This blog is coming to an end…

 

On June 1,2011, I posted my first blog titled “365 Days and counting…”. It was the beginning of our journey to prepare to move to Africa.  Since then, I have posted 483 Blogs, and had 814,224 reads, but as the bible says, there is a time for everything.

 

But it is time for me to close this chapter and on May 29th, 2021 I will post my last blog on this platform.  Why you ask?  There are several reasons and I will try to explain them.

 

Part of the reason I was writing each week was to share with you what it was like living and serving in Eswatini. I wanted to share the complexities of living in a developing nation and added challenges of living in a kingdom with an absolute monarch. I wanted to expose you to the hardships that many Africans live with every day, while sharing some of the cultural difference that we encounter, without throwing shame or placing judgement. I know that sometimes I didn’t do that as well as I had hoped.

 

Some weeks I was looking for sympathy, some weeks empathy, some weeks financial support or to have people with specific skill sets help us with complicated situations. EVERY week I tried to invite you into the story of what God was doing in the tiny Kingdom of Eswatini so that you could see for yourself, even from afar, that Jesus is alive and well and very much an everyday part of our lives here.

 

I shared highs and lows, births and deaths, birthdays and anniversaries. I shared fires and floods, theft and betrayal, friendship and love. My prayer was always to leave you with a feeling of joy despite the hopelessness and the feeling of hope despite the despair.

 

The reason I am going to finish up on May 29th is because it will complete a full ten years of blogging and frankly, I am looking forward to taking a Saturday morning OFF! However, I will be a guest writer on Heart for Africa’s Share HOPE blog every now and then.

 

The other reason I am discontinuing my blog is that  my new book HOPE LIVES HERE will be published on August 1st, 2021 and is available for pre-order on amazon today!!! I wrote the book during the many months of lock down in 2020 when we couldn’t leave the country. The book was written to outline how Project Canaan came to be, how we do things, why we do them and also to answer the questions that are frequently asked. I weave those three things into my blogs, but the book has it all written in an orderly fashion.   (Canadians will be able to order this on amazon.ca, but I won't have the link until next week).

 

Our Boards of Directors and Heart for Africa staff have read the manuscript, and the general agreement was that while some of the stories are hard to read, reading them is easier than being the people living them. My job, my calling and my passion is to share real stories of real Swazi’s with the world so that they will not be forgotten. You may not want to come and visit, or you may not be able to do so (health, finances, pandemic), but you can still learn about this culture, try to understand a different way of life and pray for those in need.

 

Please join me here for the next five weeks as I wind down with thoughts from the past ten years and hopes for the next ten years. If you have a topic that I have missed that you would like me to write about, please feel free to email me at janine@heartforafrica.org and I will try to address your topic. In the meantime, please hop on over to the Heart for Africa’s Share HOPE blog where you can sign up to get a LOT of wonderful information, statistics and the “meat” of what we are doing here in Eswatini.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

 There is a time for everything.
    There’s a time for everything that is done on earth.

There is a time to be born.
    And there’s a time to die.
There is a time to plant.
    And there’s a time to pull up what is planted.
 There is a time to kill.
    And there’s a time to heal.
There is a time to tear down.
    And there’s a time to build up.
 There is a time to weep.
    And there’s a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad.
    And there’s a time to dance.
There is a time to scatter stones.
    And there’s a time to gather them.
There is a time to embrace someone.
    And there’s a time not to embrace.
 There is a time to search.
    And there’s a time to stop searching.
There is a time to keep.
    And there’s a time to throw away.
 There is a time to tear.
    And there’s a time to mend.
There is a time to be silent.
    And there’s a time to speak.
 There is a time to love.
    And there’s a time to hate.
There is a time for war.
    And there’s a time for peace.

 

Live from Eswatini … I am so excited about my new book!

 

Janine

It's a big deal to us.

 

Norma was one of eight toddlers who moved to Emseni 1.

Today was a big day for 17 of our children – they made the move to their next home, and that is a big deal around here.

 

The whole process takes many weeks as the children first visit their new home for a walk around, look-see, then they spend longer periods of time eventually leading up to lunch and afternoon nap. The last big move, which was today, includes sleeping in their new beds. The Aunties and Uncles make such a big deal of these “coming of age” events and every child feels special, welcomed and loved.

 

Today baby Birch moved from Kuthula Place to the El Roi baby home.

 

Bethany, Kay, Nomsa, Welcome, Connor, Easton, Nicholas and Wonder moved from the baby home to the toddler home.

Norma, Poppy, Praise, Precious, Dillon, Frank, Miracle and Mordecai moved from the Labakhetsiwe toddler home to Emseni #1.

 

 

As of today, we will have four babies at Kuthula Place, 27 at the baby home, 43 in at the toddler home, 48 in Emseni 1 (short term overfilled due to Emseni not being completed yet), and then 40 children in each of Emseni 2, Emseni 3, Emseni 4 and Emseni 5. We have a total of 282 children who call Project Canaan home. 

 

 

Welcome to Emseni 1

 

A larger welcoming committee

Emseni 6 will be completed in early May so we are planning the BIG move on Friday, May 7^th. That day we will have 70 children move to their next home!!! It will be an epic day of excitement, special treats, meat braai’s (cookout)  and new adventure.  We don't have the funds to start building  Emseni 7 yet, nor have we started building it, but once all of these children have moved, we "only" have 24  beds left at Emseni before Emseni 7 is built. I will be sure to fill my blog with photos on May 8^th.

 

Speaking of beds ... our Kufundza carpentry team is hard at work making beds for the Emseni boys! We are so thankful to have this important group of carpenters working at Project Canaan.

In the meantime, thanks for joining us on this incredible journey and praying with us through the good days and the hard days.

 

Live from Eswatini … it’s moving day!

Janine

This Swazi man gave all that he had to give

His name is Phillip.

He is a neighbor to our Kufundza Carpentry Center manager and he had a big, bloodwood tree on his property – bigger than any bloodwood tree that we have found on Project Canaan. We use bloodwood trees to make the beautiful charcuterie boards that we started selling in the fall of 2020 through www.khutsala.com  (we sold 500 of them in 2020!). The tree gets its name from the red sticky sap the pours like blood when the bark is cut.

 

In order to make charcuterie boards we must first find the exotic (not protected) bloodwood tree, which are usually up the mountains and through the bush – not accessibly for a vehicle. Below is a photo of some of Denis' guys who had to build a steel frame to carry an estimated 800-pound tree down the mountain. If you go to the end of this blog you can watch the video of the same. It’s grueling work.

 

I have also been looking for larger trees to make table tops and coffee tables to see locally and through Khutsala, but hadn’t been able to find large enough trees here. One day our carpentry Manager Sanele told me that he had found a BIG bloodwood tree on his neighbor’s property and he had asked the neighbor about the tree. Sanele said that it was the tree that the family used to sit under during the heat of the day when they used to work on the farm, but those days and most of that family were long gone.

When Sanele approached the man, Phillip, about the tree, here is what he said, “You may have that tree. I would like to give you that tree as a gift and to support the Swazi children that you are caring for. One day that tree will die and fall down, just like this one I am leaning on, and then it will not be useful to anyone. But if I give you this live tree, you can use it to make beautiful wooden items to sell, and while the tree will die, the children will live. That is why I am giving you this tree. Oh, and there is a big mahogany tree over there that I would also like you to have.”

 

Wow. I have never heard of anything like this before. While we have support from our local community because we are employing almost anyone and everyone who is willing and able to work, this was a different kind of support. This was thoughtful, caring and wise and he was giving us something that did have significant value. That big tree could still provide shade from the scorching sun, and he could have sold it to us for money, but instead he  chose to give it to us as a gift. Sanele thanked him profusely and we went together to meet Philip the next day.

I grew up in Northern Ontario and my dad taught me to LOVE trees. I love working with wood, just as my dad did, so it pains me to cut down trees. But please know that we do it carefully, thoughtfully and use as much of the tree as we possibly can (table tops, charcuterie boards, trivets and coasters). In addition, when people purchase our charcuterie boards this year they will help us plant many more bloodwood trees for the next generation. Details to follow in the fall.

So, I drove to Sigceneni and spent most of the day with three guys cutting down a giant tree with a small chainsaw (if anyone wants to donate a big one or two we would welcome them!), and then cut it in to moveable pieces. The next day the JCB (backhoe) and tractor with trailer made the 7-mile journey to load up the wood. When it got back to Project Canaan is was then loaded in a truck and driven 100+ miles to a sawmill to be cut into planks. 

While all that was happening, our guys had to build a much bigger sun wood-drying kiln (13 yards long) to dry the wood quickly so that we can begin our work in the weeks ahead. Just this morning I took these photos of the beautiful wood that has been harvested and cut. After it dries our guys will plane it, I will spend many fun/dirty days at the shop drawing out each charcuterie to make best use of the colors, grains and live edge, then they will be cut, dried again and then fumigated. The entire process takes many weeks to make a single charcuterie board, but each one is made with love by the Kufundza team (including Nokwanda and me).

These particular boards, made of bloodwood and some with mahogany, will also be sent with love from an old Swazi man who didn’t have any money to help the children, so he gave us what he had - the biggest and most beautiful bloodwood tree we have ever seen. Phillip gave us hope.

This is what the mahogany looks like.

Is there something in your life that you could bless another person with, even if it isn’t money? Look around you and give someone a gift of love, and perhaps even hope, today.

Our goal is to ship another 1,000 boards in early May via seafaring container, which will arrive at our Georgia warehouse for August sales. Please start thinking about corporate gifts or an extra special gift from www.khutsala.com this Christmas. If you have questions about these products, please contact julie@heartforafrica.org

Live from Eswatini … thankful.

Janine

This first video is the guys carrying a big tree down the mountain on Project Canaan.

 

This second video is Sanele climbing the tree (with the help of a human ladder) to cut the next branch off. Enjoy!

They are hungry, even on Easter

 

 

The past few weeks have been busy at the El Roi Baby home and clinic with six new arrivals. Can you imagine welcoming six new babies into your family within just a few weeks? Baby Solomon and Prosper arrived as tiny, but perfect newborns, straight from their young mother’s wombs.  The four girls that were placed with us after that arrived severely malnourished with bodies “wasted” and I can tell you that three of them were starving to death.

 

It takes a LONG time to starve to death, and it’s a slow and painful death. There are two main types of malnutrition, both leading to death if not stopped and properly treated. The first is called  Kwashiorkor, which is very common here in Eswatini. It is often overlooked in the community because a child might look like a healthy (even chubby with a big belly) baby, but the child is protein deficient and the chubbiness is actually fluid build-up in the body, which can lead to organ failure, heart attack and death.  

 

 

The second most common type of malnutrition is called Marasmus, more easily identified because of the obvious body wasting presenting as skin and bones.

 

This week we saw both. Two of the three girls had obvious Kwashiorkor, which we often treat with a special formula called F75 and F100, then move them to a special diet that we have designed called “The Jonathan Diet”, created for our own boy named Jonathan. It is a high protein, low carb diet. But 2-year-old Nsiki presented with Marasmus, and our pediatrician explained that based on the markings/bruising across her whole body, the orange color of her hair and her teeth that are breaking off in pieces, that Nsiki would have had Kwashiorkor (deprived of protein as a baby), but as the time went on, and a new baby sister arrived, she was simply deprived of all food, causing her body to start to waste away.

 

 

At the age of 26 months she can hardly walk, has very little energy to roll or crawl. Her baby sister (10 months) is in better shape, only because she had some breast milk in the early months and had less time to starve.

 

THIS is one of the results of the Covid-19 pandemic in Eswatini. This global pandemic has upended life as we all knew it, but for the unseen, unknown children living in rural Eswatini it just means pain and suffering, and to their families … hopelessness.

 

We don’t typically accept children over the age of 2 years, but these girls presented the size of, and developmentally that of a 1-year-old. So, we welcomed them home. Over time they will get strong and one day be laughing and playing with the others. But for now we monitor them closely, provide medical treatment, special food and lots of love. We love them back to life.

 

 

I know that this probably isn’t the kind of happy Easter blog that you were hoping to read, but it is what it is. For those of you who believe in the death and resurrection of Christ, and celebrate it this weekend with friends, family, chocolate and a table overflowing with food, I beg you to pray for the children of Eswatini (and the world) who are suffering terribly with NO food, NO family, No access to healthcare, NO hope, except in Jesus himself.  But who wants to hear about Jesus when you are starving to death?

Even this Easter weekend so many children will be hungry.

If you would like to do something to help our children, and those who are still to come in 2021 I ask that you consider sponsoring a child today or make a one-time gift to help us provide the extra care that these hurting children so desperately need.

 

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

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

 

“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’

^“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

Matthew 25:31-46

Live from Eswatini … Happy Easter everyone.

 

Janine

 

PS – our Easter service will be on the Heart for Africa Facebook page at 9AM Easter Sunday. Please join us!