Driving through the beautiful mountain country of Swaziland we arrive at a plot of real estate that would go for a million dollars in the U.S. Instead of a sprawling mansion, a small hut and one room cement house sits. An old woman by the name of Alia sits on the front stoop, watching the children play.
We have brought her food. Rice, mazemeal, and beans. She sits smiling at us as we haul in bags. Gogo Alia is a grandmother who has been charged with watching her many grandchildren after her kids died of AIDS. This is a pandemic in Swaziland. Many grandmothers are left to raise their kid’s children because an entire generation was almost lost to the AIDs crisis. These grandmothers house and feed these kids as if they were there own. No retirement awaits, instead they patiently become new mothers once again.
Gogo Alia is no different but because of her many health problems many of her grandkids have been moved to other community members homes and she has struggled badly with missing them. As we sat and chatted with her, I could see how big her heart was. She smiled at us and told us that because of Jesus we were her daughters even though we were from so far away.
It is so refreshing to meet women like Gogo Alia. Despite a life etched with hardships, she continues to remain joyful, sitting on her front porch smiling at the simple blessing of being able to watch her grandkids play in the front yard.
