Manzini is the largest city in Swaziland, and we spent quite a bit of time there. First we visited some carepoints in the area that were sponsored by US churches and the kids we amazing. There were lots of kids at all of these carepoints. It was explained that these carepoints grow (in number of children) after they begin receiving outside support (sponsorship) because the kids learn that there is always food there. We witnessed Hopechest’s local disciplers in action. Playing, singing, and praying with the kids. These guys are really amazing.

After we had seen sponsorship in action we started visiting some unsponsored carepoints in and around Manzini. Ludlati was the first unsponsored carepoint we visited on the trip. It has a great story. One woman started feeding kids out of her home. Of course the group of kids got bigger and bigger. Now they are meeting under a tree in the middle of nowhere. She kept this up for over a year on her own – asking for help twice before she received any assistance from outsiders. And if that is not enough, she also makes clothes for some of the children to wear to school. This may not sound that amazing – but we are talking about a woman living alone in poverty, in a remote rugged area outside of Manzini in a country where most struggle just to eat (70% of the people in Swaziland live below the “bread line” – they don’t make enough money to feed themselves). You can learn more Ludlati at "knowntome".

Of course we visited a few other unsponsored carepoints in the Manzini area. At Mpholi we watched kids collect a meal in the plastic containers we throw in the trash everyday and take a bowl full of rice home for themselves and whoever else may be there for them. We saw kids no older than 8 carrying their baby brothers/sisters for what could have been miles on their backs to get food. At Themba’s carepoint I watched as a child sat with me for what seemed like hours, seemingly dead to the world, come to life after about the second handful of food got to her mouth. There I also saw my own son in the face of a child as his sister watched over him.

I really can't paint the picture of what life in Swaziland looks like, and the pictures I brought back really do no justice to the beauty we saw in these people. (Some others in our group have better pictures - see some here).

The brightest points of this trip were meeting the people who were all about making a difference in the lives of Swazi children. Like Pastor Sam, who has started the Mankayane carepoint and built a school to train kids and workers, the wife of the pastor at Mpaka who's mission is to get medical care for the kids there, and Pastor Gift in Nsoko who is touching every aspect of his community.

I'll leave you with this tune from the kids at Mpaka.

Nsoko is a region of Swaziland located in the Southeastern portion of the country. There is a stark contrast between Nsoko and the other areas we visited. Simply put, Nsoko is more rugged, less developed, and even more impoverished.

I stumbled across this post from Scott Borg's blog the other day and immediately recognized the story, as Scott had shared it during our visit to the Mahangeni carepoint in Nsoko. Here is an excerpt from Scott's blog:

Last week we were leading a team of people at AIM's ministry center in Nsoko �" one of the most impoverished areas of Swaziland. One thing we did was begin building a small storage building at one of the care points called Mahangeni. They had only a stick building with no door which provided no security to store things like food, water, and firewood.

The morning we started building our little project there were two members of the community council who wanted to offer their thanks for our contribution to developing their community. Now this seemed a little over the top to me since what we were building was little more than a shed for your back yard. Hardly worth the attention of two community officials!

After beginning the building, one of the officials, a man named Sabelo, needed a ride with me back to the main ministry center. Sabelo is the development officer for the local chief in the area. As we pulled away from the care point he began telling me how much it meant to his community for someone to come and contribute. I was touched.

Then pretty soon he asked if our organization offered cash donations. I was kind of expecting some kind of ask, but he was so friendly and unassuming I took his request as an honest desire for support in his role as a community development officer. I explained we did not do cash donations but rather focused on providing food to needy children at the care points as well as building projects such as the one we began that morning.

He understood and we went on in silence for a while until I couldn't resist and asked what they needed cash donations for. Since the man asking was the community development officer, I thought it would be for some type of community development. His answer surprised me. He simply said, "We need coffins." I was taken back and humbled by his request. After a simple probing question he explained.

"Our people are dying and we have no money for coffins. Usually people are wrapped in a blanket and set into the ground. The families are able to pay for simple funeral catering (the funerals are at their homes and the dead are buried there as well) but coffins are expensive."

"How much is a coffin?"

"Usually around $150."

I was humbled by this conversation. I was broken talking to a man in charge of developing a community whose main challenge was burying the dead.

This carepoint is currently unsponsored, and as you've read is in an area of great need.

Check out the video below of a beautiful girl at the Nsoko Center.



Despite the difficulties of life in Nsoko, Pastor Gift and the revolving AIM mission groups at the Nsoko Center are a light in the dark to the region.

I returned from Swaziland on Thursday around 10AM. I could not be happier to be home and with my family again. But this trip has definitely burdened me with an even deeper conviction to be God's hands and feet to the children living in such a desperate place.

After arriving in Swaziland and meeting with the amazing leaders of AIM and CHC's work on the ground we were presented with new Swazi stats for January 2009.

- Life expectancy: 28.7 years
- HIV infection rate: 46.6%
- 70% of children will be HIV positive by the time they are 15 years old
- The population has fallen from 1.2 million to 953,000 in the past two years
- There is a 6% chance for a now 15 year old Swazi to reach age 30
- 56% of children are not in school because they can not afford it
- No job growth since 1995 (currently 95,000 jobs - same number as in 1995)
- Unemployment is at around 60%
- 120,000 orphans, greater than 12.6% of the total population
- more than 70% of the nation lives under the "bread line"

These stats were the worst I have heard yet. So the situation is not getting any better. Obviously, there is a great need to care for the orphans of Swaziland as there is a generation of fathers and mothers that has been removed from society. HIV/AIDs has removed the crucial young adult and worker age individuals from society and left few to provide and support the children of this nation.

During our stay we saw the same thing over and over - Grandmothers (GoGos) taking care of their deceased children's children. And many GoGos were taking care of more children in need beyond their blood relatives.

For me the purpose of this trip was to identify a point of entry to begin working for these people. Ideally that would include working with our home church to sponsor a carepoint and begin making a difference in the lives of the orphaned children of Swaziland. Carepoint sponsorship provides a regular meal on a daily basis for the children located near the carepoint and regular discipleship from indigenous Christians. Sponsorship also allows for a community to community connection, with individual child sponsors united to provide beyond the immediate needs of the community. Like drilling wells and building churches and playgrounds.

I will post more from this trip in the near future, as there is a lot more to share. I will also be gradually adding photos to my Picasa web album.

I am burdened, but committed to prayer and fasting on behalf of the children of this nation. I hope all who read this post, and those to follow, will feel burdened as well.

I jumped the last hurdle today (getting the okay from work) and am officially on board for the Children's Hope Chest vision trip to Swaziland this October (19-28). The trip will be led by Rick Clapp, who has a real heart for the country.

Simply put, Swaziland is ground zero of the HIV/AIDs crisis. USAID reports that greater than 1/3 of the population is living with HIV/AIDs, UNICEF has stated that 40 percent of the country's children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and the United Nations has proclaimed that the country is headed toward extinction at the hands of the disease by 2050. Arguably the worst part of situation is the plight of orphans left behind by the dying older generations. Not only are they left to fend for themselves, but they are vulnerable to the most hideous abuses. Abuses that perpetuate the spread of this disease.

I don't have all the details yet, but I know most of our time will be spent visiting care points and spending time with the children at those care points. I am cautiously excited about the opportunity and praying that great things will come out of this trip. I know some great things are already in the works. I hope to have exciting news to share about those things in the works and the outcomes of this trip in the near future.