On the second day of the carepoint visits we went more rural and off-road outside of Manzini, Swaziland. The prior day we traveled mostly good roads to visit Bhalekane which is the most developed carepoint just outside Manzini. After three years of support and capital projects, they have a fence, kitchen, community building, school, a water well, a freshly plowed field for planting rose geraniums, and lots of children with hope. On our way to Ludlati, we bumped through some rough roads and a dry water way up to the top of a hill. It was described as “The Tree Carepoint” because a nice shade tree was the cooking and gathering place. In a bit of perfect timing by our hosts, we arrived seconds before the women who cook the food for the children. We saw the ladies walking down a dirt path carrying large iron kettles, containers of water, a box of food on one’s head, cooking utensils and some bowls. I am guessing these women walked a fair distance, but even a short distance becomes an event when it is done everyday. They chopped some wood from the brush with a machete, started a fire and began cooking. Our entire team was impacted by the conditions at Ludlati.
Some homes could be seen in the valley in the distance, but nothing was close. There were three young children waiting near the tree when we arrived. After the women started cooking, more kids began wandering out of the brush on worn trails. Many are bare foot, and most had tattered clothes. Watching the children slowly walking in spread out lines had significant impact on the team. Everyone was filled with compassion, and some even angered that children have to live and survive such conditions. We wondered which ones live in child lead households, which ones had a parent dieing of AIDS. Maybe they have extended family, but no food and nurturing. Without one meal per day provided at this carepoint, these kids would be starving.
This carepoint was started by a woman who lives in the area. Because of the AIDS pandemic, children are orphaned at an alarming rate. Children began wandering around looking for food, and she began about one year ago by feeding them at her home. Keep in mind her limited resources and living conditions. She would go around to neighbors in her community asking for help with food. The number quickly grew to around 100 kids, and they would not even fit on her property. So she talked to the Chief and said “We have to do something for these children, there are so many”. He gave her a sizable piece of land on top of the hill she could use as a carepoint. I also later learned that she makes school uniforms for some of the children so they can go to school.
There are several ladies who help cook food. Our support will flow to these ladies working on the ground too. They are provided with food for their families, and they can work on a purse and bag making project that gives them an opportunity to earn money from the sales. While we were there one lady provided some preschool activities for the kids while they wait. In addition to providing two meals per day, education will be more formalized with our support as preschool, school, health care education and discipleship training. You can hear some examples of preschool songs, counting, and English training in the video. She also began standing them in front of me one at a time asking them to say their name and age in English. Most of the kids were still pretty shy. But now that our community is starting to provide support, we will get to be part of an awesome transformation. Maybe it will take three years to be like Bhalekane, or maybe we will be able to develop this carepoint faster. It starts with God’s desire for these orphans planted in us. But action and support flows from Him through us. Over the next six to eight weeks, Children’s Hopechest will collect profile information on each child consistently coming to the carepoint. Since I have already met some of our Ludlati children, it makes me feel like we have added 100 children to our families. I look forward to letter correspondence from our community members to build relationships with each child. And I am eager to go on return trips to our Connect Community Carepoint together where we can meet face to face and hug, laugh, cry, and play with these children and their carepoint care takers.
Ludlati Connect Community Carepoint from KnownToMe on Vimeo.
Music in the video recorded at Pastor Walter’s Church in Manzini, Swaziland on Sunday, Oct 25th, 2009
