My month in Swaziland is one that I will never forget. My team was living at an orphanage that was perched on top of a mountain with an absolutely incredible view. It is called El Shaddai. It is a ministry that was started 17 years ago by an incredible woman who wanted to serve the orphans in the area.
The surrounding area was sectioned off into small farms. Many grew maize and vegetables, and some had marijuana patches (the only way to make supplemental income). Even though there were a lot of farms they were very small and most of the mountains were covered in tall grass. This land was not wasted, but was spotted with free range cattle and occasional goats. The families in this area were very poor and farmed mostly food for themselves.
They made very little money and struggled to provide for their families. On top of the poverty, Aids is another problem that has taken the lives of many in the area and country.
Many of the orphans staying at El Shaddai lost their parents due to Aids and many come from very dark pasts. Most have experienced either sexual, physical, or verbal abuse, a few experiencing all. Even though just about every kid here has a traumatic pasts, they are given counseling and hope for a better future here. They are taught English (the business language in Swaziland) and are able to attend school. The orphanage can only hold these kids until they are 18 and then legally they cannot stay any longer unless employed by the orphanage.
This orphanage has grown over the past 17 years and is now home to 84 orphans. With this many mouths to feed and maintenance to be done, this place is in need of a lot of help. Luckily this is where missionaries come in. Missionaries come and teach in the school, tutor the kids, work in the gardens, dig larger trash pits, and help with maintenance around the facilities.
My month here was dominated by manual labor. I worked in the garden for a week digging out weeds and tilling the fields. After that I spent three weeks digging a new trash pit with a couple other guys. The work was exhausting in the heat, but I was ecstatic to finally be doing some manual labor. This time of semi monotonous manual labor was excellent for me to be able to clear my head and think through my previous 8-9 months on the race. It was a much needed break from teaching English!
My other ministry consisted of tutoring a few boys for two hours each day. My little trouble makers were Madita, Ayanda, and Boyboy. They were in 4th and 5th grade, but were all at very different places academically. Unfortunately, everyday was a game of cat and mouse. I would try to get them to bring their homework so we can work on it and they would try and run away or hide from me. Some days I had success and we would work on math problems, spelling, and read stories. Other days were not quite as successful and often ended on me chasing them around trying to convince them how important school was. Nevertheless, I had a great time with these boys and had a lot of fun getting to know them.
If anyone is interested in supporting any of the children here, any help would be much needed. Many of the kids are currently not fully funded and would benefit from donations (better food, clothing, and school supplies). All of the needed information is on their webpage.
Please check out their website www.elshaddaiswazi.org/ (I had the privilege of taking a lot of the pictures to update their website, so if you want to check out some of my photography feel free to scan through the pages).
