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Joyce Meyer food parcels for Westlake
Joyce Meyer Ministries has been giving us 75 food parcels per month, and we are so grateful to them for this very generous donation. As you can see from the photos, the elderly people who have hypertension and/or diabetes and belong to our chronic disease support groups received their end of year food parcels on Friday 5 December. They were thrilled to bits and there was much singing in the hall! Beatrice, the facilitator, went into the village afterwards and distributed some more to the folk who were unable to attend the meeting and who need daily home based care. We really appreciate this kind contribution from Joyce Meyer towards the work we are doing in Westlake.
We also distributed some of Joyce Meyer’s food parcels to members of an HIV support group, who were absolutely delighted! This will make such a difference to the lives of many needy families who are infected or affected by HIV/Aids.
World Aids Day
Monday 1 December was World Aids Day. WUCT is a member of MSAT South – Multi Sectorial Action Team, which consists of goverment departments and NGO’s working together in the fight against HIV in the South Peninsula of the Western Cape. We organised an event at Rooikrans Sportsfield in Grassy Park, which consisted of a march, bands, dancing and other entertainment with the focus on HIV/Aids. There was also HIV testing all day. Golden Arrow bus service transported 75 Westlake children to the event. They were all given red t-shirts and formed an Aids ribbon amongst other children dressed in white t-shirts. The youth mayor of Cape Town addressed the crowd with a strong HIV-prevention message. Cembakazi from our Ithemba support group disclosed her HIV positive status in public, with the help of a translator, Siphokazi, our Patient Advocate, who does the anti-retroviral monitoring in Westlake. We are so proud of Cembakazi who spoke so well in front of a large crowd. She advised everyone to get tested so they know their status. The day was a tremendous success – despite the noise, heat and wind!
Picnic at Sandvlei!
On Friday 28 November, Beatrice, one of our carers and facilitator of the chronic disease support groups, organized for 60 people from Westlake to go to Sandvlei for a picnic. Golden Arrow kindly provided the bus to take them there and back. They thoroughly enjoyed the outing. Beatrice must be commended for all the hard work she put into it, to make sure everyone had enough food, etc. She did all the cooking herself.
Shell Christmas Party!
On Sunday 30 November, we took 46 children, who are orphaned or infected and affected by HIV/Aids, to a Christmas party organised by Shell SA, at Wynberg Boys High School. They had an amazing time – there were lots of rides, merry go rounds, jumping castles, water slides, and Father Christmas handed out buckets of toys to each child. Shell provided 2 buses and we also used our WUCT kombi to transport them to and from the party. It was wonderful to see the children going for donkey rides and enjoying themselves. They came back to Westlake with many happy memories, which I am sure will last for a long time-some of them have never experienced anything like that before in their lives. (On Monday, one or two of the children asked if they could go back!) We are extremely grateful to Shell SA for inviting our Westlake children to such a marvellous party! 
Ithemba Thanksgiving lunch
On Thursday 27 November, Amber, an American friend of Jenny Fisher (our faithful volunteer from St Martin’s), organised a thanksgiving lunch for our Ithemba support group. We had turkey and all the trimmings, and Revd Alan Smith from St Martin’s joined us. We were truly blessed by some amazing testimonies. They all said how much the support group has helped them accept their status, how their lives have been turned around and now they have hope. We thank God and give Him all the glory for what He has done in this special group of women.
