Week 2

Well, I’m already failing at posting weekly, I’m not surprised though and if you know me well you’re probably not surprised either..sorry, I will try to do better. Things have been going well for us and we’re really enjoying our time here so far. Having just arrived 2.5 weeks ago, we’re still finding our way, and we’re enjoying this journey that we’re on. We’ve already experienced some wonderful opportunities. Arlyn has been staying busy helping Brian with his house. They’ve made a lot of progress and after some long hours, lots of sweat and lots of deliberation they’ve figured out how best to put up the roof. It’s ready to be thatched so some local men are going to start on that process tomorrow. 

Many of the homes here in Swaziland have thatched roofs; which gives a cooler covering than tin. Swazi homes are also often built in a round formation and usually families will live on the same plot of land together, with their own separate houses, which are round or now more modern rectangular block homes and they’ll also have an extra building on their land which is always round with a thatched roof and is used to conduct meetings and host guests. 

While Arlyn’s been helping at the house he has also been enjoying getting to know the local people. Brain has three Swazi guys that are helping build his home and kids from the local community often stop by to check on what the white guys are doing!

I’ve begun volunteering at a Christian children’s home called New Hope Centre which is located outside Matsapha and is almost 40km away from where we are staying. New Hope Centre provides a home for true orphans, children are admitted if they are between the ages of 2 and 12, and they all live there together as a family. Right now New Hope Centre is providing a home for 50 children aged between 2.5 and 18 and some of their older children are studying abroad. 

Every weekday morning the children and staff attend chapel at 8am, they sing praise and worship songs together, dance and praise God. I’ve got two left feet and my singing voice is definitely not sweet but surrounded by those children singing so beautifully even I’m encouraged to try and sing along and attempt the actions to their songs. After singing together some of the children with a staff member lead a study time; they read a Bible story, talk about how it relates to their lives and then learn a memory verse together. Everyone then prays together, on my first morning there I was invited to introduce myself and then all the children prayed for me. It was such a humbling experience to have some little ones come and lay hands on me while they prayed together that my time there would bless them and that they too could be a blessing to me. 

New Hope Centre has a preschool and uses the ACE curriculum to run a primary and high school on site too. The children are all involved in extra activities like swimming, ballet, gardening and music lessons. They have chickens and cows on site and some of the older children are currently involved in a milking programme to learn how to better care for their cows. 

I’ve been spending my time there helping out at the preschool, which I love. I’m enjoying getting to know the children and spending time with them, playing, learning and exploring. This past week we studied days 5 and 6 of creation, sung songs, made lots of fun crafts, watered the flower garden and learned about the number 3 and colour brown! The young children have already begun learning Bible verses and even though the youngest are 2.5 they’ve mastered toilet training and help out with little chores too. I was so surprised on my first day there when one of the 2.5 year olds had finished her lunch she took her plate to the kitchen, stood on a little chair by the sink and began to wash her own plate, spoon and cup. The children all help to contribute to the household chores and learn to give back at a young age. Some of the older children are involved in ministry to local schools, they visit the sick at the hospital’s children’s ward and even go and visit the prison too. 

New Hope Centre has created such a joyful place, all of the buildings are brightly painted with murals, music plays, the children’s laughter can be heard and it’s hard to imagine that the children all come from such devastating backgrounds. So many of these kids know loss that I can’t even imagine, have suffered abuse or have been neglected by society but through loving care at New Hope Centre and lots of prayer their lives have been transformed. I’m so grateful that I can help out there, just a little, get to know some of the children and learn from them. 

Arlyn was able to purchase a motorbike helmet recently and I’ve been borrowing Brian’s so Arlyn’s been taking me to NHC on the motorbike in the mornings before he joins Brian on the work site. We’re so thankful to be able to use Brian’s bike as it’s a much faster way of getting around and it’s so much cheaper to run than the truck.