Hi guys! We’re in Africa! For the last three months of the race, my squad of 44 people is living in Nsoko, Eswatini (Swaziland).
Eswatini is the last absolute ruling monarchy. The total population is 1.3 million people, and it has the highest percentage of HIV in any population in the world.
Nsoko is the hottest and poorest region in the country, with a 40% HIV rate. But that doesn’t define who these people are. The people here are some of the warmest, most hospitable people I’ve ever met. Their lives revolve around spending quality time with people and having intentional conversations.
Tuesday through Friday my team is working at carepoint about 15 minutes walking from our base. Carepoints are community feeding centers for kids run by locals. We have a leader named Gabi, who loves the kids, gets them fed and taken care of after school, and sometimes teaches them Bible stories. Our job is to support her however she needs; somedays that means we are playing with kids age 2-14, other days that means doing house visits, cleaning peoples’ yards, cooking, and cleaning for them.
Sundays we walk to church about 15 minutes down the road in the other direction. Church is filled with dancing, friendship, a lot of singing, and a sermon translated into English.
This week we spent one day playing with kids at the carepoint, one day sitting and talking with people at a local grocery store, and two days at a homestead serving a family who just lost their daughter. Today we served goat intestines to the family while the rest of the skinned goat hung from the tree we sat under (just a little picture of a different way of life).
Nsoko, and all that I’ve seen of Eswatini, is stunning. It’s super mountainous and green. Fences aren’t much of a thing, so herds of cattle, goats, and donkeys wander around everywhere. Occasionally giraffes are wandering in the bushes too 🙂
Please be praying for more growth for me, for health in this region, and for good rain here. Eswatini is just coming out of a drought and crops and livestock are crucially important. Also be praying for my parents as they fly out here in a week!!
Love,
Cait
