Heartrending poverty at Coronation Park Camp

It was a winter's day in South Africa recently, and I was visiting a camp at Coronation Park. Kindly faces welcomed me to their makeshift homes. Currently two hundred and sixty people are living in this camp. In one area, a plastic home which collapsed on the homeowners in a storm, was still lying forlornly on the ground. Luckily the family were not severely injured, and other members of the camp hastened to bring them in, wet and shivering, into their homes to assist them. The mark of hospitality and kindness of those living in poverty towards each other in the camp is inspiring.

DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS
Mark van der Walt from the Marike de Klerk Children Fund works in the camp. I was privileged to visit the camp recently and witnessed the dedicated work Mark does there. Mr and Mrs Nielsen facilitate the camp, and assist many people from all walks of life who have fallen on hard times. Mrs. Nielsen was welcoming, and it was wonderful to see her caring attitude towards all the camp members. Children were well supervised and delighted to see me, and their smiles lit the day.

POVERTY EVERYWHERE

There is much poverty in the camp. Plastic liners form tents. There are some small makeshift houses or caravans, windows taped together with brown tape to attempt to keep out the rain and cold. Residents continue the struggle to stay clean by washing clothing as often as possible. One shack had a fire burning outside to try to warm water for a wash, in the bitterly cold winter weather.

DIGNITY OF THE CAMP RESIDENTS

There are so many needs in the camp. Children are being schooled, and need uniforms, food and assistance with school fees. Needs include electricity, not available at present. Food, adequate shelter and assistance for plumbing for water are other needs. The camp members explained to me that a great need in the camp is  for electricity. The small generator is used only in extreme need because the camp residents often do not have the funds to run it. It was heartrending to see the dignity of the camp residents, and how hard they work to try to keep the camp clean and tidy with such little resources. A gentleman shuffled painfully to the door to courteously greet me, a stranger, to his shack. His mobility is severely compromised, and other members of the camp help him to get around on a wheelchair.

Mark does all he can to ease the lives of the desperately poor who struggle to live from day to day in the camp. At Easter he delivered Easter eggs to the children at the camp, who were thrilled to receive this treat. Mark also provides transport for the ill and children needing surgical and medical interventions to the doctors, hospitals and clinics. He has dedicatedly transported a family and infant back and forth to the hospital, enabling the little one to receive the care he so urgently needed.

STOLEN BAKKIE

The sad news is that one of the volunteer workers recently had his bakkie car stolen while fundraising for the worthy work at the camp. He was financially unable to replace it. Due to the theft he regretfully is no longer able to carry out his work of mercy, which was a tragic turn of events.

SUFFERING IN THE RECENT COLD

The residents have been suffering in the recent cold, and were affected by the snow which has uncharacteristically begun falling in parts of South Africa. Indeed, there was a snow blizzard on the roads as I was travelling after visiting the camp. This depth of winter has been very distressing to the camp residents and in particular to the small children.

NEEDS IN THE CAMP

The needs of those in the camp are for -

food; employment; soap; water; washing facilities and toiletries;

clothing; school clothing; sponsorship of school fees;

transport to hospitals, clinics, doctors.

Dental help, School books, Electricity, Petrol/diesel for the generator in the interim would be a marvellous donation. Window panes for broken panes are needed.

BEACON OF HOPE

The little church which stands as a beacon of hope where the residents gather to pray and ask God for assistance in their plight, has broken windows taped together. Plastic liner homes, makeshift tents and homes built of pieces of wood and rapidly deteriorating caravans do not hold out the bitter cold, especially for infants and children. Where does Lumiere start? The inspiration to me is, the same place as Mark and Mr and Mrs Nielsen do - by opening our hearts to the plight of these brothers and sisters of our global village.

HEARTRENDING REPORT

The last report I received from the camp is heartrending.

Severe weather conditions are being experienced. The lowest ever daytime temperatures have recently been recorded. Snow and heavy rainfalls, with night temperatures into minus 3 have made matters far worse regarding the plight of the camp and needy people. The Marike de Klerk Children Fund organisation have been placed in a crisis, and have had to scrape every penny together to provide relief. This has been the worst situation the organisation has faced since their foundation ten years back.

"Things are extremely tough at the moment. The pleas for help are flooding in and it has left us in a desperate situation," Mark writes.

A GLEAM OF LIGHT

One gleam of light has shone through all this suffering. A baby that Mark and his volunteers have been assisting over the last nine months has been operated on. Without the operation the little one would not have been able to walk properly; after medical and surgical care, he can look forward to a normal life - thanks to the dedication of Mark and his volunteers.

CAN YOU HELP?

Having seen at first hand what the needs are, my heart goes out to all suffering in Coronation Park in Krugersdorp. In the spirit of Lumiere, please could you help in any way possible?

CONTACT MARK VAN DER WALT

If Divine Providence has led you to read these words, and you feel it on your heart to help, please contact

Mr. Mark Van Der Walt at markvanderwalt@telkomsa.net

Donations can be made to the Marike de Klerk Children Fund. Mark can be contacted re the same. If you have donations of food, clothing, petrol or other assistance, please contact Mark or email lumierecharity@yahoo.co.uk

Home that collapsed during a storm

Camp place of worship