Mandisa's Keys

Mandisa was one of the women we built a house for in the KTC area of the Njanga township, near Cape Town, in 2004. She was 57 years old and had never had lived in a house. She had been dragged from her bed at gun point over a car accident her son was involved in and her grand daughter was constantly getting colds and flus from the damp ground she slept on. It was a precarious life living in a shack. We were not so presumptuous to think that we were building her a home. Her loving relationship with her 5 year old grand daughter, Zi Zi Bo, was a very loving home already. It was a home that didn’t need a house but it deserved one.

When we arrived she told us, “I am so excited. I haven’t slept for weeks and it is going to get worse!” She flashed a warm bright smile and raised her hands in victory. The emotion on the day that we gave her her keys was brimming over. These are the kind of moments you never forget. You know that you have done at least something worthwhile in your life. You have been part of a Kingdom coming to turn our world around in some small but significant way.

MANDISA’S KEYS

Mandisa here’s your keys
To much more than a door
To dignity, respect and a firm foundation
And no illnesses off a damp floor
Mandisa here’s your keys
So shut that door behind you
Turn out the light, rest easy
The night can no longer find you
Your home doesn’t need a house
But it’s better now you have it
Hardboard, cardboard and bits of tin
Are no place for humanity to inhabit

Mandisa here’s your keys
To open up your dreams
Keeping out the Cape Doctor’s howl
And letting in the moonbeams
Mandisa here’s your keys
When it rains sit down and listen
To the sweet safe sound of shelter
Flash that smile at nature’s rhythms
Your home doesn’t need a house
But it’s better now you have it
Hardboard, cardboard and bits of tin
Are not place for humanity to inhabit.

God’s will on earth like heaven
Where Jesus prepares a place
These keys are His kingdom coming
In sweat, dagga and the sharing of grace.

We will be going to Cape Town to meet 12 more Mandisa’s this June and July. If you want to contribute to our trip which will see 70 students and a staff of 10 building houses as well as engaging in HIV/AIDS, Fair Trade and Reconciliation projects then please send a cheque/postal order (preferably in sterling) made payable to “Habitat For Humanity NI” to CAPETOWNSHIP 06, 49a Derryvolgie Avenue, BELFAST BT9 6FP, N. IRELAND.

It would be wonderful if the Rhythms Of Redemption community could fund the materials for a house. Thank you.

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