Africa – Canada – United States – Africa … a journey of hope.

This past month has been fun, long, hard, exciting, exhausting, rewarding, encouraging and filled with hope.

I am always encouraged to meet people who say that they start their Saturday mornings with a cup of coffee and this blog.  Many of those people also follow me on Facebook so when I write my weekly blog I try not to repeat what has already been posted.  That being said, for those of you readers who don’t follow on Facebook, I want to be sure to give you a short update on some of our favorite, and important moments from our time in North America this past month.

I will start by saying that Ian and my hearts are in Swaziland.  The work that we do and roles that we fill are more than full time jobs and we spend 100% of our time focusing on all things “Project Canaan”, and we LOVE IT.  So packing for 3 weather zones, to go on 12 flights and stay in 9 different hotels/rooms in 4 weeks is not really our idea of “fun” anymore.

That being said, this month was amazing and here are just a few photos to give a glimpse of SOME of what we experienced.

The highlight is always seeing our 20-year old son Spencer, and just hanging out and chatting with him. He is a remarkable young man, and so much fun to "chill" with. 

Love.

We had a fantastic 12-days with the Egg Farmers of Canada and Egg Farmers of Ontario as they officially launched their partnership with Heart for Africa and their commitment to build a Egg Farm on Project Canaan in 2015. This photo is with the Canadian Minister of Agriculture.  We got some great media exposure and the links below are two worth seeing/reading. 

CTV News Segment:

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=584390

The Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/03/29/canadian-egg-farmers-help-nourish-children-of-swaziland.html?fb_ref=Default

Tim Lambert (CEO EFC), Honourable Minister Gerry Ritz , Janine, Ian and Peter Lambert (Chairman of EFC)

We visited with Ian’s family in Ottawa and always enjoy seeing everyone and had the privilege of speaking at the West Ottawa Rotary Club to thank them for their participation in the funding of the Living Water Dam.

Diane and Jim Maxwell

We got to visit my 84-year old mom, who lives in a nursing home in Ontario and my cousin Kim who is my voice when I am not there.  Each time I see her I am so thankful that my mom is the reason that I believe in Jesus and have followed His path, and I am equally aware that each visit might be our last.

I love you mom.

So thankful for my cousin Kim.

We loved seeing old friends and work colleagues and enjoyed getting caught up with their lives and families.

My besties... Dee Dee, Judy and Kathryn.

So awesome to see Charlene, Sally and Diane (with Carol Kirk taking the photo).

It seemed that this month was 4-weeks of meeting for coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Not ideal as we are trying to lose weight, but so much fun to meet new people and hear their stories. 

From Canada we went back to Georgia for more time with Spencer and got to have amazing burgers with Chad and Amy Gregory as they search Atlanta for the very best hamburger experience.

Our friends, Chad Gregory, CEO of the United Egg Producers, and his beautiful wife Amy.

Welcome North Point/Waumba Land team!

Welcome Marsh family who want to commit to do something "more".

Thank you Kim and David for your hospitality and generosity.

We enjoyed seeing all of our friends at the MedAssets annual conference in Las Vegas where we sold $4,800 in jewelry and recruited more people to volunteer with us in 2016.

MedAssets conference with Board members, Sandra Green and Ned Lehman.

On our final Sunday night we were a part of a wonderful fundraising event with our inspirational friend Captain Jerry Coffee as the key note speaker. Our goal was to get more people to sign up as a monthly Angels and the event raised $24,000 to help with the monthly costs of raising our 91 babies. Maybe you can help with that today? https://heartforafrica.secure.force.com/pmtx/cmpgn__donations?id=701C0000000VFWR

The Grand Finale happened in Washington, DC, where we spent time visiting Senator John McCain and then attended a magical evening that our friends from UPS hosted in the beautiful UPS town house.  The goal of that event was to raise funds for us to start our Hydroponic Greenhouse project to grow strawberries and tomatoes and this mighty team raised $47,000+ for the project!

Such amazing friends - Janice Johnson and Teri McClure.

Thursday night we got on a plane in DC, routed back through Atlanta and then flew on to Johannesburg.  Today we woke up in South Africa and took one last flight to our beloved Swaziland.  

We are so thankful to all of our friends, family and supporters who give selflessly and sacrificially help us provide for the children at Project Canaan, and so many others around the country of Swaziland.

We are thankful to be home and we are feeling hopeful.

Live from Swaziland … it IS Saturday morning.

Janine

Father lit his 18-month old baby boy on fire?

Having one foot in “first world” and one foot in “third world” is very disturbing and it is divisive to my soul.

I have been visiting the United States for two weeks and have had two weeks of "extremes".  

I started my travels in “Sin City” Las Vegas where I was invited to be a part of the MedAssets Business Summit with 4,000 other people staying in a hotel that has almost as many rooms (3,309) as we have people in the community surrounding Project Canaan (3,500).  I then got to visit a small town in Texas where the people love Jesus, the Rattlesnakes are waking up and the Tumbleweeds are blowing across the road as you drive past beautiful Cattle Ranches and farms that are feeding America. I can only imagine that one day Project Canaan will be a farm that feeds Swaziland! 

Next, I spent two nights in Georgia with women from the US Bank who have big corporate jobs, but even bigger hearts.  At one well-planned dinner they successfully raised $34,000 to help educate and bring life-changing jobs to women of Swaziland.  While Lori Marschall and Rona Nix were busy in California raising funds for me to have a good, used, 4 x 4 vehicle “baby rescue” vehicle that will navigate the rough roads of Swaziland, the women from WOMENETICS provided me with a brand new Porsche 911 to drive to Florida to see Spencer (!).  It is SO COOL!  

The best part of the whole trip has been getting to visit Spencer!!  He is studying “Business Marketing" at Florida State University (home to 44,000 students, which is half the total population of the Capitol City of Mbabane, Swaziland) and for his extra-curricular activity he is a part of the FSU High Flying Circus.  We get to see him perform several times this weekend  and it makes me wonder if the babies at El Roi will one day have incredible opportunities like that?!  I am thankful to be here and a very proud mama.

Ian and I are so very proud of Spencer and Chloe.

It has been two weeks of extremes, from locations to conversations, but my “snap back into my other reality” came when I received a phone call from Swaziland last week.

There was good news and bad news.   The good news was that Baby #28 had arrived at El Roi and little 10-day old Elisha was happy and healthy.

The bad news rocked my world.  We were contacted by the Social Welfare Department to see if we could make room for and care for an 18-month old baby boy, who had been badly burned by his father.  I asked Shirley and Ian to gather more information and it slowly came to me as the week progressed. Here is some of what we know, and what I feel that I can share with you at this time, while still maintaining some privacy for the family.

“Social problems” as they are called in Swaziland, are always complicated, so I will try to explain this as simply as possible.

-       Woman was married to a man who died a couple of years ago.

-       Woman lives at her dead husbands homestead with his family and has nowhere else to live.

-       Woman gets pregnant by another man (we do not know the circumstances of this pregnancy).

-       Baby is born, but “culture” does not permit a baby from another man to live with the mother in her husbands homestead so baby has to go live with his Grandmother (biological Father’s mother)

-       In January 2013 (baby was 15-months old) the father beat the baby badly around the face.  The issue was settled “culturally” between the families (?) and no police report was made.

-       On March 13^th 2013 the Grandmother was working in the fields and came in and found the baby crying.  She called him to come and saw that he could not walk.

-       Grandmother found severe burns covering his buttocks and genitals.

-       I saw a photo of this baby in the newspaper at the end of March and the burns were horrific.  They showed his backside and it looked as if the baby was wearing a diaper and it had been lit on fire.

-       The father said he had accidently spilled boiling water on the boy, but the family does not believe this and neither do the doctors.

-       The father is now in prison.

-       The baby is at the Government hospital and while I want to show full respect for that hospital in this blog, I will say that I do not believe that they have the resources to give this child the care he needs to survive and recover.  I have been there and this child needs private care.

-       When the child is released from the hospital he will need somewhere safe to live. The mother has asked that we take him because she can’t take him to her “home” and the father will be released from prison. The whole family is very concerned about what the father will do when he is released.

The problem is complicated.  I am 8,500 miles away. Once I get back I will be taken to meet the mother, the Grandmother and I will go to the prison to meet the father, but in the meantime I sit on the other side of the planet and think about the pain that this boy and his mother are going through. The next step is to get this child proper care so that he can have a chance at a “normal” life.

I don't know what the future holds as there are many questions that still need answering. I don’t know if this child is to come to the El Roi baby home or if the mother and child are to come and live in the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz, but I do know that EL ROI sees them both and has a plan, and we can help.

I do know that we can do something now, today.  Shirley and Ian have secured a bed at a private hospital in Swaziland who we believe can provide excellent care for this child.  I can’t imagine what this would cost in America, but in Swaziland the cost for the next 60 days is almost $30,000 US, not including surgeries, skin grafts or other things that might be needed.

I know that $30,000 can feed a lot of children or provide care for many babies, but I think about what if the baby was Spencer or Chloe?  What if the baby who has massive burns on 20% of his whole body, and in the most private areas was YOUR child?  If it were my child I would stop at nothing to get him/her proper care.  This mother has no options, she has no one to call, no one to email and no one ask for financial assistance.  She is hopeless.  But I know that she is praying and asking God for help and He is her only hope. She is crying out daily for Him to send an angel and I am hoping that angel is reading this blog.

I will give you all an update after I get back home, but in the meantime I am hoping to raise a minimum of $20,000 so that we can commit to the mother that we will help her and move the baby to a different hospital. Yesterday I posted this need on Facebook and received $1,000 and I am so thankful for those early responders.  We have a long way to go, but I have faith that He will provide.

If you can give today please click here to make a secure donation.  Alternatively you can mail a check to:   Heart for Africa US,  P.O. Box 758 Cape Girardeau, MO 63702
Heart for Africa Canada, P.O. Box 246, Dept HOPE, Pickering, Ontario, L1V 2R4

I live in a world of extremes. I struggle having one foot in “first world” and the other foot in “third world”.  I long to be at home with my husband, my other babies and my Swazi family, but I give thanks for the opportunity to be here in this blessed country and I give thanks for every opportunity that I am being given while here.

Live from Florida … I am going back to the High Flying Circus today (and praying for a baby 8,500 miles away).

Janine

Hello Las Vegas? This is Swaziland calling.

It was 2:30AM in Las Vegas (which was 5:30AM in Georgia and 11:30 in Swaziland) when my iPhone rang.  I had it plugged in only to use the alarm to wake me in the morning. It never occurred to me that someone could reach me on it while I was in the United States because it is a Swaziland SIM/phone.

I left Swaziland on Saturday morning, drove to Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday night, arrived in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday morning then flew on to Las Vegas, Nevada arriving around 1PM at the Mandalay Bay hotel.  Mandalay Bay has 3,309 hotel rooms and an average of 2,000 people checking in and 2,000 people checking out EVERY DAY.  It is a beautiful and monstrous building that is designed to have people spend as much money on leisure, entertainment, eating, drinking and gambling as is humanly possible in the few days that each visitor stays there.  Oxygen is pumped in at an alarming rate to keep you alert and awake and there are no windows to the outside in the entertainment areas so you don't know if it night or day.  It is an experience of a lifetime and one that is not easily forgotten.

The Famous Las Vegas Strip.

When the phone rang I was sound a sleep in a very comfortable King Size bed with a window that looks at the full length of the famous “Las Vegas Strip”.  I have a flat screen TV, full mini-bar, large bathroom with double sink, shower and large bathtub, all made of marble of course, and I am staying there FOR FREE as a guest of John Bardis and the wonderful people of MedAssets.  Several years ago Ian and I were honored to be given the first Dr. Norman Borlaug Humanitarian of the Year award, and we are now invited back each year to celebrate with the new recipient of the award.  We are given a beautiful hotel room, invited to a fabulous meal at the famous Aureole restaurant with Dr. Borlaug’s family (Daughter Jeannie Borlaug Laube and Grand-daughter Jennifer Borlaug Marsh) and get to enjoy meeting many of the 4,000+ attendees of the Healthcare Business Summit.  We have a table set up and can share what is happening at Project Canaan and the El Roi baby home and we have gained much support from people we have met over the past five years in attendance.

In fact, we have met several of our Board members through this annual conference, including Sandra Green, Tom Finucane and Ned Lehman, and are thankful for all the friends who continue to support us as a result of the MedAssets partnership.

Board members Sandra Green and Tom Finucane.

Back to my 2:30 AM phone call.

The phone rang and I was in a dead sleep.  I fumbled around and wasn’t quite sure where the noise was coming from, but eventually rose to the surface of my slumber just in time to answer the phone before the caller gave up.

“Hello?”

“Hello Sisi?  Janine, is that you?”

“Yes, its me, who is this??”

“Its XXXX (NAME HELD FOR PRIVACY) from the XXX hospital in Swaziland. I need your help. I have a bad situation.”

By this point I had sat up and turned on my light to try to ascertain where on earth I was.  I was jetlagged and my body was still somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I actually was quite shocked to have a sweet Swazi voice in my ear and then see the opulence of my surroundings when I turned on the light.  Oh my gosh, how could I ever tell her I was in Las Vegas (of all places!).

She continued, “There is a new baby born on Saturday morning and there is a bad situation. Will you come and get the baby?!”

AHHHHH!!!  I am in LAS VEGAS – literally 10,300 miles away from Swaziland. 

It was funny. I had an immediate moment of shame and guilt that I was where I was and she was where she was.  She was doing her job and I was gallivanting in Las Vegas.

But then a gentle voice came to me and assured me that was false guilt.  She was doing her job in Swaziland, and I was doing my job in Las Vegas.  I was reminded that without the word being spread and without people knowing about the plight of abandoned children in Swaziland that people wouldn’t have the opportunity to pray for the babies or give financially to support them.  Sigh.  I knew that was truth.

I told my sweet sister that I was not in the country, but that she could call the office and speak with Shirley or she had Ian’s number and either of them could go and help straight away.  Then she asked the question I had hoped to avoid. She asked where I was?  I am not gonna lie, while I knew that I was where the Lord wanted to me, I just couldn’t bring my self to say,  “Las Vegas Baby!!” and so I told her I was out of the country and that I would be home in a few short weeks, which is absolutely true.

It was a short call.  No clue what it cost, but it was a huge gift to me.  I loved hearing that Swazi voice so far away from me, I loved that the calls are still coming and babies are still being saved and I loved knowing that I didn’t have to be there in person for that baby to find his way home to El Roi.  I am so very thankful for Shirley and Ian and Helen and the whole team at El Roi who seek out, welcome and love each and every baby who is chosen to come and live with us.  

I am on a 22-day Speaking Adventure and today I am on Day 7, which finds me in Dalhart, Texas (about an hour from Amarillo, Texas).  I am honored to be invited here by my friend Shelly Harp and look forward to an amazing weekend of sharing, laughing, selling jewelry and celebrating all that God has done for us at Project Canaan.

On Monday I head to Georgia to reconnect with Chloe (who has been on Spring Break with one of her best friends for the past week) and join up for a couple of days with the amazing women at the US Bank and WLA (Women Leaders in Action).   I get to see my friends at Womenetics as they film a story of how WLA, UPS and Heart for Africa all came to work together for the children of Swaziland.  It is a great story to tell and I will be sure to post the link in a future blog once the video is complete.   Then I speak at Emory University on Thursday and after that Chloe and I head straight down to Florida State University to see Spencer perform multiple shows in the “High Flying Circus”.  I miss my son desperately and look forward to three days with both of my children together.  YIPPPE!!!!

Tumbleweeds are blowing in Texas - just like in the movies!

I started to type that I wish I were in Swaziland right now, but then stopped and deleted that sentence.  I don’t wish I were there, but rather I am glad I am here, right were I am supposed to be. I am thankful for all the invitations to come and share the story of Project Canaan. I am thankful for all the planning that my assistant Tricia did to make the plan work from coast to coast and north to south. But mostly I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for the next 15 days.  I feel like it is Christmas morning and there are many gifts under the tree to be opened.  Every one is a surprise and look forward to seeing what He has wrapped up for us all.

Live from Texas … the tumbleweeds are blowing!

Janine

PS – the baby is not at El Roi yet.  The paperwork is being completed with the Social Welfare department and we expect our little baby boy next week.  Stay tuned!

Update photo of the new Toddler home (left) and preschool (back center).

37 days: A new baby, an aging mother and a couple of teenagers

Forty -five days ago I started a whirlwind travel schedule that flew me 29,328 miles (or 47,198 km) around the world.  I met with people in Honolulu, Hawaii; Venice, Italy; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Edmonton, Alberta to talk about the desperate

situation of the children of the Kingdom of Swaziland and how we can make a difference to a single baby while giving hope to a dying nation.

The response has been good and I choose to believe that people do want to help.  We have plans from the Hawaiians to start roasting and selling private-label coffee on Project Canaan to help generate income for the farm.  Some of the people we met in Venice, Italy want to help us get a Free Range Egg farm up and running to help provide the nearly perfect protein for orphans and vulnerable children.  Our friends from the MedAssets Healthcare Business Summit in Las Vegas are working to provide medical supplies and equipment for the El Rofi Medical Center and the El Roi Baby Home (including a special shout out to the German company DRAGER for committing to donate a new Isolette, Incubator and Baby Ventilator).  And our friends in Edmonton, Alberta (New Life Community Church) raised $40,000 for needs and further development of the El Roi home for abandoned babies. 

On top of that, we have people working on accessing water from the natural springs at the top of the property and Rotary International is raising funds to build a huge dam at the bottom to capture the water from those springs, while others are looking at how to generate hydro-electric power as it flows down the mountain.  We even have long term volunteers from California, Arizona, Wisconsin and Afghanistan (serving as a Captain in the US Army) preparing to come and live at Project Canaan for one to two years!  God is clearly sending the people and the expertise that is required for this massive project.  We are thankful for all the ways He provides.

But, I have to be honest.  While I really DO get excited about coffee and eggs (the perfect breakfast) and medical supplies and incubators, these things just don’t compare to the news that little Baby Anna has arrived at El Roi!

Baby Anna was born on February 13, 2012 and, while we don't know many specifics around her birth, we do know that she was dropped into a deep pit latrine (outhouse/outdoor toilet) and left to die a terrifying death.  A stranger was walking by, heard the cries from this tiny newborn baby and immediately called the police.
 
She was rescued and taken to the government hospital where she was cleaned up, cared for and treated for a chest problem.  For six weeks we have been trying to have Anna released into our care, but the police were still investigating and trying to find her mother and so the child was kept at the hospital.  After much prayer and appeal to the highest powers, we finally got the phone call and Anna arrived home on Wednesday, April 18th!  She is baby #5 and we give thanks for her life.  

That is one half of my life.  Here is the other.

My mom is struggling with frontal lobe dementia in a nursing home in Guelph, Ontario and my heart continues to break for her.  She has no brain filter system left and her anger/frustration is manifested with flying food trays and scratching and biting her caregivers.  She is completely immobile and rarely gets out of bed (which requires two people and a Hoya lift).  My heart hurts for this woman who served the Lord her whole life, but is now trapped in a body that is broken and hurting.  For those of you who struggle with aged parents, know that my prayers are with you.  Mom’s most recent attempt at escape (via a Bahamian cruise) did provide a little levity to the family mood, but passed quickly.

My pride and joy these days are my beautiful children, Spencer and Chloe.  Never have I been more proud of my children than in these final days of preparing for life change.  Spencer has decided to go to Florida State University (to study Communications) and we are all trying to get our heads around leaving this young Canadian in America while we head off to the Dark Continent.  Swaziland hasn’t really felt that far away from Atlanta because it is always in my heart and mind, but Tallahassee Florida seems like a million miles from the Matsapha Airport in Swaziland.  How is it possible that my little blond boy is preparing to graduate from high school on May 19^th?  Spencer turns 18 in June and is ready to take on the world – I pray that when that time comes that I will be ready to release him. 

Chloe is turning 16 in July and will jump right into the middle of 10^th grade on June 6^th since school in Africa runs January to December.  Most “soon to be” 16-year-olds would be freaking out at the thought of moving to Africa, but not our Chloe.  She is the bravest, sweetest, most loving child that I know and she truly sees the hand of God directing her path to live and serve in Swaziland.  Her maturity and faith far exceed her age and she is light years ahead of where I was at her age (remember, I got shipped off to boarding school for a bad attitude when I was 16 … point taken?). 

There are a lot of moving parts in our lives right now, but God is faithful and has encouraged us, carried up, consoled us and amazed us each and every day of this journey.

May 31, 2012 is our departure date and it is coming quickly.  My speaking engagements and travels are finished until the day I get on a plane to South Africa.  For the next month I so look forward to serving my family, cooking great meals, baking, helping with “University stuff”, planning birthday parties and a fun graduation celebration.  While my emotions seem to pour out of my eyes at the most inappropriate times, I do plan to laugh a lot and give thanks continually.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27    

Janine