon, the tents were put up and the campsite was a hum with the sound of mattresses being electrically pumped. After setting up camp and having an early dinner, everyone decided to have an early night, as the long drives there and the prospect of early mornings got the better of everyone.
Saturday morning we awoke to slight overcast skies and the worry that it would start raining, but, nevertheless, we all hopped in the cars and made our way to Sally’s house to collect the building material. The people doing the Kid’s Care and the bead work were dropped off and everyone was set on their functions for the day. This year there were a few new members to the house building crew and everyone looked nervously at the large homemade bricks and mixture of cement, sand and water called “dugga.” As quickly as the bewilderment hit, so did the process of building. Included in the group of people were the children of the area that gathered to laugh and play with us. Curious onlookers came and went to see what we were up to and some of the other kids came to help.
Once we were done building for the day, we all went through to the care centre to collect the people doing Kids Club and bead work. The smile on the children’s faces was priceless, you could see that they had had the best day of their lives, even running behind Angy, the leader of the Kids club screaming her name and not wanting her to go. The women that had done the beadwork were also so excited that they asked if next year they could have more funding, because they know that it would help with their incomes.
That evening we all arrived back at camp a little tired and a little dirty, but all still chatting about the days’ events. Once again we all came together to enjoy the great South African tradition of braaing, still discussing the events of the day, giving us all time to reflect on what we had seen and done.
Sunday morning when we left camp it started to drizzle just a little, but not enough to stop any of us from carrying on building on site. After lunch some of us went on the “care walks”, this is where packs of food and items are put together and given to families in need. What an experience, to see the smile on the face of someone who had nothing, and was given something, thanking The Lord for Dac Systems.
As the day came to a close, we all tried our best to finish as much of the house as possible, even though Sally’s helpers would finish the job for us, we were determined to get as much done. After our final brick was laid, we went to visit Precious, one of the orphans that Dac had adopted many years ago. We were all amazed and thrilled to see how Precious had expanded on her house and was able to get a job and look after her younger brothers and son. Dac System still likes to give Precious and her family something and they were excited to have Christmas in August as they opened their gifts.
Sitting at the campfire on Sunday night, we all had a chance to talk about our experience at Shongwe, and we could all agree that it is a heart-warming, kind and charitable thing that Dac Systems does and that there is so much in our lives that we take for granted. Knowing that we would be leaving the next day was somewhat sad, the weekend, despite how busy it was came to an end too quickly and we all felt that if we stayed for just one more day, we could do so much more.
To those who could not make it this year it will be great to have you there next year to create new memories and change more lives in Jesus’s name.
