AFRICA CLOSEUP / FAITH AND VOLUNTEERING

 
Introducing Faith
Masiye Camp Explained
The Splashgirls
The Swiss Connection
Faith talks about AIDS
Faith and Volunteering
Ezekiel Mafusire, Masiye Camp Director
Faith and School
Faith Visits Her Rural Home
Faith at Home
About
Contact
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright 2005
Zina Saunders
All rights reserved

Faith with a Salvation Army Captain.
Click image for larger version 

By the time Faith was 16, she had begun volunteering. "I heard about Masiye from a group of church youths who had once attended it and so I was interested. When I went there for the first time, it was a really fantastic experience, playing with children and stuff like that."

She went to the Camps during holidays, and to the Kids Clubs over the weekends, "It was great to volunteer, it pays to be a volunteer, you learn and experience a lot of things in life. I got to know what other people are going through and it was really a challenge in my life. Many people are suffering and few people know about that."

Faith explains, "I started volunteering  because I had a love for children and wanted to work with them. I had a passion for working with the destitute and I still have.

"I didn't know that any of my parents was going to be sick or they were going to die. But my aunt had died of AIDS and I knew already how it was to have AIDS in the family and the children she had left behind.

I asked what she talks about with the children, "Well, I tell them about my experience, it's easier that way and it makes them feel at ease and be willing to share with you their own experiences, too.

"I believe it gives them confidence and hope to open up and also know what kind of person you are, too.

"We would talk about hope in life and the way forward. I mean, how to go on in life after losing parents or someone that you love. I usually tell them that it doesn't matter what people say your parent died of, but what matters is for you to carry on and build your own life."

Faith still volunteers, "Yeah, I'm still a volunteer camp counselor but not full time like I used to do before because I am now part of the Splashgirls. I go there some of the weekends. Or when I have off-days I do go to Camp. I mean, that's where I grew up, so it's a part of me now."