71 children moved up today

24 big boys moving from Emseni 4 to the brand new Emseni 6

We have 286 children who call Project Canaan home. We have children living in nine different homes and 71 of them moved out of their current home and into their next home earlier today. It was a fun-filled morning of joy, hope and happiness. Here’s how it unfolded;

 

·      1 baby from Kuthula Place moved to the El Roi baby home (which means “the God who sees” in Hebrew)

 

·      3 babies moved from the El Roi baby home to the Labaketsiwe (which means “the chosen ones” in siSwati) toddler home 

 

·      9 toddlers moved from the toddler home to Emseni #1 (which means “Grace” in siSwati). 

o   These moves are all on the Project Canaan Children (PCC) Lower Campus.

 

·      17 BOYS moved from Emseni #1 to Emseni #2 (E2).

 

 

·      17 boys moved from Emseni #2 to Emseni #4 (E4).

o   Those moves are all on the PCC Middle Campus

 

·      24 boys moved to the brand new Emseni #6 (E6)

o   This will be the first home at the PCC Upper Campus

 

Tonight, the older kids at E2 and E4 will enjoy a special braai (cookout) tonight at their new homes and all of the children and staff will fill their bellies with fresh, wild impala meat, chips and juice. What a day of celebration it will be, all made possible by the people who support our mission and give generously to help us build these homes, and sponsor children on a monthly basis. 

 

In other exciting news, we are taking Phiwa back to South Africa next week for her next surgical procedure, which will help her be able to bring her lips together, helping her to eat and speak better. We have decided to invite 9-year-old Miriam to join her on the adventure. This will give Miriam an opportunity to go on her first road trip, cross two international borders, go out for dinner at a nice restaurant and enjoy a new adventure in Pretoria, South Africa.  

 

Miriam and Phiwa are good friends and Miriam is a sweet, tender  hearted girl, who will be very supportive of Phiwa in her post-surgery care. IF we are able to continue with more surgery, they will get harder and harder and we want Phiwa to experience some joy and fun while undergoing excruciating pain. Who knows? Maybe one day Miriam and Phiwa will be the caregivers and legal guardians for other children who need reconstructive surgery. For now, we just listen for His small voice, and obey, and enjoy a road trip with two fun and silly girls.

 

Live from Eswatini … enjoying this busy and important day.

 

Janine

It's a big deal to us.

 

Norma was one of eight toddlers who moved to Emseni 1.

Today was a big day for 17 of our children – they made the move to their next home, and that is a big deal around here.

 

The whole process takes many weeks as the children first visit their new home for a walk around, look-see, then they spend longer periods of time eventually leading up to lunch and afternoon nap. The last big move, which was today, includes sleeping in their new beds. The Aunties and Uncles make such a big deal of these “coming of age” events and every child feels special, welcomed and loved.

 

Today baby Birch moved from Kuthula Place to the El Roi baby home.

 

Bethany, Kay, Nomsa, Welcome, Connor, Easton, Nicholas and Wonder moved from the baby home to the toddler home.

Norma, Poppy, Praise, Precious, Dillon, Frank, Miracle and Mordecai moved from the Labakhetsiwe toddler home to Emseni #1.

 

 

As of today, we will have four babies at Kuthula Place, 27 at the baby home, 43 in at the toddler home, 48 in Emseni 1 (short term overfilled due to Emseni not being completed yet), and then 40 children in each of Emseni 2, Emseni 3, Emseni 4 and Emseni 5. We have a total of 282 children who call Project Canaan home. 

 

 

Welcome to Emseni 1

 

A larger welcoming committee

Emseni 6 will be completed in early May so we are planning the BIG move on Friday, May 7^th. That day we will have 70 children move to their next home!!! It will be an epic day of excitement, special treats, meat braai’s (cookout)  and new adventure.  We don't have the funds to start building  Emseni 7 yet, nor have we started building it, but once all of these children have moved, we "only" have 24  beds left at Emseni before Emseni 7 is built. I will be sure to fill my blog with photos on May 8^th.

 

Speaking of beds ... our Kufundza carpentry team is hard at work making beds for the Emseni boys! We are so thankful to have this important group of carpenters working at Project Canaan.

In the meantime, thanks for joining us on this incredible journey and praying with us through the good days and the hard days.

 

Live from Eswatini … it’s moving day!

Janine

65 children must move today

Big boys moving to Emseni #4

Watch a drone video of the move here!

Today is a big day on Project Canaan!  We moved 65 children up to their next home and there is excitement all around our children’s campuses.

·      23 big boys moved from Emseni #2 to Emseni #4, which has just been built. 

Each boy has their own clothes wardrobe, made at the Kufundza Center on PC.

·      23 small boys moved from Emseni #1 to Emseni #2.

River is a BIG BOY now!

·      10 toddler boys and 2 toddler girls moved from the Labakhetsiwe toddler home up to Emseni #1.

·      5 babies moved from the El Roi Baby home to the toddler home.

Shalom, Amanda, Peace, Manday, Tandeka

 

·      2 small babies moved from Kuthula Place to the El Roi baby home

Frank and Jordan

It’s all very exciting as we have been preparing for this for months.  Each group started to visit their new home weeks prior to their actual move.  They begin to experience a new schedule, some new foods, new toys and lots of new brothers and sisters. We typically have staff move with them for continuity and each home has their own type of welcome party for the new arrivals.

After the big move, there was a special snack at each home, and everyone gets to enjoy a new movie with their family tonight.  A great day, all around.

We receive 35 new children each year (on average), but we have already welcomed 35 children this year.  With 11 new babies coming to us during the month of October alone, we are on track to welcome 42 new children this year. That’s a lot of children saved and a lot of hope restored.

Thank you to everyone who helped fund the Emseni #4 boy’s home. THEY LOVE IT!  Thank you to our amazing staff who orchestrated the move and are enjoying the children in their excitement.

Would you like to sponsor one of our children? Here is how:

In the US: bit.ly/ProjectCanaanChildrenAngel

In Canada:  bit.ly/ProjectCanaanChildrenAngelCA

Just had to add a photo of Jonathan on the move.

Live from eSwatini … I love moving day!

Janine

Movin’ on up… to the east side

Today was a big day for seven of our toddlers who are now “Big Kids”.  Bella, Angel, Joash, Seth, Isaiah, Jerry and Zachariah moved from the toddler home up to the Emseni Campus.

The Emseni Campus is the “permanent” home for each of our children.  Typically, the children are 3-years-old or about to turn three when they move up. They will live there until they finish high school and move on to University, trade school or enter the work force.

Today five little boys joined the big boys at Emseni #2, which means there are only THREE spaces left there.  AND, since we now have 37 2-year-olds at the toddler home, we know that those spaces will be filled soon.  SO… that means we need to start building our third Emseni building this month!  We have the funds for the foundation, and pray that the Lord will provide the rest of the funds needed to build that building.  Within a year, all of those 37 toddlers will have moved up to Emseni and the 34 babies at the El Roi baby home will be at the toddler home.  The 11 babies currently living at Kuthula Place will move to the El Roi baby home.  And it continues.

It’s an exciting day when children “move up” to their next home, but bitter sweet for those of us who remember the day that each child arrived and the history that came with them.  It’s hard to believe that a new born who was strangled to death by her own mother and dumped in a garbage can, then brought back to life with life-giving CPR, is now big enough to walk up the stairs and climb in to her new bed. 

Today we give thanks for each of our children, for the Care Team who loves them and encourages them every day, and for all of the people who give on a monthly basis so that we can provide for our 143 children.

In addition, we give thanks for the rains that have fallen this week and for the green grass and leaves that have exploded to bring us all hope for the future.

Live from Swaziland … it’s a good day.

Janine