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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