A former World Racer, Morgan McKowan felt like God was telling her to start a project called “Legacy Books” with the people of Swaziland. This was a way for the people of Swazi to leave a legacy for their children to remember them by. One Saturday afternoon – I sat down with Thandie (my translator friend) and a local Swazi person who was very sick and conducted an interview with them. We ended up interviewing about 20 people that day. The interview included questions about their past: their parents names, siblings names and ages, any stories they want to tell about their childhood … and it would go on into asking about their marriage, children and their favorite things and most memorable moments about their children.
One lady in particular broke my heart. Her name was Nomsa and the interview started kind of boring and I thought we were not going to get much information out of her. It quickly turned into one of the most memorable moments I had in Swaziland. She began sharing with us that when she and her brother were younger, they were sent to live with her grandmother. Her brother was very helpful to her and someone she loved and looked up to – and he always took care of her. They had to move in with their grandmother because their mother was murdered and their father could not take care of them alone. She then told me that when her brother was 22 (which made her 15 at the time) – he committed suicide by hanging himself… she never expressed why this happened. But the tears began to stream down her face as she shared how she felt when this happened. She told me how much she loved him and how much she misses him even still. The next year, her grandmother passed away and her father also committed suicide by hanging himself in the tree in his own yard. All I knew to do was put my hand on her back and pray that God would bring HEALING to her! At just 16 years old, Nomsa was completely ALONE – I cannot imagine what that must have been like. She obviously has not gotten over that and she said that all she ever wanted was parents to love and take care of her. My heart broke more and more as she spoke.
Nomsa began having children shortly after this and her first child was taken by it’s father and Nomsa has not seen her since she was 1 – in I think 18 years! Her second child was also taken by his father and she has not seen him since he was 2 years old. She still has two other children – two more boys. One is living in South Africa (which is about a 6 hour drive) going to school there and her youngest son was born with TB and is HIV+. Again – I asked Nomsa if it was okay if I could pray with her and I put my hand in hers and I prayed with all of my heart that the God of peace would come down and bring healing to her heart and allow her to forgive all those that hurt and abandoned her as a child. I felt a connection to Nomsa and I know that she trusts in the Lord – but I hope that she will continue to trust Him to bring hope and a complete healing to her heart.
We were able to take a couple of really cute pictures of her and begin putting her legacy book together. We took all the information that she shared with us and put together almost like a small scrapbook for her – to give to her children to remember her by. Each page in the legacy book is different and shows a little of their personality. Her book had about 8 pages – each with a significant verse or something special to her and a picture of her. I personally put together her legacy book and tried to put all the love I know that she has in that little book. I am not sure if she has received it yet – but I hope that she feels pleased with leaving this book behind for her children.
