Tumelong:
Mission & Development Programme
Diocese of Pretoria

Friends of Tumelong Tumelong with its reach of close to 109 communities, have to be close to the people in she needs to be relevant and be in touch. This is done though a committees of the Friends of Tumelong who are also representatives for Parish Communities. These wonderful individuals provide advise, support and information about their communities and share information about Tumelong to their respective communities. Furthermore they also assist with campaigns and fundraising. The friends of Tumelong have a representative at the Governing Body of Tumelong and Rev Jessica McCarter is holding this position.

 Next Meetings:

 March 19,July 09, October 01, they all start at 9a at Bishop Kraft Centre for Mission and Development

People receiving aid from Tumelong

After 4 days  we-Tumelong , went for the second time with the aim to listen to more stories from those who were affected, and to provide aid . On the day, Tumelong  gave away food parcels(19) and clothes and shoes, to 19 families that were at the gathering. Following up on the promises made by the local ward councilor, they still have not come to register and profile  people who were affected.    

Even after 12 days  they are still struggling because their beds and some of their clothes are still wet, and the rain does not stop as it rains daily, and in the evening. “ When we see clouds gathering, we start praying that this time must not be as bad as the last time- the challenging aspect of this rain,  that it becomes severe at night . 

 After giving them food and clothes, they were so happy and they thanked Tumelong Mission and Development for helping them , in particular  Mrs Jemina Mbatha, who admitted that she was skeptical after Tumelong’s first visit-“ so often we get people come and get stories, and promise to come with assistance and they never show up again. We hope Tumelong can continue to advocate for our needs”.

 In this follow- up visit. We took stock of 19 families that were available, and they further indicated that there are 15 more families, who were at their places of work.

In Mamelodi East, Mandela Extention 11 which is a fairly new settlement born out of informal settlements. The local government decided to allocate stands to those who were placed on them and gave them stand numbers, with the intention of building the people RDP houses in those stands, which normally take veeeerry long.

 The impact of these decisions was felt by Jemina Mbatha and Mr Hlatshwayo of Mamelodi. In the recent floods she lost most of her possessions and was trying to salvage some items and clothes by washing them all over again after being in the mud for a couple of days. 8 days later, the effects of the water is as clear as the day it happened. There is a mud puddle inside the shack where the kitchen used to be, only made visible by muddy crockery in a ‘used to be’ kitchen unit slanted by the water.

 The kitchen door still has the mark that indicated the level of the water when it did as it pleased with all that was on its way. “ the force of the water forced us out in the make shift veranda on top of the pot plants which was the only thing standing strong against the water. We had to come out of bed, as it rains much harder in the evening and seek refuge, even our toilet outside was flat on the ground” said the aged TB patient. I struggle with TB, and raising my children and my nephew’s whose mother passed on, and now I have to struggle with this water, it will be better if I were to be moved instead of being here, as I fear for my life with every drop of rain”.

When asked about the intervention from the local government, she indicated that: “the Counselor Z was in the place and they came and wanted to register people affected but never got to some of us, it has been 8 days now and they still have not come again, no one has come to our assistance, you are the first person” , whispered Mrs Mbatha with a deep drawn emotional sigh.