On Tuesday morning we set off for Swaziland. Our mini-bus was full to bursting as we also
took along five members of the Hands at Work team, two visitors to Hands, food
for three days, sleeping bags and overnight bags.
The journey takes about three hours in total, with the Care
Point (Msengeni A) about 45 minutes from the boarder. When we arrived, we were greeted by the children
and the Care Workers, and we helped to serve the food. After which we played games including ‘Red
light/Green Light’, ‘River/Dam’ and a game which included following the actions
of a one of the group while someone else tried to work out who we were all
following.
Then we drove to Shoka House, the accommodation that Hands
at Work use in Swaziland. It is set in a
very remote location, part way up a hill which overlooks a wide valley. To get there it is a bumpy ride long a single
track road for about two miles (avg speed 10 mph). There is no electricity or running water and
the toilet facilities are known as a ‘long drop’ (we’ll let you figure that one
out).
The next day, we were all up early (there was a very lively
Rooster nearby) and set of for the Shoka care point which was the other side of
the valley. The roads in this part of
Swaziland are dirt tracks with deep red African soil, and are not really
suitable for a mini-bus, but with determination we made it to Shoka in good
time (Christine was driving). When we arrived at the Care Point, we helped prepare
the food and then accompanied the care workers on home visits. A group of us
walked down to the community well at the bottom of the hill and filled some
buckets of water.
The home visits are an important part of the Care Workers
role. Seeing the most vulnerable people in their homes helps them to assess
what their needs are.
Christine and Simon visited a Grandmother whose husband and
children had died. She looked after the grandchildren, but they have now left
and are working away. She is very lonely
and drinks to fill the void (alcoholism is a big problem in Swaziland). It was
incredible to see the Care Workers, by just visiting and spending time getting
to know the person they are raising their self-esteem and seeing what their
needs are.
Later in the day, we returned to the care point as the
children started to arrive. We played some games together, sang songs and
prayed together. The children then received their meal of pap, with some soup
and beetroot. We then left and returned to Shoka House. When it became dark at
6.00pm we enjoyed watching the sunset over the hills and enjoyed spending time
outside looking at the stars. With no electricity and only our torches for light,
we became tired really early and most of us ended up in bed by about half 8.
We spent our last morning at Shoka house packing up the
mini-bus and having an emotional debrief from the day before. We then drove
back the Msengeni A where we helped the care workers grind nuts, wash up, cut
cabbage and prepare the food for the children. After group introductions and
prayers for the care workers we split into three different groups to complete
more holy home visits.
Simon and Stacy had the pleasure of going to
visit a Gogo of a boy that they had actually become well acquainted with two
days earlier. While there, they were able to meet the Gogo’s sister who also
had come down to visit; they were also offered some beautiful tasting sweet
potatoes that she had been cooking. The Gogo made a special request for them to
pray for the safe return of her son who had moved away to work – we have found
that many Gogos are particularly lonely and very few of their children visit,
this is something that I feel that we can learn from in our own lives as visiting grandparents can often be a chore for many of us and it is
the little things like spending a bit of time with them that can mean the most.
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