“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference” – this is such a profound prayer and if truly lived, one can experience immense peace.
We often circulate the ‘Serenity Prayer’ with our food hampers.
Food deliveries into Retreat and Khayelitsha
2023 proved to be a year of ongoing hardships and challenges for many. Thanks to the support and generosity of the broader Schoenstatt community, we managed to continue
providing monthly hampers to our 30 destitute families. Being able to provide a bumper Easter as well as Christmas hamper was a highlight and included some ‘treats’ in addition to the basics.
We are constantly reminded of the dire need for food and therefore this remains our most important mission.
Clothing distribution into the Eastern Cape rural areas
During the past year we extended our outreach to include collecting of second hand clothing and distributing it into the rural districts of the Eastern Cape. This is an area that suffers from immense poverty and, for them, being able to choose from a variety of recycled items is as good as ‘shopping’ in a designer store! We also enabled a humble meal of rice, meat and gravy to be cooked and served to them whilst they were selecting from the bounty of second hand clothing collected. This initiative benefited men, women and children alike.
An educational outing for the CTMSC youth
Our expansion also included providing some practical support to a youth care centre (CTMSC) that houses children who do not have parents or have been removed due to reasons such as gangsterism, violence, abuse, homelessness, and substance abuse. A group of passionate students wishing to change the lives of at-risk and vulnerable youth within Cape Town formed an organization called YOUTH INVASION AFRICA and run various programmes for this care centre focusing on education, leadership, literacy, team spirit, personal boundaries, respect, personal hygiene, as well as arts and culture.
Helping Hands managed to provide support in the way of a donation, snacks and refreshments towards the provision of food packs for some of their planned educational outings.
At Helping Hands we know that any good we do feeds the soul of both the giver and the person gifted. What we are able to do, in the bigger scheme of things, seems so insignificant, but we do know that it makes a huge difference in the lives of those few.
We marvel at the many small miracles we encounter along the way.
Keyword: Helping Hands, South Africa
Missionszentrale der Schönstätter Marienschwestern
Berg Schönstatt 6
56179 Vallendar
Tel.: (0261) 64 04-311
E-Mail: missionszentrale@s-ms.org
Bankverbindung: LIGA Bank eG
IBAN: DE10 7509 0300 0000 058920
BIC: GENODEF1M05