The day started out checking on the builders. They were on Day Three of building Nothando’s
toilet (Thanks Nichols family and St Matthew church!) and were supposed to
finish today (they did!). We had about
an hour to kill before meeting our head teacher Miss Mahlalela (now Mrs. Mamba
as she got married on Saturday!!) so we played with the kids. Megan bought a soccer ball at the shop and
took on 5 boys at Nothando’s homestead while Rachel and Andrea played “Play Ha”
with the girls (kind of like duck duck goose).
Mark helped the builders with the construction of the toilet… I
suggested that Raymond hire him onto the team for the next one! Haha!!
We then traveled to 8 of our most destitute Malindza homesteads
with Miss Mahlalela, Miss Maseko, and Mr. Maseko. We arrive at Sisimo’s grandmother’s house
(one of the homes we built last December) where the oldest girl (age 11) comes
rushing asking “Where is Ty?” I assure her that Ty will be returning with me in
May. She then grabs a huge bag of 10kg
beans and asks for more to help carry.
Small, but mighty. We walk with
the food to the home but we can’t find the grandmother anywhere. There are two new children at the home that
were recently abandoned by their mother making 5 in total from 12 months to 11
years. The baby is crying. The grandmother is off climbing trees to
break off branches to sell as firewood in the Nazarene marketplace. She has been gone since sunrise and won’t
return until sunset. Andrea wants to
cuddle the baby and try to get him to stop crying. I stop her from doing it as I explain that it
will be worse since we are already leaving for the next home and the baby will
yearn for her embrace. We leave to the sound
of all of the children asking us not to go.
Then we arrive at the next home. I have written about the mother before. She is 18 years old and has been raped
continuously by the boys in the community… she is severely mentally disabled.
She has been producing her rapist’s children since she was 14 years old. Three of the 4 children are also mentally disabled
including a 4 year old who attends our New Hope pre-school. We drop the food off under a tree but Miss
Maseko tells us to wait as she is going to ask the grandmother of the
neighboring household to come and protect the food from thieves until the
girl’s relatives return home. Then, as
we were leaving, she mentioned that the relatives themselves have been depriving
the girl and her children of food due to their mental disabilities. Heartbreaking.
I drive the car to the next home avoiding the Grand Canyon
sized ditches and avoiding shedding the tears I’ve been trying to hold
back. Then we reach our high schooler’s
home – Sharon. Sharon is one of our
superstars - passing each school year with flying colors. She has been positive since birth and her
grandmother has been hitchhiking to Siteki (quite far away) since she was 3
years old to ensure she gets her ARV medication. Her sister Emily is also positive and two
other children, Kevin (age 5) and Sean (age 2), also live there. The grandmother works hard trying to provide
for them, but the grandfather has tried to murder her twice saying she is old
and he wants a younger wife. I’ve been
scared for the last 18 months that he will try again and be successful the next
time. She refuses to leave the home
because he will not let her take the children (he uses the children to fetch
his beer in the middle of the night).
She said she does not fear her husband or death because God holds the
plan. She said His plan included taking
her daughter to heaven and making her the children’s new mother but she said soon
they will belong to me. She told me that
in 2016 Sharon will graduate from high school and she prays that Nomfundo (our
village leader) and I will be there to watch her graduate since she doesn’t
think she will make it that long. I am
not a strong person but I can usually hold it together at least until I make it
to the car… or like Kait, to the shower.
But today my strength was wavering and I burst out in tears in front of
the team and our Swazi friends. How
unfair life is for these wonderful people and how much faith and gratefulness
they have despite their circumstances often takes my breath away. If only we could “fix” everything. If only we could convince Samkelo to stop
drinking and making his young siblings sleep in the bushes. If only we could convince this grandfather to
treat his wife with respect. If only we
could cause the drought to cease so the rains can make the crops grow abundant
across the country. If only we could
cure HIV. If only…
Tonight we are going to shoot off fireworks with our
eLangeni children… Happy New Year from Swaziland! Happy first New Year to
Tinlie Lihle, my little 4 month old baby girl who has no idea why her mommy is
gone but hopefully someday soon will understand and gladly share her mommy with
her brothers and sisters in Swaziland.
If you’d like to take part in our programming, you can
donate online: www.ifightpoverty.org/donate.html
or mail a check to GHFP 2436 N Alabama Street Indianapolis IN 46205
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