Understand how a Carepoint effects the life of children in Swaziland from a true story given by a boy in Swaziland named Musa (from Children’s HopeChest):

“My name is Musa. I am five. My mother and father are dead from AIDS. Now my sister Zodwa is taking care of me. She’s 12. After my parents died, we ate grass for food, but now that is changed. Every day the go-gos cook food for us at the carepoint. At the carepoint, Zodwa and I eat two meals each day. I no longer think about food so much. Now I dream of school. Thank you for making this place for me and Zodwa. Please do not ever forget us. I do not want to be hungry again.”

Ludlati Carepoint became known to us through Children’s HopeChest. People at this organization are familiar with the specific needs at Ludlati, and wrote the Development Plan shown below.

Our on-line community, KnownToMe, "adopted" and started building support for Ludlati Carepoint in January 2010. We are excited we have begun sponsorship and development, and we get to witness the transformation of Ludlati children as hope grows out of love and support. As you read more about the development plans and progress, we hope you choose to provide support and share in our joy. We are also very thankful for each of you already providing support to Ludlati. Feel free to email questions or comments to Don@knowntome.net

Community Development Plan for Ludlati CarePoint
in Swaziland:

Community Details: Ludlati CarePoint
Region: Manzini
Community Name: Ngculwini
Location: Under a tree between Bheveni and Mkhombokati
Population: The area’s population is difficult to determine. It is estimated that there are 15-20 families over a small number of homesteads.
Children to be served at the CarePoint: 83
Healthcare Accessibility: Limited, however every Tuesday a mobile clinic comes to the local high school (Mhubhe High School). Mhubhe High School is about an hour and a half walk from the CarePoint. Additional healthcare is available in Manzini, but access and cost are limiting factors.
Water Accessability: Women go to river to get water (15-20 min walk) or it is accessed at local homestead (5 min walk)
School Access:
      Primary School Access: 20 min walk from CarePoint
      School Name: Joy Primary School
      Cost: From $50 - $150 per year
Food Availability: Currently there is a little grocery shop next to primary school (20 minute walk), or food can be purchased in Manzini.
Crops/Market in the area (how are they providing currently): People grow limited amounts of maize and beans. The Disaster Task Force (government organization) has also been supplying some food to some of the neediest homesteads.

History of Ludlati:
Mrs. Matsebula founded this CarePoint because she saw great need and wanted to be a part of the solution. Her own children are older and attend school in town where they stay with other family members. She is called a GoGo which means Grandmother in the Swaziland language of Siswati.

Community children would show up at her house during the day, they were hungry so she fed them. The more she fed them, the more that came. She quickly realized that she and her husband would need assistance. Mrs. Matsebula approached the local chief to ask for a piece of property where she could operate her CarePoint. He granted her the property adjacent to the big tree (where the children met the team during the HopeChest visit). Mrs. Matsebula has the capacity and the desire to help and is looking for the resources to make it sustainable.

This CarePoint was started based on a need seen by a GoGo, Mrs. Matsebula, in the area. It quickly outgrew her ability to meet the demand, and they appealed to HopeChest to provide support. We have been providing support through a one-time donation of food but cannot commit to consistent help without the engagement of a long-term partner. As you will see detailed in this plan, there are a number of additional needs that need to be addressed over time, targeted at eliminating dependence and empowering these orphaned and vulnerable children to thrive.

Children Demographics:

The “serviceable” walking distance for this community is 3 kilometers (1.9 miles). Our field staff has identified 83 children that come to the CarePoint at least 3 days per week. However, we believe that there is the potential to minister to over 200 children in the area surrounding our CarePoint

Our discipleship team members, who are the primary interface with the children outside of the GoGo’s, stated that the orphan demographics for these children are a bit difficult to determine. This is because when these children are orphaned or abandoned by their biological parents, they will often graft in to a grandmother’s home or the home of other friends/family. It is culturally appropriate for the child to call the owner of the homestead where they sleep by a title equivalent to ‘Papa or Mother’. Statistics show an HIV rate in excess of 40%, an average life expectancy of 28 years of age. Additionally, well over 10% of the total population is orphaned (2009 data estimates the number at 120,000).

Sponsorship Objectives:
(What you can expect to see through sponsorship)

Our holistic approach addresses the environmental (physical), medical, educational, emotional, and spiritual needs.

KnowToMe relationship to Ludlati is also called a Connect Community. The concept of a Connect Community or Carepoint was developed by Children’s HopeChest. This is the organization we work through to intervene in the lives of Ludlati orphans and at-risk children by helping them come to know Christ, provide support needed to thrive physically, and teach the skills needed to sustain themselves and their family as they mature. This is done through support provided to native Swaziland community leaders and mentors who already show a commitment to help these children, but lack the resources to do it. We have engaged with this community in Swaziland that currently has 83 orphans or at-risk children. Our current funding level is shown with the pie chart graph on the right. The goals are designed to meet the specific needs of Ludlati from immediate nourishment needs to education, training and discipleship to skills training in self sufficiency. The longer term goal is complete transformation of this entire community.

Children’s HopeChest:

An organization’s partnership with Children’s HopeChest releases spiritual and financial resources to the children while individual orphan sponsorship brings the unique blessing of relationship. HopeChest offers you the needed expertise and resources to benefit orphaned children, as well as access to the orphanageCarePoint. Not only does our staff in the US provide accountability and support, our indigenous staff on the ground, including disciplers, are responsible for the spiritual, emotional and physical aspects of sponsorship.

A HopeChest discipler or mentor is a national believer who visits the CarePoint once every week. Disciplers conduct classes on culture, character, health (specifically hygiene and HIV) and Biblical principles. They spend time with the children and help them with moral and ethical issues, problems and concerns.

CarePoints:

The various CarePoints provide a focus of ministry for both Children’s HopeChest and the sponsoring organization or community. Specific benefits to orphans include ministry in five areas:

• Environmental - A portion of the sponsor’s support, combined with that of other sponsors, improves and maintains a healthy environment. This includes the purchase of clothing, shoes, furniture, books, etc. as needed.
• Medical – The CarePoint serves as a point of intervention for serious health issues. In addition, we will be adding rotating medical and dental teams to the CarePoints on a quarterly basis.
• Emotional - Each sponsored child's network of emotional support is greatly expanded. Staff at the orphanage or CarePoint will receive special training that equips them to better deal with the unique emotional needs of the children they serve. Also, the sponsor’s involvement in each child’s life through cards and letters is an avenue of emotional support the child would normally be denied. Regular visits from disciplers will also add to emotional well-being.
• Educational – Sponsorship helps provide resources for the education of sponsored children. In Africa, for a child to attend school, fees must be paid and uniforms and books must be purchased. In Swaziland however, due to the significant expense of providing basic human needs (food, water and clothing), additional resources beyond the normal child sponsorship program are required to provide access to school. Over the past two years, two of our CarePoints have added on-site elementary schools in partnership with the local government.
• Spiritual – Orphaned children will see the love of God demonstrated tangibly through age-appropriate Bible teaching. A discipler will visit the orphanage or CarePoint regularly to conduct classes. Your prayers and letters will also encourage a child’s spiritual growth.

Our goal in each community is 100% sponsorship. Once sponsorship of a community is initiated, Children’s HopeChest will send 80% of sponsorship funds received to begin support of the sponsored community.

The targeted distribution for the funds is as follows:

• 40% = Food
• 25% = Discipleship and Education
• 20% = Administration and overhead
• 15% = Basic needs and crisis intervention (medical / dental)

Capital Projects:

A capital project is a development need within the community that is funded outside of monthly child sponsorship, ie. a well, a fence, a latrine. In most instances, sponsorship is capable of covering only a percentage of the needs within an orphan community. Because of this, we ask sponsoring partners to commit to raising funds for at least one capital project each year. This is not a financial obligation on the part of the partner but a request from HopeChest. In the event that the sponsoring partner is unable to fund capital development projects, HopeChest will coordinate with major donors and other entities to generate funds for capital projects.

In order to identify capital project needs in the community, we work with indigenous leadership to identify critical community needs. All projects are done under the oversight of our Country Director, Jumbo Gerber.

When funding a capital project, HopeChest will provide an initial budget, scope of work, regular progress updates (with photos), as well as final photos of the completed project.

Capital projects are subject to change if the implementation would harm the community or cannot be fulfilled with integrity.

While this CarePoint is currently operating in an open field, the tribal chief has committed a piece of land adjacent to that field that is approximately 10 acres in size and will provide sufficient space for the following:

Phase I Capital Projects:

The following capital projects have been identified for Ludlati for years 1 – 5. The time frame to fulfill capital project goals may be short as possible. The outside goal is completion within 5 years.

Fencing
Property rights and tradition require that a fence be built once land is provided by the chief. Installation of a fence will ensure that ‘squatters’ do not take up residence on land that is no longer owned by the State.
Price: approximately $7,000 - Fully Funded!

Kitchen Facility
In order to provide for cost-effective and sustainable nutrition, the second priority is to build a production kitchen for feeding. This CarePoint is currently feeding between 100-200 children each day using two large black pots cooking over an open fire under a big tree. The deployment of child sponsorship will result in no longer being dependent on temporary donations from ‘A Child’s Hope’ for feeding, as they are not consistent.
Price: $8,000 - Fully Funded!

A Well/Water System
There is a great need for efficient access to clean water. While a survey has not been completed, it is expected that there is capacity for a well. The nature of this type of well is critical because there is sufficient land for a large garden on the adjacent homestead. Effective cultivation of a garden will require a water source.
Price: $6,000 - Fully Funded!

Storage Facility/Multipurpose Building for Discipleship
Currently, all programs run by the discipleship team are done in the open field. In addition, there is no suitable place to store supplies and food. Building a structure to accommodate both purposes would be very valuable to the community.
Price: $26,500 - Next Captial Funding Objective

Phase II Capital Projects for Consideration

• Playground.
• An education facility and budget for grades 1-4.
• A garden based micro-enterprise initiative.
• An improved plan to provide healthcare.
• Secondary education plan.

NOTE: Capital projects and assets associated with those projects are the sole property of Children’s HopeChest.

KnownToMe Community Vision for Ludlati and Each Other

Showing God’s love and fostering relationships within the community and between us and individual children at Ludlati Carepoint is part of every stage of the process. The burden and fears of orphans and children attempting to provide for siblings is beyond our imagination. In many Swaziland communities, even those children who have not lost parents receive little emotional support from parents because all of the family’s time and energy is spent in a struggle for survival itself. Carepoints relieve much of the burden of survival allowing local relationships to develop. Personal visits from our KnownToMe members to our Ludlati Carepoint is a critical part of building our relationships and bringing love and hope to the kids we support.

We may experience the heartbreak of the children's loss of parents and the desperation of their situations, and experience the ultimate transformation of the lives of children that we will come to love. We will learn and grow ourselves as we gain understanding of their cultural strengths and perspectives. We believe that this brings us to a place where, in caring for Jesus in his disguise as “the least of these”, we experience deep purpose and joy in life in a new and meaningful way. We also hope to foster deeper connections among ourselves, and build a community here that is focused on support and encouragement of each other in this effort and in our day-to-day lives as well.

We selected Ludlati Carepoint as a result of a trip to Swaziland in October 2009. We visited both established Carepoints and locations receiving no outside assistance whatsoever. The trip allowed us to see first-hand the place our community will start from, and over time will see and experience a wonderful transformation. Learn more about the Ludlati story: Community > Swaziland > Ludlati Neighbor Kids

We are confident that Christians and compassionate people in America have more than enough resources to eliminate the desperate poverty experienced by orphans in Africa and around the world. The transformation we hope to see will drive home the point to all of us that change is possible. To those who doubt the possibilities and outcomes, we believe that compassion is reason alone to act, and will energize us to spread the message of the hope and joy we will experience as we get to know the people and children in need.

It only takes some small actions for you to engage and share in the joy of giving. We still seek additional financial support, but that is not required. We also need help to spread the word and raise support from others, people willing to write letters to children, people willing to travel to visit and work with our community in Swaziland, provide prayer support, and a myriad of other things that will not require a financial contribution. Please email me Don@knowntome.net if you have an interest, and we will work together to get you started.

We will continue posting in our blog on the situation in Swaziland, preparations for the future trips, and stories of others from trips to visit other undeveloped locations and Carepoints. You can get involved in regular contributions, donations, letter writing to our Ludlati children, following and responding to blog posts, participate in forum discussions, online books studies, and prayer support. We need more neighbors willing to support our Ludlati Neighbor Kids and building our community here. The need is great, but together we have the resources to make real change. It just requires all of us to do our part.