Loving them back to life

Seven years ago today I was called by the police about a newborn baby girl who was found in a black plastic bag and left under some bushes not far from Project Canaan.  She had been there for 2-3 days, as evidenced by her umbilical cord.  Her body was covered in burns from the hot plastic burning her skin and she was bruised, bleeding and her eyes were swollen shut.  She had maggots and other insects crawling out of all openings and open wounds on her body and she didn’t weigh more than 3 pounds.  She came to live with Ian and me for the next 18 days while we got her injuries healed, and loved her back to life.  

I am tempted to show you a photo of the baby back then and a photo of her today, but we all have to be SO careful to protect her right to privacy, and although many of you know who she is, I won’t mention her name in this blog, but I have included a couple of photos of her in the early days below, including one of my favorites, which is of her hand beside Ian’s in the doll crib that dad made for me when I was a little girl. 

Last week this little girl turned 7-years-old and she enjoyed birthday cake with two other children who share the same date (different years).  It’s hard to believe that seven years have gone by and that this sweet girl is now in Primary School. Where did the time go?  She is happy, healthy, silly, a bit shy from time to time, and a complete joy to be around.  We have not seen any side effects from her rough start.  She was loved back to life.

And then there is little Buck who came to us and the end of last year.  He was severely malnourished and has been in and out of the hospital with a bulging fontanelle and fever, but all tests, including Lumbar Puncture’s and bloodwork have come back clear so we assume these are side effects of the malnutrition. This little guy is now 18-months old, and while he doesn’t walk (or crawl), he might just be the world’s fastest “scootcher! 

I know many of you will be celebrating Valentine’s Day this weekend and so I will make this blog short and sweet and leave you with some photos that might just bring you joy!  This sweet baby is Treasure, and when she turns her (significant) frown upside down, her smile lights up the whole room. On Monday I sat with her and took some selfies.  As you can see below, she got the hang of it very quickly, mimicking each face I made to the phone.

February is Child Sponsorship month at Heart for Africa and we have had FIVE new people sponsor a child and ONE existing sponsor increase their monthly gift.  Would you consider sponsoring a child today or increasing your monthly gift?  We would very much appreciate your love and support.

🇺🇸 US: http://bit.ly/hfahopestarts  
🇨🇦 Canada:  http://bit.ly/hfahopestartsca

Happy Valentine’s Day weekend!

Live from Dallas, Texas … it’s Saturday morning!

Janine

HOPE starts with YOU❣️

February is the often thought of as the month of love with millions of people celebrating Valentine’s Day.  A quick Google search lead me to a statistic that said that is projected that $20.7 billion will be spent in the United States alone this year.  This is how that breaks down:

·      $3.9 billion — Total spending on jewelry for Valentine’s Day.

·      $3.5 billion — Total spending on date night.

·      $2.1 billion — Total spending on clothing.

·      $1.9 billion — Total spending on flowers.

·      $1.8 billion — Total spending on candy!!!!!

·      $933 million — Total spending on greeting cards.

Am I the only person that thinks THAT IS CRAZY?

Here’s an idea – why not sponsor a child at Project Canaan and give that sponsorship to your loved one for Valentine’s Day?   It’s giving the gift of love, and the gift of HOPE starts with you!  You can always add a piece of candy to sweeten it up, but a photo of one of our children is pretty sweet!  You could give primary medical care for a child for only $30/month, or give formula to a small baby for $50/month, or even pay for a night shift Auntie for $100/month.

Today was a big day at Project Canaan because we had TEN little ones move to their next home.  Five babies moved from the El Roi baby home to the toddler home, and five toddlers moved from the toddler home up to Emseni #1.   There is a video below of their welcome to the Emseni campus.  Of these ten children, six of them are sponsored and four are not.  Here is who moved, and who needs sponsorship:

Babies home to Toddler home:

Angeline - sponsored

Bruce - sponsored

Cornelius - sponsored

Julian – NOT SPONSORED

Miracle - sponsored

 

Toddlers to Emseni #1:

Amanda - sponsored

Lithle - sponsored

Mandy - NOT SPONSORED

Sbahle - NOT SPONSORED

Peace - NOT SPONSORED

Lithle (sponsored), Peace (not sponsored), Mandy (not sponsored), Sbahle, Amanda (sponsored)

We now have 261 children living at Project Canaan and we are committed to these children until they are 21-years-old.  Most children who come to us arrive in bad physical shape.  Two weeks ago we welcomed little Raphael, who was severely malnourished and immediately admitted to our hospital.  The social worker didn’t know how many days it had been since he had eaten last.  The photo below is of Josiah (a baby we received at birth) and the new guy.  These two boys are two days apart in age, and you can see the size difference from malnutrition and stunting.  

Josiah (left) is sponsored. Raphael is NOT SPONSORED.

Raphael may never catch up to Josiah, but he will grow in strength and stature, now that there is hope for his future.  Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Would you consider sponsoring Raphael or one of our other children today?  HOPE starts when YOU sponsor a child.  I can’t think of a better Valentine’s day gift – the gift of HOPE and LOVE all wrapped up in a child's life❣️

🇺🇸 US: http://bit.ly/hfahopestarts

🇨🇦 Canada:  http://bit.ly/hfahopestartsca

Live from Eswatini … praying for HOPE to be restored for many children this month.

Janine

What's love got to do with it?

I realize that my last three blogs have been very heavy, filled with children dying, children infected with HIV and Tuberculosis and just generally bad news, so I thought I would send a lighter message today. (Thanks for sticking with me through the hard ones).

Yesterday we received a sweet little boy who was only 3-days-old.  We are calling him Nathi (pronounced “Nah-tee”).  He comes from a very sad family situation that I cannot share publicly, but suffice it to say that his Grandmother cared enough to intervene and begged Social Welfare for help, and they in turn came to us. We pray that his body will be healed and his life will be changed forever by coming to the El Roi Baby home.

In fact, that is what we pray for all our children when they first arrive, and we have seen sadness turn to joy, brokenness turn to healing and fear turn to peace, all through the power of love.

Today I want to share a “before and after” photo of two children who came to us broken, but are now whole and both children need to be sponsored on a monthly basis.

Meet Jabez and Christine.  Both came in broken, hurting and needing acute medical attention and lots of love.  You can see the pure joy that comes from the depth of their souls in the “after” photo. 

Jabez January 2019

Jabez April 2016

Christine January 2019

Christine May 2015

February is Valentine’s Day month and a month filled with heart-shaped everything. It is a month that we are reminded to love one another and celebrate love.   This morning I had five children come up to me and excitedly remind me that February was also their birthday month, and how many more sleeps until it was their birthday (yes, even Joshua, Michael, Matthew and Malachi who celebrate on February 28^th!).   They are oblivious to the money that will be spent on flowers, chocolates, special meals and other lovely gifts this month to celebrate love.   What these children do know is that they are loved each and every day and that they will get a birthday cake on their special day.

Love, medical care and birthday cake all costs money and that is why we specifically focus on Child Sponsorship during the month of February. We have many children who need sponsorship.  Will you consider giving $10 per month?  $30 per month?  $100 per month? Or any amount that you can to help us continue to welcome children to our home on Project Canaan. Perhaps you can choose a child who shares the same name as a loved one and sponsor them in honor of that person?  Or sponsor a child as part of your Valentine's gift to a loved one this year?

In the US: bit.ly/ProjectCanaanChildrenAngel

In Canada:  bit.ly/ProjectCanaanChildrenAngelCA

I can't thank you enough for YOUR love and support.

Live from eSwatini … praying for child sponsors from all over the world.

Janine

PS -  I have heard that some subscribers are no longer getting this blog by email. I had changed the title to "Live from eSwatini" instead of "Live from Swaziland", and it seems to have caused problems. I have changed it back but if you are still not getting it by email, you may need to unsubscribe and subscribe again. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Loving them back to life.

If you are reading this blog before 9:00AM EST, be sure to go to the Heart for Africa Facebook page at 9:00 AM EST sharp where you will be able to join our LIVE VIDEO feed of the Project Canaan Valentine’s Day party with the Emseni kids (age 3-7).  If you missed it, go to https://www.facebook.com/heartforafrica/ and scroll down to the video.

We typically have Kids Club at 9:00AM Swazi time on Saturday mornings, and each week the children rotate in small groups every 15 minutes through five stations. There is a theme each month and each station supports that theme including; a craft, dance party, physical fitness activity, bible story and bible memory verse.  

The entry door to Emseni 1

Today we moved Kids Club to the afternoon so that our friends and family from abroad (aka YOU) can join us!  Our theme today is “Jesus loves EVERYONE” and we believe that with all our hearts. 

Each February we focus on building monthly support for our children, and we call people who give monthly our “Heart for Africa ANGELS”. It is through our Angel support that we provide everything that each child needs from food to clothing, from vaccinations to medical staff, from 24 hour care to 24-hour love.  We simply can’t provide all that we do without our monthly donors.

I know that some people are critical of how we do things? Do the children REALLY need three meals and two snacks every day?? Do they REALLY need their own birthday cake?  Do they REALLY need such a low child-to-caregiver ratio (1:5 NOT including our full time cooks, cleaners, drivers and nightshift)?  Do the children REALLY need a pop up swimming pool?   My answer is yes. They most certainly do.

Happy 4th birthday TODAY Gabriella!  We love you.

These children have been put into our care and we are the legal guardians. Why shouldn’t they eat well (most arrive severely malnourished), be well cared for (most have been abandoned or abused), have their birth celebrated every year (so they know they are valued) and have a way to COOL DOWN in the Africa heat (no, there is no air conditioning).  For those of you who know Ian and I well, we want to do things with excellent, not half-baked.  And as we continue to serve the Lord in Swaziland, through these children, shouldn’t we do the best that we can do? 

Our theme for Feburary 2018 campaign is “Love 2 Life”.   Our monthly supporters LITERALLY help us to love each and every child back to life. 

If you read this blog regularly, or if this is your first time, please consider giving any size gift monthly to help us be able to continue caring for these children. 

In Canada you can become an ANGEL by clicking here.

In the US you can become an ANGEL by clicking here.

Thank you for helping us loving 179 children back to life.

Live from Swaziland … Happy Valentine’s Day!

Janine

Let’s talk about the weather

Christine

 

Yesterday was a scorcher with a high temperature of 50C or 122F.  It was too hot to even get the air conditioning in my truck to get cold.  Our buildings are not air conditioned so when I went down attend Samantha’s 3^rd birthday party, I wasn’t surprised to see all of our toddlers in shorts, no shirts, dripped with sweat.

I happened to have a box of 48 Icy Pops in the freezer for a rainy day (I mean hot day) so I took those down to the party. Each 2-year-old received their frozen treat by extending two hands, giving a little courtesy and saying some form of “thank you”. I LOVE how our staff teachers our children good manners and Swazi customs.

Princess with an ice pop in the pool.

After getting their treat they all headed into the sprinkler and/or kiddie pools to try to cool down.  It’s hard to explain heat and humidity that we experience here. Everyone moves slowly, intentionally, and you only do what you have to do.  And remember, I grew up in Northern Ontario, where we had snow from October – May.  I thought this pre-menopausal mama was just simply going to go up in a puff of smoke.

39 toddlers enjoying the sprinkler

At the end of the day an incredible storm hit with a lightening show that brought Ian and I out on to the patio to watch (like watching fireworks, complete with “ooh’s” and “ahhh”s), and the dogs hid under anything they could find.  Then the hail started, plants knocked over and we had to move inside because the rain was horizontal.  And last, but not least, the power went out at around 6PM.  The power is still out as I write this, and we are thankful for our generator that has kept our lights on and our refrigerators cold.

February is Valentine’s Day month and we have a treat for you! Next Saturday, February 10^th at 9:00AM EST (that is 4:00 PM Swazi time) we are inviting you to celebrate Valentines day with the children at Project Canaan through a live streaming party.  If you read my blog of last week you will know that we now have unlimited high speed internet, which will allow us to do this (http://janinemaxwell.blogspot.com/2018/01/when-little-things-become-big-things.html).  I will be streaming live from the HEART FOR AFRICA Facebook page and then I will repost the video on my personal page when the party is finished.

Did you know that in February 2017 more than  $18.2 billion USD was spent on flowers, candy and cards for Valentine’s Day loved ones according to the National Retail Federation?  Would you consider reducing your Valentine’s Day spending on friends and family and becoming a monthly donor to support our 179 children?  Maybe you would consider a one-time gift?  Your gift helps us love our children back to life. 

To give in theUS click here.

To give in Canada click here.

I hope you will join our Valentine’s Day party next Saturday, February 10^th at 9:00AM EST – Janine Willis Maxwell Facebook. 

Live from Swaziland … we are always grateful for rain.

Janine