The suffering of Swazi women and children

   Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Life for a typical Swazi is very hard, and life for a Swazi woman or child can be almost unbearable.  The first Child Protection Act was enacted in 2012, making it illegal for children to be abused, raped, used as slaves or given in marriage at a young age (amongst many other things).  In 2018 (not a typo) the Swazi government enacted a Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Act, which established a broad new legal framework for curbing gender-based violence.  While both Acts are incredibly important for the future of the Kingdom, we are encouraged to be patient while law enforcement, Social Welfare and the public to know, understand and support the details of both.  Patience is not a virtue that I have much of.

This week I saw suffering up close and personal of three Swazi women whom I work closely with at Project Canaan.

In order to protect each one’s privacy I will not mention names or places, but I have received permission from each of them to share their photos and stories to give you a glimpse of what they are dealing with on a daily basis all while trying to do a good job at work, maintain a good attitude and participate in our community.

On Tuesday, while I was sitting getting my hair cut in South Africa and Ian was having a procedure (tune-up of sorts) on both knees, I got a WhatsApp message with three photos from a young lady whom I work with and have known for many years.  The short message told me that this young lady’s sister had just been shot and killed in South Africa. There were four people in total who were murdered in cold blood.  Then she sent me two photos of the deceased, and then a photo the body bags holding the dead bodies. The moment was shocking, raw and I knew her heart was being ripped out hundreds of miles away.

Body bags with four murder victims

Once the initial wave of her grief subsided, the enormity of the “problem” started to emerge.  How do you bring a dead body across two African borders? This young lady is the eldest in her family, and she and the rest of her siblings were kicked out of their homestead after both their parents died 12-years ago, so they have been “homeless” since that time, with no place to even bury the sister if they can bring her home.  She has made Project Canaan her own home now, but her younger siblings all rely on her for wisdom, guidance and often funds.  While we are still sorting through all the legalities of the situation, the costs are crippling and mountain ahead is daunting.  We are in the middle of this story, but we will continue to walk beside her as she navigates funeral homes, police stations and International laws.

Meanwhile I have been walking alongside another young woman who has been saving money to build a house for herself and her daughter to keep them both safe from intruders and thieves. As she was preparing to work on her house last week she discovered that all the money she had hidden in her current room had been stolen – by her own sisters and mother!  We have discussed opening a savings account at the bank, but in the meantime the betrayal seems unforgivable and the relationships unrepairable, but where else will she go? Women are not allowed to own property here, so her only option is to build her house right beside her mother and sisters house, when she saves enough money again.  While the place where she will build might look like bush today, one day it will be a place of safety and a home.

At the end of the week I was approached about a staff member whose house was burned that morning and it was reported that they lost everything.  House fire is not an uncommon occurrence here, but what made this one different was that the house burned two months ago, with her father in the house, and he suffered terrible burns on the bottom half of his body leaving him in the hospital for two months. On Monday he returned home and on Thursday the house was burned again.  Suspicious? Yes.  Arson? Probably.  Will they catch and prosecute the person? Highly unlikely.  In the meantime, we will do our part and help with clothes, blankets and Manna Pack for the family.

And then there’s our newest little boy who arrived on Thursday. He just turned 2-years-old and spent five months in prison with his 18-year-old mother who has been sentenced to six years in prison for beating another girl with a glass bottle.  The boy’s father is also in prison for an unrelated crime.

 

Life is hard here. I don’t know what this young girl’s story is or what provoked her rage, but somehow she is in prison as a young teenager and her child has been placed in a Children’s home to be loved and cared for because no one else wants him.

Thank you all for your prayers and love for all of our girls, women and people in eSwatini who are suffering today.

May I leave you with words that I am holding on to as encouragement today:

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!”  Psalms 126:5

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;” Romans 5:3

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

Live from Swaziland … thankful for His words of comfort.

Janine

The murder of an 11-year old boy in our community

This may be the most difficult blog I have yet written and even more difficult for you to read. I was conflicted as to whether I should write this in a public post, but after prayerful consideration and confirmation by a dear friend, I have decided to share a very dark, evil story of what happened in our community quite recently. 

First let me start by saying there is evil everywhere. We live in a broken sinful world and Satan is here on the earth to kill and destroy whether it is literally murder, through divorce, broken relationships, incest or all the other things that cause hurt and pain.

Now for a dark side of my beloved Swaziland.

Two weeks ago we got a call from one of our partner churches.  The Pastor was distraught because an 11-year old boy in our feeding program had been sold and then murdered for ritualistic purposes.  I will call the boy Musa for this blog.

Musa was an outcast.  He was born out of wedlock, his mother ran away and left him with the man who she claimed was the father, but the man denied his paternity and left the boy with an old Grandmother.  The Grandmother loved Musa and he was quickly her favorite grandchild because he was so sweet.  He was able to complete fourth grade, but then there was no more money for school fees so he stayed at home and helped care for the animals.

Two weeks ago another teenage boy came along and was helping care for the goats.  The family didn’t know that he came with evil intentions and allowed the teen to sleep in the same small room as the young boy.  Early one morning Musa got up and left with the teenager to take the goats to the bush to graze, but he did not return that night.  The teenager arrived home soaking wet, but said that he had fallen in the river.  The family feared that Musa had also fallen in the river and drowned, but what happened to him was far worse. Musa had been stabbed to death by the teenage boy, and his private parts had been cut off to be used by a local Medicine Man. The other young children in the family were the ones to find his body.

Traditional medicine men (witch doctors as we might call them) have been a part of Swazi culture since the beginning of time. In fact, “traditional medicine” is still practiced in most African nations and is the biggest barrier to Christianity.  Sometimes/often witchcraft and Christianity are mixed together, but that is a blog for another day.

Some people seeking to increase their power and influence visit a local witchdoctor and pay him money for “muti”.  Muti can be made from natural products (trees, roots, plants), but for very strong and powerful muti the witchdoctor may require special ingredients such human body parts, often the private ones.  We are told that Albino children are at high risk because they are considered to provide the highest potency in muti.  Most ingredients are then mixed with river water and then consumed by the purchaser.

We are told by our Swazi friends that as we head towards an election next year, that some people running for public office may start going to their local witchdoctor now (and continue until the elections) so the incidence of murder for body parts will intensify.  This particular case was in the newspaper and radio in Swaziland and our team has become much more safety conscious.  We will increase security around the baby home because young children are at highest risk.

In this particular case the teenage boy would have been hired to go and get the private parts of a young boy.  That would be his assignment and that is what he did.  When the family discovered Musa’s mutilated body they immediately went to find the teenager.  He had run away, but was quickly found by police and the knife and body parts were still in his bag. He is in jail now.

Let me simplify this.  People are going to witchdoctors and paying money for muti to make themselves more powerful, to get ahead in life, to gain wealth and influence.  It is easy to quickly judge this from afar, but what do we do in other parts of the world to get ahead?  Steroids?  Corruption? Sleeping with the boss?  Bribery?  Gossip?  Cheating on income tax?  I believe that sin is sin and God sees it all the same way.  That is hard to read isn’t it? I don’t want my sin to be compared to that of the teenage boy who just murdered and mutilated an 11-year old for his body parts.  But does God see them the same way?  I believe that scripture says He does.

I will end my blog now and leave you to ponder this.  I do ask that you pray for the children of Swaziland and the babies at El Roi, that His mighty hand of protection would be over them and that this generation of young people will be a shining light for all to see.

Live from Swaziland … I am pondering.

Janine