What a week!

It’s always busy at Project Canaan and there is always a lot going on, but this past week was particularly busy. Here are a few highlights:

•      We received two massive trucks that brought us the slab (58 tons) for the second floor of Emseni 3 (children's home).  It comes as a giant puzzle that is assembled on the second floor of the building and then concrete is poured on top. We have raised approximately $230,000 of the $300,000 needed to complete this home for 40 children so we are praying for the Lords (quick and timely) provision so we can finish the building and move the kids.

•      Pam and Keri from CeramiCraft in South Africa arrived for a week of in depth training with our entire SwaziMUD pottery team. Their week resulted in significant increase in production, quality and new techniques and tricks. Our new handmade ceramic beads are stunning, consistent and make our jewelry so much more beautiful.  New product will be on www.khutsala.com in the weeks ahead.

 

•      Kim Evinsky and Sharla Miller were here working with the Khutsala Artisans all week.  Kim is our Sales Director for Khutsala in the US and Sharla is a wonderful jewelry designer.  They were here training our staff on new designs and filling new orders from new customers!  We are working on a slightly higher end line that uses beautiful hand cut pewter and our own SwaziMUD beads. They are training 15 women with new skills (10 more than we had before). 

 

•      Spencer was doing computer training at Khutsala and it has been fun to see him teaching others, and to work side-by-side in one of my favorite places.

•      Three men from EMERGE in Denver, CO arrived to dive in to the Aquaponics project, which is getting very close to being ready to start.  They were here all week and worked with a diverse team of experts in water and agriculture to move the project forward. We are hoping to have water in the system next week and hope to be planting in a month or so.

 

•      Ian took a group up to the mountain to check on the progress of the water project. They are very close to connecting the steel pipe from the two springs together. Once they are together it will be capped and filled with water for pressure testing. The water will remain in the pipe and the project will be on hold until the funding for the next phase of the piping is raised.  We have raised $300,000 of the $800,000 needed to become “water secure”.

 

Photo credit:  Sharla Miller

•      We welcomed a team of 8 members from the "World Race" this week and they will be staying with us for 3 weeks, helping out in various areas around the farm.  This is our third team and they are always a huge blessing as they come with servant’s hearts, ready to do anything we need.

•      This week we welcomed our new Special Needs teacher at the Project Canaan Academy, which is wonderful for our growing number of special needs children. 

In other really good baby news, our little boy Miles does not have TB (as we suspected he might) and little Gina has successfully passed a couple of large kidney stones, so further invasive surgery is not required.

It’s really hot and humid this week (with no air conditioning in our buildings) so we are thankful for water games, frozen treats and ceiling fans. 

All in all, a great week!

Live from Swaziland … happy Saturday.

Janine

Swazi mud

The last few week’s blogs have been very heavy, so today I will attempt a bit of levity with some really awesome news about making lemonade out of lemons (or, to be exact, ceramic beads out of the mud from a drought-parched dam).

In 2005 I met an interesting newlywed couple – Jere and Janet Scott. They traveled on an 11-day service trip with us from their home church in Hawaii.  Every year since then Jere and Janet have come to Africa to serve with us, in each and every country we have served in (Malawi, Kenya and Swaziland) spending as many as six weeks a year by our sides.  Oh the stories that they could tell (and do)!

 

In 2010 when we were just getting started on Project Canaan Jere told us that we needed a carpentry shop so that we could not only build everything that we need out of wood, but also start our vocational training program.  It was built in no time and Jere outfitted it with all of the equipment that was needed to build our cribs, bunk beds, roof trusses, cupboards and now new for 2016 … awesome wooden Christmas ornaments!

Last year Jere and Janet shipped a pottery wheel and kiln over in our UPS container, not knowing that a year later we would not be able to buy local handmade ceramic beads from our local supplier (yes, God’s timing is always perfect).  They decided to provide the funds to build a “pottery barn”, which was ready for them when they arrived this year.  

For the past six weeks the Scott’s, joined by their travel-partners-in-crime (Jane and Frank Tauanuu and Mark and Lisa Hackett), they have worked tirelessly to get the pottery barn set up and ready to make beads, bowls, ornaments etc and train young Swazi’s to continue the work. 

Of course, nothing is easy here.  As soon as they fired the kiln, all four of the coils fried making the kiln unusable L .  But they were not defeated.  Off they went to South Africa for a brutally long day and they were able to order a new kiln that is being made will be here in a few more weeks (sadly, after they leave on Tuesday).

In the meantime, Jere (or McGyver as you might call him) “whipped up” a Raku kiln made out of wire mesh, a ceramic heat blanket (left over from Ian’s pizza oven) and a weed-burner (aka blow torch).  The first test got the kiln up to a temperature 1,835F when they were glazing their first round of pottery!!  Not one word of a lie. 

When the new kiln arrives we will start making our own ceramic beads out of Swazi clay, straight from dam #1, which has gone dry due to the drought.  Beauty from ashes?  Lemonade from lemons? Absolutely.  

These products will be will be part of the Khutsala Artisans treasures and will be branded “SwaziMUD”, which seems like an appropriate name for this new product line (thank you Kim Evinsky!).   We are in the throws of building a new and incredible website for our Khutsala product (that Canadians will be able to order from too!!!), but if you are looking a gift item or want to start your Christmas shopping early, please feel free to go to http://www.heartforafrica.org/NewOnlineStore.aspx and shop today! If you want to be a part of our sales team, please email kime@heartforafrica.org.

We are thankful for all who come to volunteer with us, whether it’s for an 11-day trip, six weeks every year, or move for a life-time.  We are especially thankful for Jere (who turns 83-years-old this month) and Janet for showing us all how to serve the Lord with determination, purpose and joy.  You are an inspiration to us all.

Live from Swaziland … I am excited about SwaziMUD!

Janine