“One of our 8 year olds was incarcerated for 8 months after stealing to buy some food” – Day 26

We met with my friend at SACRO again.  I needed him to help me transport fencing from the shop in Lobamba to our child-headed home in eLangeni and in order to do so, he wanted to tell us more about the organization again. (Thanks for donating the $ for the fence mama!! Samkelo was praising God and saying now he can keep the neighbors goats and pigs from eating the food he is growing to support his little brother and sister). And I’m glad I agreed to the meeting with SACRO because I learned more during this 30 minute meeting than in either of the other two meetings.  SACRO does very similar work to ours only in Mbabane (the city) rather than our rural areas.  One of the SACRO workers was arguing that urban poverty is worse than rural poverty because at least the children in the rural areas have land to grow food.  Hunger is the worst side effect of poverty.  Last year one of SACRO’s 8 year olds was incarcerated for 8 months for pick-pocketing in order to buy a loaf of bread.  He said that although the SACRO orphaned children have a place to sleep, it is with aunties or uncles who are poor and already have many children of their own.  The orphans, as a result, are treated as second-class people as the family is struggling to provide for their own immediate children.  If there is food, the orphaned children eat last.  If there is not enough food for everyone, they get nothing.  SACRO provides one meal per day at their after-school drop in center but it is only mealies or rice and a few days a week they might be able to offer beans.  

They have 68 orphaned or vulnerable children at the center some of whom are being abused by their caregivers.  Many of these kids run away from home to live on the streets as the conditions are so bad at home that they’d rather live alone in the city under a bridge or in a park than in their homes.  The little girls then turn to selling sex for food and contract HIV.  The need is so great and little things can help.  They wished to have games and toys to keep kids busy off the streets and away from HIV, clothes to keep them warm, food to keep them nourished and school supplies/fees to offer an education.  But this is the need everywhere throughout the country and we are a TINY organization only able to do so much.   Kait and I pride ourselves in staying small so that the level of support we can provide remains large.  If we try to help all of these orphans, then all we will be able to do is put a bandaid on cancer.  The SACRO head social worker said that we are in this fight against poverty together.  They are the left hand and we are the right.  I know it is just a saying, but it gives us far too much credit.  We might be a shoelace… or a button on a trouser.  But regardless, we are trying as hard as we can to change the future for at least those children in our network and hopefully someday we will grow and be able to help all 120,000 orphans here in Swaziland.  I’m ready for the day when HIV is cured and the children of Swaziland are able to shine bright like their blazing hot sun!  I pray that day is in my children’s lifetimes.  Mazwi cured of HIV??? Unstoppable.  

Syd climbing a tree like one of our kids. :)