Swaziland. Month 9.
On our way to Swaziland, while I was watching The Lizzie McGuire Movie with a couple of my squadmates, I had no idea what to expect for that month.
Would I be out in the bush?
Will civilization be far away?
What will ministry be like?
My team would be living with two others for the month, so I was also wondering what in the world our living space would look like.
We were the first teams to be dropped off, and it was a beautiful, perfectly sized house and it was within walking distance to the city of Manzini. This bothered some, but I thought it was perfect. I’m a city girl, so I don’t mind being in or close to the city.
The other teams weren’t extremely far away from us either, so Swaziland was almost like an All Squad Month. Everyone in our house worked with one another, we weren’t working together as teams. Some of us worked at care points, at the office, with the nurse, helping lesson plan…etc.
I worked with Sydney, a lady from another team in the house, at Murray Camp Care Point and that was probably one of my most favorite ministries I’ve been able to come alongside through out the Race. We would go Monday-Friday and be there typically from 8:30 AM-12:00 PM. I had so much fun!
Syd would work with the younger kids, and I would work with the older. There were about 40 kids in total, and they ranged from 4-5 years old. Our teachers that we worked with are INCREDIBLE! They teach the kids English, they dance with the kids, sing with the kids,teach them scripture, the ABC’s, the different colors, how to draw different shapes, they discipline the kids…and they are stability for the kids.
During our first week there, the whole squad had an orientation to get to know what Swaziland as a nation battles with and to understand the heart behind the ministry there. The statistics we heard was overwhelming.
In Swaziland, there are 1.1 million people. 500,000 of them are under the age of 18.
27% of the population have AIDS which is the highest in the world.
They are experiencing one of the worst droughts in the Nation’s history.
Hearing statistics is one thing…seeing the people that make up those statistics is something entirely different. The teachers who work at these Care Points are heroes of faith to these kids that live in vulnerable situations…when life is crazy at home….there is stability at the care point.
Many of the kids that I spent my time with only had one parent or lived with their grandparents and siblings. They had scars that were unexplainable. They were hungry for all the love you could give. Sometimes they would do something wrong with a smile on their face because they knew they would receive attention.
These are the kids the Teachers work with, discipline and love on every day during the school week. They are patient, kind, funny and truly filled with the power of Christ. It’s not easy to do what they do…and they do it with God’s grace!
On my last day of ministry, there was a little boy that was about to receive horrible news. His mom passed away and he had to go home early to get ready for the funeral. Moments before, he was dancing because he recited the numbers from 1-10. He was so excited and smiling with such joy because he did something right and got to dance. And, just like that….his five year old world changed when his Aunt came to pick him up.
I don’t know if his father is still alive, if he’s around, if he has siblings or what his family situation looks like. I just know he’s a five year old boy that lost his Mother. I can’t imagine being 24 losing a parent…let alone being a young child.
The teacher I worked with…Teacher Shabalala handled the situation with care and grace…and still was totally present for the other children. I was taken aback by the strength this amazing woman of God carried. I feel so completely humbled that the Lord allowed me to work at the Care Point that month to be with those teachers and to be with those children.
On another note, community living was interesting as always. I’ll just leave it at that. I enjoyed it, but some did not. Community living can be extremely hard because you’re within close quarters to others and ugly tends to seep out every once and a while. Which pushes us to love each other deeper, just like Christ loves us. I actually really enjoyed the month with my team and laughed more with them than I have with anyone through out the Race. I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know different people on the squad that I had not been able to be around through out the Race!
In Manzini, there was a cool market to go and get souvenirs and have skirts made. We would go to internet cafes if we needed wifi. One weekend I had the opportunity to go to Swazi Candle and another souvenir place out of town. It was a fun experience! The church that we ended up going to was also probably one of the best churches I’ve been to on the Race! One of the only negative things that happened last month was that I had a throat infection and had to miss a couple days of Ministry-which is never fun! (Also being proposed to be random Swazi men…..that was always pretty awkward.)
Over all, I loved Swaziland. The beauty of it’s mountains…the beauty of it’s people….the beauty of those doing the work for the Lord there. Swazi will always have a piece of my heart.
If any part of this blog has touched your heart, I encourage you to please pray for the people of Swazi. The Lord is alive and doing awesome things there!
Also-if you don’t know, I will be writing a blog at the end of next month with answers to any questions you all may have. So don’t forget to ask me! 🙂
I love and miss you guys!
Sincerely,
Meraia
