Friday

Day, Last: Going home now…
Since I was the worst blogger ever and missed the last few days, I will write a long one today. Brace yourself.  This week was crunch time.  We knew we had little time left to achieve big feats.  But somehow, it all worked out smoothly:

Malindza New Hope Primary School: We hired a new pre-school teacher who is excited to start working this month.  Our two teachers from last year have decided to stay with their students and teach the next grade up.  We will offer PreK, 1st, and 2nd this year starting January 20th.  The classrooms are all finished and the kitchen is getting final touches today! We’ve partnered with local volunteers headed by our community leader Mr. Maseko who are committed to providing sports, chess, emotional support, and after school literacy programs for our orphans.  We are so excited!

Sanitation across Swaziland: This program will provide our rural orphans with crucial hygiene lessons and access to a life-saving tool: a simple bar of soap.  We were able to get the program on the radio as well as in the newspaper in hopes of obtaining more hotel support.  So far we have Sibane Hotel and Royal Swazi Spa donating their used soaps.  We will be cleaning the soaps and delivering them to our pilot communities (eLangeni and Malindza) with the hopes of growing the program more nationwide as more soaps become available to us. 

Malindza Library & Computer lab: Thanks to a grant, we were able to build a bookshelf and provide eight laptop computers to our rural primary school: New Hope.  We will be continuing to fill the shelves with books and still have grant money remaining to purchase brand new computers for the children. 

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Swaziland: In 20 days, we were able to help local builders build two brand new houses and toilets for our most destitute orphans living in Gogo-headed homes (grandmothers are raising their orphaned grandkids).  Previously both Gogos and their grandchildren were living in a moldy, dark, dirt floor, eroding mud and rock hut that constantly let in rain and cold weather making the children often sick and absent from our school.  Their new houses are made of cement blocks and have two windows and a solid wood door.  And they have two of the nicest toilets in all of Malindza!

FOODOM: We delivered emergency feeding packs and Christmas Day meal bags to over 30 orphan headed homes this month.  Each food pack offers enough nonperishable food (including beans, canned fish, rice, etc) for the families to eat for three months (or more if they supplement the food with produce from their gardens).  We also planted new fruit-bearing trees at our eLangeni Primary School to provide a sustainable food source for their 600+ children. 

Orphan Education Program: We were able to add 6 orphans to our forever growing education sponsorship program due to the generosity of our donors. We purchased brand new school shoes and school uniforms for them as well as paid their school fees for the 2015 school year.  We also added one more student who is achieving post-secondary education: Noncedo. She is obtaining a certificate in IT/computers this year!  I’m so proud of all of the children, they work so hard and overcome so many obstacles!

How you can help: We could always use awareness building and fundraising support! If you would like to throw a Paint for a Purpose party or a Party for a Purpose in your area for your birthday party, bachelorette party, girls night out, or just because – get ahold of annie: anniefightspoverty@gmail.com and I will help you with the details! It’s easy!

TRAVEL WITH US, MAKE A DIFFERENCE: We are planning a couple of last minute trips in March 2015 to finalize the computer lab and children’s library in Malindza.  You can find the dates on our website: http://www.ifightpoverty.org/take-action.html We need volunteers to come with us and help implement our programs! If you are interested, please contact annie: anniefightspoverty@gmail.com, 765-532-2586 All are welcome – the only criteria is that you are 18+ years old and you love kids! 


Thank you for following our 6 week journey in Swaziland.  I am amazed at all we got accomplished through your generosity and the hard work of our US and Swazi volunteers working together to make the world a brighter place for our orphans and vulnerable children.  Siyabonga… until March 2015. 

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