Knowledge is power

Every day we work to educate and empower our staff and our children with knowledge, because we believe that knowledge is power (a phrase coined by Francis Bacon). Twice a month we host a guest speaker who presents information to all our 300+ employees by circulating around the farm and speaking to departmental groups about various important topics. Once a month the topic is health related (HIV, TB, Covid-19, STD’s, nutrition, family planning) and once a month it is a “social issue” topic (woman’s rights, children’s rights, domestic violence, incest). The topics are chosen by our Human Resource team based on what our staff are asking for.  These are kind of like a “lunch and learn” from my old marketing days, but with topics that are more life and death.

 

Of course our children are always learning and they are sponges for knowledge. There is no opportunity too big or small to teach a life lesson or something more practical. I often find myself telling stories of my childhood or passing along a gem of knowledge that my parents taught me, and the children always have many (MANY!) follow up questions.

 

A couple of weeks ago we had a few children who had very strange and serious allergic episodes causing us all to wonder what they had gotten in to. I asked our Farm Manager Maganda to come up to the children’s campus with Nurse Anthony to look around and see if we had any poisonous plants that the children might have come in contact with. HA! After we got a video, photos of poisonous plants and a phone call, Ian suggested that we never leave the house again.  Not only is Project Canaan covered with poisonous plants, some are even the beautiful flowers that the children will sometimes pick and bring me or to a teacher at school.  It was time for a new type of education!

 

Lisa from our U.S. office made the poster at the top of this blog that shows the most dangerous plants and we quickly distributed that to all staff. Next Nurse Anthony went for long walks with all the big kids (house by house) to educate them on how to identify poisonous plants, why they shouldn’t touch (or eat) them and what might happen if they do. Knowledge is power. I KNOW that the Lord has been protecting these children for nine years because no one has been violently ill (that we know of) from these plants, even though we pass by them every day.

 

Our three oldest kids (Phiwa, Rose and Gabriel) had a very special educational adventure last week when they enjoyed their 10^th birthday gift, which is an all-day safari at a real game park here in the kingdom (as opposed to a 2-hour game drive at Hlane when they turn 6 years).  When they returned they were anxious to tell Ian and me all about their day. Their report was incredible as they each shared the best part of the day (including the extravagant lunch that was Gabriel’s favorite part), but it was the level of detailed understanding that was bewildering. Not only did they love seeing the rhinos, but were quick to explain that they saw both white and black rhinos and what the difference was. They talked about plants and trees and then gave a detailed explanation of the three different types of meat they had for lunch, including Kudu.

 

I love that our children and our staff want to learn and seek knowledge. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:7-8 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” We are striving to raise our 278 children to be wise, listen to instruction, obey and then enjoy living a blessed life of obedience.

 

Speaking of Solomon, just this week we received a newborn baby boy whom we gave the name Solomon, because it seems that we need the knowledge of Solomon more than ever these days. From Covid-19 to deadly poisonous plants, we are surrounded by danger, but we will not be afraid because we know that the Lord is protecting us.

 

If you would like to sponsor little Solomon on a monthly basis and help us raise him in the knowledge of the Lord, please do so today by clicking on one of these links.

 

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

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

 

Live from Eswatini … praying for wisdom always.

 

Janine

PS  Please be sure to watch this video of our Farm Manager explaining two very deadly and poisonous plants that are ALL over Project Canaan and all around the children's campus.  Sheesh!

 

A new perspective on viruses

Last week one of our workers was bitten by a dog which was thought to be rabid.  If you don’t know much about rabies, there is no cure, and you have no more than ten days to start a series of five injections or you die. There were no rabies injections in any government hospital in Eswatini, so he went to a private clinic and got his first two shots.  Ian and I learned about this when we just happened to pick him up at the front gate on his way to get his third shot.  Our family was sprayed by a rabid bat when we lived in Ontario, and we know the fear and the pain of many needles, so we gave him our sympathy. The next morning during our morning walk, Ian saw him and asked how he was doing. He was visibly upset as he told us that the private hospital was out of rabies vaccine and they couldn’t complete his five-shot treatment. He was afraid he was going to die a horrific death.

Ian spoke with our nurses who were able to find a pharmacy in Nelspruit, South Africa (a 3-hour drive crossing two international borders) and we said we would drive and get them. The nurse asked us to please get chicken pox vaccines too as they have not been available in Eswatini for 7+ years.  When we got to the pharmacy, I told the pharmacist that I had strange list of prescriptions:  rabies vaccines for an employee, chicken pox vaccines for our children and blood pressure medication for me, which I need because I deal with rabies and chicken pox!  She suggested that we stop at the liquor store before he headed back to Eswatini!  Meanwhile, that huge pharmacy had already sold out of hand sanitizer, but that happened months ago before the coronavirus scare began.  She pointed to a poster that told us how to make our own hand sanitizer – good to know. She also told us that they had been out of chicken pox vaccines for months, but we ended up driving home with rabies vaccines, blood pressure medication and little tequila.

Eswatini has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and it is the very reason we moved here.  There also is no cure for this disease, and medication is antiquated, sometimes out of stock, but effective if take properly twice a day, every day at the same time of day (7AM/7PM).  It’s effectiveness is also dependent on proper nutrition and protein.  People don’t die from HIV/AIDS, they die from a common cold or the flu or Tuberculosis (TB), which 70% of our total population are estimated to have active or inactive TB.  If their TB is inactive it can be activated by getting sick with something as simple as a cold, or the flu, or coronavirus. 

Most of our 315 employees have children, and most of those children are cared for by elderly parents or grandparents while the employee is at work.  Many of their children are sickly with conditions that could be treated if hospitals weren’t out of medicine, but they are.  We are a country with a very broken healthcare system, virtually no hospital care and both clinics and hospitals have run out of many/most essential medications.

This morning we had our first coronavirus patient confirmed to be positive in Eswatini. She came from the US, traveled to Lesotho, and then came back here and tested positive at a private clinic.  It bears repeating that this is a country of very old and sick people, very young and sick people and an HIV/AIDS rate that could be as high as 40%. 

As the world is facing unknown fears, which includes health and economics uncertainties, I would like to say two things to you today. First, I am personally committed to post on social media every day with words of encouragement from our children, our staff and our volunteers so that you know we are thinking of you and praying for you.  Second, I am asking if you will help us raise the funds we need to build the rest of Emseni #7 for 40 big boys.  When I spoke at an event last month in front of 15,000+ Keller Williams agents, they collectively gave almost $100,000 towards the $225,000 cost of the building. Only a few short weeks later a gathering of that size is impossible, and none of us know when there will be speaking opportunities again to build awareness and raise funds for our needs here. I know that this is a time of financial fears for many people around the world, but I also know that we need to get this building finished quickly as the children are still coming and they are in desperate need of a home. 

Please consider putting your fear aside today and help us do what we can do for these children while waiting to see what happens as the coronavirus spreads throughout the Kingdom.  Please buy a block for $25 or 100 blocks or 1,000 blocks and help us get this done. Would you also please share this post today? Everyone is looking for content to read and looking for hope for the future. I hope that our lives can be a beacon of hope from afar in the days and weeks ahead.

In the US:  http://bit.ly/buyablockE6

In Canada:  https://www.heartforafrica.ca/emseni-childrens-campus/

Just yesterday as we drove back from South Africa we got a call about two different new born baby boys that needed a home. We haven’t received a new baby in SEVEN WEEKS, so this was a surprise.  One was the result of a violent rape and the other was found in the bushes covered in his own waste which burned his face.  Both tiny boys were in government hospitals, and very vulnerable.  We stopped and picked up baby Solomon and baby Rocky (the one who looked like he had been in a fight … a fight for his life!), and we brought them home, along with the rabies vaccinations.  That is the world we are living in.  We may not be able to stop the coronavirus (although we did a hand washing seminar with all our 315 employees yesterday and gave everyone a big bar of soap), but we can help these two little guys who are not safe in a government hospital.

Isaiah 41:10 says, "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."

Live from Eswatini … we are washing our hands and praying.

Janine

P.S. There are rumors that our borders to South Africa may close soon.  90% of all food is imported, so that will cause another problem.

Today we buried Baby Solomon.

This week Solomon died.  He died from complications as a result of Stage 4 AIDS, which included liver and kidney failure, bi-lateral pneumonia, lactic acidation and a myriad of other things that I can’t begin to understand. He was on a ventilator, had blood coming out of his nose and mouth from his lungs which were bleeding internally and he was cold due to poor blood circulation.  He did not die a painless death, but he is now pain free.

Last Tuesday a little baby died who was to come and live at the El Roi Baby Home (see last week’s blog).  I had the sad experience of watching a Grandmother scrounge around a carpenters shop looking for scrap pieces of wood for him to make a very inexpensive coffin.  Last week was like a Shakespearean foreshadowing that we read about in literature class.  I would never have known that only a week later I would be saying goodbye to one of our own babies and looking for a coffin for him.  Last week we were able to provide $35 to the Grandmother to buy a decent coffin.  This week Mark Klee literally cut the back off a beautiful bookshelf that he had just hand-made for his wife Jamie and used it to make the most beautiful coffin that one could hope for.  Why?  Because it was just the right size, and he could always make Jamie a new bookshelf.  This was more important.

Solomon was almost 17-months old and weighed 18 pounds.  He only recently got his first teeth.  He never crawled, never walked and was just starting to sit on his own. He was severely malnourished and AIDS was ravishing his tiny body. But he had the smile of an angel.  Solomon was living at the El Roi Baby Home under our care because he was sickly and his mother was unable to care for him and begged the hospital for assistance.  Our hope and goal was that once he was stable and strong that he would be able to go back and live with his mother and brother, so Tibuyile moved to the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz at the beginning of this month and has been working as a Khutsala Artisan.   This is a very unique situation and the only one of its kind at El Roi. Typically we only accept abandoned babies, but we were trying to keep Solomon from being abandoned, while helping to stabilize the family.

Death and funerals are complicated here. It seems that no one cares when a child is sick and dying, but everyone has an opinion as to what should happen once the child is dead.  (I could pull out a giant soap-box here, but out of respect for Solomon and his beautiful mother Tibuyile, I will reserve that rant for another day). It was Tibuyile’s wish to have Solomon buried on Project Canaan, after many tears, conversations, prayers, meetings with the Chief, police and Social Welfare it was agreed that we could honor her request.  She was not welcomed at her home to bury the child and Solomon’s father’s family wanted nothing to do with him.  So we welcomed the opportunity to give him a resting place where his mother could visit.

Denis and his team cleared an area in the trees right next to the chapel and it is now called “Emathune aSolomon” or in English “Solomon’s Cemetery”.  We knew that the day would come that we would have a funeral on the farm, but hoped that it would be many years from now.  Now we have a place, and I plan to be buried in Solomon’s Cemetery when that day comes.  Some of our long-term volunteers gave funds for beautiful pink bougainvillea’s vines that were planted on Saturday and we found some whimsical butterflies to bring warmth to the trees.

Tibuyile’s pastor came from town and resided over the ceremony.  The small body was picked up from town at 5AM and brought out to the chapel.  We were told that they would open the coffin for all to see the baby, but for some reason they didn’t do that today.  I will say that they don’t embalm bodies here, and he passed away early Thursday morning.  We did have to pay an extra $15 to have his little body washed.

After the praying and singing was finished the pastor lead us all to the burial ground.  The tiny coffin was placed down in to a deep hole and laid on a grass mat made by a woman from the Project Canaan community.  Two men jumped down in to the hole and the coffin was passed down in to them.  After placing a grass mat over the top, and putting some of Solomon’s clothing in with him, they started to shovel the dirt in on top. They held a shovel full of dirt for Tibyule so that she could throw a handful on top of the coffin and then the men took turns shoveling the dirt to fill the grave. After a few feet of dirt someone would jump back in and pack it down by foot.  In the end stones were laid on top and Solomon was laid to rest. 

Death is such a big part of life, but for some reason death seems raw and “in your face” here.  Tibuyile buried another child, about the same age as Solomon, only a couple of years ago.  Similar illness, similar death, but back then she didn’t have a job or supporting family so her baby was held up in the morgue for 30 days while she begged and scraped for enough money to pay for the death certificate, the washing, the coffin and the public graveyard because there was conflict in the family and they didn’t want the baby buried at her home.  This time was different.  The pain of losing a child still rips at the heart of a mother and the memory of the child will never leave her mind, but today, she stood with her new family, her new friends and I believe she saw Jesus in a very new way. 

I am now heading to the airport to fly to Taiwan.  I will see Chloe on Monday and Skype Spencer with high-speed internet.  I can’t wait to see my children and hold at least one of them.  I am thankful for their health and their lives.  It is hard to live with a foot in two different worlds (1^st world and 3^rd world), but I pray daily that He will continue to guide me and strengthen me so that I can continue to serve Him, even on the darkest of days. 

Isaiah 35

The desert and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom;
    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
    the splendor of our God.

³ Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;
⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
    “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.”

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

⁸ And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
⁹ No lion will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
¹⁰     and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Live from Swaziland … Dance Solomon dance!

Janine

PS:  If this is the first you have heard of Solomon, please feel free to read two prior blogs about how he came to us: http://janinemaxwell.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-would-husband-and-wife-arrive-at.html

http://janinemaxwell.blogspot.com/2013/09/three-of-our-babies-specifically-need.html

Three of our babies specifically need your prayers.

Today’s blog is dedicated to three of our special babies who need prayer. Of course they are all special and they all need prayer, but these three have challenges that I want to share with you.

Solomon

Some of you may not know who Solomon is.  He is counted in our “40”, but we hope that one day he will be returned to his mother (she is moving to the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz at Project Canaan with her 5-year old at the beginning of October).  If you go back and read my blog at http://janinemaxwell.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-would-husband-and-wife-arrive-at.html you will learn about how we first met Solomon.  After giving his father a job and taking his mother and Solomon to the hospital to start on HIV medication (and treatment for severe malnutrition) we thought we had helped in a way that the family could move forward together and not have to abandon their children.

Well, the father didn't like working for a living and quit working at Project Canaan after a couple weeks. The mother and child started HIV treatment, but she just couldn’t seem to get Solomon stabilized (the child was HIV positive from birth, but the mother hid it from the father so the child needlessly went without treatment for 13 months).    Eventually the father ran off with another woman and impregnated her, leaving the mother with a very sick baby (so she could not work because she had to care for him).  I received a call from the hospital Social Worker one day and she asked me to come and meet a mother and baby in extreme need.  When I arrived I saw Solomon and his mom and knew their story.  After several hours of talking, praying and trying to find another possible solution, the hospital and mother begged me to take the child, and I did.

Solomon is now 15-months old.  He has Stage 4 HIV (AIDS) and his CD4 count is less than 200. He has extreme muscle wasting (i.e. he can’t put any weight on his legs and doesn’t sit on his own) severe weight loss and frequent infections that make him really sick which causes him to lose more weight.  He is suffering from malnutrition and only weighs 8.1 kg (17 lbs), which is 3% less than his age group.  His Gross Motor Skilss are at a 2-4 month old level and his verbal skills are at a 6-9 month old level.  Solomon is a very sick little boy and we are struggling to keep him alive and well. 

Our prayer is that he will stabilize, start to grow as healthy food and Anti-Retroviral medication start to work in his body and that his body will heal as he is given tender loving care and lots of prayer.  Our hope is that once he is healthy and stable and once his mother is also stable and working well, that we can reunite this child with his mother and brother and they can live happily together.  This may take a year or more, but we are committed them.  Please pray with us for this entire family.

Beth

Little Beth came to us after her mother handed the baby to a neighbor and said she was going to the toilet, but never returned to get her child.  The neighbor took Beth to the hospital and left her there, as this single young man was unable to care for a stranger’s newborn child.  Beth is a sweet, beautiful, happy child and a joy to have at El Roi.  She is now 5-months old and recently we became suspicious that there might be something wrong with Beth as her head always leaned to the left and her left eye was starting to droop slightly.  This past week she went to see the doctor and was diagnosed with mild Cerebral Palsy.  The doctor assumes that she had a head injury at or near birth and she also has weakened/damaged muscles on the left side of her neck.  We are uncertain as to whether she can see out of her left eye, but will have that tested next week.  Beth will also start Physical Therapy (Physiotherapy for my Canadian readers) and we hope to help her strengthen as she continues to grow.  Please pray with us for complete healing for Little Beth.

Grace

Sweet Grace came to us after having a rough start to life.  She as left on the side of the road by her mother because she was sick and the mother wanted to go see her boyfriend.  Grace was in a coma by the time someone took her to the hospital and she was diagnosed with Menegitis and Tuberculosis.  When her fever finally broke and Grace awoke from the coma the doctor discovered that she was blind.  After several weeks the doctor was convinced that she could see again and her body was well enough that he discharged her to her Aunt, but sadly the Aunt had no means to care for this baby. Grace had regressed and at the age of 14-months was not able to sit, crawl, or even roll over.  That is when the Aunt took the child to the Social Welfare department for help and that is how Grace came to us.

When we got her we didn’t know that she was blind or sick, we just knew she needed help. The Aunt really just handed her off and left – no mention of medication, treatment or blindness!  She has now been also diagnosed with Hydro-Cephalus (water on the brain) and Cerebral Palsy.   Grace is taken to Physical Therapy sessions once a week and the Aunties work with her daily to strengthen her muscles. She is such a sweet baby and loves to be held and loved. 

When I was in Taiwan last month I was speaking at a Literature Conference for High School students. At the end of the day a young blind girl was brought to meet me.  We had our photo taken together and I told her about our little blind baby back in Swaziland.  The 16-year old turned her head towards me and said, “I am blind and I am a Christian. I will pray that Grace is completely healed and that one day she will see”.  I almost fell apart in front of 200 Taiwanese students, but managed to keep it together until I got to the car.  I too believe that Grace’s sight will be restored, even though her eye examination shows that would be impossible, but nothing is impossible for the God I serve.

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Helen Muli, Thabile Mbhamali, Gcebile Shongwe and all the other women who care for and love the children at Project Canaan.  They are the ones who change the diapers, administer the medication, clean up the vomit and wipe away the tears on a day-to-day basis.  They are angels here on earth and we give thanks for their selfless service.

Today, and every day, we are praying for complete healing for Solomon, Beth and Grace.  We also pray for mental, emotional and spiritual healing for all the children that have been brought to us for safekeeping.  El Roi, the God Who Sees them, loves them very much and we are thankful that He has sent each of these precious children to us “for such a time as this”.

Live from South Africa … I am giving thanks for health and life.

Janine