Christmas with our kids = a day filled with joy and hope!

 

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with 275 children and 100+ staff who provide a loving home for those children. We believe that traditions are very important and not only help with identity and a sense of belonging, but also provide excitement and expectations for life events in the family.

On Christmas morning our children eat delicious fat cakes (big round dense donuts) rolled in sugar and cinnamon. Christmas day is typically scorching hot so the swimming pools are assembled and swimsuits are pulled out of the closet.  Lunch consists of pancakes, crispy bacon, syrup, fruit and a healthy dollop of whip cream. 

 

 

After lunch is cleaned up and sticky hands and faces are washed, we present each child with a wrapped gift and a very special chocolate wrapped in foil. The children all know that the gift contains a new pair of pajamas and they know that they get the same chocolate every year, and they are so excited about it. Every child sits quietly waiting for their name to be called and then they run up to the front of the room, put out both hands to receive the gift (very important in Swazi culture) and curtsy while saying thank you. Then they head out of the Oasis to sit at a picnic table and wait patiently for everyone to receive their gifts so that they can all open them together. Some years we give the chocolate at the same time as the gift (if we remember) and some years we don’t.  

 

 

As I was video-taping everyone opening their pajamas I felt a tug on my leg and looked down to see a very sad little boy with his bottom lip quivering. It was Willis (given my maiden name following my mom’s death). He was holding his pajamas, but with a very sad face asked if he was still going to get the chocolate. Willis is only five years old, but remembered the tradition (and probably heard the older kids talking about it) and so came forward to make his simple request. I assured him that everyone would be receiving a chocolate and he was relieved. I too was relieved that we hadn’t forgotten them in the walk-in fridge only to find them later. Ian told me that many of the children also asked him about the “expected” chocolate and so while we may have forgotten, they sure hadn’t. I realize there is a fine line between entitlement and tradition, but we really do want to have things that they can look forward to each year.

 

 

Like most mothers I always want Christmas day to be perfect, and that is hard at the best of times, but with 275 children with tradition expectations the pressure is amplified. But we have an incredible team of people who do the heavy lifting and help make Christmas perfect.  I would like to take a moment to thank our Sr. Supervisor for the toddler home and kitchens, Khosi Mamba, for her never-ending smile and willingness to listen, learn and lead. Khosi, you and the kitchen staff made Christmas day perfect for our children and staff. 

 

 

I would also like to thank our long-term volunteer, Bryan Throgmorton, who is the master planner and organizer for all of the 190+ children living at the Emseni campus. He not only creates a daily plan that includes chores, learning, play and activities, but he also makes sure that decorations are put up, and come down in a timely fashion, tables set and decorated and children ready to do whatever they are asked to do next. 

 

 

The only thing that Bryan wasn’t able to do this year to make Christmas 100% perfect was to bring Chloe home. Chloe, you were missed by us all, but no-one more than me. 

 

 

We were all so happy to have Spencer here and ZOOM allowed us to open gifts with Chloe in Canada and enjoy a family visit with the Maxwell clan in Canada, U.S and Scotland.

 

 

We know that this Christmas brought new types of stress to people all over the world, and that stress was wrapped with sadness and loneliness for many, but I hope that you were able to find a way to find joy on Christmas day, and I hope that this blog and our children will bring you hope for today and in the days and months ahead.

 

As we all look forward to 2020 coming to an end, I ask that you consider making your most generous year-end gift to Heart for Africa to enable us to continue to fight hunger, caring for orphans, alleviate poverty and provide education in Eswatini. 

 

To make a year end gift in Canada please click here.  

To make a year end donation in the U.S. please click here.

Live from Eswatini … enjoying a season filled with hope!

Janine

Do you believe in miracles?

I will never forget July 14, 2017 when a tiny boy was put into my arms. He was a few days shy of his second birthday and weighed only 14 pounds. He couldn’t hold his own head up, he couldn’t crawl nor stand. He hardly had the energy to lift a hand to take some food. His body was skin and bones and he was very very sick with tuberculosis and extreme malnutrition.  His mother was 14-years old when she gave birth and she dumped the him with her Grandmother, just as her mother dumped her when she was born.  The newborn lived with his Great Grandmother for many months, being locked outside her stick and mud hut during the day then locked inside the hut when the Great Grandmother would go away, being completely neglected and starved.

 

We named the boy Jonathan and prayed over him daily, but Jonathan quickly ended up in the hospital for emergency care. Weeks later he came back to the El Roi baby home where we started the long journey to health, and one that none of us were sure would be successful.

 

This past Wednesday Jonathan finished pre-kindergarten and is moving on to Kindergarten in January. As we sat at the awards ceremony Jonathan was called up to the front and given the “Star Athlete” award.  Star athlete???  I believe in miracles because I have experienced them.

Then there is our Grace. A child who was left on the side of the road by her mother, and when found was taken immediately to the hospital where she was in a coma for many days. She was treated for meningitis, but was left blind. We did not know that when she was placed with us, and it was only during development assessments that we realized the depth and breadth of her disabilities. Eventually our medical team broke the news to us that Grace would never be able to sit on her own, or crawl or walk. We already knew from U.S. Ophthalmologist that she was blind and would never see.  

 

 

Well, Grace can see, she can sit and crawl and walk and dance and talk and sing. She is one of our extra special children who has extra special needs, and we are thankful to have her in our family. I believe in miracles because I have seen them. Enjoy Grace singing and dancing in the video below.

Then there are two other extra special girls who I want to update you on today. Both were burned as newborn children, both are strong and vibrant members of our family and both are testaments to the power of prayer, love, financial support and medical care from our friends in the U.S. and Canada.

 

Shirley has been to the U.S. twice for reconstructive surgery and we don’t anticipate her needing any more. She graduated from Kindergarten this week and was so proud to receive her certificate.  

 

Phiwa has also been to the U.S. twice for reconstructive surgery, and still has a long way to go in her healing process.  She came to us as a “boarding school” student two years ago and couldn’t speak any English and she couldn’t read or write as she was not able to attend school because of her facial burns (the other children were abusive to her). This week she not only passed 1^st grade, but she got STRAIGHT A’s and is on tot 2^nd grade in January. This is a testament to her hard work, great tutors, an educational psychologist and special education techniques from private school teachers in the U.S. who helped her catch up and WANT to learn. Phiwa is part of a very large global village of people who love and care for her and she in return is a blessing to all of us.

 

I believe in miracles because I have witnessed them.

 

 

None of these children would have been able to receive the care that they desperately needed if it weren’t for the generosity of people who have given sacrificially to help save the life or change the life of a Swazi child.

 

Would you join us in providing the ongoing care for the 275 children who currently call Project Canaan “home” and help us be able to continue to say “yes” to other children in need? We have a matching gift of up to $175,000 for our year end giving campaign so for every dollar you donate before December 31^st, it will be doubled! This might be the best Christmas gift you ever gift – the gift of life and love.

 

To make a year-end gift in the U.S. please click here.

 

To make a year-end gift in Canada please click here.

 

I hope that you experience miracles in your own life and find inexplicable joy during this sacred season of hope.

 

Live from Eswatini  … enjoying having Spencer home.

 

Janine

 

Are you anxious, angry or afraid?

 

For a moment, perhaps even for a few minutes while you sip on your coffee and read this blog, would you consider being thankful rather than being anxious, angry or afraid? Those seem to be the three A’s that we are watching on TV, in social media and from afar. For this moment let's think about the three A’s being alive, abundant and affirmed.

 

It’s always a good week when we receive a newborn baby. This newborn baby girl was found in the bushes near a church. The mother obviously gave birth in a hospital and then dumped the baby, perhaps hoping someone would find the child. A passerby did hear the baby crying and now that baby is our 275^th child living at Project Canaan and it was a joy to have Spencer here to travel and pick up the baby with me. Baby Jacklin is alive!

This week Spencer arrived home from Chicago and what joy that has brought us every minute of every day. Spencer has been working at Heart for Africa for the past six months and is passionate about our Khutsala Artisans™. This week the three of us spent the entire week lifting and hauling boxes, doing inventory (more than 10,000 pieces), and trying to fix a fried computer (with the last back up being March 2019 – obviously more computer training is required here) all in 100F+ temperatures with full humidity. Our cold showers and evening on the patio never were so sweet, but still missing Chloe who wasn’t able to travel due to Canadian travel restrictions. We are thankful for video calling, and decent internet (when it works). Our joy is abundant.

While we were not in a position to give out Christmas bonuses or host a Christmas party as we have in the past, we were able to provide all of our employees with fresh vegetables, milk and eggs from our farm. We are also able to provide them with a trip to the “store” each year, where they get to choose multiple articles of clothing for themselves and/or their spouse or children. This year each woman who works on Project Canaan got to choose four bras IN ADDITION to the clothing so that was an added blessing from our friends in Canada and the U.S.. This was a difficult year for everyone all over the world, and we are thankful for our Project Canaan employees. Our staff is affirmed.

 

In addition to those things (and I really could write an epistle this morning), I’d like to add a few more fun photos that you might not be giving thanks for today, but we are. 

Below is our nurse Anthony who is now doing circumcisions at the El Rofi clinic (strongly advised to reduce transmission of HIV/AIDS in adulthood). He is so excited to have the opportunity to provide this service for our baby boys while reducing the risk of exposure to Covid-19 (and everything else that is infectious here).

 

I am eternally thankful that Spencer gets to be a big brother to 275 children, and watch our biggest kids grow (and aspire to be as tall as he is!). He also enjoys seeing his friends from Kenya, whom he met when he was only 10 years old. Both Anthony and Denis have known Spencer for 15+ years!

 

Lastly, and this might seem just silly, but …

 

When I was a girl, we would eat Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) once a year. It would be the day that my mom and I drove an hour to the “big” city of Timmins, from our small town of Matheson. We would do our Christmas shopping, which neither of us really enjoyed, and then reward ourselves with KFC for dinner. The 60-minute drive home was almost unbearable with the smell of that delicious, annual “cheat” sitting in the back seat. Well, KFC is the only fast food chain in Eswatini that is similar to a Canadian restaurant, and Ian and I picked up KFC last week. For those of you who have eaten it here, it is THE BEST KFC you will ever taste. We aren’t sure if it’s because it’s the only fast food, but it is a real treat. As we arrived home and started unloading the bag I couldn’t help but see the outside of the KFC bag which read “Add HOPE”. What a great idea. Let us all add a little hope to everything we do and say today.

 

^“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-8

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

 

Live from Eswatini … enjoying a hopeful, joy-filled day.

 

Janine 

Everything is a buzz on Project Canaan (pardon the upcoming pun)

 

Spencer is on an airplane coming home for Christmas! I am still in shock that this was possible, and equally saddened that Chloe is not able to come (quarantine restrictions won’t allow it). During the last eight months we all just assumed that Christmas travel would not be possible, but then it was! And our boy is coming home. I simply can’t tell you how happy that makes us, and the children are so excited to see their big brother.

 

This week we opened our first “flow hives” in our apiary (a location where bee hives are kept) on the farm. What is that you ask? According to www.honeyflow.com “The Flow system is a whole new way of extracting honey from Langstroth-style European honeybee hives. The bees fill the honey cells and cap them off. When you insert the Flow Key and split the honey cells, gravity does the rest of the work, and the honey simply flows into the trough, through the tube and into your jar.”

 

Now Project Canaan really will be a land flowing with milk and honey (and abuzz!), and we will be able to provide our children with fresh honey and also sell it in our gift shop.

We have been working diligently on our tourism program for 2021 and the focus of the tours will be showing people the laying barns, dairy, greenhouse and the new apiary will be a highlight of the tour.  The goal is to inspire and educate people in the field of agriculture as well as display how our woodworking and bead craft is helping us work toward our goal of sustainability. We recently learned that 70% of all tourists coming to Eswatini are from neighboring South Africa and 10% from Mozambique, so we want to be ready to welcome people back to Eswatini when the time is right. Meanwhile we will be able to host local visitors (and hopefully schools and students) who want to come and learn about what is happening right here in the Kingdom of Eswatini!

 

2020 has been a year of complexity, challenge, blessing and favor and for that we give thanks to the One who has been with us at every step. Now we need to finish the year well and I am inviting you to join us in giving thanks by making a year-end gift that will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $175,000! Please help us feed hungry children, care for orphans, alleviate poverty and educate the next generation of leaders.

 

Make a year-end gift in Canada:   http://www.heartforafrica.ca/2020yegivingca/

 

Make a year-end gift in the U.S.:  http://bit.ly/2020YEGivingUS

 

This is our toddler named Treasure. Isn't  she just the cutest  little girl!?

Live from Eswatini  … doing the happy dance.

Janine

Christmas trees, birthday cake and a naked man

Today is the big day that our children have been waiting for – home decorating for Christmas!  Each home where “big kids” live (ages 4-9) has its own Christmas tree.  The children get to put their own angel ornament (with their name on the ornament) on the tree and then further decorate it any way they want. Then a group of kids heads to the Oasis to decorate the dining hall for the Christmas season. They are so good at remembering where each decoration goes, and we all work hard to make sure it looks the same each year. Other children will start to make paper chains that will strung from the rafters to bring joy and color to the building.

This week one of our staff members that doesn’t live with the children asked them what some of their favorite Christmas traditions were at home?  The kids quickly answered that on Christmas day they ALWAYS get pancakes and bacon for breakfast, new pajamas as a gift and a fancy chocolate and then get to swim for the rest of the day (Christmas day typically sees temperatures well over 100F).  We have worked very intentionally to have traditions that the kids can look forward to every year for Christmas, Easter, birthdays and any other annual event that we would celebrate with Spencer and Chloe.  I was so happy to hear that it’s working and they love it.

 

This past week we had some local visitors (our first since lock down began on March 25^th) and they brought a Christmas gift of 116 large cans of baby NAN formula (a $2,000+ donation!). As we stood at the children’s campus it was lunch time and the toddlers (2 years old) were called to go in and wash their hands and use the toilet. Every small child started to clean up the yard, pushing or carrying their myriad of toys over to the area that we put them away where they belonged. At a young age they are being taught responsibility and to take care of their things, which they do with great pride. It was a magical sight, and one that I never tire of.

 

Later we celebrated a birthday at the toddler home, and as part of our tradition, birthday-girl Carol got her very own birthday cake to share with her brothers and sisters in that home. The Aunties always dress each child in brand new clothes and shoes and make them feel honored on their special day. Many/most of these clothes and shoes are lovingly purchased by our Canadian Chairperson and friend, Carol Hickman, who just loves to shop for our kids (little Carol is her namesake). 

 

We always pray a blessing over the child and then the children give thanks for the cake which they are about to eat. I will confess that my eyes were open during the prayer and I’m really glad they were so that I could snap these super cute photos!

 

 

This week wasn’t all Christmas decorating and birthday fun, it was also fraught with the usual challenges of working in Africa including a shepherd stripping naked in front of a supervisor for no apparent reason (drugs or witchcraft are expected) and the mysterious disappearance of 11 young cows (somehow linked to the naked man)?

 

We also had to further reduce our Khutsala Artisan staff, which is extra heartbreaking to do right before Christmas. We hope to be able to bring people back to work in 2021, but that can only happen if people buy our product on line.  Please consider shopping with a purpose at www.khutsala.com and enjoy Black Friday sales this weekend. 

 

Even with all the challenges we face, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

 

Live from Eswatini … It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Janine

A controversial health decision

Many weeks ago I was called by a social worker about a baby who needed help. She was severely malnourished, immune suppressed and hospitalized several times to try to stabilize her and coach the young mother in caring for the baby. I was asked if we could take the baby IF the doctors believed that the mother just couldn’t properly care for the baby and the baby would die without intervention. Several weeks later I received the call to pick up the baby and I asked the social worker if the child was otherwise healthy, explaining that we do not knowingly accept disabled children? (If we receive a baby and later find out that they have disabilities or developmental delays, we keep that child knowing that the Lord has placed him or her with us.) She assured me that the doctor assured her that the baby was just fine, she just really needed to be treated for malnutrition and proper adherence to her other medications.

 

Upon our doctor and nurse team assessment, it appeared that the baby was far from “fine”.  She was 12+ months old and weighed 11 pounds. The examination further revealed that the child was blind, deaf, spastic, having regular seizures and was obviously in a lot of pain when touched. We did what we always do and just started loving her, feeding with F100 formula (which she responded well to for the first week) as well as antibiotics and antiseizure medication.

 

After a week passed things started to change. She stopped eating well, her pain seemed to increase as did the seizures. On Friday it was decided that she needed to be hospitalized quickly as here overall health was so poor that we feared things might turn badly quickly. As soon as she got to the private hospital she was examined again and then sent for a CT scan. The results were devastating.  In addition to all the other things that she was suffering from, she was diagnosed with Dandy-Walker malformation.

 

“Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM) is a brain malformation that occurs during embryonic development of the cerebellum and 4th ventricle. The cerebellum is the area of the brain that helps coordinate movement, and is also involved with cognition and behavior. The 4th ventricle is a space around the cerebellum that channels fluid from inside to around the outside of the brain. DWM is characterized by underdevelopment (small size and abnormal position) of the middle part of the cerebellum known as the cerebellar vermis, cystic enlargement of the 4th ventricle and enlargement of the base of the skull (posterior fossa). DWM is sometimes (20-80%) associated with hydrocephalus, in which blockage of the normal flow of spinal fluid leads to excessive amounts of fluid accumulating in and around the brain. This leads to abnormally high pressure within the skull and swelling of the head, and can lead to neurological impairment.” National Organization for Rare Diseases

 

The pain she was experiencing was likely from fluid build-up in her brain. Her blindness and deafness could also be a result of undiagnosed hydrocephalus linked to Dandy-Walker. She would need to see a neuro surgeon, get a stent if possible and then a long-term care plan, if she lives. We were in a quandry. The hospital where she had been admitted did not have access to a CT Scan, and assumed that her entire condition was due to lack of food and medical care, so technically they didn’t know that she was a severely disabled child when they asked us to take her. Unfortunately, we do not have the care staff, the expertise or the facilities to provide all the care that this little one needs. What were we to do? We prayed about it, I sought council from many medical professionals in the U.S. and Canada, and then had to make the hard decision. I called the social worker and the original doctor and shared what we had discovered. I then asked them to please make a plan to care for this child as we could not.

 

We had discussions internally that our team could certainly provide the best love and basic care, and if she is at an end of life stage, we could love her well. But losing a child is SO hard on our care team, our leadership team and on Ian and I personally. No one wants to lose a baby. And we don’t know that she is at that stage, she could live for months or years with proper intervention, but it is intervention that we cannot provide.

 

Yesterday the social worker and the young mother, pregnant with another baby, went to the hospital and met with one of our nurse and the Aunty who was staying with the baby. They packed her up and took her to a government hospital where we hope she will be able to see a neuro surgeon and get treatment. This was such a hard decision for us, and we wonder why God allowed this little one to come to us for such a short time, but I know in my heart that we made the right decision. As we all know, making the right decision is often harder than making the wrong decision. Please join us in praying for the baby whom we were calling Victoria as we ask the Lord to take away her pain and heal her body.

 

In much happier news, I am thrilled to be able to tell you about a magnificent painting that we commissioned from painter Karen Radiloff (a good friend of Chris Cheek). I follow her on Facebook and Instagram and love every painting that she posts, so I reached out to her to see if should do a special painting for the Oasis #2 (O2) building -our very large dining hall and for our older kids. I told her about a huge fireplace that we are including in the construction and asked for a painting that was 6 feet long and 3 feet high!  She responded with a resounding yes AND told me that she would paint it and donate the painting to us!!! Yesterday I received photos from Karen of the finished painting valued at $,1800! We believe that art is a very important part of culture and it also teaches our children about beauty, creativity and the joy that God has created the world with.

 

72" x 36" painting by artist Karen Radiloff

 

Karen often puts scriptures on the blank canvas and then paints on top of them. In the second photo you can see Jeremiah 29:11 poking through;

 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.”

 

Isaiah 29:11 can be seen peaking out through the painting.

 

This will come over to us when another container comes our way. In the meantime, I will print out a smaller version of this to enjoy until the real one arrives.

 

 

Emseni 6 on the left O2 on the right

I hope you will look for beauty in your surroundings today and see the creativity and joy that God created around you.

 

Live from Eswatini … praying for Victoria.

Janine