Swaziland. A beautifully green landscape with beautiful people harboring a staggering HIV statistic. 1 in 3 people is living with the virus and many children are left without parents because of it. Despite this, life flows on at a simple pace and much of this part of the country feels like a throwback to the 1950’s.
Kids play outside until dark without their parents. People aren’t glued to their phones. And wifi can only be gotten about an hour every week or so at an Internet cafe with intermittent levels of connection.
We are located in a more rural area of Manzini- one of the major cities in this small country. Our jobs from the month range from agriculture to working with children at “care points” to administrative tasks. So far I have been placed at the care points, a place where children come at various times to play, eat a meal (for many, it is their only meal for the day), and learn (school is costly here, and many cannot afford it).
So many lives and so many stories flow through each of the 30 or so care points in Manzini. Just yesterday, I picked up a boy of about two years old. He was crying from something- likely exhaustion and being without a nap. As I picked him up, a total stranger of a totally different color he’d never seen before, he melted into my arms. The need to be hugged and loved is universal. We sat for a while and he was quiet, but seemed pretty content.
One of the other care point workers came up to me and pointed to the kid in my arms and said, “Oh, he came here by himself. His mom just died, so his grandma takes care of him.”
Even a hug can be ministry. And, at that moment, it felt like the most important thing in the world.
This child’s reality is a very real and very widespread one throughout the world. After a good hour of hugging, praying, rocking, and daddling, a girl of about five came and ripped him from my arms to walk him home.
I never learned his name, but I look forward to seeing him again.
The need here is great and it is an honor to get to be a small part of filling it. Although it is hotter than Africa and we spend most nights drenched in pools of sweat, although we are extremely homesick and scarcely can connect to home, and although we end each day exhausted, we know what we are doing is worthwhile. And that is enough.
Thank you once again for all of your prayers and support. Home is on the horizon (I’ll be back in June), but there’s still work to be done out here in the big wide world!
Love,
Rachael
PS- wifi is scarce here in Swaziland, so updates may be fewer, but know that I am alive and well!
