Okay people-I finally wrote about my trip. You may need to pour a cup of coffee for this one-its long!!!
It was three weeks ago today that I was journeying home from Africa. I thought that I would come home and quickly write all about my adventures and send out lots of pictures and stories. However I found it hard to “digest” all the amazing things that took place in Africa. I’m still reluctant to sit down and write about it, in fear that my words will not even come close to capturing how truly amazing this trip was. I will try my best though!
Team Swazi departed from North Carolina the morning of June 19th and we arrived in Swaziland at 10pm on the 20th. It was a LONG trip. The longest of the four flights was 18 hours! We checked in to our bed and breakfast and got some much needed sleep. The bed and breakfast was a pleasant surprise; it was much nicer than we expected it to be. Each room had its own bathroom, mini refrigerator and TV. These comforts were really helpful to us at the end of each long day.
We spent most of our time at the Moneni Carepoint. It’s one of many that Children’s Cup has established in Africa. Christy Merrill, who is my friend from North Carolina, is in charge of this Carepoint. The Carepoints provide a meal, once a day, for any kids in the area that have been signed up by a parent, sibling, auntie, etc. The Carepoints also provides free education through second grade. There is no such thing as public school in Swaziland. All the schools charge tuition and the children have to wear uniforms. If your family has no money then you don't go to school. Children’s Cup works very hard to raise money to pay for these children to go to school. School fees vary depending on the school and the grade level (the higher the grade level the more it costs). School fees cost anywhere between $25-$125 US dollars. To us that seems like nothing, but to a Swazi family it is a lot of money. While at the Moneni Carepoint we got to do a variety of things. We observed the classes and meet all the kids on our first day; we also helped prepare the daily meal of “pap and beans”. We spent one morning doing crafts with the kids during their school day. We also painted the two storage rooms, hallways and bathrooms at the Carepoint. We painted them a beautiful “Carolina blue” color and we put up a cute Sesame Street border. It looked great!
My favorite thing about the trip was spending quality time with the kids and simply pouring our love out to them. The kids were absolutely wonderful to spend time with. I expected the kids to be sad and unhappy, but I was pleasantly surprised that they appeared to be very happy kids! You see, these kids have no idea how bad they have it. They don’t know any better. Many of them have HIV, many have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and for most of them their only meal each day is the one provided by Children’s Cup...yet they’re happy. I found that amazing and comforting.
One of the special things we did with the kids was showing them a movie complete with popcorn and candy! We showed them a cartoon movie about Daniel and the lion’s den and we shared with them the story and explained to them the importance of trusting and obeying God. They loved watching the movie and for most of them it was the first time they had seen one. Before the movie started I gave out the Pixie Sticks that I had brought with me. I showed them how to eat one and they were so excited! Watching them enjoy the movie, candy and popcorn was great. We also spent one afternoon just playing with the kids in the yard outside of the Carepoint. School lets out at noon, but the daily meal is not served until 3pm, so the kids just hang out and play games until its meal time. These kids are not use to getting much attention from adults. Culturally, parents do not interact with their children very much. Not to mention that many are orphans due to the high level of AIDS in Swaziland. Therefore, the kids absolutely loved the fact that we were interacting with them, playing games with them, and giving them lots of love! There were so many kids in the yard that day and I wanted to spend time with each of them. Their favorite thing was when we took a picture of them and then showed them the picture on our digital camera screens. I can’t tell you how many pictures I took! While playing in the yard I always made sure to comfort any kids that were crying after falling down, or being pushed, etc. This is just a natural instinct for me, and I’m sure teaching kindergarten for five years also brought out the comforting side of me. Well, the kids quickly caught on that I was the one they should come if they were upset. It was so special for me to be able to play that role. There were two kids that afternoon that grew attached to me for one reason or another. The first was a sweet little girl that was about 5 or 6 years old. She was crying because she had gotten into an argument with another child. When I picked her up she immediately rapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder. I walked around with her like that for a few minutes and silently prayed for her. After only a few minutes one of the teachers pointed out that she was fast asleep on my shoulder. It was so sweet. I held her for as long as I could and then laid her down on a mat to rest. The second girl was much younger and I’m not sure why she was crying. I picked her up and she did the same thing, she laid her head down and clung to me. Whenever I tried to put her down she wouldn’t let me! She is the child in the enclosed picture. She wouldn’t put her feet on the ground! I hope that these children felt love, peace and warmth as I held them. That was my prayer as I held them in my arms…that for just that moment they could feel the love that God has for them through me.
We spent one afternoon at the government hospital. While we were there we visited the children’s ward and the women’s ward. While in the children’s ward we prayed with the sick children and their mothers. We also gave out prayer bears that the kids from our church had made. It was great to see the kids light up and smile when we gave them a bear and spent some time with them. While in the women’s ward we again prayed with the patients and spoke encouraging words to them.
The neatest thing that we did while in Swaziland was distribute the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas boxes at two Carepoints. My church has been participating in this Samaritan’s Purse event for years. I’ve helped make and pack many shoeboxes. Being on the other end of this great cause was absolutely amazing. It was truly Christmas in July! (Yes, it takes from December until now for the boxes to make it all the way to Swaziland!!!) The kids we gave the boxes to had never gotten one before and they were so excited. To watch them take their boxes and open them to find new toys and treats was great. I will never forget the joy I saw on their faces. It truly was priceless.
One afternoon we went on a walk through the community surrounding the Moneni Carepoint. We went to visit with people who were sick so that we could visit and pray with them. It was a humbling experience to see the living conditions of these people. None of the houses we visited had running water or electricity and many were just mud huts with dirt floors. We had the privilege of praying with several people. One was a single mom with AIDS, one was a 94 year old man who had injured his back and legs in a fall, and the last was Senzo. Senzo is a 15 year old boy whose parents both died of AIDS. Senzo is raising his two younger sisters, ages 12 and 9. He is struggling to raise his sisters and provide for them. Thankfully they all attend the Carepoint and are provided with food and love from the Children’s Cup staff. Senzo was only able to attend school through third grade and therefore he is not educated enough to get a job. However, he volunteers at the Carepoint everyday, helping cook, clean and prepare meals. We were all touched by Senzo and his situation. Because of the generosity of our supporters, we had some extra money when we arrived in Africa. We used that money to buy Senzo food, a cooking pot and some new bowls and utensils. We also were able to pay the school fees for one of his sisters. We also set up a system with Christy to have Senzo “paid” for his volunteer work at the Carepoint. Using the donations (until it runs out) Christy will buy food for Senzo and his sisters each month. This will ensure that they do not go hungry on the weekends, when the Carepoint is closed. It felt great to be able to do this for Senzo and his sisters.
Team Swazi departed from North Carolina the morning of June 19th and we arrived in Swaziland at 10pm on the 20th. It was a LONG trip. The longest of the four flights was 18 hours! We checked in to our bed and breakfast and got some much needed sleep. The bed and breakfast was a pleasant surprise; it was much nicer than we expected it to be. Each room had its own bathroom, mini refrigerator and TV. These comforts were really helpful to us at the end of each long day.
We spent most of our time at the Moneni Carepoint. It’s one of many that Children’s Cup has established in Africa. Christy Merrill, who is my friend from North Carolina, is in charge of this Carepoint. The Carepoints provide a meal, once a day, for any kids in the area that have been signed up by a parent, sibling, auntie, etc. The Carepoints also provides free education through second grade. There is no such thing as public school in Swaziland. All the schools charge tuition and the children have to wear uniforms. If your family has no money then you don't go to school. Children’s Cup works very hard to raise money to pay for these children to go to school. School fees vary depending on the school and the grade level (the higher the grade level the more it costs). School fees cost anywhere between $25-$125 US dollars. To us that seems like nothing, but to a Swazi family it is a lot of money. While at the Moneni Carepoint we got to do a variety of things. We observed the classes and meet all the kids on our first day; we also helped prepare the daily meal of “pap and beans”. We spent one morning doing crafts with the kids during their school day. We also painted the two storage rooms, hallways and bathrooms at the Carepoint. We painted them a beautiful “Carolina blue” color and we put up a cute Sesame Street border. It looked great!
My favorite thing about the trip was spending quality time with the kids and simply pouring our love out to them. The kids were absolutely wonderful to spend time with. I expected the kids to be sad and unhappy, but I was pleasantly surprised that they appeared to be very happy kids! You see, these kids have no idea how bad they have it. They don’t know any better. Many of them have HIV, many have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and for most of them their only meal each day is the one provided by Children’s Cup...yet they’re happy. I found that amazing and comforting.
One of the special things we did with the kids was showing them a movie complete with popcorn and candy! We showed them a cartoon movie about Daniel and the lion’s den and we shared with them the story and explained to them the importance of trusting and obeying God. They loved watching the movie and for most of them it was the first time they had seen one. Before the movie started I gave out the Pixie Sticks that I had brought with me. I showed them how to eat one and they were so excited! Watching them enjoy the movie, candy and popcorn was great. We also spent one afternoon just playing with the kids in the yard outside of the Carepoint. School lets out at noon, but the daily meal is not served until 3pm, so the kids just hang out and play games until its meal time. These kids are not use to getting much attention from adults. Culturally, parents do not interact with their children very much. Not to mention that many are orphans due to the high level of AIDS in Swaziland. Therefore, the kids absolutely loved the fact that we were interacting with them, playing games with them, and giving them lots of love! There were so many kids in the yard that day and I wanted to spend time with each of them. Their favorite thing was when we took a picture of them and then showed them the picture on our digital camera screens. I can’t tell you how many pictures I took! While playing in the yard I always made sure to comfort any kids that were crying after falling down, or being pushed, etc. This is just a natural instinct for me, and I’m sure teaching kindergarten for five years also brought out the comforting side of me. Well, the kids quickly caught on that I was the one they should come if they were upset. It was so special for me to be able to play that role. There were two kids that afternoon that grew attached to me for one reason or another. The first was a sweet little girl that was about 5 or 6 years old. She was crying because she had gotten into an argument with another child. When I picked her up she immediately rapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder. I walked around with her like that for a few minutes and silently prayed for her. After only a few minutes one of the teachers pointed out that she was fast asleep on my shoulder. It was so sweet. I held her for as long as I could and then laid her down on a mat to rest. The second girl was much younger and I’m not sure why she was crying. I picked her up and she did the same thing, she laid her head down and clung to me. Whenever I tried to put her down she wouldn’t let me! She is the child in the enclosed picture. She wouldn’t put her feet on the ground! I hope that these children felt love, peace and warmth as I held them. That was my prayer as I held them in my arms…that for just that moment they could feel the love that God has for them through me.
We spent one afternoon at the government hospital. While we were there we visited the children’s ward and the women’s ward. While in the children’s ward we prayed with the sick children and their mothers. We also gave out prayer bears that the kids from our church had made. It was great to see the kids light up and smile when we gave them a bear and spent some time with them. While in the women’s ward we again prayed with the patients and spoke encouraging words to them.
The neatest thing that we did while in Swaziland was distribute the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas boxes at two Carepoints. My church has been participating in this Samaritan’s Purse event for years. I’ve helped make and pack many shoeboxes. Being on the other end of this great cause was absolutely amazing. It was truly Christmas in July! (Yes, it takes from December until now for the boxes to make it all the way to Swaziland!!!) The kids we gave the boxes to had never gotten one before and they were so excited. To watch them take their boxes and open them to find new toys and treats was great. I will never forget the joy I saw on their faces. It truly was priceless.
One afternoon we went on a walk through the community surrounding the Moneni Carepoint. We went to visit with people who were sick so that we could visit and pray with them. It was a humbling experience to see the living conditions of these people. None of the houses we visited had running water or electricity and many were just mud huts with dirt floors. We had the privilege of praying with several people. One was a single mom with AIDS, one was a 94 year old man who had injured his back and legs in a fall, and the last was Senzo. Senzo is a 15 year old boy whose parents both died of AIDS. Senzo is raising his two younger sisters, ages 12 and 9. He is struggling to raise his sisters and provide for them. Thankfully they all attend the Carepoint and are provided with food and love from the Children’s Cup staff. Senzo was only able to attend school through third grade and therefore he is not educated enough to get a job. However, he volunteers at the Carepoint everyday, helping cook, clean and prepare meals. We were all touched by Senzo and his situation. Because of the generosity of our supporters, we had some extra money when we arrived in Africa. We used that money to buy Senzo food, a cooking pot and some new bowls and utensils. We also were able to pay the school fees for one of his sisters. We also set up a system with Christy to have Senzo “paid” for his volunteer work at the Carepoint. Using the donations (until it runs out) Christy will buy food for Senzo and his sisters each month. This will ensure that they do not go hungry on the weekends, when the Carepoint is closed. It felt great to be able to do this for Senzo and his sisters.
Well I could go on and on, but I think I covered all the most important events. If you are interested in supporting Children’s Cup Ministries, please visit their website: childrenscup.org. They truly are an amazing ministry that is doing great work for the Lord, but they can not do it without financial support.
2 comments:
So awesome! I'm so glad you had this experience and that you made it there and back safely.
i can't believe you didn't come back with a baby in your carry-on.
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