Swaziland
A Friend in Need, Inc. founders Heather Bliss and Brenda Rebro traveled to the continent of Africa and took the long journey to Kapunga Swaziland. Swaziland is a mountainous country, slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey, and is home to just over 1 million people.
Swaziland has the highest adult HIV prevalence in the world, leaving approximately 56,000 orphans in this small country to parent themselves. The average life expectancy is just 32-years; leaving a generation of children to care for themselves. Forty percent of the population is under the age of fifteen.
Up on a mountain in Kapunga, Heather and Brenda met Nomsa, a compassionate woman trying to make a difference to the orphan children in her small community. For two days Heather and Brenda walked the mountain with Nomsa, visiting children orphaned by AIDS.
Some the orphans are fortunate to have grandparents caring for them, but most are cared for by older siblings who are just children themselves. Heather and Brenda visited during “the hungry season” when food runs out from the first harvest and the second crop hasn’t been harvested. This basically means no food for several months. In the past, there have been donors who helped provide food parcels to help the children get through this time, but this year there were none.
NOMSA HAS A PLAN TO FEED THE CHILDREN
Nomsa and her group on volunteers received a donation of five industrial second-hand sewing machines.
The volunteers developed a plan to sew school uniforms and other items to be sold in the city to create an income. They plan to use the income to buy food for the orphans during the hungry season.
One problem.... There is no place to hook up the sewing machines. Although there is power on the mountain, Nomsa and her volunteers do not have sufficient electricity or space to run the sewing machines. The Chief of the mountain has sectioned off a parcel of land for them to use, but they need a building in which to use these sewing machines.
A FRIEND IN NEED WILL PROVIDE THE BUILDING
Once again, we at A Friend in Need, Inc. will give more than just a one-time handout. We will provide a multi-purpose building that will keep on giving. A building where volunteers can sew and generate income to buy food for the orphan children. A building with enough space for future sewing machines so people in the community can come and learn to sew and generate income for themselves. A place where children can gather with volunteers and be safe, fed, and taught.
CONSTRUCTION TO START SOON!
Praise God for answered prayer! During the last month of 2010, we have had an overwhelming response to our Swaziland Campaign. We now have the funds to start construction and will send a team to Swaziland in March, 2011 to begin Phase One of the building process. Please come back to see our progress!
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
PRAYER SUPPORT: Commit to pray for our team as we head to Africa. Pray for safe travels and wisdom as we continue the planning process of the multi-purpose building. Over the past few months we have been evaluating the system we will be putting into place to ensure it's long term sustainability. We will most likely be implementing a multi-building system, so that all orphaned childrens and volunteers from around the mountain can have access to assistance.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: In order to implement a multi-building system, there will be several phases of construction. Consider making an ongoing monthly donation to help with further phases of our building process.