Why are people so nasty?

Aphiwe and Brooke

We have the opportunity to squeeze 240 boxes of diapers and wipes in to a 20ft container in Canada that is coming to us filled with donated educational supplies.  We don’t want to ship the container with any empty space so we have actively been asking our Canadian friends to shop at Amazon in Canada http://bit.ly/2017diaperdrivecanada and buy diapers and wipes to fill the container.  We have received 90 of the 240 boxes that we desire.

We needed a place for those diapers to be shipped and a dear friend agreed to have them shipped to her school, but they could only be there for a week due to limited space.  So another friend said she would be happy to borrow/rent a truck, go to the school and pick up the boxes and store them in her garage until the time of packing the container.  I love my friends.

I was so thrilled to see how smoothly this all happened with many people offering their assistance.  I saw photos on Facebook of the diapers being loaded in to the big box truck and volunteers happy to be involved.  It made my heart happy.

Then there was the Facebook comment.

Right below these happy photos was a comment (I have permission to share this) that read “Why are you sending those diapers to Africa when you should be sending them to the flood victims in Quebec?”

Honestly, I was shocked.  And I know I shouldn’t be because people post stupid comments on social media all the time, but really??  Why should you send diapers to orphans in Africa who don’t have parents to care for them?

I am proud to be a Canadian.  I love that when tragedy or natural disasters strike we have a country where family helps family, neighbors help neighbors and communities help communities. Many of us also have the opportunity to purchase insurance and then there are our Provincial and Federal governments who quickly jump in to help those in need.  It may not be perfect (and yes our taxes are high), but I am proud that the system works better than most.  When there is a problem, Canadians know that help is on the way.

I am now living in a country where families have nothing to give other families. Babies are dumped in out door toilets to die because young mothers have no food or even a blanket to wrap them in. Children die of malnutrition and neglect, right in front of our eyes, because we just don’t have the resources to save everyone.  In fact, just this week we saw an 8-month-old in our own immediate community die and we will have to bury him on Monday.  (Note, this is not a baby who lives at our baby home).

 

Gregory

I am thankful that there are people who are helping my neighbors in Quebec who are in need, but to the lady who posted that comment … I hope you are actively involved in helping in Quebec, not just sitting on the sidelines taking pot shots at others trying to help orphans in need.  Furthermore, stop being so nasty.

For those of you who support Heart for Africa and the children of Swaziland, I say THANK YOU.  For those of you who want to buy diapers for these babies I ask you to shop today in the US at http://bit.ly/2017diaperdrive  and in Canada at http://bit.ly/2017diaperdrivecanada.  We are only half way to our total goal.

Margie

For those of you who support other charities, ministries and organizations either financially or with your time, I THANK YOU!   There are a lot of people who need a lot of help around the world. I encourage everyone reading this today to get involved SOMEWHERE. It could be in Quebec, it could be in Swaziland or it could be right in your own community. 

It takes a village to raise a child. Please be active in your own village and for a very small group of you, please stop being critical of people for helping in a different village.

Live from Swaziland … thankful for all who can help us.

Janine