God's Golden Acre

le Vack Dale

Description

In KwaZulu-Natal Heather Reynolds and her husband Patrick have established a community care centre for orphaned and abandoned children, where children find sanctuary from abuse, poverty, and starvation. The very sick die with dignity; but for those who survive Heather provides love, security, education, hope and a future. She has set up football leagues and a touring theatre and dance troupe. Braving local indifference and facing down opposition from neighbours and gang leaders, she has attracted dozens of volunteers to assist in her rescue mission. A one-woman force of nature, she has enlisted the support of such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey and Jude Law. Where did such courage and vision come from? This is Heather's own astonishing story.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 04 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780857213969
• Langue: English

Extrait

Copyright © 2005 by Heather Reynolds and Dale le Vack This edition copyright © 2005 Lion Hudson
The right of Heather Reynolds and Dale le Vack to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Monarch Books an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] www.lionhudson.com/monarch
ISBN: 978-1-85424-706-3 (UK) ISBN: 0-8254-6085-9 (USA) e-ISBN: 978-0-85721-396-9
First edition 2005
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Val Adamson
AUTHOR’S
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T he idea for a biography of Heather Reynolds was first discussed not in South Africa, but thousands of miles away in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, one summer evening in June 2002. Heather and the Young Zulu Warriors were on a UK tour and we met at the Croft Preparatory School where both the children and adults were staying before their one-night performance in the town.
I was on an assignment for the Stratford Herald to report on both the visit and concert of this unusual party of adults and children from South Africa. They were travelling the country in an old school bus and delighting audiences with their blend of traditional Zulu song and dance. We reckoned in the newsroom at the Herald that the performance of the Young Zulu Warriors would certainly be a change for Stratford audiences from the world of William Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
Heather appeared in the garden of the school as the dancers were being lined up in Zulu costume for a photograph. I listened in astonishment as this plump and loquacious woman told me about her life and extraordinary adventures among the thousands of AIDS orphans in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, KwaZulu-Natal. She described how she and her husband Patrick had risked bankruptcy – sacrificing their business and virtually all their worldly material possessions and savings – to bring some form of sanctuary to thousands of needy children. Death and danger had stalked them at every step for more than ten years.
Heather did not consider her story to be of interest to the world and made it clear she would never have the time to write her autobiography. Having just heard a brief account of her life I realised it was certainly a story that should be told, and also one that could help to finance God’s Golden Acre and its vital work, as the AIDS pandemic continued to demolish the foundations of rural Zulu society.
“You should find a journalist, a writer, in South Africa and get to work on your story,” I told her. A reflective expression came over her face and she beamed the warm smile that is her hallmark. A few days later, after reading my report about the Young Zulu Warriors in the newspaper, she asked me over the telephone to write her life story.
I did not consider the proposition to be practical because of the great distance that separated us. However, a number of factors came into play over the next two years that made our project possible.
Heather and Patrick enjoy coming to England and Europe at least twice a year to recharge their batteries and also to talk to the God’s Golden Acre funding organisations and people who run them. Their favourite haunt during these times is Marriage Hill Farm in the Warwickshire village of Bidford-on-Avon.
This is the home of Ann and Brian Smith who are members of a Warwickshire family that has dedicated itself to the cause of God’s Golden Acre. In addition to Ann and Brian, prominent among the family are their daughter Angela Foster, granddaughter Lucy Foster, Brian’s sister Angela Hands and his brother-in-law Jeff Hands. All have served God’s Golden Acre in some way, both in KwaZulu-Natal and in the United Kingdom, and one of them, Rebecca Hands, is currently general manager of God’s Golden Acre on a two-year assignment at Cato Ridge with her partner Tom Ward-Jackson.
Over a period of two years Heather and I recorded many hours of conversation at Marriage Hill Farm about her life. Once the early drafts were written, having culminated in a visit by myself to God’s Golden Acre at Christmas 2003, Ann Smith played a key support role in helping me to bring the project to fruition. The book could not have been written without that support.
The other great support of the project was literary agent Robert Dudley who expressed great enthusiasm for the proposed book from an early stage and whose wise counsel ensured it emerged as an acceptable piece of work for our publisher, Monarch Books of Oxford, to consider. I must thank my old school friend Andrew Trotman for the introduction to Robert.
Many contributors to the book have enhanced its perspective – both of Heather, and of her inspirational work as founder of God’s Golden Acre. Paramount among these is Susan Balfour. Her journals have been quoted in this book and have added perception and sensitivity to the manuscript. Susan Balfour was an early volunteer at God’s Golden Acre at Cato Ridge and her vivid accounts of life there through the eyes of a volunteer nurse have been complemented by those from Hugh Evans, Lucy Foster, Vibeke Blaker, Marianne Jenum, Sophie Wong, Helen Beresford and Esther Perenyi. I should also like to thank Orin Wilson for his original thoughts about Heather and her family, and Gael Tremaux for a long conversation about God’s Golden Acre that extended into the early hours of one morning while on a game park weekend with the children.
Others who have helped to provide a deep and personal insight into Heather and her work as a leading humanitarian include her husband Patrick Reynolds, daughter Bronwen Reynolds, and Heather’s sister Myrtle Venter.
Outside the family Alan McCarthy, the chairman of God’s Golden Acre, and Dr Gerrit Ter Haar, the deputy chairman, also made meaningful contributions, as did the benefactors Gerrit and Anneke Mons. On the staff at God’s Golden Acre, Mary Van der Leeuw, Rosetta Heunis, Cheryl Harris and Alta Collins all went out of their way to help me collect background information about how things are run under Heather’s management of the children’s sanctuary and the rural outreach projects.
A highly readable account of his visit to God’s Golden Acre was provided by my former colleague, BBC producer Bill Hamilton, and I am also grateful to Oprah Winfrey, Heather’s great friend, in allowing me to use extracts from her published works on her altruistic and humanitarian work in South Africa, and in particular her visits to God’s Golden Acre where she is “mother” to a number of children.
Among Heather’s African “children” I owe thanks to Zanele Jila. She is a young woman of great beauty and intelligence who I believe will be among the first whose childhood spent at God’s Golden Acre, and also higher education, will be repaid through a lifetime of achievement and dedication among her Zulu people.
From the valley, Nkosi Mlaba of KwaXimba was most generous in the help he gave me in providing vital information about Zulu culture, and the political and economic structure of rural life in KwaZulu-Natal. I should also like to thank an old friend, Clive Bromilow of Howick, for his hospitality and introductions to the farming communities in the region – and also for allowing me to draw information from his book, Problem Plants of South Africa , published by Bayer. Another old friend, Martin Edwards, President of Manchester United, was tireless in helping Heather to have the ear of other very important men in the world of professional football. These include Dave Richards, chairman of the Premier League, who has become one of Heather’s major advocates, and David Davies, Executive Director of the Football Association. Finally, my thanks to Chris Towner, Editor of the Stratford Herald, for his support during the two demanding years when the book was in its gestation period.
Dale le Vack March 2005
Table of Contents
Cover Title Page Copyright Acknowledgements Introduction Part One 1. Easter 1965 2. Many Years Later… a Miracle at Mpolweni 3. Football, Funerals, Miracles – Over the Rainbow 4. Christmas Week 5. Christmas Eve 6. Christmas Morning Part Two 7. Life on the Trading Station 8. Children in the Wilderness 9. The Family History 10. The Odd One Out 11. Love at First Sight 12. Betrayal and Divorce 13. A Foolish Decision 14. A New Life with Patrick 15. Heather Returns to God 16. The Deep Valley Years 17. A Life-changing Journey Part Three 18. The Establishment of God’s Golden Acre 19. The Horrors of the Valley 20. Local Hostility to God’s Golden Acre 21. The Norwegian Volunteers Arrive 22. Bankruptcy Looms 23. The Street Protest 24. Heather’s Desperate Gamble 25. Hatred and Resentment Grows 26. Buying McPherson Farm 27. A Man She Could do Business with 28. More Miracles Follow 29. More Volunteers Arrive 30. The Death of Thulani and the Inspiration of Ellie 31. Volunteers and Visitors in the Valley 32. Practical Hands Arrive…and More Miracles 33. The Young Zulu Warriors Tour the UK 34. Oprah Winfrey Comes to God’s Golden Acre 35. The Children of God’s Golden Acre 36. Symbols of Reconciliation 37. “I Feel Like Crying till I Die… ” 38. A Treat for the Orphans 39. The Little Boy from Uppington 40. A Prophet in Her Own Land 41. Over the Rainbow 42. The Football Miracle 43. The Parable of the Good Sam