Where were you? On a mountain outside of Mbabane, Swaziland
How did you get there? Train from Dubno, Ukraine to L’viv. Spent all day in L’viv before catching our overnight bus to Krakow, Poland. Next day took a 5 hour bus from Krakow to Warsaw. Next day caught a 6 hour flight from Warsaw to Qatar (small country near UAE, on the coast of Saudi Arabia), 4 hour layover (was supposed to be 1 hour) in Qatar before our 7 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, then immediately onto a 6 hour bus to Swazi.
What did you do there? Helped at El Shaddai children’s home. The whole squad was together and we did manual labor, working with babies, teaching preschool, sorting and organizing, and I worked mainly in the clinic there. We also partnered with the children, each person pairing up with a “buddy” for the month to help them with school work and just pour out God’s love onto them.
Accommodations? There was a number of huts to host the teams, the four girls on my team stayed in a hut with bunk beds, connected to two other rooms and a communal bathroom.
Currency? Emalangeni $1 USD = 10.5E They also accepted Rand, which has the same conversion rate.
Anything you miss from America? Not having internet this month made me miss my family.
What was the best moment? Taking a 2-day trip with a sunset safari, buffet dinner, traditional Swazi dancing, sunrise safari, and buffet breakfast. On the way back we stopped at the market and finished the day with our buddy talent show.
What was the hardest moment? Feeling rejected when my buddy didn’t always want to see me.
Top 3 foods? We made most of our own food, but some of my favorites were the squash and feta Kish at the safari dinner, and LaShon’s spaghetti and fried chicken.
Bottom 3 foods? Peanut Butter and jelly, not because it was bad, but I just got sick of it after eating it every day, chicken with weird tomato sauce at the safari dinner, plain rice that tasted like it was mixed with dirt.
Language(s) spoken/learned? English and Siswati. I didn’t learn much Siswati since everyone spoke English fluently
Biggest time you saw God show up? The ministry was amazing at using everybody for their talents. Artistic people painted the preschool, people with training in recreational therapy got to spend time with a child with CP, teachers taught, nurses worked in the clinic, and people interested in farming got to work in the garden. It was amazing to see how God gave everybody unique talents and watch how they were used.
Anything else? Swaziland doesn’t claim to have orphans. Which is why El Shaddai is a “children’s home” and not an “orphanage”. Many of the kids come from abusive homes, and a large majority of the people here are HIV+. The main lady running the home, Charmaine, is constantly dealing with some political barrier or another to keep this place open, and could use lots of prayers.
