03: From Debrief to Swaziland |
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We arrived in Swaziland on November 2nd after leaving a week long debrief with the entire iSquad in Nelspruit, South Africa. During “Debrief”, we met with squad and “parental” leaders who discuss the first two months with us. We have an opportunity to reconnect and refresh ourselves before the next ministry. In Nelspruit, we stayed at Old Vic Backpacker’s Lounge (www.krugerandmore.co.za). It had several housing structures with small kitchens, rooms with several beds, a sauna, a pool, laundry, and free WiFi. The entire iSquad visited Kruger National Park, the oldest and largest game reserve in the world. The next morning we took the four-hour ride to Swaziland (this border crossing was the easiest yet). We are in tbe city of Nsoko. The entire country is very rural and is ruled by King Mswati, who has 14 wives. The language is siSwati. The healthcare and economic systems are very poor. While sugarcane farms are a major employer in this area, nearly 90% of the population is unemployed. AIDs has caused a missing generation of 18-45 year olds. There are lots of children and elderly people who care for them by raising cattle and small gardens. Unfortunately, the area has suffered drought over the last fifteen years so the living conditions are very difficult here. |
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Families live on homesteads. With a traditional American house in mind (kitchen, master bedroom, bathroom, children’s room, etc), there is a small, separate structure for each “room” on a homestead. Married children will build a home for their spouses and continue to build more as the family grows. Generally, families live their entire lives on the homestead because they own the land. Most homesteads do not have running water or electricity. Thank you for teaming with me, as you can tell, there is a huge need for our help in Swaziland. We are living at an AIM team house and work with a few Americans and Swazis to provide care to locals through frequent home visits, preparing a garden with a reliable water source for area families, harvesting and distributing vegetables from a second garden, and maintaining several community Care Points. You maybe able to guess from the slideshow, internet access is extremely limited. I will share a Swaziland update at the end of the month. Please allow our mission to spread God’s love into China buy helping me raise $1500 by December 1st. |
