“Violent or graphic content”??

  

On Thursday Nokuphiwa turned 9-years-old. On Friday she received the first of many surgeries to repair and reconstruct the damage done to her face when she was burned as a 5-day-old baby in her stick and mud home in rural eSwatini. 

She and her guardian (Nokwanda) have been in Boston for the past month as the original surgery was delayed.  No one really knew what the surgeons would do first. She has a large piece of skull missing, leaving her brain and a major artery protected only by skin.  We thought they would do that first, but that is not possible until her lips are released and rebuilt.  One step at a time.  Yesterday they took the first step and released the skin on her lower lip and giving her a new lip from skin on her leg.  She will be in recovery for four weeks and then they will do the same procedure on her top lip.

The world was praying for this little girl yesterday and well wishes came in from many countries.  I have shared in past blogs that Nokuphiwa is the happiest child I have ever met. She rarely has a bad day, and her joy is infectious to all who are around her.  She was not afraid of the surgery and even entertained everyone in the waiting room with Swazi dancing while she waited her turn.

 

While she has no lips to smile with, it is clear to everyone who sees her smile, that she is smiling!   At first I was shocked when I saw her, but very quickly I got to see the person behind the burn and no longer saw her scars. Yesterday our US friends posted an update on social media saying that she was out of surgery and all went well, and when I looked at the post I saw that Facebook had blocked the photo, with a message that said “This photo may show violent or graphic content.”

Below is the photo that was posted. A happy little girl who just came out of surgery and wanted to tell everyone that she was doing okay.  A thankful little girl whose life has been changed by the generosity of others. A little girl who enjoyed her Princess birthday party, her Elsa (from Frozen) birthday cake and the bucket of water that was thrown on her (a Swazi birthday tradition).  And an algorithm decided that her photo was violent or graphic. 

I will ponder this more today, but for now I am just thankful.  I am thankful for the Shriners Hospital in Boston who is doing all this surgery for free.  I am thankful for the Global Medical Relief Fund who is overseeing Nokuphiwa’s care and funding the flights to and from eSwatini to the US.  I am thankful for our dear friends, the Habelow family, who are hosting Nokuphiwa and Nokwanda IN THEIR OWN HOME for two months and treating them like their very own family. And I am especially thankful for Nokwanda, a young Swazi woman who just graduated from University who said “yes” to being Nokuphiwa’s guardian, teacher, mother and friend.  Your kindness and selflessness will be rewarded.

These surgeries are not only life-saving, they are also life-giving. They will not only help this child so that she can go back to school without being spat at or attacked, they will also allow her to see better, hear better, eat easier and not run the risk of death if she bumps her head in the wrong spot. 

In other news, back on Project Canaan, we had our first harvest of bananas delivered to the kitchen yesterday – 1,230 of them!  Ian was THRILLED and this week the kids will get banana muffins!  Thank you Lord for your provision.

We still need 161 avocado trees to reach our goal of planting 500 trees that will provide fresh avocados all year long for our children. Will you help us today by buying an avocado keychain from Khutsala Artisans?  Or by making a donation to Heart for Africa in the US or Heart for Africa in Canada with a comment “avocado trees”.  Thank you.

Live from eSwatini … I am thankful to be a part of this journey.

Janine

PS - we asked Facebook to review their decision to hide the photo and they have done so now.

Avocados = love.

There is a lot going on here and Project Canaan is more than a home for children in need.  Now that we have water security we can start growing more food on the farm, and we want to start our fruit orchards as well.  We currently grow bananas and dragon fruit, but we want and need to focus on the production of food, as we continue our journey to sustainability, and we have hired an agronomist to help us with this.

As more and more children are placed with us through the Social Welfare department, our expenses continue to rise. The children who are being placed with us are arriving in a greater state of starvation and sickness, requiring very specialized diets.  Our children who are under the 10% height/weight chart are immediately put on the “underweight diet”.  Those who are under 3% (many are far below the very bottom of the height/weight chart) go on a special diet we call the “Jonathan Diet” because it was specially designed for Jonathan who arrived almost dead.  We have 28 children on those diets today.  One of the key elements on those diets is avocados, and we can use a lot of them, but they are expensive.

Jonathan upon arrival - July 2017

Jonathan at Christmas 2018

One of our solutions to this challenge is to plant an avocado orchard on the farm with 500 avocado trees.  We have chosen four different varieties so that we will have fresh avocados all year long, providing this wonderful, healthy and delicious fruit for our children and staff.  And if we have the funds to purchase them we will plant these trees during our 10^th anniversary celebration in July.

Here is where you come in. Our Khutsala Artisans have designed and made a fabulous avocado key chain from beads and wire and we are selling them for $12.00. When you buy one of these key chains we will plant an avocado tree in your honor. Think about who you could give a thoughtful gift to today?  Who do you know who LOVES avocados?  We would plant a tree in their honor and you could send them the key chain as a notification of your gift? It’s only $12.00 and you will be providing fruit for life for children in great need.

This is the front and the back of the avocado key chain from Khutsala Artisans

This year we are celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Project Canaan and our theme is “Rooted in LOVE” and what better way to kick this off than with an opportunity to buy an avocado tree, whose roots will grow deep in to the African soil and provide life for our children for decades to come.

Everything we do, we do in love, and we believe that our friends and families support us for the same reason. Why else would you get on a plane and travel for two days to come and serve? Why else would you write a check to help us build a home or a school for orphaned or abandoned children?  Why else would you buy an avocado tree (or 10) for a farm in Africa?  It’s all because of love.  Will you show us some love today? 

Ian just said, “Just think, we will be able to serve fresh guacamole at our 15^th anniversary celebration.”  I like the way the man thinks!

Please shop today by clicking here.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all 500 avocado trees purchased this weekend? 

If you just want to buy trees you can make a donation at www.heartforafrica.org with a note in the “Comments” section that it is for avocado trees.

Thanks for sending your love in a tangible way today.

Janine