How do we keep our children, staff and property safe from harm?

 

If you look closely through the smoke you will see the big kids homes engulfed in smoke.

 

As many of you know, last July we celebrated our 10^th anniversary and the same day horrific fires started and burned most of Project Canaan over the next 40 hours. While we had miles of fire breaks burned (which usually keep the fires off our property), we didn’t have the property fire-fighting equipment to be able to attack the fire with water. Instead, we fought the fires the “Swazi” way, which is to beat the fire with tree branches, or switches, to “switch the fire off.”

 

The winds were too fierce that day to make this approach successful and water was the only way that we would have had a chance. We did have a water bowser (water tank that fits on a tractor trailer), but the trailer had a flat tire that day, etc., etc., etc., and it was only fixed and ready for use 24-hours into the fire. Trust me, we have had many meetings on “coulda-woulda-shoulda”, but more importantly the team of 20 people, including staff, neighbors and local experts, started working on a plan of action right away. 

 

Broken tractor that was to pull the water bowser

 

Some of the critical firefighting and safety equipment was purchased, a Security Manager was hired to not only protect Project Canaan from thieves, poachers and wild animals, but also from future fires. It quickly became clear that what was missing was a centralized location for fire equipment to be resourced, maintained and dispersed as needed.  For the safety of our children, our staff and our property, we really need a safety and security offices that houses all fire-fighting equipment and could be a place for planning and training.

 

The water bowser when it was finally fixed

 

That is what I want to tell you about today. We now have a solid plan to build a simple, yet effective centralized safety and security office, that when complete, will have a fire station.

 

The safety and security building and fire station will be located near the greenhouse, and will be made up of two 20 ft containers, connected by an enclosed steel structure.  A reinforced ceiling will hold large water bowsers, prefilled with water. As soon as a fire is spotted, we’ll be able to drive our trucks into the structure, quickly lower the bowsers down into the truck - along with other firefighting equipment that will be stored in the fire station container - and head to the staging area. The entire structure will be built adjacent to our pump house, allowing us to quickly refill bowsers and supply water as needed during those times we’re fighting wildfires.

 

These buildings will be where the security team is located on a 24/7 basis. This will give a central location for shift change, information collection and sharing, and communication. Now that the entire property has had Wi-Fi installed, we can set up cameras to monitor many different areas of the property from this centralized security office. This is a game changer for our own safety from intruders.

 

We also need to construct a 30 - 40 ft watchtower at the station that overlooks the farm to allow us to monitor for wildfires, more effectively directing our burn teams and firefighting crew on PC. 

 

Just this week I had a dear friend email me and ask if there was a specific need that we had that not yet been brought forward.  I had lots of “fun” ideas, but the safety everyone here must be a priority now that we have a plan of action. The TOTAL cost of the new Safety and Security offices, AND the fire station is $25,000 US.  My friend told me that if I could raise $12,500, she would find the funds to match the rest!  Who does that??

 

Today I am writing to ask if any of you could give a little, or give a lot, to help us build these critically important buildings on Project Canaan.  I haven’t asked for money in a blog for a long time, but I am asking now.  If we can raise $12,500 this weekend, we will continue with the plans on Monday morning.

 

Will you help us protect all of the children whom God has placed with us and all of infrastructure that God has provided? I hope you enjoy the short video of our babies in a small pool trying to cool down yesterday. These babies desperately need our protection.

 

 

If you can help us, please give today and your money will be matched dollar for dollar!

 

In the US:  https://heartforafrica.kindful.com/?campaign=1088070

 

In Canada: https://www.heartforafrica.ca/Emergency%20Funds.aspx

 

Thank you for helping keep our ever growing village safe.

 

Live from Eswatini …yesterday the government extended the country wide locked down for another two months. 😩

 

Janine

 

PS – Be sure to check out our new product at www.khutsala.com.