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

A week of betrayal

Working in Africa is hard, whether it's the extreme heat, disease, poverty,  or the myriad of other challenges that seem to be never ending, but the betrayal of the people we are here to serve is the hardest part. We were hurt deeply this past week, once again by people whom we trusted, nurtured, trained and loved for many many years.

 

While we were away on holiday one of our department supervisors was caught committing fraud and stealing. This is a person in authority and one who has been loved, trained and nurtured by many of our long-term volunteers. A second person, also a department supervisor who has been here for almost 10 years, was caught lying and stealing with complete disregard for me, for our family, her employees or the ministry. And for those of you who have had to fire employees, you know that once the employee is gone, the behind the scene stories start to pour out of the people who worked with them. You have to be careful not to believe everything you hear, but also need to consider what you hear and who you hear it from. It appears that this behavior has gone on for years unknown to us. How did that happen? I couldn’t understand it. I work directly with both of these people and didn’t sense anything like this was going on?

 

I had to break this news to Spencer and Chloe who have known and trusted these people for years. Sadly, this is not the first (or second or third) time that senior leadership have betrayed us and broken our hearts. You never get used to it, but you do learn how to deal with it and move on, but it still hurts deeply. Spencer and Chloe were shattered by the news, and their hurt quickly turned to anger at how these trusted people could do such things to the very people who are trying to help them and their families.

 

Next we had to notify our Board members, which is always a challenge because the question will always be asked how we didn’t know these things were happening? But our Board members were so very encouraging and supportive. They too have been betrayed and know how much it hurts. Here are a few words of encouragement that were shared with us this week;

 

·      “The human heart is indeed evil and sick and satan prowls around looking for someone to devour. Greed and selfishness don't breed contentment and gratitude. Jesus has to do the work inside the human heart. Behavior modification is just a white wash. You deal with that in very tangible ways as the Lord has set you with the Gospel in the midst of a culture where mixing the power of darkness with the power of light is thought to be acceptable.” 

 

·      “Be the example, and just carry on and trust in God - not sure there is much of a better option - and I believe as these things are exposed and confronted that it will make a difference.”

 

·      “So sad and so many examples of this kind of hurt and deceit in the Bible.  But when we put our full trust and faith in the Lord...no one can hurt us. Stay strong and continue to put your trust in the Lord.”

 

·      “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV

 

 

My friend, Sandy Mune, made a sign with that scripture on it and it has been sitting on our bookshelf, right above our TV for years. I see it every single day.

As I was sobbing, I had a thought.  Is this how Jesus feels every time I betray him? Is this how he felt when Peter denied even knowing him? Is this how he felt on the cross when people mocked and jeered at him? He was human so can only assume that his heart hurt the way my heart was hurting, and my betrayal was nothing compared to his, and yet he forgave during his pain. Ian and I have chosen to forgive these two people. We will not employ them again, as there are consequences for their actions, but we do forgive, and encourage everyone who was hurt by them to forgive them too.

 

Many days have passed since this all began and our hearts are healing. The outside adjudicator completed our human resource process of a fair hearing, assessment of their actions against our very extensive employee handbook resulting in both employees being fired. Ian and I were not involved in any of this, as it is handled by our human resource department, who are eternally grateful for. We have a policy of posting the photos of people who have been convicted of a crime against the with the crime conviction notice, so those photos were posted around the farm yesterday, notifying our own community of the crimes and criminals. I will not post those photos here, nor will I mention their names to you. The people who need to know, know who they are.

 

For my Swazi friends reading this please know that I will continue to trust you until you break my trust. I do not see all Swazi’s as being the same, nor to I see all Africans as being the same. These crimes come from issues of the heart, not culture. I love living here, I love serving here and am thankful that the Lord has given us the strength to endure, willingness to forgive and ability to move on. I am also thankful for having so many Swazi’s (Kenyans and Zimbabweans) that we can trust and do trust and I look forward to serving alongside you for many years to come. I learned a new Swazi expression this week, which will only make sense to you … “the umutsi has expired”.  And it never did have power over me.

 

Live from Eswatini … moving on.

 

Janine

Who cares about these babies?

 

This week I got a call about a newborn baby boy left outside of a hospital on a bench who needs a home, then a set of triplets whose mom is a teenager with a toddler and no way to provide for any of her children and lastly a baby girl who was near death.

 

While Social Welfare officers are working on the first four babies (doing medical reports, family assessments and getting legal paper work in order) the baby girl was placed with us for immediate care. Ian and I were taking a holiday in South Africa so nurse Anthony and Auntie Shongwe went to assess and pick up the baby. We are calling her Victoria, named in honor of Anthony’s mother.

 

Victoria is in critical condition. She just turned 1 year on October 27^th and she weighs 11 pounds. There was no birthday party for this little one, instead her young mother was begging Social Welfare and the doctors for help. Victoria is severely malnourished with muscle wasting called Marasmus. She appears to be blind (her eyes dilate, but she is unresponsive to light or objects), and unresponsive to sound, but both of those symptoms could be a result of other underlying conditions that have gone untreated. She is in pain when touched or moved and hasn’t eaten in a very long time.

 

Our crack team of nurses and doctors, including Dr. Dlamini at the Baylor clinic, worked on a comprehensive and immediate care plan and our incredible team of Aunties are now on high alert as they watch over, care and pray for this little life, but she is in really bad shape. There is no way of knowing whether she will live, catch up or thrive, but we will do our best to provide all we can.

 

Some days I struggle more than others with how terribly abused so many Swazi children are. They are being starved to death, denied access to life-saving medication and suffer desperately from the lack of love, care or even touch. Why aren’t these babies being cared for? There are so many socio-economic reasons, but poverty, sickness and hopelessness are at the core of the abuse.

 

You can by the image above how emaciated Victoria is. We took her photo between two babies who came to us at birth, also from severe circumstances, but at least we got them when they were very small and they have been able to develop well. Mark is 13 months old and weighs 30 pounds. Victoria is 12 months old and weighs 11 pounds. Shepherd is 11 months old and weighs 25 pounds. 

 

Who cares for these babies? 

 

We care for these babies. 

 

Will you help us? We will take them to the hospital. We will syringe feed special F100 formula. We will give the antibiotic injections to keep pneumonia at bay.  Will you help us fight for the lives of these babies by sponsoring Shepherd, Victoria or Mark today? Every dollar helps and every prayer is heard.

 

Child sponsorship in Canada:  http://bit.ly/hfahopestartsca

 

Child Sponsorship in the US:  https://www.heartforafrica.org/HOPESTARTS/

 

In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, please help us provide hope for one child.

 

Live from Eswatini … praying for Victoria.

 

Janine