Go BIg or Go Home

Today we had the privledge of going to a brand new care point with Children's Cup. This included a two hour drive across the country toward the eastern border and one of the hottest, dryest parts of the country.  This particular site is out in the middle of nowhere and was selected last November as a potential new location. The first step is to show up once a week and distribute Feed My Starving Children meals for the kids, which has been going on since November. The feeding location currently is literally under a tree, and this we are told, is how each care point begins - under a tree.

How a care point starts

Tent provides much needed shade! Do we look hot?

Similar to our time in Lampang, this is very cool because we get to see the early ground work required to get things up and running.  It is not easy work.  We visited other care points that are well established with hundreds of kids, but here there is no building or even real trust just yet as some kids show hesitation.  The initial model is to show up once a week and build rapport with both the local chief and the kids.  Then wait for a church who wants to partner with Children's Cup at which point a small building with a wood burning stove and pots will be constructed.

Our crew included us and 4 CC workers - two volunteers and two staff.  They really didn''t need us per se, but are kind enough to include us as part of the team.  As we rolled out of Mbabane we stopped at a grocery store to grab some food for lunch.  Much of our "work" on this trip is not work that only we can do and would certainly get done without us just the same, but sometimes there are chances where we can bless others if we look for them.  The grocery run was such a chance as we told the team that lunch was on us today.  CC gives them an adequate allowance for food but it's not enough to really get more than necessities.  The initial look on one team members face was a little confused as if he was trying to figure out how to be polite but ask how much he should spend (he's a big dude).  We told him, anything he wants is fair game and that back home we like the expression "GO BIG OR GO HOME"!  He smiled like a child on Christmas and bellowed through the store, "I am going to go BIG" in a loud, thick African accent.  It was a beautiful moment as we pondered the rationale of not being able to eat what we want or need on a daily basis as so many don't have the opportunity to do here.  And these guys with us are not even the truly needy ones, like those we are driving to see.  It was a good reminder to us and the kids how sometimes the biggest blessings are the seemingly small and unexpected ones.

As we crossed this small country, the mountainous landscape retreated to a dry, desert-like brown. Rivers, which were once vast and carved into the earth, were bone dry. Homes became sparse and the pain of the place could be felt. We exited the paved road and drove on the dirt for a while until even that became bumpy and rough. However, in places there were fields upon fields of tall green sugar cane that was being watered in the middle of this scorching hot day!  Later we learned that these were the king's sugar cane fields.

King's sugar cane fields being watered in the middle of the day during a drought.

A nice house in the area we were visiting.

Exiting the car was like entering a sauna as the temperature read 44C (or 111.2F).  It was hot!  Just standing required sweat and lots of it. We set up a tent for shade and brought out scales and tape measures as the goal of the day was to take the height and weight readings on as many kids as we could in order to track their progress in the future. We waited for school to get out and as it did, the kids slowly trickled in. By the time we were done we had measured over 80 kids with about half showing signs of malnutrition. They got their photo taken and hopefully will be sponsored sometime soon.

Tree after school gets out

Some children were absolutely terrified of stepping on the bathroom scale
to be weighed, as they had never seen such a contraption!

Meals being distributed

New Friends

Mom had been told to wear a skirt to this care point, but thinking this just meant she needed to have her legs covered, she opted to wear pants.  Interestingly, she learned that a skirt truly meant skirt in this situation.  Especially in rural Swaziland, pants are considered male attire and that the chief might chase any woman not wearing a skirt or dress off his grounds - yikes!  We also learned that while in Western cultures much attention is given to women's breasts, here they are considered machines while women's knees are considered unmentionables and should be covered at all times so as not to come across promiscious!  From then on Mom carried a scarf with her that could be worn over pants and is considered to count as a skirt, should she be caught unprepared again.

Friday night we went to dinner with Mduduzi, Memory and family and enjoyed great conversation over some pizzas.

Saturday morning we visited the I Am Not Afraid building, which is one of two locations where Children's Cup double orphans live under the care of a house mother.  We visited with the children and were touched to find out that some of them were sponsor children of our friends back home as they proudly showed us their room and pictures of their 'families' in the States.

Sweet girl that some friends in the States sponsor

From there we met with Carol, who is an inspiring ex GE executive turned Children's Cup worker from WI who's begun a skills training program and is working to educate and sell items that the students make, taking the funds she receives to help them attend school.

Bracelet making group

Children playing and bathing in the pond behind the Children's Cup property

On Sunday we then attended RV church again and were as excited as the prior week. This would be the first time we could attend the same physical church two weeks in a row since we left! Yes, its true. Somewhat tiring even for us to process.

After church, mom and SJ had an appointment with some of the local Afrcian women to work on SJ's hair. They had promised the week earlier to show her a few things, and being the conscientious, education-minded mother she is, it's always a goal of hers to know that she is caring for SJ's hair naturally the best way possible. The reality is that at home (or in Africa) if you ask ten women, you will get 11 different answers.  This experience turned into a huge confirmation though as the women confirmed almost everything that mom was doing, even if she hasn't been able to keep up with it as much as she'd like during our travels this year.

SJ getting her hair done

Here in Swaziland, most of the younger girls have shaved heads as most schools require them to do so in order to attend as it eliminates competition, comparison, and distractions, not to mention is probably more hygienic, cooler, easier to maintain, and it truly is beautiful.

While the girls did that, Dad and our oldest headed off with Mdudzi and the outreach team for the church's outreach ministry which they often do after church. This involves bringing some food or gifts to a family in need who may or may not attend the church. In this case, the mother of the family did not attend RVC but her daughter did and had asked if the church would help her. This was a quite an experience for the boys as they sat in this small, mud brick home to witness a conversion unlike anything in their lives. Much of the conversation was in the local language and while they did translate at the beginning, as things got more serious, they quit. The mother of the home, it turns out, had been struggling with several issues, and stated at the beginning that she did not want to accept Christ as her Savior. But as the conversation continued, Mdudzi was able to tell her where her struggles lie and as he prayed earnestly for her (something which she initially resisted but later requested) she began hacking up massive amounts of phlem and asked to receive Christ.  It was an incredible experience unlike anything the guys had experienced.

This first week in Swazi was a powerful one for us as we experienced church, community, service and outreach in new and powerful ways.  We all felt a strong connection to this place and were in awe of the surrounding beauty as it caught us off guard.  Tomorrow we head off to our 6 day safari in South Africa before we will return for another week here.