Ebenezer Telegraph June 2008
Affectionately known as Mr and Mrs Nyams, they have 3 sons – Simbarashe 27, Rangarirai 24, Tendai 19. Augustine is an entreprenaur and Gertrude is a primary school teacher by profession. Their decision to come to Ebenezer Agricultural Training Centre was God’s answer to their prayer for new avenues to be opened up to them. They felt God saying that they should “get out of their comfort zone”.
The Nyams are the site parents to all the 32 apprentices we have so far. They help them deal with both social and emotional problems.
Mrs Nyams’ kitchen recipe: Yummy soyamince meat relish.
(serves 42- best cooked over open fire. Serve with Sadza)
Ingredients: I ½ kg soya mince, 4 large potatoes, 8 large carrots, 4 large onions, 1kg tomatoes, 500mls cooking oil, salt to season, packet of tomato soup.
Soak soya mince into warm water for an hour.
Scrub and cut carrots into cubes. Cut onions and tomatoes
Heat oil and fry onions until translucent Add tomatoes to make a tomato and onion mixture.
Squeeze all the water from the soya mince and add that to the tomato mixture and fry, add carrots.
Add 2 cups of water and packet soup.
Simmer for 20 minutes or until tomatoes and carrots are done.
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Above is an example of the tomato beds: Each bed is 20m long and 1m wide. The spacing of each plant is 50cm. Each row has 40 tomato plants and 80 in each bed. The average yield per plant is 4kg’s . Below is one of the apprentices spraying her tomato crop.
The Nyams – continued
Mrs Nyams is responsible for the kitchen and what yummy goodies she comes up with from the limited resources she has! Mr Nyams is responsible for the community work by apprentices into Ebenezer. His heart is to develop a culture where every apprentice knows that they have a social responsibility to the community. Every apprentice has to do 3 hours of helping out in the community and so far some of the apprentice initiatives are helping elderly people with firewood, fetching water, cleaning the houses, planting and weeding in their field. Some are going to help out clean up at a nearby clinic and at Entwandeni orphanage.
Asked how they are coping, they said very well, thank a nearbyyou! with huge smiles. They love Ebenezer a lot and they also look forward to going into town to see their family. Their highlight is the weekend duty because they get to spend loads of time with the apprentices, starting with Friday evenings around the fire singing, jokes and stories, tittering until late. Saturdays and Sunday are chilled out. Fishing and church t crown the day.
Written by Sarah Stell
Three awards were given and they are as follows
1. Most helpful female apprentice : Andile Ndlovu (trainers)
2. Most helpful male apprentice : Mxwayisi Dube (jacket)
3. Most hardworking male apprentice: Mhkululi Ncube (purpose driven life –book)
4. Most hardworking female apprentice : All the girls. It was absolutely impossible to say who was better than the rest. All their fields are looking glorious and their crop it doing really good. Well done girls. We are throwing a ladies tea for the all of them. No males invited.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Good Tomato harvest.
Protection of the Ebenezer Site. .
Good supply good continuous supply of food and resources.
God would provide good communication means with the out side world. ( telephone, internet, road)
Spirit of discernment for the staff to lead the apprentices wisely.
All the apprentices to come to a knowledge of Christ.
Revival within the Kezi community.
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The Ebenezer Staff having an early morning cup of tea and “catch up” time around the fire before the start of the days activities.
