New Year’s Eve: My
daughter Tinlie Lihle always askes me “Mommy, will you rub my arm?” as I put
her to bed. Tonight (after a much needed nap), we went to eLangeni to shoot off
crickets (fireworks) with the Msibis and Mazwi & Mphilo – a tradition we
started many years ago. I don’t even
like fireworks, but it is so beautiful here.
You see, there are no lights in the rural areas. No street lights at all. It’s complete darkness other than the glitter
shooting up from the ground and exploding in the sky. We were dancing and singing and playing games
in the light of the fireworks and in the black darkness of the night. But just before midnight, Junior (5 years
old) woke up scared from the fireworks.
He came to the door crying. I
left the others to put him back to bed - on his blanket on the cement
floor. As I snuggled him back to sleep,
I rubbed his arm the way I do with my 3 year old and sang “Jesus loves me, this
I know” just like I do with her, into his sleepy ear. Missing my baby girl tonight!! Can’t wait for
her to be old enough to tag along with me in Swaziland…
But let’s back up! This
morning we paid the eLangeni high school fees for all 11 orphaned students
(THANK YOU SO MUCH!!). We pay these fees
directly to the bank eliminating any chances of corruption. We are very grateful that you are investing in
these hardworking amazing children!! Siyabonga!! Watching what the children are
able to accomplish with your support is one of the biggest blessings in my
life!
Afterward we went to Malindza village where we hosted our
annual NYE party. We had over 100
children attend. These are orphans from
preK through primary. We played games
and the children ate the chicken we provided (meat is an extreme luxury
here!). We also spent the day getting
Banelile prepared for her first year at the school for the Deaf. It makes me so sad that there aren’t services
here. I couldn’t stop thinking about one
of my best friends Lindsay who is a speech pathologist and how much I wish she could
help. Here I go getting ahead of myself
again… Banelile is 6 years old and mute. But she is very sharp! She understands
commands and can write. She just can’t talk. And because of this, in Swaziland, they will
not accept her into the public schools paid for by the government. Without our donor Anika paying her school
fees at the school for the Deaf, she would sit at home every year while her speaking
peers would learn and grow. But the
school for the deaf is a boarding school.
It may be a blessing in disguise that she has a place to live – as long
as she learns to love it – because her mother is dead. And her father abandoned her when he realized
she “wasn’t perfect”. She was being raised
by her grandmother, but she had a stroke and is immobile. Banelile is now alone. Perhaps although in my Western mind, I’m
cringing that she has to go to a deaf school although she hears perfectly, she will
gain a new community of peers, friends and “family”.
Okay, we’re back to the fireworks part of my story… Someone
brings out a radio. Suddenly dance music is playing loudly in the dark, under
the glittering sky. Mazwi hears the beat
and starts swaying. We form a circle
around him cheering him on, and he starts dancing… SO BEAUTIFULLY! (Although if you know me, I am biased. Sweet 3 year old orphaned Mazwi, 12 years ago,
is the main reason GHFP was formed – everything he does is beautiful to me!! And I pray every day that a cure for HIV is
found so he can live “forever”.) As he
was dancing, I couldn’t help but remember my friend Sifiso, who died of AIDS
last November. Sifiso was a professional
dancer and 6 years ago, when Mazwi was 9 years old, he gave Mazwi his first unofficial
“dance lesson”. Sifiso would be so proud
to see him now!! It is now 1am and I’m tired.
Sorry if this blog is scrambled thoughts. But my main thought tonight is gratitude. Endless thanks to all of our donors who make
these children’s lives better. When I
see these kids now, smiling hopeful and happy, my mind always momentarily
flashes back for a second to their previous life – before your sponsorship –
scared and unsure… and I am giddy with endless abundant gratitude!!
New Year’s Day: Today
we drove to Hlane Royal National Park.
Elise was hopeful to see an elephant.
As we drove into the park, we saw giraffes along the highway eating leaves
from tall trees. During the safari, they
also saw lions, rhinos, warthogs, impala, hippos bathing in the watering hole,
and ELEPHANTS! We dropped off our used
clothes with Nomalungelo on our drive.
She will sell them and use the money to support herself (she is done
with high-school but there are no jobs in her rural village, so we try to support
her this way). Once we arrived at home,
the girls spent 2 hours sanitizing soaps.
We collect used soaps from local hotels and sanitize them in a bleach
solution before distributing them to children in the rural communities. Tomorrow we will distribute them to the
refugee camp and at our rural pop-up pediatric clinic.
Goodnight from eSwatini!! To the Dorsch, Kaur, Madhan and
Andersen families – THANK YOU for sharing your family with us… the ladies have
been AMAZING here and have been crucial in the implementation of our programming!
I hope they have gained a fraction of what they have given back. If anyone would like to support our programming,
you can do so here: www.ifightpoverty.org/donate.html
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