Saturday, December 28, 2019

Same same.

Happy 9th birthday Gabriel!
Happy 9th birthday Rose!
 When our children see something that looks the same as something else they immediately say “same same”.  It could be a twin, an article of clothing or a candy.  It’s really cute, and we hear it all the time.

The past 48 hours here has been the “same” as the past 12 months and also the “same” as the past 10 years – filled with the highs and lows of life in Eswatini.

On Thursday we had extreme heat here and the humidity was unbearable.  The heat caused the power in the whole country to shut down and then come on for a bit and then off again.  The greenhouse was too hot for anyone to walk in to it because the fans weren’t working.  When the power grid for the Kingdom goes out we have back-up generators that automatically turn on. On Thursday the generator which provides the air for the green house (keeping the plants alive and fish oxygenated) is the same one that keeps the 5,000 laying hens cool with fans and it’s the same one that we use to milk cows and keep the milk cool (not to mention the power for mechanic shop and many people who live there).  We don’t have air conditioning in our buildings so we depend on ceiling fans to keep us alive.


Well, that generator got so hot that it too overheated and shut off. Within 30 minutes we started seeing chickens die from the heat.  While one team worked on fixing the big generator, another team got a small generator to the green house to try to at least keep the fish in the Aquaponics systems alive, and another team went to work at the laying hen barn to try to mist water on the birds and water the roof to cool it down.  Within an hour we had lost 166 chickens to the heat. The power finally came back on and major crisis was averted.  Another day in Africa. 

Early the next day I received a phone call from social welfare about a newborn baby girl who was born on Sunday, December 22nd and whose mother just ran away from the hospital, having given a false name for herself so she was untraceable.  Within an hour Ian, Chloe and I were in the car to go and bring home a new baby girl (whom we are naming Jaimee). Ian looked at me and said, “You will be 74-years-old when Jaimee finishes High School with us”. Another 18-year commitment (God willing).  A sobering thought.


The lows are low and the highs are high. This year we lost two babies, we had a massive fire that burned most of our property and we watched people die of hunger or malnutrition throughout the country.   We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of Project Canaan, received 42 new babies who now call Project Canaan “home” and were able to restart our agriculture program. 

I could share similar highs and lows over the last decade, but I think you get the drift, and I’m tired.

The one thing that has remained constant through the joy and the sorrow has been the presence of God.  We try not to fear, we try not to worry and we try not to be discouraged, which would all be impossible without His peace that passes ALL understanding.  He is the King Kings and the Lord of Lords and the Prince of Peace, and we rest firmly in that knowledge and rely on His power. 

This job is an impossible one by human standards, but NOTHING is impossible to the creator of the universe.


This morning Chloe and I went down to hang out with the kids.  As we sat and chatted with some of the older kids, others were doing chores around us, taking down Christmas decorations, sweeping, weeding and even delivering toilet paper from storage to each house.  As I rounded the corner to the swing sets I could hear our 4-year-old girls swinging and singing “Away in a Manger” and it simply brought me joy.  God has a plan for each of these children just as He has a plan for Spencer and Chloe and just as He has a plan for you.  Don’t miss out on His plan because you think your plan is better. I promise you, it isn’t.


Thank you to everyone who has read this blog in 2019 or maybe even from the beginning. Thank you to everyone who sponsors a child, gives to Heart for Africa on a regular basis or has made a year-end donation.   We only have three more days to meet our year-end goals that will allow us to continue accepting more children, growing more food, feeding more children and employing more adults in 2020. 

Will you partner with us by giving your best gift to HIM today?  He is our provider, but He is inviting you to be a part of His plan. 

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ US Donors: http://bit.ly/2019YEGIVINGUS
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ CA Donors:  http://www.heartforafrica.ca/2019-year-end-giving/

Many blessings to you and your family and I pray that you have a God filled 2020.

Live from Eswatini … hopeful for 2020.

Janine

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Joy and heartache, often in the same day



One of the things I LOVE about living in Africa is that I don’t feel the “hustle and bustle” of the Christmas season. My shopping is done, wrapping complete and now it’s time to sit and enjoy the view, and my many children.

We did have two staff parties this week for our 320+ employees and I didn’t have to do anything other than attend.  I love seeing the child-like joy that our Swazi brothers and sisters exhibit with their bread eating contest or when they cheer on the three men who are trying to drink a 2L bottle of Coca Cola first. From a tug of war (in bare feet on a gravel road) to the free dance competition, from Swazi cultural dances to poems about Project Canaan – it’s all fun and there is a sense of innocence that I don’t feel at any other time of the year.


2019 started with the death of two babies – a very bad way to start the year.  Throughout the year we received 41 new children, some very sick, malnourished and almost dead. But we have managed to love them back to life.  We have had many hospital admissions, broken bones, Tuberculosis, meningitis, brain surgery, HIV/AIDS, lumbar punctures and we have a little guy with a very rare and serious condition called Steven Johnson Syndrome (he also has been diagnosed with Lissencephalye).  Please pray for Kenneth and the Aunties who are caring for him. My learning curve remains steep, my prayer life active, and my eyes focused on the creator of the Universe.


Most of Project Canaan is closed for the holiday season and our staff typically save holiday days for this time of year so that they won’t be back to work until January 6th.  Of course our Children’s Campus staff are all busy with keeping 257 children fed, cared for, loved and busy!  Our days are filled with swimming lessons, karate, long walks, scavenger hunts and yummy food.

Yesterday we started our day with an urgent phone call about a mysterious fire that started in the Emseni 4 boys home, that burned a couch and could have ended in disaster.  Then we ended our day hosting 22 kids up to our house for dinner and ice cream sundaes.  They were all the Primary school kids who got all A’s and B’s on their final report card. Our lives are filled with joy and heartache, often in the same day, and lots of “unknown”, but we know that we are exactly where we are supposed to be, and rest well in that knowledge.


Spencer and Chloe are home for the holidays and my heart is full.  I love sitting by the fire and talking for hours, I love cooking their favorite meals and I love seeing them interact with the other children who call us “mom” and “dad”.  My world is spinning properly today and I have much to be thankful for.  I pray that you can take a moment of calm to reflect on all that you have to be thankful for – even in the darkest days we all have reasons to give thanks. 


Live from Eswatini … Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Janine

PS - please consider making a year end gift to Heart for Africa today.
 
πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ US Donors: http://bit.ly/2019YEGIVINGUS
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ CA Donors:  http://www.heartforafrica.ca/2019-year-end-giving/ ‎
 

Saturday, December 14, 2019

For the love of God and humanity – something has to change


Last Saturday afternoon I received a call from a social worker who was clearly distraught. She was in a police car with two babies who she had just found locked up in a very broken down room made of mud and sticks, but missing most of the mud and sticks. It was a very cold and rainy day and a neighbor reported the case to the police after no longer being able to live with the screams of terror coming from the two children.


I was told that the father AND mother would lock the two children (17-months-old and 3.5-years-old) in that room EVERY DAY while they went off to work for 10 to 12 hours at a time.  The children were half naked, and the small boy didn’t even have a sweater.  But the worst of it to me, was the shovel left in the middle of the floor with the pap (cooked maize flour) on it for them to eat during the day, like dogs.  Who does that? Where has the humanity gone? 


The parents were in police custody and they social worker was desperate for a place for the children to go before the sun went down. Unfortunately, we don’t accept children over the age of 24-months, so I suggested they go to the halfway house (which is full to overflowing) or a hospital (the social worker would have had to go and stay at the hospital with them) or to another home (no other homes accept children late on a Saturday night).  This social worker pleaded with me for temporary placement for the kids so that at least they would be safe and warm and clean and have food in their bellies. 
A photo from inside the house looking out through the walls.

I said yes.  How could I not?

When the police van arrived late in the day, I reached in to receive the 17-month-old boy who was the size of a 6-month-old. The 3.5-year-old boy jumped out of the van and wrapped his arms around my legs and gave me a big hug, then looked up at me and smiled.  That child should have been freaking out with fear and trepidation!  He was just removed from his house, his parents taken away, he rode with strangers for a hour and then was met by a middle-aged white lady.  But instead, I think he was just happy to see someone who looked friendly and who was loving his little brother.  

The malformed and rotting teeth of the 3.5-year old
I never get used to this type of unnatural response from a child who has had so much abuse and abandonment, so young.

We now have a small clinic at the Children’s Campus and it has two isolation rooms, which have been a HUGE gift to us all, and it’s been used since the day it was finished back in August.  We thank the Lord and all the people who gave money to make this clinic possible.  Because of YOU were able to bring these two children in for the weekend while another alternative care facility was found.  The children made the front page of the national newspaper and there was a public outcry against the parents, but we hear stories of children being locked in houses all day ALL THE TIME.  This is not new.   

Just two weeks ago we received a set of twin boys who are 15-months-old and also the size of 6-month-olds. The smaller boy weighed 12 pounds and the other twin 13 pounds.  They came from the exact same situation, locked in a mud room day after day, week after week.  The photo below shows a twin on both sides of our boy Cornelius, who is roughly the same age.  Cornelius came to us as a preemie, under three pounds in weight, but has responded well to food and love and he is DOUBLE their size.


For the love of God and humanity – something has to change in Eswatini.

I’m asking you to join us in rescuing more children in need in 2020 by making a Year End gift today.

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ US Donors: http://bit.ly/2019YEGIVINGUS
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ CA Donors:  http://www.heartforafrica.ca/2019-year-end-giving/

Live from Eswatini … something’s got to give.

Janine

P.S. On Tuesday the children were placed at another home who does accept older children, and we know that they will be well cared for there. The parents bail was set at $412 US.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Horror turned to joy



Just four days ago Eswatini was the hottest place on earth with temperatures as high as 44C / 111F, and then it dropped 40 F and has been cold and rainy for the past few days.  We go from dripping with sweat to being bundled up with long pants, socks and jackets!  But at least we don’t have any snow, so I won’t complain (much).

Gaby is (finally) home from the hospital and got to sit with Ian for graduation.
Our children just finished their school year which runs from the end of January to early in December, and yesterday we witnessed the Kindergarten graduation, which was amazing.  It wasn’t just the cheering squad of Aunties/Uncles/Big brothers that brought me joy, and it wasn’t just the understanding that some of them had worked SO very hard to pass this year’s tests, but it was the knowledge of where they came from and where they are today.

As I watched each child go up on stage to receive their graduation diploma my mind raced back to the first day I met them.  I vividly remembered the day that little girl was found in a plastic bag under a bush, having been there for two days after birth. I remember being in the operating room when that little one came out of her mother’s womb before the mother was taken back to the National Tuberculosis Hospital with multiple drug-resistant TB.  And that one over there was strangled at birth by her mother while in prison and a prison guard had to do CPR to bring her back to life – she still has a small scar on her neck where her mother’s finger nail dug in to her skin.

Each of our children have had unique and horrific beginnings, and each one is worse than the next.  But seeing the joy on their faces yesterday helped fade the memories of the past, and quickly fill my mind with joy and thanksgiving of all that God has done in their lives.  And it was a strong reminder of all that He has done in OUR OWN lives, having been given the privilege of serving the Lord through these children.  

Pure joy.
Heart for Africa has a really cool Gift Catelog this year designed for people who want to give an important Christmas gift that has long term effects.  You can give the gift of education for one of our children, or perhaps a pair of rubber boots to help them get to school through the ankle-deep mud, or maybe a few fruit trees that will provide healthy fruit for decades to come?  Please be sure to check out our catalog and share it with others. 

And don’t forget to shop at www.khutsala.com for the perfect African Christmas decoration or piece of jewelry. 

As you enjoy the Christmas season with friends and family, please consider making a year- end gift to Heart for Africa so that we can continue to have “room in our inn” for babies in desperate need.

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ US Donors: http://bit.ly/2019YEGIVINGUS
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ CA Donors:  http://www.heartforafrica.ca/2019-year-end-giving/ ‎

Live from Eswatini …please watch our year end video and be encouraged.

Janine

Saturday, November 30, 2019

She gave her best to me.



Just before we left for the US our 7-year-old, Hannah, came up to me and asked to speak with me. We stepped away from the other children and she handed me a rock. She whispered, “This is a gift for you.”

And then she put another rock in my hand and said, “And this one is for Babe Ian.”

(Babe is pronounced Bah-bay and means “dad”).


Hannah knew that we were going to go away on a long trip and that we wouldn’t see each other for a long time, so she gave us a gift to remember her.

I gave her a big hug, thanked her, then got in my truck as quickly as possible so that no one could see the tears rolling down my face.

Her gift reminded me of the well-known Christmas song called “The Little Drummer Boy”, which tells the story of a young boy who is asked to come and meet a newborn King, and bring his finest gift. The child explains that he is a poor boy and doesn’t have a gift fit for a King, but suggests that he plays his drum, which is giving all he has.  Jesus (the newborn King) smiled at the boy. 

What if we were to be like children again and bring our very best to the Lord?  What does your drum look like?

Would it be stones found on the ground?  Would it be spending time with someone you love (or don't love)? Would it be a food basket to a family in need, or a car for a single mom? Would it be a year-end gift to Heart for Africa or another charity?  Are you giving Him your best this Christmas?

Gaby is still in the hospital after the 3rd surgery on her shoulder/arm.

As you start or continue your Christmas shopping I am asking you to perhaps spend a little less on people who already have so much, and make a small (or large) gift to children who have very little.  Our children may be poor in material goods, but they are rich in spirit and joy and love.  Your gift will help us welcome more orphaned, abandoned, broken, burned and hurting children to a place of HOPE. 

Miriam helping the smaller girls put the angel ornament with their name on it, on the tree.
Your gift will be matched up to $50,000.  Will you help us give the gift of LIFE today?

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ US Donors please click here.
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ CA Donors please click here.

If you would like to mail in a year end giving check/cheque please send to:

In the US:                                           
Heart for Africa                                   
PO Box 1308                                        
Roswell, GA 30077   

In Canada:
Charitable Impact Giving
1250 – 1500 W Georgia St                          
Vancouver, BC  V6G 2Z6
                                                                

Don't forget to shop at www.khutsala.com!  There are lots of sales on this weekend!

Live from Eswatini … it is 105F today, and not feeling very Christmasy!

Janine

Saturday, November 23, 2019

65 children moved today


Today is a big day for the children at Project Canaan. Every house has children leaving and new children coming in. Rosalie moved from Kuthula Place to the El Roi Baby home and eight babies moved up to the toddler home (and boy, are they ready to move!). 


Eight toddlers will leave the lower campus and move up to Emseni #1.  Then 12 little girls will move to Emseni #3 and four little boys will move to Emseni #2 (both from Emseni #1).  Three boys left Emseni #2  and moved up with the big boys at Emseni #4, and 28 big girls will move from Emseni #3 to the brand new, and beautiful Emseni #5!


Kuthula place now is home to 12 babies (4-days-old to 6-months-old).  The El Roi Baby home is now home to 38 babies (6-months to 18-months).  The Toddler home is now home to 41 x 2-year-olds and there are 163 children living up on the Emseni Campus. 

We received two new babies this week, both boys, both from tragic situations.  One of the boys was born on Tuesday and left in the forest, only to be found by strangers and taken to the police. The other baby is 2-months-old and his mother strangled his 3-year-old sister and dumped her body in to a pit latrine (outhouse), only to be found 8-months later.  Just when I think I have heard it all, a new story comes to us.


While we thoroughly enjoyed our 30-day trip to North America, I can’t adequately express how good it is to be home!  There is nothing like being mobbed by the sweetest little boys and girls and hearing stories from the older kids of things we missed.


We will be welcoming our last volunteer team of the year on Monday. They will be here to help us put up our Christmas tree, decorate the dining hall, ice cookies and wrap Christmas pajamas for our children.  Would you consider joining us next year at this time to celebrate HOPE with the children and staff at Project Canaan? There is no time like the present to start saving and planning! 

Don’t forget to check out www.khutsala.com for your Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping!  We have lots of beautiful new product that helps us continue to employee artisans and give them a hope for their future.

Live from Eswatini … Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!

Janine


Saturday, November 16, 2019

Thoughts from 30,000 feet in the air - what is the truth?

CTV Ottawa with Egg Farmers of Canada CEO, Tim Lambert

On October 16th Ian and I left the comfort of our home in Africa and headed to North America for a month-long journey to build awareness of what is happening in the Kingdom of Eswatini, the developments on Project Canaan and to raise money for the project to continue.

We have flown 26,000 miles (42,000 KM), visited 14 cities (sleeping in 14 beds), driven 1,200 miles (2,000 KM) in rented or borrowed cars, spoken to hundreds of people, answered a million questions,  eaten too many good meals and braved the snow/slush/blizzards of a Canadian winter.


The highlight of our trip was, without doubt, spending time with Spencer and Chloe. We got to see Chloe’s new student housing at Brock University and meet many of her close friends, and then got to witness Spencer graduate from Queen’s University (Smith School of Business) with a double Master degree in International Business and Marketing Management).  I am very proud to announce that Spencer was hired by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in Chicago, and will fulfill his dream of becoming a Marketing consultant there.  We are so proud of both of our children.


Having two grown children studying marketing, we often find ourselves discussing our past lives in the marketing world, learning lots of new things from them and observing what hasn’t changed at all. The question of “The media vs. The message” came up the other day, and it made me reflect on our 30 day journey. Were people responding to the media (Ian and me) or to the message of HOPE that we were sharing.


In some ways the trip was disconcerting because it seemed that people looked at us as Super-heroes having given up a life of luxury to serve the poor, but nothing could be farther from the truth, and the truth is what we were trying to share.

The truth is, we were called to serve the poor and the oppressed, and there is nothing that gives us more joy than to do that.  The truth is that I was homesick for 30 days and can’t wait to land in Johannesburg in a few hours (we are on our last, 15-hour, flight).  We will stay overnight (the border from South Africa to Eswatini closes at 10PM so we have to stay in SA) and then get up in the morning, grocery shop and then make the 5-hour drive home, with hopes to see the children before they all settle in for their dinner and evening routines.  The truth is, I miss our little ones.

Thank you to my dad's family for coming and supporting us.

It’s not an easy road to travel, but one that I wouldn’t change for anything, but it is hard to straddle between a world of abject poverty and despair to the a land of riches and plenty, especially when many who have plenty still think they are poor.

I am thankful for everyone who came to meet us, greet us, hear us speak, share in our joys and our tears, made a financial gift and/or prayed with us.  You were all a blessing to us and we are leaving North America encouraged that there are some people who DO care about “orphans and widows in distress” (James 1:17)

Canadian friends Leslie and Fraser Wilkinson

Tuesday is my birthday and I have the privilege of sharing it every year with three of our children:  Rachel and Leah turn 7-years-old (their mother died years ago after a long fight with Tuberculosis) and Maxwell turns 5-years-old (he was abandoned on a railway line and came to us with the name “Maxwell” on his health card!). It will be a day of fun, lots of cake and pure joy and I can’t think of anywhere I would rather spend my birthday.

Today I am going to make a bold ask of you the reader. Would you consider making a donation in honor of our birthdays?  We have a year end matching gift of $50,000 right now so any donation you make will instantly be doubled. Many of you knew Rachel and Leah’s mom and perhaps would give $7 for each of the twins or $70 or $700?  You could give $5.00 or $50 or $500 in honor of Maxwell or his very name?  And I will turn 56-years old, so perhaps you would like to give $56?  Or $560?  Or even $5,600?



Every dollar that you give will be matched and go directly to helping us feed more children, rescue more babies, employ more people and educate the future leaders of Eswatini. HOPE – that is what we are all about.

Thank you for being on this journey with us.

Live from 30,000 feet above the earth … on our journey home.

Janine

Saturday, November 9, 2019

What if?


We are in Toronto this weekend … our old “stomping grounds”, and it’s weird.

I remember always wanting to live in Toronto because I thought it was the greatest city in the world. I loved the noise, the high-rise buildings, musical theatre, the speed of life, nice restaurants and skanky bars that we would visit to listen to live music.  I didn’t mind the traffic or the cold weather or the snow, I just loved Toronto.

But it seems I have changed.

I cannot express how happy I am to have our family together. Spencer flew in from Chicago, Chloe drove in from St. Catherine’s and Ian and I drove from Ottawa, after spending a few days visiting the Maxwell family and our friends from the Egg Farmers of Canada.  Nothing makes me happier than having the four of us together, anywhere in the world and for any amount of time.  But I am starting to get homesick.  I miss my little ones. I miss their squeals of joy, their never-ending chatter, their hugs, their innocence and I miss my Swazi friends and family. 

There is a purity of spirit that I feel when I am at Project Canaan, and while most people in the country are living in abject physical poverty, their internal joy overflows from their smiles to their words of encouragement and thanksgiving.  But I don’t see that in North America. 

As we have traveled the past 20 days to eight cities in Canada and the US, I can’t help but notice the poverty all around me. It’s not poverty of income or wealth, it’s a poverty of spirit.  I got in the elevator to get to the AirBnB that we are staying in and I greeted the people and they just looked away as if I was crazy.  Everyone is moving so quickly to get to the next thing on their schedule, but rarely taking the time to be present where they are (I too am guilty of that!). I’m not saying everyone is like that, and I am not doing a good job putting words to my thoughts, but I feel a sadness and emptiness here that I just don’t feel back in Eswatini.   

I often wonder “what if” we had said NO to this calling to serve “the least of these”?  I would never have seen the miracle of Princess walking or Holly and Ivy hearing or Jonathan being raised from the dead.  I would never have understood how “life-giving” fresh water really is or how terrifying fire can be or how often a chicken lays an egg (!).  But most importantly, I may never have learned that God IS our provider, His grace IS sufficient, and His mercy is new every morning.  I have learned that from living in Africa.

 

This weekend we will see friends from high school, our business days and our life in Toronto. There is no way for me to adequately explain the joy (or the sorrow) of living in Eswatini, but hopefully they will see it in our eyes and hearts.

To my Swazi friends and family – you have changed me, and I will be forever grateful for your patience, your kindness, your grace and your love.

Live from Toronto … I don’t miss the cold weather!

Good morning Ottawa.

Janine

 PS - if you want to come visit us tonight or tomorrow please check this link for times and locations. 



Saturday, November 2, 2019

Heading to Toronto with apprehension


Ian and I are on a 30+ whirlwind trip to raise awareness and funds for Heart for Africa and the work we are doing in Eswatini. We are half way through our travels and all has gone well to date.

Next weekend we will be in Toronto, our favo(u)rite city in the world .  We LOVE Toronto and are excited to be there with Spencer and Chloe, but it’s not without apprehension.

Here is why.

We have four different events on November 9th and 10th, and we have NO idea if anyone will attend them.

The first one is a gathering of high school friends from our Grenville Christian College (GCC) days.  While it is the school where Ian and I met, it has been under fire for many years by staff and students who consider it a cult.  The once popular boarding school has been closed for many years and there is a Class Action lawsuit against it by many former students who were really messed up and/or hurt during their time there.  Most high schools have regular alumni reunions, but GCC hasn’t because of the conflict amongst the alumni and, frankly, some of the memories that people may not want to face.  So … we are sticking our necks out by calling a gathering of GCC friends on Saturday, November 9th from 5:00 to 7:00PM at the Amsterdam Barrel house, which may be a total bust with only Ian, Spencer, Chloe and I sitting together (with our friend Sandy Dameron Carrington).   I hope our GCC friends will come and reunite.

After that event we are hoping to see old friends and business associates from our ONYX Marketing days, but again, those days were a long time ago and we kind of made a mess of things when we closed the company without warning. ONYX Marketing was a very successful Marketing Agency from 1988 to 2004. We had a great business model that attracted the best people in the marketing industry to come and work hard, and play hard, and yes we played very hard. And then I went to Africa, my life was changed and the whole thing came to a crashing halt. 

The Good old days
We haven’t had much contact with many people from the “good old days”, but again are sticking our necks out and inviting anyone and everyone who might be interested in seeing us and hearing about why we really did close our company and what we are doing with our lives now. Spencer and Chloe will both be with us for moral support J , but it might just be us with our friend Diane Wilson sitting at the Amsterdam Barrel House from 7PM to 9:30PM on Saturday, November 9th.  And that would be okay too.

The following day we are speaking at the Peoples Gospel Church (Chinese) at 11 AM, thanks to an invitation from our friend Annie Tam and then heading to the Ballantrae Golf & Country Club Recreation Centre in Stouffville from 2 PM – 4 PM with an open invitation to anyone who would like to come and hear about what we are doing in Eswatini and how we can get more Canadians involved.  We are thankful to Ray and Pat Stadnick and Leslie and Fraser Wilkinson, who are co-hosting the event, but it may just be the eight of us.

If you live in Canada and knew us from one of our past lives, and wondered “what ever happened to the Maxwell family”, please do join us at one of the locations we will be at in the GTA.  They will all be very casual and we won’t ask you for money (well, you never know πŸ‘€).   You can check out all the location details at this link.

Live from Minneapolis … it’s a cold (and FROSTY!) Saturday morning.

Janine

If you want to see what we are doing without joining us at an event in the GTA please go to www.heartforafrica.ca.