On Saturday December 12th, my alma mater, Eastern University St Davids PA, awarded me an
honorary doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters). Robert.G. Duffett, President of Eastern
University described “Wendy as a passionate and dedicated worker who has devoted the last 35
years of her life to work as a journalist, speaker and servant in the church… Read More
BIO
Evangeline Ministries Missionary
Wendy E. Ryan
Former Director of Communications,
Baptist World Alliance
Evangeline Ministries in South Africa was founded in Cape Town South Africa by Wendy Ryan nine years ago to help women who live with HIV and AIDS develop skills to help them earn a living for themselves and their families-all in the name of Jesus Christ. When Wendy arrived in Cape Town, she saw that while women with HIV now had access to better health care, they still faced stigma because of their status and also had no skills to help them supplement the government grants many of them relied on exclusively. Almost all of these women come from the nearby township of Masiphumelele.
Evangeline has now expanded its outreach to include all who are disadvantaged and who can be described as “the least of the least and “the poorest of the poor” from Masiphumelele and other surrounding areas and townships.
Masiphumelele
Located in what is described as “the scenic south” of the Cape Town peninsula, Masiphumelele is one of the newest townships in the city, started in the 1990’s with an overflow of people from another township. Planned for 450 families, Masiphumelele is now crammed with approximately 40,000 people more than all in the surrounding communities. Almost all of the residents are economic refugees from the rural and desperately poor Eastern Cape who come to the Mother City to find help. More than 90% of them live in shacks vulnerable to flood and especially fires. In the majority of households, the income comes from the mother who has little or no education and whose best prospect is that of a domestic worker. Fully employed as such, her income is about $216 a month. Her unemployed partner or husband might make another $200 from sporadic contract work. They may get a child grant from the government of $20. Unemployment in Masiphumelele is about 90%. People are hungry most of the time and there is a high degree of crime and drug activity. All of this is the fertile soil for the spread of the HIV virus and it is estimated there are about 30-40% known cases of HIV and TB. Most men will not get tested. The name Masiphumelele means, “we shall succeed,” and EM wants to help the women, and especially those who live with the HIV virus know this is possible with skills and faith and hope in Jesus Christ.
Our Board
Audra Ryan-Jones-President
Information Technology Executive, Haymarket VA
Betty Bain
Retired Administrator the World Bank, Virginia
Rose-Marie Armstrong
Author, grant-writer and public-relations specialist, New York, NY
Aurora Sharma
Retired Interior Designer, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Partnerships
Evangeline Ministries in South Africa partners with the Masiphumelele Corporation and Trust, an education and economic empowerment NGO..
Green Girls in Africa
Professional: Images courtesy of Louise de Waal – Green Girls in Africa
