Rehmeyers_in_Swaziland

Rotarians Create TRF DAF Save Swaziland’s Children Fund

2012-01-24T12:24:00.004+02:00

Rotarians Work to Save Swaziland’s Children - The Rotary Foundation Donor Advised Fund Quarterly Highlights

Rotarians Cheri McDaniel (Rotary Club of Baton Rouge—Capital City) and Daran Rehmeyer (Rotary Club of Mbabane, Swaziland) have created the Rotary Heart of America – Save Swaziland’s Children Fund, a Donor Advised Fund, to help build a school, clinic and community center to serve children and families devastated by the AIDS epidemic in the remote villages of Maphiveni and Vuvulane, Swaziland.
Daran and his wife Teresa packaged up their home and sold their business in 2005 and moved with their young children to Swaziland.

Teresa and Daran Rehmeyer

Teresa recalls, after a two week visit, “God broke my heart for Swaziland.” Swaziland suffers from the world’s highest HIV/ AIDS rate and the lowest life expectancy, 32 years. The children bear the burden of having lost parents, aunts and uncles, often leaving the oldest child in the family as the head of the household. Too many children also struggle to survive with HIV/AIDS. Untreated, only 15% of these children will live to age 10.
The Rehmeyers, an engineer and a nurse, created a program to transport HIV/AIDS patients to a medical center to get life-saving medications, a necessary measure, but not a long-term sustainable solution.
To create that solution, the Rehmeyers have identified an unused four acre property with 30,000 square feet of buildings. It will be redeveloped to serve as a medical clinic, vocational school and commercial center. The plans include storefronts that will be leased to local entrepreneurs, improving the economic base of the villages. The rents will also help underwrite the cost of running the health and education center. In addition to providing medical care, the center will teach local leaders and workers about disease prevention and nutrition, and provide adult literacy and job skills training. Beyond the clinic and community center, future plans include, as funds become available, a much needed primary school for the children in this area.
In collaboration with the Kudvumisa Foundation, a Swazi/U.S. non-profit, the Rotary Heart of America—Save Swaziland’s Children Fund seeks to raise $400,000 for this project. Having lived and worked in this community for nearly four years, the Rehmeyers know how this health and education training center will change the lives of children and families, bringing hope where it is needed most.

Additional information about the Rehmeyers work and the project can be found at www.KudvumisaFoundation.org. U.S. tax-deductible contributions to the Save Swaziland’s Children Donor Advised Fund can be made at http://kudvumisafoundation.org/RDAF/HowToContribute.asp

Checking our Expectation Level

2012-01-18T18:30:00.004+02:00

The Swazi Observer - January 23, 2012

It is another Monday morning, but I hope, and trust, that it will not be a manic one for you. I will do my part to try and make it a positive and good experience for you, and to accomplish this minor miracle, I will share with you an inspirational and true happening, that has brought a huge amount of joy into the hearts of some people, and I hope, as you read this true story, it will help to lighten your mood today. I promise this is worth reading!

There is a very special work going on in the area of our needy kingdom. It is conducted by a ministry called CHIPS which is an acronym for Childhood HIV Intervention Program, for Swaziland. It has been in place for four years, and through this organisation with its small, but dedicated team, literally thousands of people have been helped. They are encouraged to see their need to know their status in terms of HIV infection or otherwise, offered counselling, and then helped to get tested. Depending on their results, where necessary they are enrolled in a ART program through one of the major regional hospitals.

Assistance with transport both for the initial and subsequent visits is given, and the quality of compassion and practical support offered to those who become registered clients is exceptional.

As the CHIPS work has developed it has involved building up a relationship with the communities that are served, and having gained acceptance, the people who are serving are welcomed into the very basic homes occupied by many of their clients.

In one of the homes, they met a man who has a number of wives and several children. Among the children is one boy of five years, who has been in a very desperate and difficult condition. He was one of twin boys, but the other one died at three months. The boy’s mother also died, and now this boy, the remaining child, known to have contracted the dreaded virus, and also suffering from other complications was in a sorry state. He could neither walk nor talk, and most days he simply lay on the floor.

If the absolute truth be told, he has not been shown much consideration or compassion by the other wives of his father, who feel that they have troubles enough of their own.

The boy’s father has been genuinely distressed about the condition of his son, but had pretty well resigned himself to the fact that the child would probably not survive infancy.

Now it happened, as it often does, that the father has yet another lady who has come into his life, and quite unexpectedly this lady has shown and is showing a genuine interest in this little boy. She has no medical skill or training of her own to do anything about his core condition, but she has a warm and loving heart and she has begun to work with this little boy. She has done basic things. She has made sure he is clean and fed. She has been generous with the time she has spent with him. She has caressed him and shown him tender loving care.

She saw his limbs looking powerless and wasted as they have been and she started to massage them, to stimulate the muscles that had atrophied, and the most incredible change has occurred. This little boy, who seemed to have little prospect of any quality of life, indeed whose life hung in the balance, has gradually, but amazingly, responded to the attention he has been receiving each and every day.

This homestead has been regularly visited by the CHIPS team, but it happened that the leader of the team a highly trained health professional was overseas for several weeks. When she left she knew nothing about the changed domestic arrangements in this home, and therefore nothing about the interest that this new lady had started to show.

On her return, she went to make the first visit for this new year, and she literally could not believe what she saw. This five year old child, whom she had never seen walk or talk came running and smiling toward her, and as he did so he was chatting in siSwati.

Now as I said the team leader for CHIPS is a highly trained health professional, and having got over her total surprise at seeing this transformation in the child, she wanted to know what had happened. When she asked her questions, the young lady who had been caring for him said, ‘ I just started to work with him and as I did so he seemed to start responding and we quickly bonded together. I came to see caring for this boy as my priority and I thought that with God’s help his situation can be changed, and what has happened is not what I have done but what God has done.’

Hearing this simple and humble testimony was a complete inspiration, exactly the kind of inspiration that the team leader was needing a she returned to her work. A woman of great faith herself, she was moved beyond words and to tears, as this little one ran alongside her as she visited the home and then was standing waving as later she left to visit elsewhere.

The team leader left the situation with her heart full of praise to God, absolutely sure that what she had seen was nothing less than a miracle, a miracle of God using human hands, to demonstrate that His hand was upon the life of this little boy for blessing and healing. This was a miracle of one life that seemed to be going nowhere, that now can go somewhere, because although the boy will need continuing medication, and other interventions, his body will be able to cope with them, and there is every possibility that he will be able to go to school.

Such a possibility just didn’t seem to exist, but now as his health improves, and his abilities are developing it is judged highly probable that he can make it to the next level.

As she drove along the road, she started to chastise herself, because she realised that in her work she often asks God for His direct and immediate intervention in people’s lives. She knows God can do the impossible and she asks Him to change people and situations on a daily basis, but she became aware that although she asks for this to happen, and believes that it can happen, so often she is not anticipating that it will happen, and it seemed to her that God had given her a wake up call. She found herself not only inspired, not only challenged, but hugely encouraged, and aware that she too needed to move to another level, the level of attempting great things for God, because she should be expecting great things from God.

In this frame of heart and mind she continued on her way, making more visits, and as she did so, much sooner than she could have imagined, there was something just a special to be encountered.

Her next call was a call on a lady whom she had always seen in a bed ridden state. It was said that the lady had not walked for a long time, as the result of a stroke, and that her health was deteriorating very rapidly. Her own assessment of the situation, in so far as it could be made, gave her no reason to suppose that the things were other than she had been told, and if she was completely frank, she had doubted whether the lady would be still living when she went to visit the home after a gap of some three months.

What did she discover? As she entered the homestead, the woman whom she had last seen in such a hopeless state, came walking toward her. She was warm and welcoming, and the CHIPS team leader just stood and stared in amazement.

“What has happened to you?’ She asked immediately, “ Jesus has healed me!” was the reply she received.

Now if she had not been entirely expecting the first encounter with the child and his changed condition, she certainly had not been expecting the second. It was almost too much to take on board immediately, but as she listened to the woman, it was as obvious as it could possibly be that here was another life that had been totally turned around, and it was even more obvious that there had been no other intervention, but the intervention of faith.

This woman who had been genuinely sick, who had received medical treatment for her condition, but who had retreated into her sickness becoming defeated and depressed by it, had reached a point when she had done the one thing that was essential. In weakness but summoning up the mustard seed faith she had, she had issued a desperate cry to the Lord, and He had heard that cry and had helped her, turning her weakness into strength and her sickness into new found health.

There was no spirit of boasting in this lady. She was offering a simple but sincere statement of fact. There was no magic and no muti involved. She had turned to Christ and He had turned to her and changed her. It was not more complicated or sophisticated than this. She did not know why she was healed and other people were sick, but she wanted just to give thanks to the Lord for everything.

As she celebrated this complete contrast in the woman’s condition which could not be denied, but which could be verified, the team leader just felt moved in the very depth of her soul. It was almost as if the Lord was showing her in a new way a truth that she knows very well, the truth that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever. His living power and His healing presence are as much at work right now, as they have ever been in human lives, with total transforming ability.

I think this is the kind of wake up call many of us need. We talk of miracles, and we pray for miracles, genuine observable and verifiable miracles, not things that are the product of our over fertile religious inclinations, but our expectation that we will actually see them present and enduring is sometimes far too low is it not? There is, as they say, none so blind as those who will not see, and none so slow to glorify God for what He is doing, as those who have no expectation.

Pastor Ken Jefferson

Mbabane Chapel

Mbabane Swaziland

No CD4, No Initiation

2011-12-10T17:50:00.001+02:00

Sithembile Matsenjwa is 47 this year and lives in Maphiveni with her husband. She and her husband were tested by CHIPS in February 2009 and both are HIV+. Blood was drawn in 2009 to check their CD4 counts. Both of their CD4 counts were above the threshold for being initiated on ART. Every 4-6 months CHIPS would re-draw blood to check their CD4 counts. The threshold for starting ART in Swaziland is 350 now.
In November our staff began relaying instances where the government labs refused to take blood samples for follow up tests due to lack of reagents. Follow up CD4 counts are performed for people like Sithembile who are still above the threshold to begin ART and for people who are on ART to check that the drugs are effective. The Swazi Times reported on the situation in November as well.

Sithembile with Mary dos Santos, CHIPS HIV Counselor

What does this mean for Sithembile and her husband? It means even though they know they are HIV+, they will have no way of knowing when their CD4 count has dropped beneath the threshold so they will not be able to begin ART. The natural progression of HIV from infection to onset of AIDS is typically 5 to 10 years. Sithembile, her husband, and many more know they are living with a clock that is ticking down. Their only hope for delaying or stopping that clock is access to anti-retrovirals.
CHIPS tries to lend encouragement (and slip in blood samples for recounts when we can).
Sithembile and so many like her and her husband are casualties of the financial crisis gripping the Kingdom of Swaziland. So while the government had stated that health care would remain untouched, it is in fact already affected in a very real way. While we can't support the entire country, we are looking for a way to source the reagents needed if only for the Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki that we work directly with. If you can help with this specific need or want additional information, please contact us.
We know with your help we can continue to make a real difference in the lives of the marginalized and forgotten in Maphiveni.

"Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people." Psalm 82:3 & 4

A CHIPS Story

2011-11-29T21:41:00.001+02:00

SimphiweM. - 10 years old

Simphiwe has been on ARV’s since 2009. Her health has always been frail. In August 2010 she suffered a right strokeand was transported by CHIPS in a critical condition to Good Shepherd Hospitalin Siteki. She was in a coma for twoweeks and spent an additional six weeks slowly recovering. She is now able to walk and talk but it hasleft her with some deficits in learning and mobility.

CHIPS sustains Simphiwethrough providing transport to the hospital for her ART Refills and doctors’visits to GSH. She has recently had ahearing screen because it was noted she was very hard of hearing; perhaps dueto ART.

The long term future forher is uncertain as she is unable to attend government primary school: it is a long distance to walk and she tireseasily, she has fallen far behind the other children of her age. Her hearing problems also make it difficult toattend school. Her family are lookinginto the possibility of placing her in a special residential school here inSwaziland.

CHIPS makes regularvisits to the homestead to encourage the family to continue the physiotherapy andto assess any new problems while offering encouragement and praying with them.

There are nine otherchildren living at the homestead. Thefather works as a casual labourer for the sugar corporation.

Simphiwe M.'s CHIPS History

Visit Date	Site Name	Service Offered
20-Jul-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	HIV Test
30-Jul-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	Chemistry
19-Aug-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Initiation
25-Aug-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Initiation
09-Sep-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
23-Sep-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
21-Oct-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
18-Nov-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
16-Dec-09	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill, CD4
10-Feb-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
07-Apr-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
05-May-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
30-Jun-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
12-Aug-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	CD4
25-Aug-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
20-Oct-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
13-Dec-10	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
12-Jan-11	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	CD4
09-Feb-11	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
10-Feb-11	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
10-Mar-11	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
07-Apr-11	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill
04-May-11	Good Shepherd ART Clinic	ART Refill

A Missionary's Prayer

2011-10-14T04:47:00.001+02:00

He might ask the same of you
(Kendall Payne)

He gave us plenty, plenty to share, and the good sense to know what’s fair.
He gave us power, the knowledge of right. He gave us strength to brave a fight.

So we have no excuse and no defense.
There is not one that can plead innocent.
We have a shameful state of tolerance.

So you pray to God asking Him to intervene,
To set it right, to stand up for the weak and the unseen.
And still you pray to God ask Him what He’s gonna do?
But He might ask the same of you.

He gave us riches, more than enough to fill both hearts and hunger up.
He gave us Jesus who died to proclaim, “As you have seen in me do the same”.

We are all connected,
We are all affected,
When one loves their brothers,
There’s no “us” and “others”.

So we pray to God with our days from dust to dust.
Is there a better world to have? It seems there must be.
And still we pray to God, when will He make it just?
But He might ask the same of us.
Yes, He might ask the same of us.

© 2010 Kendall Payne

Called to Serve, Baton Rouge Advocate

2011-09-15T15:11:00.004+02:00

In today's Baton Rouge Advocate! Called to Serve
Former BR residents work to build health-care center in Swaziland

Emily Kern Hebert Advocate staff writer

photo: Richard Alan Hannon / The Advocate

The Rehmeyer family left Baton Rouge the same weekend Hurricane Katrina was churning off the Louisiana coast, but they were not fleeing the mighty storm.

The family — Daran, his wife, Teresa, and their four children ages 7 to 14 — were headed to Swaziland to do missionary work. Swaziland is Africa’s smallest country and the country with the world’s highest known HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, Daran Rehmeyer said.

Daran and Teresa Rehmeyer, who have been living in Swaziland since 2005, hope to establish a community health center in a remote area of the country.

Donations from the Peace One Day Musical Window to the World concert, a free event planned for Tuesday at First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge, will go toward establishing the center, as well as to a local organization, the Capital Area Family Violence Intervention Center.

Prior to moving to Swaziland, Daran and Teresa Rehmeyer were living in Baton Rouge, raising their four children.

Teresa Rehmeyer was working as a nurse, and Daran Rehmeyer had a successful engineering services company, he said.

He had worked in ministry in Baton Rouge’s inner city, but as his children grew older, he started to devote more time to their activities, Daran Rehmeyer said.

In late 2004, he said, he felt he needed to return to ministry work, so he became involved with Healing Place Church.

Rehmeyer said he imagined stuffing envelopes, but instead, the late Dave Ohlerking, founder of Children’s Cup International Relief, invited him to visit Swaziland.

Teresa Rehmeyer agreed to visit the country, but she made it clear she had no intention of leaving Baton Rouge permanently, Daran Rehmeyer said.

Daran Rehmeyer felt differently.

“My heart was already set on ‘this is where I want to be,’” Daran Rehmeyer said.

He chose to keep his mouth shut and let God do the talking.

“You could really hear God’s voice and the direction he wanted you to go,” Daran Rehmeyer said of the trip.

At the end of two weeks, Teresa Rehmeyer agreed with her husband that the people of Swaziland needed them, but she still had reservations about uprooting their family.

When the couple was hardly home, their oldest daughter came to them and said, “We need to move to Africa and work with the orphans,” Daran Rehmeyer said.

“We took that as close to confirmation (from God) as we could get,” Daran Rehmeyer said.

He sold his business and started raising money for their mission work.

After a short trip to visit family in Baltimore in late August 2005, the family was headed to Swaziland.

Daran and Teresa Rehmeyer work with the Children’s HIV Intervention Programme in Swaziland, or CHIPS, which makes it possible for hundreds of children and caregivers to access lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV and many of the other associated diseases.

Their current proposal is to establish a local clinic in Maphiveni that would allow CHIPS patients nearby access to health care and eventually could be expanded to provide most health-care services to the entire area’s population.

Rehmeyer said he has located a site available for purchase, which includes several existing buildings. One is in fairly good shape, and with renovations, could house the clinic.

Another large building could be renovated and leased out commercially to provide income that would support the long-term operational costs of the clinic.

The purchase price is approximately $483,000, and another $129,000 is being sought for renovation of the commercial development, he said.

The problem with building a stand-alone clinic, Rehmeyer said, is “someone will always be begging for operational funds for that clinic.”

“We feel like we’re getting a fairly good deal,” Daran Rehmeyer said. “Sustainability is the big factor right now.”

Kudvumisa Clinic

2011-09-02T09:02:00.004+02:00

This is an exciting time! We have been pursuing a vision for a clinic in Maphiveni for the pastyear. We feel we are in the right placeat the right time.

Daran will be in the US between 5 September and 19 Octoberto raise funds to purchase about 4 acres with close to 30,000 sq. ft. underroof. What makes this project exciting is the possibility of actuallydeveloping a clinic and outreach that could be sustainable in the long termfrom local income. Please check out the proposal for the clinicoutreach at KudvumisaClinic Proposal. Kudvumisa means to praise in siSwati. This clinic and community outreach will give people hope in their futureand in the God who loves them even in their desperate circumstances.

We need to raise a significant sum. If you have any contacts or introductionsyou could possibly make to that end please contact us.

We pray God’s richest blessings!

New NGO Formed in Lubombo

2011-08-16T09:52:00.003+02:00

Although not 100% accurate in some of the details, here is an article in today's (16 August 2011) Swazi Observer about CHIPS

New NGO Formed in Lubombo

We Were Being Used in a Scam

2011-08-09T14:09:00.003+02:00

We received a note on our blog and someone Google'd us and found our real email addresses to alert us. We are NOT trying to rent an apartment in Philadelphia. While, yes we are always looking for donations to continue our projects here in Swaziland (via our Missionary organization) we would never ask you to send any money via Western Union.

I think the ad has been removed from Craigslist now.

So thanks to the people who took the time to research it and notify us. I hope no one actually sent money to them.

Rural Homestead Birth

2011-08-03T20:01:00.002+02:00

Just got back from Mbabane Gov Hospital, took our friend Thokozani and his wife and brand new baby in. We tried to get to the homestead in time to take her for delivery. It takes a little over an hour to get to this homestead from town and the roads are really bad. Sometimes there really isn't a road or the road is washing away down the side of the hill! When we arrived Tabile, Thokozani's wife, was up walking around, cleaning up, but obviously in pain. I started asking her about the pains and when they started and how often they were occurring. She looked at me and said, "I already delivered." I felt really stupid! We are so spoiled! I am used to delivery in the hospital and being in bed and having nurses or family help with everything. She was up trying to get cleaned up with blood running down her leg, bending over in pain at intervals.

Anyway, we arrived too late, the baby girl, Bakazile had been born 2 hours earlier. Thokozani's sister helped deliver the baby. I asked what she used to cut the cord and she said a sharp piece of glass and tied the cord off with a piece of thread. The baby was having some difficulty breathing, lots of mucous. I felt really helpless, I had nothing to suction her with or anything. I prayed for her all the way to the hospital as I was holding her. We tried to get her to breast feed and she was not interested. I am very glad we took them, the nurses suctioned the baby to get the mucous out and Tabile had a very bad tear and had to have many internal and external stitches. They will stay overnight at the hospital. We got food for her and a packet of nappies (diapers) for mom and baby to share. They use the baby nappies for mom as a pad for the first 24 hours.

Praise God, mom and baby are safe and well. I am very happy that we were able to be of assistance to this precious family! Pictures of beautiful Bakazile to follow. They asked us what her English name could be and we said Becky.

A Hope in Swaziland?

2011-06-09T20:21:00.003+02:00

Going out in the communities in the eastern part of Swaziland where our CHIPS program is working makes me think of how I might cope living the way these people live. They have no electricity, no water, no toilets, tubs or showers. They literally have nothing, including enough food or clothes. We do give them clothes and blankets as we have them, but we think that sometimes they sell them for money for food or alcohol. We do help some of them with food also, if they don’t have anything to take their HIV meds with.
Many of the adults and teenagers sit around all day and drink home brew made from whatever fruit they can get and ferment. Currently it is grapefruit. Many of them drink to fill the emptiness in their stomach, and/or the emptiness in their soul. Yes, some are lazy and don’t want or are unable to motivate themselves to move forward. Many of them are happy just to lie around and live on handouts and their home brew. I do get very frustrated at them, but then I think, what would I do? How would I react in the same situation? I really can’t answer that, because I don’t know. We received word from Jabulani yesterday that he received a call about one of our patients: she was found on her way down to the river to drown herself. They went and found her and tried to help her by clothing, feeding, counseling and praying for her as well as getting her back on her medication. Would I be the one that was feeling so helpless and hopeless that I would go to the river to drown myself? Without God, I might be. These people need good medical care, but most of all they need God. You can literally feel the oppression in these communities. These places are Satan’s playground, and the children are the ones that suffer the most at the abuse and/or neglect of drunken parents and caregivers.
The missionaries that help us with this program told me not long ago about a young boy about 8, who was locked in his house (mud and stick hut) by his drunk Gogo (grandma). As she lay outside, passed out drunk, there was a fire and he couldn’t get out. Some neighbors heard him screaming and rescued him. He suffered severe burns and was hospitalized. Only the Lord can protect these little ones! Please help us continue to pray for and help these communities as much as we can!
We do what we can through CHIPS, but have the desire to move forward and offer a beacon of hope in these communities. In our last letter we spoke of our vision to build a clinic and community center. We currently have $10 000 of the $50 000 we need to secure the property. Please help if you can.

Maphiveni Clinic: Close to a Reality

2011-05-11T20:19:00.002+02:00

In the 6 years we have been working in Swaziland, we have made few “urgent” ministry appeals. God, through our supporters has made sure we have always had our needs supplied.
We communicated with many of you while we were in the States last that God had laid a future ministry plan and direction on our hearts for the communities we have been actively working in eastern Swaziland. The Children’s HIV Intervention Programme in Swaziland (CHIPS) has been a tremendous benefit to the hundreds of HIV+ clients we have been able to literally bring lifesaving medical care while opening doors to share the Gospel in the CHIPS communities. The vision we shared for CHIPS included developing a community health centre in Maphiveni. A health centre in this isolated community could serve thousands vs. the hundreds we are able to help now.
Sustainability of a clinic dependent entirely on donor funds will always be at the mercy of the continued generosity and ability of donors to continue to give. We have the opportunity to develop a different model. We have been looking at a property in Maphiveni for some time now. The property has significant commercial development potential. The clinic sustainability will derive from lease income from the current and future commercial tenants. In other words, the commercial tenants on the property will pay for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the clinic.
We approached the owner in February and subsequently made an offer based on the valuation we had performed. It was rejected. Everyone involved in CHIPS felt God saying ‘just wait.’ Waiting is not something any of us do well. Last week, the owner of the property called us and made a counter offer, which was still below the valuation and not significantly higher than our original offer. We accepted the counter offer.
Our plea now is to raise the monies necessary to purchase the property outright (we want to avoid paying interest to a bank). Our goal is to raise 10% in the next thirty days with the balance in six months. The agreed upon purchase price is 2 900 000 Emalangeni (the current exchange rate is not in our favor and moving in the wrong direction at 6.55 Emalangeni to the U.S. dollar today). In U.S Dollars that is $442 748 (10% is $44 275).
We are trusting God has given the vision and opened doors that just a week ago were firmly closed for moving forward. As well, we trust that He will move on hearts to make this clinic a reality in a community accustomed to being marginalized and passed by.
All donations towards the clinic need to be designated “Maphiveni Clinic.” We have detailed plans and budgets developed for this project. If you would like a copy, please email me and I will forward a copy.
Blessings,
Daran & Teresa Rehmeyer
African Leadership Partners
P.O. Box 994044
Redding, CA 96099

Maphiveni Property Details
1.7078 hectares (4.22 acres)

Existing structures on site:
• Two buildings to house the Health Centre, Community Education Centre and commercial development.
• A home to be developed for Mission Team housing (medical teams for the Health Centre, outreach teams for work in the community, teaching teams for the Community Education Centre).
• Several residential flats.

Statistics are Meaningless

2011-05-09T10:04:00.001+02:00

I lost another one of my friends and co-workers to the ravages of HIV. She found out she was positive only after she was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with fungal meningitis. At that time, her CD4 count was found to be 3, when it should be 800 to 1000 normally. People are started on Anti Retro viral drugs here in Swaziland when their CD4 count reaches below 350. All of that detail to say, she was very sick and I was afraid that she would die before I returned from our visit to the States in January. When we returned, I was happy to see that she was back at work and doing much better! The next thing I heard was that she had gone to South Africa to visit her grandfather, who was sick, and then he passed away. The next news I heard was that she had died as well, after her grandfather’s funeral. Her parents said that she was not taking her medicine like she was supposed to, and that is why she got sick again. I am not sure if she just didn’t bring enough medicine with her, or she was not taking it. I am so sad for this loss.
While she was working with me at Breast Cancer Network for the past 2 years, I tried my best to help her see Jesus and let her know that He loved her and had good plans for her. As her boss, I tried to discipline her and still let her know that I loved her and most of all Christ loved her. She also had some mental health issues, and I invited her to attend the monthly mental health group with me. This group meets at the church that I attend and I believe that she and her brother, who came with her a couple of times, received help from this group as well.
I believe that she was placed in my life so that I could be an example to her. Although I was not always a perfect example, I pray that I was able to influence her short life for the good and that she was able to see and know Jesus a little better because of the time that we spent together.

God is so Good!

2011-04-28T12:15:00.002+02:00

God is so good! We just received a huge answer to prayer! Last year God put on our hearts to build a Community Health Center in Maphiveni, where we work with our HIV program, CHIPS. We found a piece of property that we thought would be ideal both for service and sustainability. We made an offer a few weeks ago and it was turned down. We were very disappointed, but still felt that this was the place. So we have been praying and waiting and gave it to the Lord! People just told us yesterday that there is no way that this person would sell to us. This land has been for sale for many years and it was pretty hopeless. So we said, it would be a miracle if this happened. This morning, I was reading my devotion about Elijah praying and believing God for rain even though he saw no clouds until he sent the servant the 7th time, then he saw a cloud the size of a man's hand! Praise God! Daran ran in the house calling me and said you will never believe who just called me! Yes, it was the lady making us an offer! Praise God! Now we have to raise the funding for this, but my God can do anything!

CHIPS has an immediate ministry opportunity/need

2011-03-22T14:34:00.001+02:00

Part of our work in the community of Maphiveni in eastern Swaziland is economic empowerment: our goal is families that have the resources to buy their own food, basic necessities, and pay school fees for their children.

To that end we are looking for someone who can begin a project in Maphiveni/Vuvulane to teach and mentor women to sew cloth hand bags for a U.S. market. The volunteer would develop patterns, manage quality, and select cloths and colors. We are looking for someone who has a firm Christian foundation and would be self-motivated to also bring mature spiritual discipleship to the women in these areas.

The need is now. We truly believe God calls people to specific work. He already has a person for this work. We would ask that you help us pray for that specific person to be faithful to their calling.

Please circulate this among your friends.

We know everyone has challenges and issues in their daily lives; some are small, some are huge. We have been honored to be entrusted to help pray for some of these and continue to do so.

Back full steam in Swaziland!

2011-03-06T16:02:00.000+02:00

Thank you to everyone who made the trip back to the States enjoyable and successful!
Maphiveni Community Health Centre Update
We have met with ICAP, PACT, Cabrini Ministries, Good Shepherd Hospital, Mbabane Rotary Club and the CHIPS staff in the past two weeks. But maybe most important, we had a meeting with the Indvuna Inkundla for the Maphiveni area this Friday. The Indvuna Inkundla is responsible for representing the Inkundla, a political entity with an elected MP (Member of Parliament), back to the chiefdoms in the Inkundla's constituency. His support and recommendations back to the chief that has jurisdiction over Maphiveni is critical in obtaining the land needed for the health centre. He was confident we should be able to arrange a meeting with the chief in the next week to begin the discussion for land. Please help us pray for favour and confirmed direction in Maphiveni.
The Capital City Rotary Club in Baton Rouge has expressed interest in fund raising for the health centre (the Mbabane Rotary Club would be the partner on this side). The firm of Watts Didier Architects in Baton Rouge has graciously volunteered to develop the construction documents for the health centre.
Safaris
Experience of a lifetime! ? We have arranged with a local tour operator for fully catered hunting, photo, birding, and fishing safaris in neighbouring South Africa (just across the border from Swaziland). A portion of the fees go directly to supporting the Maphiveni Community Health Centre. Included in the safaris are two days visiting in Swaziland: a traditional homestead and the on-going work at the health centre. Groups of 2 or more can be accommodated. Any interest or questions please email us back!
Other news?
Kids are all back in school. Gabby is in the States: working, attending CNA classes and waiting to finalize plans for college in the fall. Teresa is continuing to volunteer with the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network in the implementation of a cervical cancer diagnoses and treatment program here.
Worn Out
Both of our vehicles are over ten years old (13 and 14 years). And while they are still running today, it is only a question of time before they have to be retired. We are wary of having to drive them out of Swaziland anymore. Even used vehicle costs here are on par or higher than costs in the US. We have suitable replacements in mind (nothing fancy!), but would need extra-ordinary support to be able to replace what we are currently driving.
We hope this note finds you Blessed. We would be honoured to help pray for the needs and challenges in your life!
Daran & Teresa Rehmeyer

Angels Watching Over Us!

2011-02-17T01:26:00.002+02:00

Last Friday on the way home from visiting our CHIPS staff in Vuvulane, I received a call from my son saying that 2 men had been in our yard earlier that day. When I got home, I found out that there had been someone going from gate to gate seeing if anyone was home. No one was at our house that morning because I was in Vuvulane, the kids were at school and my house lady, Anna, had an appointment and was only supposed to come in later in the day. Her appointment was changed and she came around 10am. At 1pm, she looked out the window and saw 2 men standing in the front yard by the gate. When they saw her, they jumped over the wall that has barbed wire on top of it! She started screaming and all of the gardeners and guards from both neighbors and across the street came running and chased them. They got away in a Volvo with South African plates. Anna was shaken when I arrived. I called the police and they showed up about 3 hours later to take a report. By then, the guard and gardeners that had been there when the incident took place were gone. They said they would send an investigator in the morning to ask them questions. (not sure if that ever happened) They told me that these guys have been going all over looking for houses with no one home to break into to get jewelry and electronics. Later that evening the police had a road block down the road from my house. I told them I hope they were looking for the guys that tried to break into our house earlier. Praise the Lord that Anna was there and scared them off. Also, I am so thankful for my neighbors guard and gardeners that tried to help. I am happy that we live in an area that is alert and willing to help us. I sent cookies to all of them today! I pray that the thieves are long gone and do not come back! Praise the Lord for His Faithfulness and Protection!

Jabulani and Mary Graduate

2011-02-08T00:22:00.004+02:00

Congratulations to both Jabulani Maziya and Mary Groening. Both are dedicated and crucial employees of CHIPS. Without their dedication and compassion for the members of the CHIPS outreach communities, this program would not be successful or have the impact it is having. They exemplify Christ. Jabulani earned a Diploma of Ministry while Mary earned a Certificate of Ministry with Distinction from the Christian Family Church International Bible School.
We are blessed and privileged to be able to work with both Jabulani and Mary in the ministry God has called and enabled them for!

Syncretism vs. Sold Out

2011-02-05T18:44:00.004+02:00

We often deal in Swaziland with a culture which is trying to mix Christianity into traditional beliefs. Here is a very good discourse from a Swazi on this, published in the Swazi Observer 5 Feb 2011 :

The other day I had a severe headache and I asked my son to buy me some tablets from the shop. Before I could take the tablets he gave me a brief lecture; ‘mummy you must pray for these tablets first, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, not in the name of Jesus.
My friend at school told me the devil also produces some tablets in the world of spirits, where there is a different Jesus, not the one from Nazareth.’
I could sense that my son was engulfed by fear of some mystical powers which are capable of inhabiting anything, even pills.
The public is once again gripped by fear caused by a recurring wave of evil cult revelations. The recent confessions reported in the local media have sparked various reactions from the public.
It is, therefore, imperative to seek a sound balance between the two extremes of on one hand denying the very existence of the evil spirits and on the other demonising everything. One possible approach to this subject would be to explore our ‘world’ as Africans to be able to appreciate the predicament we are grappling with now.
Like all Africans, the Swazi indigenous religious orientation is based on a certain consolidated worldview, which is as old as humanity itself. A worldview refers to a comprehensive conception of the world by an individual or a group, from a specific standpoint; it is his/their way of understanding reality.
The beliefs, values and behaviours of a culture stem directly from the worldview. The African worldview is very distinct in its approach in that it makes no clear-cut separation between what is secular and sacred; the world is one, interconnected and indivisible. As one African proverb has stated, ‘our world is like a drum; strike any part of it and the vibration is felt all over.’ Hence, for Africans everything is looked upon in a religious perspective and every form of behaviour is imbued with religious significance. In a succinct analysis of the African worldview, African scholars have identified a six feature framework which explains the salient features underlying an indigenous conception of the world.
Belief
For the purposes of this discussion I will just mention one of these aspects, which is the widespread belief in the existence of the world of spirit power. From a primal perspective, a Swazi cannot be alone in the universe; he/she is part of a heavily populated spiritual world of powers or beings, even more powerful and ultimate than himself/herself. For that reason he/she has to live in harmony with the universe, obeying the laws of natural, moral and mystical order. The spirits that populate the universe have different but related classifications. You find them everywhere; in persons, trees, mountains, waterfalls, animals, sun, moon, and so on.
Notable about these spirits is that they are both benevolent and malevolent. The malevolent comprise evil spirits, demons, and occult powers of wizards and witches, which always threaten society with destruction. For an African nothing happens by accident; there are always causes and reasons for whatever misfortune, and a scenario must be established in which the malevolent powers are exposed and subsequently placed in a position where the community can deal with them accordingly. For example, a car accident cannot be caused by bad driving because the driver was drunk; there must be some spirits involved which ultimately caused the accident. Religious personages are, therefore, consulted to analyse events in order to determine cause and effect connections. The prescription that they would make would then provide an escape from the terrors of the evil forces.
Worldview
What happens, therefore, at conversion, when a Swazi with such a developed religious sense and thought patterns, has an encounter with Christ? He/she does not discard these traditional religious thought patterns; instead he/she interprets this new data in the light of some frame of understanding. This suggests that one’s worldview provides him/her with a ready made key to an understanding of the nature of the universe. Any new religious orientation would appeal to his/her religious instincts and susceptibilities that already existed. To be more precise, for a Swazi who co-exists with a variety of sources of power which impinge upon him/her, what happens at the level of these powers when he/she is converted to Christ? His/her conceptions of evil are not altered, but they are reoriented by Christ who enters the convert’s cosmology as a primary source of power.
To be continued...
I am convinced that for a sustained conversion experience, a person must elevate Jesus Christ to a position of Lordship in his/her power constellation, and keep him there through a Christ honouring lifestyle. Failing which, Christ is reduced to being simply an additional helpful source of power, perhaps equal in power with other lesser spirits. Without being judgmental, it is true that in this era of power hunger, fame and prosperity, it is not easy to ascertain the place of Jesus in another person’s conversion experience; some Christians would no doubt score high on a commercial gospel questionnaire as to the person of Christ.
If Christ has assumed Lordship in your life, and He has assured you protection from all the powers of darkness, that you consciously know, heavily populate the universe, why should you be enslaved by fear? ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.’ Such a declaration does not suggest that one denies the operations of evil forces, it just stretches your world further to realize that ‘greater is He that is in us than the evil one that is in the world….’ After the costly, but necessary Calvary experience of Christ, more than two thousand years ago, Christians pain Christ when they emphasize the ‘spiritual war path’ element than the celebration of His victory over evil. On the other hand the devil is tickled and amused to see Christians frustrated and threatened by his presence. I guess he interprets this special attention given to him to be like glorifying him more than Christ.
I know that if Sigmund Freud and Erik Erickson, some renowned psychological theorists were to resurrect from their graves they would give a different interpretation of this Satanism saga. They would attribute the behaviour of the teenagers alleged to have participated in occultism to the many complexities involved in the development and maturational stages of adolescence. They would analyse the scenario in terms of one’s identity at this transitional stage, whereby all earlier crystallizations of identity formed during childhood come into question, with the overwhelming combination of physical changes, increased sex drive, expanded mental abilities, and increasing and conflicting social demands. The theorists would claim that this is a critical stage for adolescents, to an extent that they can even reject their parents, and all that they stand for so that they can make a clean break from childhood as they attempt to form an identity of their own. With their sense of identify influx, they would find a sense of belonging in peer groups. Some would even engage in cult-tendencies as they journey to self-discovery. In the process there would be some ‘control freaks’ who would take advantage of the teenagers’ vulnerability and insecurities to serve their selfish ends.
Another person can give a different perspective of this Satanism saga in relation to the competition within the Christian fraternity, which unfortunately becomes a negation of the universal ontological solidarity revealed and realised in Christ. The competition for members and the money that goes with an increased affluent membership may tempt some Christians to engage in character assassination and blacklist others, thus corrupting the ‘Good news’ of Christ to be portrayed as ‘bad news.’ It is high time that every Christian, the men of the cloth in particular, reassess their vocation and break the chains of mammon and throw off the impediment of this ‘fashioned’ gospel. One even wonders if these new trends are not an indication that the country is now over evangelised, thus risking opening doors for impostors to flood Christians with more distressing religious opinions.
Whatever avenues of approach the public takes in interpreting the Satanism wave, the fact remains that Christians are not condemned to a fate of fear of spiritual powers, but are promised victory through Christ. They must therefore rid themselves of all the obsessive fear of evil and discover in the incarnate Christ the God who is in ontological solidarity with their human destiny. Sadly, this obsession can have far reaching repercussions on the Christian fraternity; it can divert the Christians’ focus to become ‘devil conscious’, at the expense of more threatening issues to the survival of the Church, like ecumenism, morality, poverty, economic recession, and so on. Also it can lead to people engaging in a ‘witch hunt’ to discover who does this and who does not do that. This can have serious implications on interpersonal relationships amongst Christians, thus threatening the unity of the church. Lastly, as much as we can not undermine and trivialize the experiences of some people with the mystical world, and the operations of evil on earth, we would like to maintain this profound truth that Christ gained victory over all evil.
Submitted by: (Mrs) Sonene Nyawo UNISWA Lecturer, Faculty of Humanities

Counting Down to Return to SD

2011-01-24T20:48:00.002+02:00

Teresa, Danielle, Nathanael, and Joelle are back in southern Africa after some excitement at the airport in Washington. Nathanael was dropped from the flight from Dulles to Johannesburg for some reason. Teresa managed after much cajoling (and I’m sure tears) to convince them she wasn’t going to leave her 16 year old at the airport to figure it out.

I (Daran) will be in the States through February 20. I am still looking for opportunities to share the vision for a clinic to serve the HIV population in Swaziland with any groups, small or large, church, home or civic. I would be grateful for any meeting that can be organized for us. I’m committed to traveling to where ever meetings can be organized.

Scheduled travel so far: January 23 - January 27 – Baton Rouge, LA
January 28 – January 29 – Shelby, NC
February 1 - February 4 – San Antonio, TX
February 17 – 20 – San Antonio, TX
February 21 - SWAZILAND!!!

My number while in the US is (978) 558-3251.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped set up the meetings we’ve already had. They have been a blessing to us and hopefully a blessing to those who were there.

Mission Trail Rotary, San Antonio, TX
Covenant Love Church, Fayetteville, NC
Messiah Lutheran Church, Coatesville, PA
Divinity Lutheran Church, Towson, MD
Woodbrook Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD
Leon Springs Baptist Church, San Antonio, TX
Capital City Rotary, Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge Round Table, Baton Rouge, LA
University Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge, LA
First Presbyterian Church, Morgantown, WV
Bauer’s Women’s Bible Study, Baton Rouge, LA
Hosanna Christian Academy, Baton Rouge, LA
Broadmoor United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, LA

We have a vision for developing a holistic medical clinic in the Maphiveni area to proactively cater to the HIV+ population there. In addition, to help address the long term poverty issues there, we want to begin developing a community centre that will help empower the most vulnerable to provide for themselves and give them control of their lives in a Christ centred environment.

God is good! He demonstrates His faithfulness to us in both big and small ways.
Blessings!
Daran & Teresa Rehmeyer
African Leadership Partners

Subtle Health Rationing
CHIPS Clinic
CHIPS - Children’s HIV Intervention Programme in Swaziland

Back in the USA!

2010-12-15T15:36:00.002+02:00

So we are back in the US until the 22nd of January. Gabby stays on to acclimate to US culture (get a driver’s license, get a car, get a job, etc) before starting college here in the fall. Please pray for her as transitioning from Swazi pace and culture to the US can be difficult.

Teresa and the other children return to Swaziland January 22 while Daran will be staying on for a number of weeks to continue raising funds for both our family support and the projects we continue to develop in Swaziland.

We are still looking for opportunities to share the projects God has given us the privilege to develop with any groups, small or large, church, home or civic. We would be grateful for any meeting that can be organized for us. We’re committed to traveling to where ever meetings can be organized.

Our number while in the US is (978) 558-3251.

We have made several recent posts to our blog that we would invite you to view:

Subtle Health Rationing

CHIPS Clinic

CHIPS Children’s HIV Intervention in Swaziland

We have a vision for developing a holistic medical clinic in the Maphiveni area to proactively cater to the HIV+ children and caregivers in this area. In addition, to help address the long term poverty issues there, we want to begin developing a community centre that will help empower the most vulnerable to provide for themselves and give them control of their lives thru micro finance and personal income generation projects (like making jams, harvesting moringa, quality handcrafts….).

God continues to be very good to us! We are looking forward to continuing the work and ministry in Swaziland with your prayers and support.

Blessings!

Daran & Teresa Rehmeyer

African Leadership Partners

Subtle Health Rationing

2010-11-27T16:16:00.006+02:00

Whiteside was gloomy about the future of Swaziland's AIDS response "now that the money's running dry".

"I think it means that we'll start rationing - it'll be a subtle form of rationing where we'll say we'll provide treatment in [the eastern provincial capital] Siteki and if you live 30km away you won't get treatment because you won't be able to get there; or, you used to have to wait four hours to see a doctor, now you have to wait 12 and some of you die in the queue," he said.

"We don't have the courage to ration in an explicit manner, so we will do it in an implicit manner."

Swaziland: Declining Customs Union Revenues Threaten Aids Response,16 November 2010

There was some shock registered as I read this. Maphiveni is 50km from Siteki. The CHIPS programme was developed because effectively, the people in this impoverished community were already being denied access to care at Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki only because there was no way they could afford the transport to the hospital.
But to read a prognosis from one of the premier HIV/AIDS researchers here in southern Africa stating explicitly what would be the outcome of even further reductions in government support for combating HIV/AIDS was still a shock. The children, mothers and people of Maphiveni deserve better.
Please join us in praying for the funds to move ahead with a dedicated clinic in Maphiveni to serve the HIV population in this area.

Homeward Bound

2010-11-01T09:22:00.006+02:00

We are beginning the process of planning for our (short) seven week trip back to the States: December 5 thru January 22. While we will be spending time with family and saying goodbye to Gabby, we would welcome the opportunity to share what we have been doing and our work going forward.

URGENT: understanding that this trip straddles the holidays, we would still welcome any opportunities to address groups (Bible studies, prayer groups, civic organizations, etc) over this period that would be interested in what is going on in Swaziland. We have been promised ‘frequent flyer’ miles so any trips off our scheduled itinerary are still possible.

We have made two recent posts to our blog that we would invite you to view:

CHIPS Clinic

and

CHIPS Children’s HIV Intervention in Swaziland

We have a vision for developing a holistic medical clinic in the Maphiveni area to proactively cater to the HIV+ children and caregivers in this area. In addition, to help address the long term poverty issues there, we want to begin developing a community center that will help empower the most vulnerable to provide for themselves and give them control of their lives thru micro finance and personal income generation projects (like making jams, harvesting moringa, quality handcrafts….).

God has been very good to us! By His grace we have survived many rough spots here over the past few years. We have been blessed to be able to join in prayer for requests from some of you in the States. Life can be challenging whether you are at home or in a foreign culture. We look forward to continue to work and minister in Swaziland with your prayers and support.

Blessings!

Daran & Teresa Rehmeyer

www.AfricanLeadershipPartners.org

CHIPS Clinic

2010-10-24T17:21:00.001+02:00

What can I say? Valleys, deserts, furnace, pain, despair, brokenness, hurt, sorrow. These are all emotions or emotional states that many of the Swazi people face on a daily basis. God has allowed our family to suffer just a little bit of some of these over the past two years. Maybe God allowed some circumstances to happen to strengthen our faith, or to help us be more empathetic to others who are hurting. Of course our suffering is nothing in comparison to what many people face on a daily basis.

Our work with the CHIPS program in the rural areas of Vuvulane and Maphiveni has not been without its challenges, but God has allowed us to reach the forgotten poor people in these areas with much needed medical assistance for HIV/AIDS and TB. We would like to see this work expand from just in-community testing, counseling and transport to an actual holistic clinic where all of the medical needs of our patients can be met.

We had the opportunity to visit the St. Phillips Mission last week with our CHIPS team. It was an awesome experience sharing with our dear friends Sister Diane and Sister Barbara, who also have such vision and passion for helping the people of Swaziland! They have developed a system there where they work in the nearby communities making sure that no one goes without medical assistance for HIV/AIDS, placing orphans in school, and caring for the poor. The clinic there for HIV/AIDS patients takes care of all of their medical needs, whether it be TB, diabetes, or high blood pressure. They also have staff that are called 'default finders', who go out and get the patients who miss their appointments and bring them in. They have a staff of about 13 people working with them for this medical mission. They are really making a difference in the communities that they work in.

We as CHIPS would love to duplicate this program in the area that we work in. As of now we have 2 staff, 2 missionaries, and have just hired a 3rd staff who will start in December. So we would have to grow in staff and in funding to make this work. We would also like to see a community center where income generation projects can take place, as well as English literacy training and day care. These are the dreams we have for our program for the future. We place these dreams in God’s hand and ask that His will be done and doors open as He sees fit for this work that is HIS in the first place. We want to go the direction that He wants. Please help us pray for His will and His hand in all of these things.

We covet your prayers for our family. It has been a difficult 2 years for all of us, as well as a time of growing and drawing close to the Lord and to each other. Satan would love to discourage us and cause us to lose our faith, but we know that all things work together for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. What Satan means for destruction, God will use for His glory and honor. So although we are tired and weary, our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is strong by His grace and mercy. He is always faithful!

Liyana the Movie

2010-10-02T15:43:00.005+02:00

Here's an exciting development! Perhaps you can help.

Many have seen the award winning film Peter & Mary Jean Kopp's son Aaron made about New Life Homes. It has been selected for screening at several international film festivals. It has also been an outstanding tool for ALP to give people a good look at what ALP is doing in a remote corner of Swaziland. As a result, a broad spectrum of people have been drawn into the circle of knowledge, on-going interest, and support.

For some time Aaron's dream has been to develop a full length documentary that accurately depicts the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in Africa. The message would flow from the lives of the children in our care at New Life Children's Homes.

This venture is close to becoming a reality! He plans to do the first and major portion of the filming in December and January.

He has had amazing interest and support from across the spectrum. One of the ALP Board members, Dr. Bob Beilke, Pediatric Psychologist at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, Washington, who has worked with the New Life Homes children and caregivers several times is very keen on this project. He believes it could significantly help the children process their experiences through the story-telling approach Aaron has in mind. Bob expects the children will make progress in their own healing from their traumatic backgrounds.

In addition, awareness of this successful model for orphan care will be significantly extended. We expect to see more resources made available for future developments.

We need some help to get this off the ground. The goal is to raise close to $25,000 before the end of October. The good news is that we are already more than half way there!!

Please visit the wonderful website, www.liyanathemovie.com You will find a number of great images, entertaining and informative video clips, and interviews.

You can make a difference by helping to get the message out through a donation, joining close to a hundred motivated partners. Pledge right on-line, or by mailing a check to African Leadership Partners, designated for "Liyana the Movie".

CHIPS Childrens HIV Intervention in Swaziland

2010-09-11T16:26:00.005+02:00

Vusile & Jabu

2010-08-31T19:50:00.005+02:00

We had a chance to visit some of the areas helped by CHIPS in Lubombo this week. Especially gratifying was visiting Vusile and Jabu. Both live at the same homestead. Jabu is being treated for Kaposi Sarcoma (an opportunistic HIV related cancer). She had begun treatment with the help of CHIPS, but quit because of the side effects of the chemotherapy. CHIPS Jabulani and Mary convinced her to restart treatment last week. She met someone in the treatment center who was suffering worse side effects than she had been. I think it help her realize she could do it and see it through. Jabulanii commented that the blemishes typical of KS were beginning to fade and shrink.

Vusile, on the other hand was scooting about, happy and smiling in the walker donated for him by Cindy Martin with All for Jesus. Vusile has cerebral palsy and with no care or treatment available, was left to craw on the ground.

Please pray for Jabu's continued recovery and treatment, that Vusile would have access to proper medical intervention and for our continued ability to show God's love and compassion to these communities in a powerful and real way.

CHIPS Picts

2010-08-01T16:58:00.004+02:00

Here are some recent pictures from Maphiveni and CHIPS. Thanks to Ian and Jenn! They show a community volunteer that has helped us greatly by identifying people who are sick who are part of CHIPS and those who would benefit from being part of the program. We supplied the fencing to help her protect her garden (the chickens and dogs were ruining it before). Also shown are Mary and Jabulani (and a cute baby).

June Rehmeyer Update

2010-06-18T22:56:00.003+02:00

It has been a few months since we sent an update. That means we need your prayers even more as we have all been exceptionally busy (overwhelmed sometimes?).

This past month ended on a very tumultuous note. A dear, sweet, Godly mother of three passed away after a very short illness. We had both worked with her while we were a part of Children’s Cup. Gugu Dlamini was one of the most vibrant, alive, joyous people we knew. She was a very dedicated mother. When we moved last year, we had given her two of our dogs. Her kids were overjoyed to have them as pets. We will miss her infectious laugh and quick smile. We know the staff at Children’s Cup will miss her tremendously as well. She was a special lady. We are in the process of setting up a memorial fund for her three daughters to help cover university tuition after they complete high shool.

This month started with Daran beginning a new term at the Lighthouse Ministry Training Institute, teaching Money Matters: God’s Answer to Poverty to the newest class. Unexpectedly, there were about six students re-attending the class from the previous terms (which means it was either very good or they are really boredJ). The glass etching is still being used as an integral part of the Life Skills Training. We are hoping to move the glass kiln to the site next month to start experimenting with slumping glass.

We welcome the addition of Ian and Jenn Stephens to work with us in Tambankulu and CHIPS (Children’s HIV Intervention Programme in Swaziland). Ian and Jenn are here serving under TEAM. They have been in Swaziland for a number of years and specifically moved to Tambankulu to assist us with CHIPS. We are thankful for their commitment and confidence in the programme.

Teresa is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network. Please pray for her as she strives to walk the line between pushing for progress on providing cancer diagnoses and treatment here and not offending the powers that be in government (that neither move very quickly or have the same priorities) by pushing for progress on the new cervical clinic that the Network has the funds to build, but can’t seem to get permission from the government to move ahead with the construction. Equipment for diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer has been provided by WHO. Training is being funded by UNFPA, but nothing can move forward until approval is given. Women are dying every day from cervical cancer here in Swaziland, unnecessarily. It is extremely frustrating to know that many lives can be saved, but not be able to do anything about it!

All the kids are back in school beginning the second term. Gabby just finished a 4000 word paper that is a huge part of her grade for this year. She has been working hard, and is now looking at a few Universities in the states that she will apply to. We are praying that she can get a good scholarship. Danielle is also doing well in school. She plays the keyboard for church and is becoming more and more confident. Nathan is excelling academically, and he is also playing the bass and electric guitar at church. Joelle is very busy with sports and activities, as well as academics. She is playing field hockey, netball, swimming, tennis, cross country, judo, and gymnastics. She is also in the school choir and has a lovely voice. They are all getting so big, It’s hard to believe it sometimes! We are very blessed!

The Talking Bible

2010-05-06T17:17:00.002+02:00

We met today with the head of a missions group called Cross Connection Outreach. They are working in Mozambique to put the New Testament into an audio player for each of the native languages in that country (they have finished 3 of the 40 some odd languages spoken there). This is primarily for distribution to illiterate and blind people living in relative isolation. Their trip to Swaziland was to make connections to distribute the newly released siSwati Talking Bible to non-English speaking and illiterate people here. Each Bible is also distributed with a small solar panel so relying on batteries and that cost burden is overcome.
We are looking forward to being able to distribute these Bibles to the members of CHIPS in the Maphiveni and Vuvulane communities. Many of the people in these communities speak little or no English and are illiterate as well. We are trusting that being able hear God's word in their own language will be a huge blessing and in turn bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ!

Update on Hope

2010-03-23T20:36:00.002+02:00

By the time Hope got to South Africa (SA) on the 15th of January, she was 32 weeks into her pregnancy and she was too sick to receive chemotherapy. She had to wait there until the baby was 38 weeks. She had a C-Section on the 4th of February and had a healthy baby boy, Praise the Lord!
I received an email from her doctor on the 11th of February saying that she was waiting for payment from the government so she could start treatment on her. At that point I sent an email to the Director of the Ministry of Health and made some phone calls and prayed. She did finally receive her first treatment a couple of weeks later.
Hope came home from SA the first week of March. The baby died on the 4th of March for unknown reasons. She said that the baby was not sick. When I received the message through my Swazi staff, they said that she believes that the evil spirits killed the baby because she had traveled with him before he was a month old. Traditional Swazi’s don’t take their babies out of the home before they are a month old because they believe that they are vulnerable to these things, which is very sad.
She was scheduled to return to SA for her second treatment on the 11th of March. However, government transport is not running again and she can’t get there. Unfortunately, this is the end of the government fiscal year and they have run out of funds. I have tried every way that I know to get her there, but I can’t pay for her to go, because if I do, I will have to do it for all of the others and I can’t do that. There are 33 patients right now that need to get to South Africa for treatment or doctor’s appointment. Ten out of the 33 are cancer patients, who need care and treatment. It is so sad to have to tell them that there is nothing I can do. Many of them are very sick.
I just got word today, 18th March that the government is releasing some funds to start transport again next week, after not running for 3 or 4 weeks. They usually run on a weekly basis, except for holidays. However, it will take many weeks to catch up and get 33 patients there. The ambulance only seats 6 people. Starting on Monday, they will reschedule all of their appointments and then make the transport schedule. I have asked them to please give my cancer patients priority so that they can get back to their treatments, which are supposed to be on an every 3 week schedule in order to be effective. I was told to call back on Monday. Please help me pray that this process will go smoothly and quickly for the sake of the lives of Hope and the other patients here in Swaziland.

Aggressive Anti-Viral Therapy Could Derail Spread of AIDS - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com

2010-02-21T08:52:00.003+02:00

Treat HIV infection to stop spread vs. just treating a late stage disease! We've often wondered why this approach hasn't been taken to decrease the number of new HIV infections.

Aggressive Anti-Viral Therapy Could Derail Spread of AIDS - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com

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Hope

2010-02-03T13:36:00.003+02:00

I am writing today about one of the breast cancer patients, who we'll call Hope. She is 38 years old and was diagnosed with breast cancer last year in September. She came with a large tumor and she was also pregnant. The Cuban oncologist and surgeon wanted to abort the baby right away to save the mother. She already has 3 other children, and they thought that it would be better for the other 3 children to have a healthy mother. You see, the same hormones that are high during pregnancy, also feed the breast cancer and make it grow and spread. So, we had a meeting with the oncologist, surgeons, and gynecologists at the government hospital. The gynecologists did not want to abort the baby, mainly because it is against the law in Swaziland and they did not want to have to plead her case with government. They didn’t believe that it was a matter of life or death for the mother, which is the only way the government would allow an abortion. The oncologist and surgeons did believe that it was a matter of life or death for the mother. We decided to get a second opinion from an oncologist in South Africa.
The oncologist in South Africa said that she could give her chemotherapy since she was in her second trimester of pregnancy. So, the mastectomy was done first on September 10th, and the paperwork for getting her to South Africa was started. During this time, the oncologist in South Africa had stopped taking patients from Swaziland because the government hadn’t payed her in 5 months. It was becoming very expensive for her to continue buying the chemotherapy without reimbursement. So there were many patients waiting to go to South Africa for treatment by the time things were settled between the oncologist and the Swaziland government. The hospital transport was really busy and patients had to wait a long time for the appointment for transport. Patients need to start chemo within six weeks after the mastectomy. Many of them were way over that time frame. Hope was one of these, but the doctor said to send her anyway and she would see her. By the time she got to the doctor in South Africa, on the 2nd of December, she already had metastatic disease, which means that the disease had spread to her lungs and to a lymph node in her left clavicle area, above her chest.
The doctor was planning to start treating her before Christmas. She was scheduled to take hospital transport on the 21st of December. She traveled across the country to the hospital, ready to go, and there was no transport (the driver never showed up). Then she was scheduled again for the 4th of January, again, no transport (same story). By the time we saw her in clinic again on the 14th of January, she was very weak and short of breath. Also, we found something suspicious in her other breast. When we checked with the hospital transport, the next available date was the 26th of January. She was so afraid, weak, and crying. By this time, she was 32 weeks pregnant.
We (oncologist, nurses, and surgeon) all sat and felt like crying ourselves! What do we do now? Then I remembered that Daran (my husband) was going to South Africa the next day to pick up friends from the airport. I decided that I would go with him, and take the patient. I called the oncologist in South Africa, who was on leave, but had been corresponding with me via email. She told me to bring her and she would make the arrangements with her partner.
So, we started our trip to Johannesburg, South Africa the next day. I was able to talk to her about the Lord, a little bit, enough to understand that she does know Jesus and to tell her that we have people all over praying for her and her baby! That brought a big smile to her face. She was also complaining of sharp pains in the area of her mastectomy. At the border, she was so weak, I had to help her walk, and she couldn’t stand in line for very long. By the time we made it through the border, she was exhausted, especially since she had already made a 2 hour trip with public transport that same morning just to get back to Mbabane. She slept in the car. About an hour into the trip we had car trouble, but praise the Lord, we finally made it! She was admitted to the maternity ward, and I had to leave her soon after arriving to the hospital. We still had to go get our friends and get back to Mbabane before the border closed at 10pm and it was getting late. She didn’t want me to leave, but I told her that we were praying and that I would call and check on her. She is in good hands, the Lord and the doctors there!
Please keep Hope and her baby in your prayers! I believe that the Lord will protect this baby and bring healing to this mother, in the Name of Jesus! I will keep you posted on the progress of these two who are both very precious in the eyes of our Savior!

CHIPS Moves into Macethuka

2010-01-18T07:42:00.003+02:00

A week ago we made our first official CHIPS visit into Macethuka. Macethuka (which means 'sleeping on your back') is a settlement of sugar cane farm workers who work in Vuvulane, a sugar cooperative. The people here are living as squatters, but allowed to stay as long as they work in the fields. Over seventy people attended our CHIPS introduction meeting. Teresa discussed the purpose of CHIPS and who is eligible to participate: primarily HIV+ children and/or HIV+ caregivers to the children.
Daran took the opportunity to address the men of the community to encourage them to take responsibility for their health. They, like most men around the world, wait till they are literally on death's door step before they will admit they need help and seek health care. It is a sign of weakness to seek medical help! For many that means a death sentence. In early January we received another message from Jabaulani that yet another man from Maphiveni (in his early 40's) had died just a week from being initiated on Anti-Retro-Virals (ARV's) with CHIPS. He had waited too long to seek help.
This past Friday, Jabulani and Mary visited Macethuka again to begin the process of registering people into the program (those who may already know they are HIV+) and to begin the process of educating and identifying children and caregivers who should be tested (because of ongoing health issues, family history, etc).
Mary was hired in November to give CHIPS the capacity to expand into additional communities. This is the first of two additional communities we'll move CHIPS into this year. Mary also brings the expertise to begin HIV testing in the community. If we can test in the community, it will reduce the number of people-trips required to Good Shepherd Hospital's HIV testing centre and make more seats available on the khombi (passenger van) for other CHIPS participants. We do however need to purchase an additional vehicle so Mary can get to these communities. We would ask that you would consider partnering with us to facilitate this. A decent vehicle that will survive the gravel roads will cost us about 35000 Emalangeni (about $5000 USD). CHIPS saves lives.

Syncretism

2009-12-19T07:49:00.002+02:00

Syncretism - Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous. Free On Line Dictionary
Christianity in Swaziland is a mix of traditional religions (primarily ancestor worship) and the fundamental principles or concepts of Christianity. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the Religions in Swaziland are: Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship), Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, other (includes Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish) 30%. What these "official" statistics fail to show is that large percentages of the non-Zionist sects are still influenced greatly by ancestor worship: maybe not at an official level, but by a large number of the adherents in each of the other groupings. We have come across many people in working here that will consult a sangoma, go to the hospital, and also have a Christian pastor pray for them. It's called covering all your bases. A sangoma is different from an inyanga. An inyanga is primarily an herbalist: using medicines made from plants, herbs and animals. A sangoma relies on (ancestral) spirits to guide them in finding a cure. A Swazi pastor we respect greatly has told us he refuses to consult an inyanga because he is unsure where the spiritist and the herbalist draw the line (he is also in line to be a chief but has totally turned his back on his family line because of the ancestor worship and spiritual aspects of becoming a traditional chief).
So why this discourse?
I sat in a meeting yesterday where a very educated Swazi woman told her story of becoming a sangoma. It was interesting and she has every right to make those choices. However, the one thing that I found astounding was her proclamation that she was also a born-again Christian and saw no conflict between the two: a follower of the risen Jesus Christ, son of the Living God and listening to spirits of dead ancestors who guide her. Syncretism. Her defense was a reference to John the Baptist and that we still read what he said in the Bible 2000 years later(?). (I don't think most of us made the connection.)
From the beginning, Judaism had to battle the pressure of the "chosen people of God" to remain faithful and separate from the pagan religious practices of the nations that surrounded them. Ultimately the vast majority of them failed: thereby the judgment from God and the destruction of their temple and deportation to various other kingdoms. Christianity, whether Western or Swazi faces the same pressures: being faithful and separate from the practices of the surrounding pagan or Godless culture or trying to syncretize the two. The synctretization of Christianity and traditional Swazi ancestor worship flies in the face of Biblical truth. We have met very few Swazi's who are still not influenced by it at a high level and many less who will denounce it outright.
But, even as westerners, we probably do the same thing with different inflences, only more subtly. We need to be on our guard to protect the truth the Bible teaches without selectively ignoring or diluting it to match our selfish preferences!
I would ask that you pray for the nation and king of Swaziland. There are many examples in Kings and Chronicles of kings who chose righteousness and a break from the pagan practices that preceded them and the blessings that flowed because of it. 'nough said

Fana 1981 - 10 November 2009

2009-11-23T21:45:00.002+02:00

The young man we spoke about in the last update passed away on November 10. We visited him on Friday, prayed with him and tried to teach his family how to care for him. One thing Teresa stressed to them was how important it was that he continue drinking. He had already stopped eating because of the sores in his throat and mouth. On Saturday we got a call that his family had called and he had stopped drinking as well. Jabulani put him in the CHIPS khombi and took him to Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki. He was admitted.
We got the call on Tuesday that he had died.
He was slated to start on ART (Anti Retro-viral Treatment) on Thursday.
It is a shame that most men (and plenty of women as well) will live in denial until they are too weak to even respond to treatment. At that point HIV really is a death sentence.
Our hope and prayer is that even for those who choose to ignore the situation (and maybe the obvious), we will still have the opportunity to minister and demonstrate Christ's love to them and their family in an obvious way.

Children's HIV Intervention Progam

2009-11-07T20:12:00.004+02:00

On Friday's we typically head to Tambankulu to visit with Jabulani (and recently hired Mary) who do the day-to-day operation of C.H.I.P.S. Yesterday we caught up with them at Good Shepherd Hospital (GSH) in Siteki. They had brought 6 people to the VCT for initiation, CD4 results, and doctor visits.
While there we visited with Sikhumbuzo, a 7 year old boy on CHIPS. He had been admitted earlier in the week for yet another bout of bronchial pneumonia. Teresa went to see him in the children's ward. He was eating with the other children and watching TV. Teresa gave him a hug and commented how clean and fresh he smelled. He was being taken care of by a person on the hospital staff, who also cares for upwards of fifteen other children. His mother doesn't come visit him at all. We were thinking he is taken better care of at the hospital than at home. He was recovering well and would probably be released next week. CHIPS will help cover his hospitalization costs.
From there we went with Mary to visit a bed ridden man on CHIPS in Maphiveni. His wife has been with CHIPS and on ART for several months and is doing very well; she is healthy, (very) pregnant and very close to her due date. He on the other hand has (like most men) lived in denial of any health problems (and maybe especially HIV) till it is almost too late. Now completely bed ridden, barely eating (because of sores in his throat), he is wasting away. We delivered adult diapers, gloves, and Oral Rehydration Salts given to CHIPS by the Home Care outreach at GSH. His CD4 count was 130 at the last test. He is scheduled to be initiated on ART next week.
Teresa knelt by his bed (blankets on the floor) with Mary to go over his medical condition and giving his wife and relatives instruction on how to best care for him. He should have been admitted to the hospital, but there are no free beds.
Teresa took the opportunity to talk with him about Jesus. Mary interpreted. He was too weak to respond.
Given he won't even be initiated on ART till next week and he is already so weak and has progressed so far with the disease, his chances of survival are small. We honestly don't think he will make it till next week but are hoping he makes it to ART initiation and begins to recover once on drug.
Please partner with us so we can reach children and caregivers much earlier in the disease progression. Their survival depends upon reaching them early and beginning ART early.

Moringa Study

2009-10-18T21:38:00.003+02:00

As a supplement to the CHIPS program, we are growing a new food supplement, called Moringa. It is a tree that grows green leaves that are full of vitamins and minerals that act as a wonderful food supplement, especially to the HIV positive population. We have a crop that was planted in Pastor La'Salettes garden in February. We just harvested our first crop last week. The leaves are dried and pounded into a powder to be used as a food supplement. We are planning to distribute this powder to the surrounding communities through La'Salette's church. Once people start using it and see the benefits, we would like to teach them to plant a crop and take care of it and possibly be able to harvest for their own use, as well as be able to sell it as an income generating project for their families. Assistant Pastor Jabulani at Christian Family Church in Swaziland has been tasked with taking care of the plants, harvesting and drying the leaves, and pounding them into powder.
Ed Lin, with Impala Development Services has helped spearhead introduction of Moringa in Swaziland. He would like to do a research study with the children in our communities comparing the differences in body weight, arm circumference, disease assessment, etc. He would like to compare children taking Moringa on a regular basis with those who are not. This should be an interesting study. We will do monthly assessments for 6 months, hopefully utilizing a student nurse to assist us.

Kudvumisa Glass - Life Skills Training

2009-10-07T09:49:00.002+02:00

These are some of the primary challenges youth face in Swaziland today:

A culture that stifles innovation and creative thinking.
An education system that does not have the infrastructure or capital to educate the children through primary or secondary grades.
Rampant under and unemployment.
Children growing up lacking the moral and social knowledge and life skills normally passed on to children by parents because of the loss of all or nearly all family members to AIDS.

In answer to this, a program whose goal is to help break the cycle of poverty is essential. Our approach is three-fold: 1. teaching personal and fiscal responsibility through a course entitled Money Matters , a second course we have developed which picks up with the practical implementation of the Money Matters course, 2. Participation in a working business model under Kudvumisa Glass, and 3. using Kudvumisa Glass to help develop the creativity and stimulate the imagination of the youth in the program.
We want to impart and establish lasting Godly principles in these youth that will change their lives by teaching sustainable business and personal skills; for these youth to move from a position of poverty and dependency to self reliance and confidence.

So I'm putting this out for prayer. I believe that art (art therapy?) can play an important role in reaching the goal of #3 above. If you have that skill and the desire to use it in a completely different arena than where you are right now, would you consider praying how God may be able to use you here in Swaziland? The youth in this program (and pretty much country wide) have experienced deep trauma due to loss of parents, siblings, exploitation, and drug and alcohol abuse. I'm an engineer with an engineer's approach. It would benefit the youth in the program to have art taught by someone who can use it to help heal the wounds of everyday life here.

CHIPS program

2009-10-06T09:16:00.000+02:00

The Children’s HIV Intervention Program Swaziland is growing! We have approximately 150 to 200 patients on the program now. This includes children and caregivers. There are also many challenges with this program. Many of the adult patients that we have enrolled on the program have advanced disease, and many times it is too late for the ARV’s to be effective. We need to start doing more education in the communities to promote early diagnosis. Another challenge is to decide when a patient is dying, is it better to leave them at home with their family, or admit them to the hospital, where the care is sub-standard to die alone? Also, how much responsibility should we take, as far as paying for hospital admits, expenses surrounding death, such as casket, morgue fees, funeral, transport for family members, etc. This gets very expensive, and we need to manage what God has given us for this program appropriately.
We are now beginning year 2 of the CHIPS program, and we are ready to hire a second person so we can further expand. Jabulani has done an excellent job running the program. He is a patient advocate in many ways. When there is an issue with a patient or with the system, he isn’t afraid to go to the top to get the issue resolved. He contacted the TB Coordinator for the region, when he didn’t get the solution needed for the care of our patients. He helps at the hospital with counseling in the HIV clinic, which helps move our patients through faster, and also builds alliances in the system. The staff know they can count on Jabulani to pitch in and help them, so they are willing to help with our patients as well.
We have begun interviewing for the second position. Please pray for wisdom for us as we interview and choose our 2nd counselor for CHIPS. We want the person that God wants for us.

Two Steps Forward; Ten Steps Backwards

2009-10-03T10:55:00.001+02:00

I found out last week that the mastectomy specimens at the government hospital, which have for the past year been sent to the private lab and been paid for by Breast Cancer Network, are now being sent to the government lab again. The reason we send them to the private lab is that the government lab takes months to get results back, and we get results back from the private lab in 7-10 days. For Zodwa, it took the government lab 11 months before her pathology report was available. This is just not acceptable for cancer specimens. Evidently, the pathologist has convinced the powers that be, in the government system that he is able to get reports back in 15 days. I spoke to the surgeon and told him, this just isn’t true. The last one that was sent on the 30th of July still wasn’t ready on the 8th of September. This is extremely frustrating to me, especially since it causes our patients treatments to be delayed. Please pray for wisdom for us in this situation! We are planning to keep track of the data, when specimens are sent and when reports are available and report this to the Principle Secretary of the Ministry of Health. I am just concerned about how many patients treatment will be delayed and outcomes affected!

Ethical & Moral Dilemma

2009-10-01T09:03:00.002+02:00

We are doing two weekly breast cancer clinics in Mbabane and Manzini each week. This is an opportunity for women to have examinations free of charge . A lady in her mid-to late thirties that has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, just informed us that she is 3 or 4 months pregnant. She has small children at home to take are of as well. This is a very difficult situation, because the same hormones that sustain the baby, also cause the breast cancer to grow and spread. So if she continues with the pregnancy without treatment, the cancer grows and spreads. However, if we give her treatment during the pregnancy, the baby is compromised. I am very much against abortion, however, in this case, I don’t know what the right answer is. I have discussed my feelings with the doctor, but ultimately, the decision is not mine. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and the lady in this situation, and for God’s perfect will to be done!

Late addition: we had a special meeting on Saturday with the doctors to discuss her case. It looks like we will be able to give chemo in the third trimester that may not affect the baby!

3rd World Medical

2009-09-24T18:32:00.000+02:00

Working within the government medical system in a third world country is quite challenging, I must say. The chemotherapy program still isn’t up and running. For a while I kind of lost hope that it would be. We recently had a meeting with a private oncologist in Jo’burg, thanks to my friend who works with a pharmaceutical company in South Africa. This meeting was very encouraging. This doctor has worked in the government system before and is well aware of budget constraints and other limitations that we are facing. He is willing to assist us with fund raising, and training our nurses in mixing and administering chemotherapy. We are now working on getting approval from the Ministry of Health here in Swaziland to partner with this oncologist for the chemotherapy and breast cancer program.
Last week at the breast cancer clinic at the government hospital, we saw a lady that literally crawled into the clinic, because she was too weak to walk any further. This lady has advanced breast cancer. The cancer has actually caused the breast to turn inside out and is now growing into the chest wall. She had been admitted to the hospital just the week before and had fluid drained off of her lungs and sent to the lab. The report came back that it was metastatic breast cancer. She was now at the point that she had so much fluid on her lungs that she could hardly breathe. We sent her to x-ray via wheelchair with her family to have another chest x-ray done. We received word that she had collapsed in x-ray and was brought back up to the outpatient department. The doctor and I went over to check on her and we found her lying on a exam table with an oxygen mask blowing 02 in her face. No one had noticed that she was already dead. No respirations, and no pulse. We took the oxygen off. Her daughter was sitting in a chair in the next room and she asked me if she would be OK? I had to tell her that we had lost her. The young girl (probably early 20’s) dropped her phone and everything in her lap and screamed and cried! I took her in to see her mother. She just kept saying “Make, Make” (which means mother in SiSwati). She asked, “How could God let this happen?”I was able to talk with her and comfort her and pray with her. I helped her call her family members on my phone. She had no airtime on her phone. Her brother and her uncle came, and I was also able to talk with them. Later that afternoon I received a call from the uncle thanking me for being with them and helping them. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to minister to the broken hearted!

Swaziland Update

2009-09-21T08:40:00.003+02:00

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus!

The past 12 months have been most eventful: defining our place within a new organization and our own ministry goals, computer crashes, forced eviction (by none other than our own embassy), vehicle challenges, ……

But, we are thankful that our God is faithful and that everything we go through works to our good. And while we can attest that we don’t see the good immediately, looking back, we can see His hand in everything:

· Working with African Le adership Partners (ALP) has enabled us to focus on the programs and ministry that God has uniquely given us.

· Being forced to move actually has worked to our benefit. The rent on the house we moved to is significantly cheaper than the house we’ve been in. The house we’ve moved to feels more like a home, more so than the other one ever did. There are enough rooms in this house for all the kids to have their own bedrooms and for Daran to have an office as well.

Ministry Projects

CHIPS: we are finishing up the first year of the Children’s HIV Intervention Programme in Swaziland. Over 400 children and caregivers have tested for HIV through the program this year. 7.3% of the children we’ve facilitated testing have tested HIV+. 49.5% of the caregivers have tested HIV+. CHIPS has allowed us to facilitate life giving care for these children and caregivers. Without it, these children would have faced debilitating disease and certain death. Without it, these caregivers would have succumbed to the disease and left even more orphans. We have had painful experiences during this year as well. Several participants have died, having been brought into the program too late to be able to help medically. But through that, there have been many opportunities to minister to the ailing children and caregivers and to their families and relatives. As we start year 2 of CHIPS, we ask you to continue to pray for wisdom for us to manage and expand the program to new areas and to effectively and personally share the hope found only in Jesus. Regardless of the outcome of any disease or circumstance in any of our lives, the only thing that really matters is that Hope.

Kudvumisa Glass: The youth “skills training” program has continued to develop this year. We have taken the Money Matters course developed and taught by Peter Kopp of ALP and taught it at both full day seminars and weekly classes. We have developed a Money Matters II course as well. Both of these courses have become the core of the skills program. The goal of our skills program was never to ONLY teach a hard skill, but to help effect life changing attitudes relating to personal responsibility, creativity, and recognizing the unique mix of talents, abilities, and dreams God has placed into every one of us. We have teamed with Hawane Lighthouse to implement the Kudvumisa Glass program. Young adults enter the facility through Teen Challenge at Emafini, older orphans from the Lighthouse Care Centres, and referrals from churches around Swaziland. They live at Hawane attending Bible training classes and learning basic life skills (gardening and small livestock). We began teaching the Money Matters courses this term at Hawane and to teach and train on the glass art skills (glass etching, blowing, slumping, beadwork, etc). We hope to move all of the equipment on site over the next few months. This is a huge step forward as we now have a “captive audience” to implement the program, real classroom and real computer lab space to teach the glass skills, and space to set up the equipment on site. We can’t express how excited we are to be able to work with Hawane Lighthouse to offer this program and to further develop what we can offer.

Swaziland Breast Cancer Network: Teresa continues to work with SBCN to help develop a breast cancer care program here. There is no point in trying to develop a first world program in a third world country. Besides impractical, based on standard of care, it would be impossible due to budget at all levels. So SBCN is trying to develop a basic program that will begin the process of developing first class care. Working in a system that often is dysfunctional and even more often doesn’t seem to really care at all about the outcome for a patient can be extremely frustrating. But even in this Teresa has had many opportunities to minister to hurting women and their families. That is a blessing.

The Rehmeyer Family

All of the kids continue to work hard at school. We have Gabby here with us for one more year as she completes the International Baccalaureate program at Waterford. We would ask you to keep our children in your prayers: that they can do their best in school and also develop a heart for ministry. They are learning to play various instruments which is allowing them to help play for worship at church. This is a tremendous opportunity and responsibility for them.

Support & Help

We want to thank everyone who has helped support us here. There have been many donations of one time support and many monthly contributors. We are reliant on everyone who prays for us here. You are all a part of this work. Please continue to lift us up in prayer and prayerful support.

We are asking for a different kind of donation at this point. Teresa and the kids would like to return to the States for Christmas this year. Financially we don’t think it is feasible based on our current support levels. We are asking for donations of frequent flyer miles so that they can afford to return for a few weeks. If you have been able to accumulate points from travel or possibly from a credit card, we would ask that you see what you could donate to us. It would be a tremendous blessing to Teresa, the kids, and family in the States.

Blessings in Christ!

Daran & Teresa

Gabrielle, Danielle, Nathanael, & Joelle

Kaposi’s Sarcoma

2009-09-20T08:39:00.001+02:00

We have two patients on the CHIPS program who have Kaposi’s Sarcoma. This is an opportunistic cancer that is common among HIV positive people. It causes big dark ugly skin lesions to form on parts of their bodies. One of the ladies has it all over her face as well as her body. It can become painful and infected. If a person has this, they are considered stage 4 HIV disease. The only treatment is chemotherapy. The government hospital in Mbabane tries to treat these patients, but frequently run out of drugs and are unable to complete their treatments. There is a list that the patients are placed on to wait until they receive drug in order to get treatment. The last I checked about 2 months ago, the list was over 100 people. In the mean time these people die, without treatment. The only way to get the drug right now is to pay for it yourself. Many people are not able to do this, as is the case with our patients. We are not able to pay this for them, as we are not set up financially to be able to take care of this.
Along the same lines of the government hospital not having drugs; I was on the surgical ward yesterday seeing one of our breast cancer patients who had just had a mastectomy (removal of the breast), the day before. She was in severe pain, and I asked what they were giving her and was told, Panadol or Tylenol. When we looked at what the doctor had ordered, we saw an anti-inflammatory drug called Voltarin. I asked if she was receiving this and was told that it was OS (out of stock). So I asked, “What about Ibuprofen?” The nurse called the pharmacy and they said that is out of stock as well. They don’t have any idea when they will receive it. I went to the doctor and asked him to please order something stronger for her. These are such simple drugs, so easy to get, if you can pay for them. It is such a shame that people have to suffer unnecessarily!

CHIPS – Mbabane Chapel 13.Sept.2009

2009-09-13T16:11:00.005+02:00

1. HIV in Swaziland. Everyone knows the extent of the problem here through a constant barrage of advertisement and news articles. There is no need to belabor the issue of HIV in Swaziland.
2. And there are many groups and organizations here doing exceptional work in the areas they have budget and mandate to work.
3. But, because of the size of the problem, it has completely overwhelmed all coping mechanisms and service delivery in the country; whether these are cultural, social or governmental.
4. So there are still many gaps and holes in care and service delivery.
5. Our original work here was focused primarily on children and youth in the urban and peri-urban areas.
6. What we found was that even in these areas, excellent HIV care, while readily available, was not necessarily easily accessible. Especially for children.
7. As we moved to work in more remote and rural areas, we found the problem of accessibility exacerbated.
8. Last year, about this time, we approached Pastor Ken with a proposal to Claypotts Trust to fund a pilot program to address the issue of accessibility for isolated groups of children. In “isolated” we mean isolated from available heath care.
9. We chose to begin the project in the Maphiveni area which is at the junction of the road past Simunye to Lomahasha and the road coming past Mhlume from Tchaneni. This may not sound like an “isolated” community. Until you look at the economic make up of the community and the distance and therefore cost of transport to the available HIV care, which in this case is in Siteki.
10. From an economic standpoint, the community in general is impoverished, made up of displaced sugar cane worker’s families and refugees from Mozambique. They are typically assigned plots that are nowhere near the size required for subsistence farming.
11. Good Shepherd Hospital has several community outreach initiatives. They are limited to an area of roughly 30 km around Siteki. Maphiveni is closer to 45km away. There are clinics at Simunye and Mhlume. However, these tend to be more of a dispensary than true clinics.
12. To give you an idea of cost to access the care at Siteki, consider the following scenario:
 A caregiver has a sickly child and wants to have the child tested for HIV
 The trip from Maphiveni to Good Shepherd for both the caregiver and child is around 50 Emalangeni if the child is under eleven, over 100 otherwise.
 Let’s assume the child tests positive. There are typically at least 5 trips required before the child will start on ARV’s. And then a monthly trip for drug refill and adherence checking.
 That is a huge burden on a family that may not have the means to put a regular meal on the table.
 So given the scenario, will the child be tested or treated? Probably not.
 And if not, what is the outcome for the child?
13. So our program, dubbed, CHIPS for Children’s HIV Intervention Program in Swaziland was started to address this issue.
14. The program serves two primary purposes: to manage the HIV care of children and to bring awareness of HIV treatment for children to the community.
15. The program includes training for community workers: teachers, health motivators, and caregivers, providing transportation to Good Shepherd, managing appointments, continuous counseling for strict adherence to drug schedules, an advocate for the patients at the Hospital.
16. What have we found?
 PMTCT has seemed to help reduce the number of children being infected at birth! Older infected children are followed by younger siblings who are HIV free! (Good news!)
 The “C” in CHIPS has moved from children only to children AND caregivers. Leaving a caregiver to cope with the disease will invariably lead to disablement and death and ultimately more orphans and uncared for children. So we’ve expanded the nature of the program to manage the care of caregivers as well even if the children in their care are HIV free. 5% child infection rate, 50% caregiver infection rate. (Bad news!)
17. Our three year goal is to move out into squatter and informal settlements in Vuvulane and Lomahasha. Ultimately to have a model that can be replicated in other regions of the country
18. We appreciate the confidence placed in us by Pastor Ken and would covet your prayers for wisdom to see CHIPS grow and provide care on a larger scale!

Zodwa!

2009-09-12T19:28:00.001+02:00

Praise God for success stories! Let me give you an update on Zodwa, the lady with cervical cancer that was in the hospital earlier this year. She was so sick, she could barely walk, sit, or urinate, without extreme pain. She was sent to Jo’berg where she received chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I ran into her in the grocery store the other day and I couldn’t believe my eyes! She looked great, no more pain, and she is back to work! We have asked her to speak for us at the end of this month at our cervical cancer program launch.

Tema ca. 1964 - 5 July 2009

2009-07-06T09:05:00.003+02:00

Tema passed away late Sunday afternoon. A victim of a slow silent disease, poverty, and an overloaded, broke medical system. We did what we could through CHIPS and getting her into the medical system. But in the end, even that did not prove enough to overcome the hurdles of disease and medical non-practice.
Teresa had the opportunity to pray with her a number of times and she came from Christian Family Church in Tambankulu, so we trust she knew Jesus. But it was still very hard as Teresa was by her bedside as she took her last breaths Sunday. Alone. Abandoned by family. We had gone to Siteki and Maphiveni on Saturday to pick up more clothes for her and a month old x-ray that they had failed to send along with her when she was transported to Mbabane Government Hospital. With no family to care for her in the hospital, all her clothes had become soiled from constant vomiting and diarrhea. The hospital supplies nothing. Teresa had met a compassionate lady on the house keeping staff who was doing what she could for Tema. We were going to approach her today to see if we could pay her a little extra to take Tema's clothes and wash them.
Please pray specifically for Teresa. She needs His strength to continue. She has His heart and compassion.

CD4 Count of 3

2009-07-02T10:48:00.002+02:00

Then there is the man (Mlungisi) with the CD4 count of 3! A normal CD4 count should be in the 1000’s. I received a call from Lori a few weeks back that this man was very sick and they weren’t sure if he was going to make it through the night. Jabulani took him to the hospital and they gave him IV fluids, as he was very dehydrated. They couldn’t admit him to the hospital, because there were no empty beds, so they sent him back home after midnight. Jabulani had to turn around the next morning and bring him back. They didn’t start him on ARV’s that day because he was still too weak. I went to visit him on Friday of that week, and he was feeling stronger. He was started on ARV’s earlier in the week. When he was walking towards me, I saw that he was literally holding his pants on his body with his hands. He was so thin! When I touched his shoulder bones, it almost felt sharp, because he has absolutely no tissue, only skin over his bones! I could see he was getting tired just standing for a few minutes, so I asked him to sit before he fell. We prayed with him and I felt led to ask him if he knew Jesus. He said that he didn’t, so we explained how to receive Jesus and that He would be his best friend and live in his heart and forgive him of his sins. I asked if he wanted to accept Jesus and he said he wasn’t ready. I told him that all he had to do was to ask for forgiveness and receive Jesus into his heart.
About 2 weeks later Jabulani received word that Mlungisi was ready to receive Christ! Praise the Lord! Pastor La’Salette, Lori and visitors from Phoenix were able to go and lead him to the Lord, as well as several other family members! They have also done some work on his homestead, which was falling apart. What a blessing!
Unfortunetly, about 3 weeks ago, Mlungisi had to be hospitalized. He was able to eat and feeling better. I received a call that he was not doing well and was on oxygen to breathe. I received word that he has gone on to be with the Lord! Although this is very sad physically and emotionally, it is a victory spiritually! He is now in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! If he had died just 3 or 4 weeks earlier, he would not have gone to heaven, where he is right now! Praise God! Please remember Mlungisi’s family in your prayers!
Sad but True
We have lost 3 of our CHIPS patients in the past month. First was a 19 year old girl who was diagnosed with abdominal TB. She had been hospitalized only for about a week before she died. The day I went to visit her 10th June, she was breathing very rapidly, talking out of her head and looked as if she was scared to death. I asked Jabulani if she had been like this the day before and he said no this is new. We reported to the doctor, who said he would see her. I received word the next day that she had died during the night.
The next one was a man named Patrick, who has been sick for a long time. Jabulani brought him to the hospital on several occasions and they did not admit him. He was finally admitted about a week ago and then he died on Friday 19th June.
The third one is of course Mlungisi, who died the 22nd June, 2009. Although, very discouraging, I know that God is in control and we are doing what He led us to do. So we must keep doing what we know He wants us to do. Please keep all of these families in your prayers, as well as the CHIPS staff. Pray specifically for Jabulani, who is on the front line everyday with these precious, sick people.

Transfer to Mbabane Government Hospital

2009-07-01T12:45:00.003+02:00

We facilitated the transfer of Tema to the MGH on Friday. Teresa is working with the doctors she knows here to verify the diagnoses made at Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki. If confirmed, they will start the process of having her sent to Pretoria to have the corrective surgery performed. The doctors here said they would not be able to perform it here because of inadequacies in the Intensive Care unit. Winter has come with a vengeance this week. It is probably a full 10 degC cooler here than in Siteki now. Tema came with only what she was wearing. The past few mornings have dipped down to 0 degC (freezing for those used to degF). There is no heat in the hospital wards.
Teresa and Joelle went thru some of Joelle's outgrown clothes to give to Tema to help keep her warm. And with only a thin blanket from the hospital, she was shivering when Teresa went to visit her. We took out two of our blankets that we had not been using and gave them to her (I think they were hand made by my grandmother years ago).
Please pray for Tema. We have had three caregivers in CHIPS pass away within the past few weeks. All of these and Tema came into the program very sick and have had to struggle to survive. Three have lost and we feared Tema would give up as well.

CHIPS

2009-06-23T10:11:00.003+02:00

Tema is a middle aged woman in CHIPS. She is a caregiver for two children and has no immediate family in Maphiveni. She was hospitalized in April as she was getting too weak to stay at home any longer. We visited Tema in the hospital a few weeks back. She seems to be getting weaker, and giving up hope and she is unable to keep anything down. She says that she vomits everything that she eats. She is so weak, that her voice can barely go above a whisper. She also has an abscess on her hip where she has been given frequent injections for nausea. I asked what we could bring that she felt she could eat. She couldn’t tell me anything that sounded good to her. As I talked to her, tears fell down her face and onto her jacket. She was started on ARV’s in March and on TB meds in January. She is in the isolation ward along with several other women. I was able to pray with her and encourage her to believe that Jesus would heal her and she would be able to eat again without vomiting. I asked her if she believed that Jesus is our Healer, and she said that she did. I asked her to agree with me that He was going to heal this nausea and she would be able to eat without vomiting. While I was talking to her, a woman in the back room was wailing and crying! The nurse that was interpreting for me went to check on her and I followed her. The young girl was very sick and crying that her feet were swollen and painful! I was also able to pray with her that the Lord would heal her and remove the pain! These ladies are so pitiful and so lonely, as not many people visit on the TB ward. I called Lori and asked if she and her visitors from Phoenix could go and visit Tema the next day. They were able to do that and were a great blessing to all of these ladies!

Update Tema

We have now discovered through a recent x-ray that Tema may have an esophageal stricture, which means that her esophagus is too small to get food down it, and that is the cause for her vomiting. We are now in the process of having her transferred to the hospital in Mbabane to have her re-evaluated see if she can be sent to South Africa through the Phalala fund to have surgery to correct the stricture.

The doctor at Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki wanted us to transport her in the CHIPS khombi to Mbabane. That is something we are defintely not equipped for, so we may have to pay for an ambulance. The cost of just the ambulance trip is around $120USD. Her hospital bill will have to paid at Good Shepherd as well before they will release her. With no family and impoverished herself, that cost will fall on CHIPS (around $150USD). While we do have a small monthly amount budgeted for hospital and drug costs, it is no where near the amount we'll need to help Tema.

May Update!

2009-05-31T15:11:00.010+02:00

Dear Friends,
CHIPS continues to expand and have a life saving impact in the areas we are working in now. We have found the children’s HIV infection rate to be about 6% of those we have had tested. That is tremendous news as we expected the infection rate to much higher. For those 6%, CHIPS is the difference between life and death. The infection rate for caregivers however is about 50%. Fully half of the caregivers we’ve facilitated testing for are HIV+. That is an astounding rate. Over time, that would mean at least a doubling of the number of orphans as these caregivers would succumb to the virus and the diseases that follow it.
It is a huge blessing to see someone who was too weak to even stand, now active and able to take care of their children.

As one of our supporters, you are a part of this!

We have taken the next and crucial step in developing the youth skills program. Beginning in May, Daran started teaching the “Money Matters” course originally developed by Peter Kopp of African Leadership Partners. The alternative title is “God’s Answer to Poverty”. The first all-day class was taught at Christian Family Church International in Tambankulu. Roughly 30 people attended that class. Daran is also teaching a 6 week version of the course to fifteen people at the Mbabane UPC on Monday evenings. We have plans to repeat the class at both these churches and to expand to other churches. We’ve been asked to work on an all siSwati version for non-English speakers in the rural areas. We also are in the beginning stages of developing a “Money Matters 2” course. These courses will form an essential part of the youth skills program.

Teresa continues to be active with the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network (SBCN). It looks like there may be funding to proceed with setting up chemo treatment here in Swaziland. Daran is working with several churches here to develop children’s homes based on the New Life Homes model. Each organization faces hurdles in either finding land or finding funding sources. Please pray for the Holiness Union Church that the land issues there will be resolved and for Christian Family Church that Swaziland registration issues will be resolved so promised funding can be made available.
While aid and development work can be good in itself, offering it in Christ’s name can have an eternal impact on those who receive!
Gabby has started looking at colleges in the States. A parent’s lament: it’s hard to believe our “little baby” will be leaving home soon (even if it’s not for another year and a half). Danielle and Nathanael are helping with worship at HPC-Swaziland. Joelle is as loud and boisterous as ever.
We would ask that you continue to pray for our family’s protection: physical and spiritual; and wisdom and discernment for the effective implementation of the programs we’ve started and you are a part of here.
As we look forward to funding requirements through the remainder of this year and into next and we look at support from all sources (one-time and annual gifts, monthly support, stipend from SBCN), we continue to have a monthly shortfall of approximately $1000USD. We would ask that you share this ministry work and vision within your circle of friends and associates.

Blessings & Peace!
Daran & Teresa
Gabby, Danielle, Nate, & Joelle

www.AfricanLeadershipPartners.org

African Leadership Partners, Inc.
PO Box 994044
Redding, CA 96099-4044

CHIPS - Progress!

2009-05-27T09:52:00.004+02:00

Sikhumbuzo is a little boy who is part of CHIPS. He is 7 years old, and still very sick. He was born with HIV and His mother is HIV+. He has been treated for TB in the past, but we are not sure whether he completed the treatment. He was started on ARV’s a couple of weeks ago while he was hospitalized. The first time I saw him, his stomach was very swollen and his breathing was very rapid. He was a very sick little boy. Each time I see him he seems a little stronger! I first saw him in church after he was discharged from the hospital. When he saw me, he gave me a big smile, which melted my heart. We visited him this past week at his homestead. He has a runny nose and a cough, and some sores around his mouth that may be herpes. I instructed Jabulani to keep a close watch, and if he was unable to eat or the cough was worse take him in to be checked again by the doctor. It is very important to watch these little ones closely. They seem to get sick so quickly!

Praise God, we were able to bless them with some clothes that visitors from Australia brought for them. Sikhumbuzo's mother was so happy. She also has a daughter who is younger than Sikhumbuzo who is not HIV+. The Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program seems to be working!

Baby Joshua is another little one in our program. He is 9 months old and his mother is the sister of Sikumbuzo’s mother. He was in the hospital after Sikumbuzo. His mother is also HIV+. We are not yet sure if Joshua is positive or not. He will be tested again in a few weeks. He was hospitalized for dehydration, diarrhea, and malnutrition. When we visited him in the hospital, he was having horrible diarrhea, and his mother had no more diapers for him. While I was standing there, he had diarrhea all over his mother and my feet. As she was trying to clean him, he was continuing to have diarrhea. We asked the nurses for towels to clean him, but they had none. The nurse brought a diaper that was big enough to fit an adult and it covered his whole body up to his neck. We ran to town to get diapers, towels, and blankets so the mother could keep him clean. When we returned, she was crying. The baby was so lifeless and weak. I think she thought he was going to die. We prayed with her and told her to keep her eyes on Jesus, He will not leave us! Joshua is now out of the hospital as well. We visited him also this week. He was smiling and looked like a different baby! Praise God for answering prayer!
He is still very small and thin, but starting to pick up weight. I instructed his mother to work on his motor skills, crawling, sitting, and standing. She said that he was crawling before he got sick, but has now stopped. This is very common with sick babies and most of the time can be recovered.

And here is the CHIPS Khombi with Jabulani, Lori, Teresa & Daran. Thanks to Claypotts Trust and all our collective supporters that make this possible.

Money Follows Wisdom (and not vice versa)

2009-05-16T16:27:00.004+02:00

Daran has started teaching the Money Matters class (God's Answer to Poverty) that Peter Kopp with African Leadership Partners originally began here in Swaziland. The class is set up help people identify and confront cultural and learned behavior towards money and wealth that is counter Biblical. The first day long class was at Christian Family Church in Tambankulu. He is teaching a six-week version of the class at the United Pentecostal Church of Mbabane. We had over thirty in attendance in Tambankulu and are averaging twenty at the UPC.
The first step in addressing poverty is to teach a Biblical perspective on the responsibilities, uses, and accumulation of wealth. But also to show that poverty is a multifaceted problem that has to be addressed as a connected system: material poverty, physical weakness, isolation, spiritual poverty, powerlessness, and vulnerability.
Maybe a key point of the first half of the class is that even our natural talents, abilities, and dreams are resources that God has given us to use and are a starting point for working out of poverty. It was great to see the proverbial light bulb go of in some of their heads that the cultural and learned response to managing resources (or not) was flawed and the Bible offers concrete principles for managing same. The class ends with a look at the family and finances and teaches about budgeting, planning, saving, investing and borrowing.
Daran has started researching a "Money Matters II" class that will begin where this one left off in teaching business and entrepreneurial skills, business ethics and morality (with the Bible as the moral compass), critical thinking, and problem solving.

A Grieving Father

2009-04-21T14:32:00.002+02:00

Sorry, this is a father's reflection. When our children were younger, we set boundaries and basic "game rules" to make sure nobody got hurt. And when they did have the cuts and scrapes, the hurt was short lived. But we still wanted to take on their pain and "make it better". As they grow older, into young adulthood, they must learn to set their own boundaries. Hopefully we did a good job of instilling a knowledge of right & wrong, a correct and valid moral compass to gauge their world, but ultimately, they set the boundaries. Or push the boundaries. So now when they get hurt, as much as we want to come along side and "make it better", we can't. Pretty much all we can do is stand and watch. And grieve.
It struck me that is what God does with us. The Bible speaks about God's heart being broken because of our own obstinance and pride. In Luke, Jesus is quoted saying: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, .... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!.." Jesus knew full well what was in store for Jerusalem. But because of their embrace of religions form and function and their rejection of the heart and spirit of God's plan, they doomed themselves to banishment and destruction. And all Jesus could/would do was stand to the side and watch. Grieving.
How often do we turn from what we know, from God's desire, to go and do what we want. Obstinance and pride. How often do I break God's heart by my actions, choices, inaction, thoughts, words, and deeds? And while we continue to love our children, God even continues to love us; while we wait and hope for our children to make right choices, God waits and I dare say hopes we do as well.
I'm looking to the day of no more broken hearts. I'm sure God is too.

They are all No Codes!

2009-03-26T19:47:00.003+02:00

As an oncology(cancer)nurse in the states, if a patient or family agreed that they didn't want to be resuscitated, they signed a paper saying that they were "no code" status. Which means that if they stop breathing and their heart stops, no CPR, or resuscitation measures would be taken.

Most patients in the states want all measures taken to resuscitate them. When a patient that is not a "no code" stops breathing, and/or their heart stops; a code is called. A team of nurses and doctors rush to the scene and do everything possible to bring this person back.

I was on the ward today at the Government Hospital, visiting a couple of our breast cancer patients. One of them had a mastectomy a couple of weeks ago, the other one was getting ready to go to (theater)surgery, to have her mastectomy today.

While we were visiting, I heard a lady crying out "MaMa!","MaMa!". I thought that it was someone having a nightmare or talking out of their head! Then I saw a woman standing by the bedside of an older woman. She was shaking the woman and crying out for her to wake up. The older woman was limp and not breathing. She had a large bandage on her neck. I realized that the older woman had just passed away and her daughter was calling for her in a panic! Finally, the nurses made their way, casually, not hurriedly, to the patient and pulled her daughter away. They layed
the patient down flat and covered her head with the sheet, and closed the curtain around her bed.

"I thought, is that all, is that it, you are not going to do anything else?" I wanted to run and get the crash cart, call a code, and try to save her. I looked around the room full of patients. The wards here just have bed after bed, no individual rooms. None of the other patients were reacting at all. Their faces were blank, no emotion! I was amazed! It was as if nothing was happening!

I asked the nurse that was visiting the patients with me if they ever try to resuscitate patients when they stop breathing, intubate them,or try to do CPR? She said, no usually they can't even get a doctor to come and they don't have the proper equipment to intubate them.

This was a HUGE REALITY CHECK as to where I am working! I realized that they are all No Codes here! How very sad! I also realized that they see death so much that it doesn't affect them unless it is their own family. I was able to go back to the ward later and I saw the daughter sitting in the hall on the floor. I told her I was so sorry for her loss and asked her if I could pray with her. She said yes and I prayed and gave her a big hug! I asked her if she knows Jesus and she said yes.

Zodwa

2009-03-22T18:31:00.003+02:00

Zodwa Hlope is a 45 year old woman who had a cervical biopsy in March of 2008. She only received the report from the biopsy in February 2009. The Central Laboratory in Manzini had difficulty finding her report. She now has stage IIIB cervical cancer, which is an advanced stage, after waiting so long for a diagnosis. She is having severe pain all around her waist, difficulty urinating, bleeding from her vagina, and is feeling very weak. This lady is a single mom with 4 children at home, 2 in primary school, and 2 in secondary school. The oldest is 16 years of age. Zodwa is no longer a candidate for a hysterectomy since the cancer is so advanced and is now growing outside of her cervix. She has great difficulty sitting and walking because of the pressure of the tumour. She needs to go to South Africa for chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the tumour before anything else can be done.
While I was visiting her in the hospital, her 14 year old daughter came to visit. The girl had been beaten by an older male relative, who thought that since Zodwa was being sent to South Africa for treatment for cancer (and would surely die), he could kick the kids out of the house and take over the house. She also received a letter from her son’s school that she must pay E2, 500 in order for him to stay in school. She is asking for assistance with school fees for her son. This is just one more issue for this sick mother to worry about while going to South Africa for treatment.
She received word from the SMO’s office that she should be going to South Africa this week, if can get all medical visa issues completed. Her children will be left alone, except for her sister and mother who live nearby and check in on them from time to time.
It was such a blessing to be able to visit Zodwa in the hospital. I was able to minister to her and pray with her about her needs . She was so grateful every time that I was able to go by and see her. I gave her a devotional book that has scriptures for circumstances that we go through in life. When I came to see her the next time, she was so glad that she had the book to encourage her in the Lord. Her family was supposed to bring her Bible to her from home, but they forgot, so she was thankful that she had the devotional book.
In the picture is her mother, her sister, and a friend. A friend of mine and I were able to pray with all of them as well! She has started her treatments in South Africa by now. I will give a follow up as soon as I hear from her again! Please keep this precious sister and her family in your prayers. Let’s pray especially for the protection of her children and that her treatments go well with good response!

Note to Susan

2009-02-28T10:25:00.006+02:00

Teresa. Remember where you are. I know that you want the patients to receive the same care as they do in the states. But, is that realistic? I think that you should pray and ask the Lord to direct you. You know that nothing happens in God's world by mistake.....Everything, if it is supposed to, will work out just fine. It is NOT up to YOU but to him all things are well done....You are not alone. He called you there. He will help you, believe in him....
Love you! Susan

I would rather have the calculators, I think they would be more accurate, but whatever you can find will be fine. I just wanted to throw in the towel and quit on Thursday. I get so frustrated, the surgeon won't answer his phone and won't return my calls. We have several very difficult cases that I need to discuss with him and my oncologist is leaving on Monday to go back to Cuba for 6 weeks. I really feel like it is all on my shoulders. One lady had a lumpectomy which came back as ductal carcinoma, the oncologist said that he could only get part of the tumor. He knows there was still disease there, as well as positive lymph nodes. Her mastectomy specimen got sent to the government lab instead of the private lab where we send breast specimens. The report came back that it was fibrocystic disease and no lymph nodes reported on. The oncologist says this report does not belong to this patient. I can't fight with the pathologist, I need the surgeon to call and take care of this. Another case, the surgeon says the tumor is too big to do a lumpectomy. Her FNA came back as hyperplastic ductal cells, which my oncologist thinks is probably cancer. He wanted the surgeon to do a lumpectomy for a definitive diagnosis. The surgeon says he needs to do a core biopsy, but doesn't' have the needle to do it. So I am checking with the private hospital to see if they have it. This patient needs chemo and RTX before mastectomy, but we can't send her to south Africa for chemo without a definitive diagnosis. I just feel so helpless sometimes! Thanks for trying to get these for me! Keep me in your prayers, please!
Teresa

Moringa

2009-02-22T16:33:00.003+02:00

On Friday, we went to Tambankulu for the day. Teresa went with Jabulani into Maphiveni to visit CHIPS children and caregivers. Jabulani wanted to visit those who are getting ready to start ARV's and those who have just started to encourage them, and one more time, talk to them about adherence (taking the meds at the prescribed times every day (at least until there is a cure for HIV). Teresa really enjoys getting to visit at the homesteads and meet with the families one on one. It is a good chance to minister and pray with them.
An ongoing problem is improving nutrition for those who are HIV+ and starting on ARV's as well as the whole community in general. We have been asked if we will provide food to those in the CHIPS program. Besides not having the resources to give out food, this is really a non-sustainable and counter productive effort to promote nutrition. While a help in the short term, handing out food will never be a long term solution to the needs here.
We've come across another organization here (SwaziAid) that is introducing another approach in Swaziland. A multipurpose tree called Moringa is being introduced in several areas here. The leaves of the tree are highly nutritious and when used as a food supplement, can greatly help the nutrition value of the staple diet (a fine ground corm meal called pap).
The country rep for SwaziAid (Thokozane) accompanied us on Friday from Mbabane. We planted a "high density" 5mx5m plot of the seeds at Pastor Duarte's garden in Tambankulu on Friday. Hoping all the seeds germinate, in three months we should have meter tall trees that we can start harvesting the leaves from. Once dried and powdered, we'll introduce the powder as a food supplement in the communities CHIPS is working in. In time and as demand increases, we hope to be able to introduce the trees into the community so they can grow them themselves. As another positive by-product, this could also be a means to generate income for the homesteads as they can sell surplus powdered leaves and seeds (which are also a good source for cooking oil).

Mother Bear

2009-02-18T10:05:00.005+02:00

We had the privilege of taking Connie Parker, the wife of the American Ambassador to Swaziland, and Vanessa from the American Embassy to the Vuvulane area in eastrern side of Swaziland. The two areas that we visited are both squatter camps fit between breaks in trhe sugar cane fields here. Both are full of extremely impoverished people. Connie and Vanessa both said that these were the poorest areas that they had seen since being here in Swaziland. These are the areas that we will take the CHIPS program into next.
Connie and Vanessa are working with the Mother Bear project which provides beautiful hand made bears for children either affected or effected by HIV. These bears are all made using the same pattern, but all have the unique touch of their own individual makers. The bears are sent from the United States with love to bring comfort to these children.
We got many smiles and giggles from the children blessed by these bears. They were all very happy to receive the bears and we are very grateful to the women (and men) who made these bears and sent them to be a blessing to the children of Swaziland!
Accompanying us on the visit were Pastor La'Salette Duarte from Christian Family Church in Swaziland who works in this area, Lori (who took these wonderful pictures), and Jabulani, the CHIPS driver.
Thank you Connie and Vanessa, and the US Embassy for making this possible, as well as all of the people in the U.S. who made the bears! May God richly bless you all!

January Update

2009-02-07T16:46:00.004+02:00

CHIPS

The CHIPS (Children’s HIV Intervention Program in Swaziland) is envisioned to be a way to help the 15,000 children in Swaziland who are HIV+ (age 0-14, 2005 estimate). A number we can assume has only increased since then. The goal of the program is to make the available health care accessible to these children and their caregivers.

Jabulani was hired and sent to training for HIV counseling last year. He began working in the Maphiveni community mid-December to generate awareness and help the community to start identifying children who would be candidates for testing. Through the end of January, 141 children and caregivers were transported to the Good Shepherd VCT Clinic in Siteki (84 children, 57 caregivers). Of these, 9 children and 28 caregivers tested positive. Two things to note: as our pre-screening of children improves, the percentage of HIV+ children taken for testing should improve; the second thing is the high percentage of caregivers that are positive. The percentages for adult HIV infection in Swaziland range from the mid twenties to the low forties, depending on whose numbers you choose to use. These high percentages are reflected in the high number of caregivers we are seeing that are positive. It also shows that PMCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission) programs are showing some effectiveness in stopping HIV from being passed to more children (GOOD NEWS). We have chosen to continue to keep these caregivers in the program even though the children they are responsible for are not HIV+. It is essential to keep these caregivers healthy so they can actually care for these children. Swaziland does not need any more orphans!

Kudvumisa Glass Youth Skills Program

Few jobs, poor education, no dreams and nothing to look forward to are a potent mix for promiscuity, sex-for-food, HIV infection and a whole host of other destructive attitudes and behaviors. This is what a large segment of the youth in Swaziland (and for that matter southern Africa) have to look forward to.

We are continuing to develop the skills training program. The goal of the program is to help the youth develop healthy attitudes, uncover their God given talents, abilities and dreams, and develop business and entrepreneurial skills based on Biblical principles of management and finances. We are working with one young woman from Manzini now. She has spent almost a year working with glass etching and has developed a reasonable level of skill and technique. We hope to be able to expand the program to include more youth, classroom space and a computer lab this year.

With that in mind, we will need a teacher who can who can work in the classroom to teach the business and computer skills. So if you would want to invest some time in a project that can truly change lives and you have teaching skills, please pray about this! Of utmost importance is to disciple, teach and nurture a Swazi who can perform these tasks as well.

Family

Teresa is working with the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network (SBCN) to develop a treatment program for breast cancer in Swaziland from scratch (i.e., there is nothing here now). They are also hoping to start a cervical cancer program, again nothing exists here now for treatment (and very little in diagnosis). There is believed to be a high correlation between cervical cancer and HIV. Daran continues to preach at the Christian Family Church in Tambankulu under Pastor La’Salette Duarte. He has also received an invitation from a local church in Nkoyoyo. All the children are back in school, starting the new year. Gabby has started year one of the International Baccalaureate program while Danielle and Nathanael begin Form 3 (grade 9) at Waterford. Joelle begins grade 5 at Sifundzani Primary. They are all involved in church, soccer and various other sports at school.

We would ask that you pray for two things for us here (if God puts more on your heart, please be obedient): protection: physical and spiritual; and wisdom and discernment for the effective implementation of the programs we’ve started here.

Daran’s trip back to the States last year was a great success and we are grateful for everyone who helped make it one. He met many new friends who made him feel like family. As we look forward to funding requirements through the remainder of this year and into the next and we look at support from all sources (one-time and annual gifts, monthly support, stipend from SBCN), we still have a monthly shortfall of approximately $1000USD. We would ask that you share our ministry work and vision within your circle of friends and associates.

Blessings & Peace!

Daran & Teresa

Gabby, Danielle, Nate, & Joelle

www.AfricanLeadershipPartners.org

African Leadership Partners, Inc.

PO Box 994044

Redding, CA 96099-4044

"New" Bike for Banele

2009-02-03T09:29:00.004+02:00

We gave Joelle’s old bike to the orphanage where Pepe and Banele are living now. Sandra, a friend of mine from Children's Cup, took the bike and had the brakes fixed, air in the tires, etc, to get it into good working condition. Banele has been asking for a bike for a while. We took it to him this past Sunday. It was a delight to watch all of the kids attempt to ride the bike. Sandra and I did not think about them never having the opportunity to learn to ride a bike before. They enjoyed chasing after each other on the bike, fighting over whose turn it was to ride, and posing for pictures with the bike. They sang for us, gave of lots of hugs, and smiles, and taught us how to play hand-clapping games. It was a pleasure to see them enjoying themselves with their new gift!

Pepe is going into grade 4. She did well the last term of grade 3, when she returned to school after being out for several years while she was fighting multiple pneumonias and TB. She is now healthy and strong, and happy! It was so comforting to see her smiling, talking, and playing! A year ago, she was not able to do any of these things. Banele has also improved greatly in this past year! He is healthy, strong, and happy, as well!

Children's HIV Intervention Program in Swaziland

2009-02-03T08:40:00.006+02:00

Sorry I have not put anything out for a while. The holidays are over and we are back in full swing! The CHIPS program has started and is going well. We are concentrating now in the community of Maphiveni. As we work out all the procedures and protocols. we'll begin expanding into neighboring communities. Since our start up in December, we have taken 141 people, (children and caregivers) to be tested for HIV. Eighty-four of the 141 are children; the remaining are caregivers. Twenty-eight of the caregivers tested positive and nine of the children tested positive. We have been pleasantly surprised at the low number of positive children so far. The highest percentage of HIV+ people here in Swaziland are between the ages of 25-45. We believe it is very important to make HIV treatment for these caregivers accessible so that they live healthy and productive lives to be able to take care of the children under their care.

There is one little boy that touched my heart last week with his big swollen belly (ascites). He is very sick and his CD4 count is very low, which means that his immune system is very weak and he needs to start on treatment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the machine to check the chemistries (blood work that shows kidney and liver function) has been broken for a month now. They are very hesitant to start them on treatment without this blood work. We have been transporting blood samples back to the city of Mbabane, where the blood can be tested.

I brought some samples in on Friday afternoon, to find out that they did not accept samples after noon on Fridays. I thought, oh, no, we do not need any delays for this little one. We had already drawn his blood the week before and the results got lost in the system, so we had to re-draw them and we had to stick him twice this time. All I could think was, surely we will not have to do it again! I took the blood to the private clinic lab and spoke to the manager, who I know from my work with the Breast Cancer Network. It just so happened that her husband is the one that is working on the machine in the hospital where we take them for treatment. She said he should have it working by next week. She also said that she would run the tests for us without charge and the results would be ready in one hour! I wanted to shout, “Praise the Lord!” God is good and He is in control, even when we feel very out of control!

I sent the results back down over the weekend and the boy, along with several others, should be starting on treatment soon! Please keep this program in your prayers, as we move forward. We are praying for God’s divine wisdom and guidance!

A Cruel Net

2009-01-04T20:35:00.003+02:00

Ecclesiastes 9:12 (NIV)

12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.

Yesterday evening, our daughter and a friend were assaulted by two men wielding knifes as they walked to our house on a well traveled road. They demanded money and whatever they were carrying. Which amounted to about 10 Emalangeni, 2 cell phones, a pair of soccer boots and shin guards, and a back pack. Cars were driving by, unaware what was happening. They let them go and disappeared into the bush.

Gabby came to me later in evening distressed that if they had killed her, would she have gone to heaven. Now that's a very personal question (with history behind it that is not appropriate here), but it gave us a good opportunity to talk about God's love, grace, forgiveness, and faithfulness. That in spite of our weakness's and failures, God is still patient with us. And you haven't reached the "point of no return" if you still care if God loves you or not; or you are standing in front of Him in judgment.

So I ask for prayers for our family and especially our kids, that the attacks (spiritual & physical) we come under here will serve to grow us in faith and maturity and reliance on the one who is eternally faithful.

Merry Christmas from Swaziland

2008-12-21T08:07:00.005+02:00

Daran is back in

Swaziland

after a fund raising trip for several weeks in the States. Many thanks to everyone in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, and Arizona who helped make the trip a success. We couldn’t have done it with out your prayers, organizing meetings and invitations. Thanks again for all your help!

As we approach our fourth Christmas here in Swaziland, we also want to express our deep gratitude for the thoughts, prayers and support from everyone back in the States. A peaceful and joyous Christmas to everyone.

We are also celebrating our 20^th wedding anniversary on the 23^rd. As an old friend of ours used to quip “We’ve enjoyed every second of it.” Honestly, as anyone knows, marriage is hard work. We’ve both had a lot of growing up to do over the years. We’ve been blessed with four wonderful children who despite our best efforts, have still turned out to be pretty neat, and committed to Jesus.

We are blessed!

With wishes for a wonderful New Year, God Bless!

Daran, Teresa, Gabrielle, Danielle, Nathanael, & Joelle

Thobile - December 2008

2008-12-20T19:08:00.002+02:00

I saw Thobile just a couple of weeks ago. She is looking good, even though she is still very thin. The daily injections that she receives for TB must be extremely uncomfortable, however, she doesn’t complain. When I asked her if they were painful, she said no, amazingly! She will be finished with injections in February. At that time, she can return to school. Her care giver is already asking about school fees and transport fees for her when she is able to start back to school. We continue to help her with transport fees on a monthly basis for going to the TB clinic for her injections. Her mother has stopped taking her ARV’s for herself. She was not keeping up with the doses, that is the reason we got someone else to help with Thobile to make sure she receives all of her meds correctly.

Thobile is growing taller, so all of her trousers are too short. Her care giver has been asking for clothes for her for a while. Nathan and Joelle both went thru their clothes and pulled out the ones that they could no longer wear and we gave 2 big bags of clothes, shoes, and some toys and stuffed animals to her for Christmas. It is a blessing to be able to bless someone else who is in need!

Please pray about helping us this next year with Thobile’s school and transport fees. A donation of $30 a month would help a great deal for us to be able to provide these things for this precious little girl!

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report

2008-12-08T01:08:00.002+02:00

This article spells out some of the current HIV problems in Swaziland. Our response to these problems will help mitigate their impact on children, the most vulnerable segment of the population. CHIPS - a pediatric HIV care management system and Kudvumisa Glass both target vulnerable groups in Swaziland.

Updates

2008-11-23T03:17:00.001+02:00

Thobile is still getting daily injections (7 days a week)at the TB clinic and also taking a myriad of other tablets as well, which they give her at the TB clinic, since her mother can't be trusted to give them to her consistently. It costs R20 per day for transport to get her and her mother to the TB clinic. This ends up being at least R600 per month. She is also struggling to have enough food. She is too weak and the care point is too far for her to go there every day for food. So her mother goes to get food for her at the care point. I'm not really sure what they do on week ends when the care point is not open. She is also in need of some clothes. She is no longer going to school, because she is not strong enough. This TB treatment will have to continue for 6 to 9 months at the very least. This is a very difficult life that this young one lives, but she is just happy to be alive! Please continue to keep her in your prayers!

Lomansontfu went to south Africa last week. She had more scans done, and the doctor thinks that he may be able to remove the cyst soon. It seems that it is not as vascular as it was, and he was going to do a biopsy to confirm that it is ok to go ahead with surgery. He is waiting on a prosthesis for her jaw bone,which has been eaten away by the cyst. While they were waiting, she contracted a mild case of the measles, so he decided to wait to do the biopsy when she returns for surgery. She is now at home waiting. After the surgery is done, her jaw will be wired shut for a few weeks. Our daughter, Gabby is about to have some orthodonic surgery where her jaw will be shut with bands for 6 weeks. I would like to take her to see Lomansontfu so she will see and understand what it will be like with her jaw being wired shut, and that she isn't the only one!

Support Raising II

2008-11-14T17:07:00.000+02:00

Daran is in the States now for four more weeks. He will be in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, St. Louis, Phoenix, Baton Rouge, Raleigh, Birmingham, and in between. Please contact us if it would be possible for him to meet & share our ministry vision under African Leadership Partners! We know that given the current financial situation in the US that most would say this is the wrong time to be asking for support, but we know the God we serve and that He is able!

Swaziland Breast Cancer Network

2008-11-14T17:00:00.002+02:00

I have been extremely busy this past month with the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network. We saw over 600 patients for breast exams in the month of October. We will do over 80 fine needle biopsies on Thursday this week 13th November. We will not know for a couple of weeks how many may be malignant. A pathologist from a South African private lab will come to do the biopsies. We are able to do lumpectomies and mastectomies here in Swaziland. One of the ladies that we got results back on this month is 29 years old and has a very large tumor. She was told that she would need a mastectomy. She is single with no children, I thought we would never see her again after telling her that news. I attempted to call her for about 2 weeks with no success. She is a student and has been busy with classes and also avoiding my phone calls. When I finally reached her I asked her to return to the next clinic so we could discuss her situation. She still didn't come for another week, so I was rather disappointed. Finally she called me back and said she would come to the clinic. That day I saw her sitting in the waiting area outside of the clinic, looking very worried and anxious. We called one of our counselors who is also a breast cancer survivor to come and speak with her. After talking with the counselor, who is also a Christian, and who also had breast cancer the first time at very young age, this young lady had a different outlook on her situation. She was now ready to go forward with the surgery. It was decided that she would be admitted as soon as her classes were finished in about a week. Once she was admitted and it was time to sign the consent for the surgery, we realized that she would not sign consent to have a blood transfusion, because she is Jehovah's Witness. I thought, what will we do with this? The doctors spoke with her about this and tried to convince her to sign for the possible transfusion. Finally, after another week, they decided to go ahead with the surgery, since her labs were OK and the risk was higher to leave her with this large tumor which was already spreading to her lymph nodes.
I received a missed call from her last Tuesday night, and I was unable to return her call until the next morning. When I heard her voice I knew everything was OK. She told me that she had her surgery the day before and she was doing well, and that God was with her because she didn't need the transfusion. I went to visit her the following day and she looked great! She was already doing her physical therapy exercises for her arm and she was still in good spirits. I told her that once she had healed some, we would give her a prosthesis. She said, "What" "What is that." I explained that it is a fake breast that she would wear in her bra. The only problem is that she never wore a bra before. I told her that she would have to get used to them. Praise God that He worked in this situation!
I hope to continue a relationship with her and encourage her along on her journey with breast cancer. Her next step will be to go to South Africa to receive chemotherapy, that is, if there is still money in the government fund to send her. Usually by this time of year, the government starts to run out of money for this fund. My hope is that we can start giving the chemo here in Swaziland soon enough that she can receive it here. We are now looking at our fund raising for this year to see if we have enough to purchase the biological safety cabinet needed to mix the chemotherapy drugs. Please pray for me that God will direct me and use me however He sees fit and that He will give me the wisdom necessary to see this project succeed!

Support Raising!!

2008-10-26T17:50:00.005+02:00

We want to thank everyone who has supported us in the past for the work here in Swaziland. Our vision still remains the same: to help the hurting and to show them Jesus; Short Term Relief - Long Term Change. We especially want to thank everyone who has supported us in our transition from 'Cup to African Leadership Partners. The transition in ministry has been smooth; we have been able to begin ministering to children, women and youth through CHIPS pediatric HIV intervention, Swaziland Breast Cancer Network’s breast cancer clinics, and Kudvumisa Glass skills program.

Daran will be coming to the states from November 8th through December 10th to re-raise our support for personal needs as well as ministry projects. We need you to contact us and set up a time that he can meet with you while he is there. He would like to share our ministry goals, vision, and plan with as many small groups as possible, over coffee or tea - nothing fancy or pretentious: Please try to think of those that would be interested in coming and hearing about the ministry God has set before us here in Swaziland. If you are interested in helping us in this way, please email us and let us know. His tentative schedule is attached. It can be modified to accommodate your schedules, but we need to hear from you!

November 7 – 16 Maryland/Pennsylvania

November 17 – 23 Travel & visits between Maryland and Louisiana

November 24 – December 1 Louisiana

December 2 – 5 Travel & visits between LA and MD

December 6 – 10 Maryland

To paraphrase James: "you have not because you do not ask ..." So we are asking: we need your financial support!

The kids are still in school until the end of November. Gabby finishes exams and graduates before having an oral surgery November 27^th.

Again, we thank you for your ongoing prayers and support . We ask that you prayerfully consider joining us as we move forward. ALP's contact information is as follows:

African Leadership Partners, Inc.

P.O Box 994044

Redding, Ca 96099-4044

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards & God Bless!

Daran, Teresa, Gabrielle, Danielle, Nathanael, & Joelle

Breast Cancer Clinics

2008-10-24T09:12:00.000+02:00

We are almost finished with the month of October. It seems like it flew by, while we were busy with breast cancer awareness campaigns, as well as breast cancer treatment campaigns. I am enjoying my work at the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network. I am coordinating our breast cancer clinics that are held two times weekly in two different locations on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We have two doctors from Cuba who are working with us in these clinics. The challenge is that the Oncologist does not speak much English as all, and my Spanish is extremely poor. We spend a good deal of our time at the clinics trying to understand each other. The other day, he was trying to get me to tell the patient to eat more beef. He didn’t know the English word for cow and I didn’t know what vaca was until he put horns on his head and I said MOO! It was quite amusing!
We are seeing quite a few patients that have breast cancer, and amazingly, some of them are very young, late 20’s, early 30’s. One young 29 year old woman came in with a large lump on one of her breasts. She said that she came last October and was told that it was cancer, but she didn’t have money to go to South Africa for treatment and so she did nothing. She returned this year, 7 months pregnant, unable to walk, lots of swollen lymph nodes, and much pain. I just wanted to cry, she would not let us admit her to the hospital for the first couple of weeks. Now she is very sick and in the hospital with a pulmonary effusion and heart problems. They are trying to let her carry the baby to term and then see if there is anything we can do to help her.
Oncology care in a third world country is very complicated. We don’t have access to a mammogram machine, so we send them for ultrasound of the breast when we find lumps on breast exams. Today, we found out that the only guy that does the ultrasounds was in a horrible car accident over the week end and is now in the hospital. Now we have no way to do ultrasounds. So, we either wait to see if the government will try to find someone else to do them, or try to negotiate with a private radiology clinic to see if they can help us. The best thing to do is to pray for the speedy recovery of the ultrasound tech that is in the hospital!
We have been very successful with our breast cancer awareness campaign this month! We are even going to companies and doing health teaching and breast exams. Our clinics are over flowing with people! We are seeing 60-70 people in a day! We have been flooding the paper with articles on breast cancer, TV, radio, posters, etc. When we finally get all of the ultrasounds done, we then send for FNA (fine needle aspiration) those that the doctor thinks are suspicious on ultrasound. A pathologist comes in from South Africa when we have 20 or more FNA’s to be done. When we get results, if they think they are fibroadenoma’s, a lumpectomy is scheduled and done by the Cuban Oncologist here in Swaziland. If it is diagnosed to be cancer, either, a mastectomy is done here, or the patient is sent for chemo first in South Africa, then a mastectomy is done here.
Our goal is to administer chemotherapy here in Swaziland. We are fund raising to buy a biological safety cabinet to mix the chemo in. Breast Cancer Network will then buy the chemotherapy drugs from a local wholesale pharmaceutical company. We have already started training nurses on chemotherapy administration. This will save the government and the patients a lot of time, headache, and money if we are successful. We want to have a cancer treatment program with high standards and excellent outcomes. We hope to expand our diagnosis and treatment program to cervical cancer this next year. Cervical cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in women in Swaziland, with breast cancer at number two. We definitely have our work cut out for us! Please keep us in your prayers as we attempt to help the women in Swaziland!

HIV Training for CHIPS

2008-10-24T07:52:00.005+02:00

After having meetings with the health officials in the region where we are doing CHIPS (Children’s HIV Intervention Program in Swaziland), we have started training key people in the rural communities. We selected the teachers at the Christian Family Church primary school in Tambankulu and the teachers and workers at the neighborhood care points in Maphiveni and Lonhlupheko. We had 12 in attendance, and they all seemed excited and interested in what we had to say. The questions and discussions that we had were very good! We talked a lot about the stigma that surrounds HIV, especially in more rural areas. We discussed ways to minimize the stigma, as well as issues with confidentiality.

One major purpose of this training is to teach the teachers and other key people in the community how to identify children that are at high risk of being HIV positive. We talked about how HIV is affecting the children of Swaziland, and how without treatment, only 15% of Swaziland’s HIV positive children will be alive by the age of 10 years old. The importance of getting these children to testing and treatment was emphasized. The signs and symptoms that go along with being HIV positive were discussed in detail. Pictures of several different skin problems were shown to each table of trainees. Malnutrition was also discussed, as well as the importance of good nutrition in children who are HIV positive and on ART’s (antiretroviral therapy).

The higher the viral load of HIV in the body, the lower the CD4 (soldier cells) count is. When the soldier cells are attacked by the virus, the body becomes more susceptible to infections and opportunistic diseases, such as TB. When a person is started on ART’s, the viral load decreases, as the CD4 increases, and they are able to fight off infections.

Jabulani, who we hired to be the HIV counselor and driver for the CHIPS program is now in training for 5 weeks with one of the local HIV counseling and testing companies. We now have our mini-van, and will be ready to start the program when Jabulani finishes training at the end of November. Daran is working on getting the mini-van insured and ready to go. Please keep this program in your prayers, as we go forward to minister to the needs of the HIV positive children in Swaziland.

Times of Swaziland-October 21, 2008

2008-10-21T22:59:00.001+02:00

Kudvumisa Trust receives funding

By WANDILE DLAMINI on October 21,2008

Test driving the vehicle: Brenda Jefferson handing over the mini bus keys to Teresa Rehmeyer, it will be used to transport sick children to clinics and hospitals.

MBABANE – Kudvumisa Trust has received the start up funding to begin the Children’s HIV Intervention Program in Swazi-land (CHIPS).

Primary funding for CHIPS is being provided by The Claypotts Trust, administered by Pastor Ken Jefferson of the Mbabane Chapel. Both Kudvumisa Trust and Claypotts Trust are christian charitable organisations.

CHIPS was boosted when Claypotts Trust donated a mini-bus to them, as means of transport for sick children they will be assisting.

The mini-bus will be used to transport children and their caregivers to clinics and hospitals. CHIPS will identify children who will be candidates for testing, then a person in the community will be trained to provide pre-test counselling to the child and caregiver. They will also provide transport and assistance with adherence, inter-community support advocacy, and education.

support

This organisation will also provide in-community, in-home pre-test counselling and ongoing support and education, provide reliable and on-going transport to clinics and hospitals for testing, counselling, treatment, and support, educate the whole community, the children and adults, to increase their health and well-being.

They will look to changing people’s attitudes and behaviours towards testing, treatment, and people who are infected, and promote "Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PM-TCT)".

On behalf of the organisation, Director for Kudvumisa Trust/CHIPS Teresa Rehmeyer said the donation would go a long way in assisting many under-privileged children.

Handing over the vehicle on behalf of Claypotts Trust, Pastor Ken Jefferson said they were always willing to assist wherever they could, especially since HIV was a serious problem in the country.

"I hope that many lives will be saved because of this vehicle," said Jefferson.

CHIPS will begin working in the north-eastern Lubombo Region in December. More information on CHIPS can be obtained from Teresa Rehmeyer, her e-mail addres is teresa@kudvumisaglass.com

CHIPS - Fist Steps

2008-10-17T08:42:00.004+02:00

We have started the first steps in the CHIPS program. The mini bus was purchased last week. Jabulani, a young man from Tambankulu was hired and began HIV counseling training this week. Teresa and Lori have been meeting with local health officials in the Lubombo Region to develop relationships and working protocols with the administrators, doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics in the area.
Today, Teresa is going to to conduct a training session for the teachers at Pastor Duarte's primary school in Tambankulu and the teachers from the neighborhood care point and community pre-school in Maphiveni. One of the first goals of the program is to have people in the communities who have interaction with the children to be the first line of referral for children who are candidates for HIV testing. The training today will teach them how to recognize symptoms, illness history, and family medical history that may indicate HIV.
These pictures were taken in Section 19, a squatter settlement in the sugar cane fields of Vuvulane. This will be one of the areas we will be initially working in.
We want to thank and recognize Claypotts Trust for making this outreach possible.

US Presidential Debate

2008-10-03T11:02:00.004+02:00

This is an apolitical comment. We sat Monday at the embassy here and watched a re-broadcast of the first Presidential debate. It got a good chuckle when Senator McCain talked about foreign countries getting a "free lunch" from the US, as we all were sitting there eating pizza compliments of the Public Affairs section of the embassy. On a more serious note though, I wanted to comment on something Senator Obama said. He talked about his father coming from Kenya and that at that time, the US was a"beacon of hope" for the world. That everyone dreamed of coming to the US and that that did not exist now. Having worked with impoverished youth here in Swaziland for the past three years, I can say, and I think with out fear of contradiction, that the US is still a beacon of hope for the world. We have heard it over and over again: I want to go to America so I can work, go to school....... While there are plenty of people that hate the US here (and with the steady diet of negative news they get here, it's no wonder), the people which yearn for a better life or an opportunity of a better life still look to the US as a land of opportunity.

CHIPS (Children’s HIV Intervention Program in Swaziland)

2008-09-17T15:25:00.000+02:00

This is the new ministry program that we will be beginning. We submitted a proposal for grant money for CHIPS to the Clay Pots Foundation. Pastor Ken Jefferson of Mbabane Chapel administers this fund which is dedicated for HIV initiatives here in Swaziland. He is very supportive of the program we have designed. He has approved our proposal and agreed to fund this program for 3 years (R350000 for year one and R250000 for each of the two subsequent years). This funding covers program costs only: none of it is for our personal expenses here. While in the beginning we will be concentrating on one area in eastern Swaziland, our hope is to expand the program to help kids in the all rural areas of Swaziland to get HIV testing and to access treatment. We are planning to hire and train someone from this area to be an HIV counselor, as well as the driver to take the children and their care giver to the clinic for testing and monthly follow up. The nearest clinic is 17km, and the nearest hospital is 48km. The cost of transport to get to a clinic or hospital for testing or treatment has always been a hurdle (more so in an impoverished community). We know this outreach will provide a major component in ensuring children in the rural areas of Swaziland can take advantage of the life saving health care that is available.
We will be working with Pastor La’Salette Duarte of the Christian Family Church in Swaziland and Lori Schweighardt of Live in Love International. We value their heart, vision, and energy.
I am very excited to start working on this initiative, but at the same time, sad to be leaving the children and teachers I’ve built a relationship with over the past three years.

Thobile Update - September 2008

2008-09-17T15:22:00.002+02:00

I saw Thobile this past week Tuesday. She had just returned from her visit to Baylor. When I went out to the van and she saw me, she squealed and ran to get a hug! Her smile was huge, but she looked so thin and is getting around very slowly. She has started getting daily injections for TB again. We had to start TB treatment all over again, since her mom didn’t keep up with her treatment last time and she is still positive for TB.
On Thursday I got a call from one of the doctors at Baylor. I was told that the TB culture that was taken the last time she was in the hospital just came back and was positive for multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. This is unfortunately not good news. MDR TB is extremely difficult to treat. It requires a very intense treatment regimen with many different drugs, one of which is also a daily injection. I’m not so confident that her mom will be able to keep up with this regimen, since she has not been consistent with the other regimen.
I am not sure if they will want to hospitalize her or just have her come in daily for her injections. The cost for transport to go to the TB clinic daily for Thobile and her mom is R20 ($3.00) per day. We have been paying the transport costs for this and for school. It is getting more and more expensive as fuel costs continue to go up. We would appreciate if someone would come along side us and sponsor Thobile’s ongoing medical costs (which may include hospitalization
I don’t know how good her prognosis is, given the malnutrition and wasting that she is already suffering from. These drugs have many side effects and require good nutrition in order to work. This will be quite a challenge for Thobile and her mom. Please help us pray for a good outcome for this precious little girl!

Last Week at Children's Cup

2008-09-16T15:22:00.000+02:00

The new nurse for Children’s Cup has been here for about 4 weeks. We have been working together in the clinics. Her name is Jessie, she is doing well. Sarah, another new missionary is working with her to help with the administrative aspects of the medical program. They are working very well together and will make a great team for the medical program.
This past week, we did a health care worker training for the new teachers. We had about 17 in the class. Jessie and I took turns teaching them basic anatomy/physiology, how to examine a patient, common illness, first aide, and CPR. They were a very bright class and did very well!
Thursday was my last clinic day, and Monday will be my last day with Children’s Cup. I will take Jessie and Sarah to Baylor and introduce them to the medical director and the administrator. I am confident they will do a great job with the medical program!

Rehmeyer Ministry Vision Statement for Swaziland - Short Term Relief / Long Term Change

2008-08-21T18:14:00.002+02:00

Short Term Ministry Vision

We will be working in communities that have no access to HIV testing/treatment. The goal is to educate the caregivers as to the importance of testing and early treatment for HIV/AIDS for the children under their care. The community that we will be working in to start is Maphiveni, outside the Tambankulu sugar estate. There are about 1500 people in this community. It is a squatter community of ex-sugar cane company workers or families of the workers who have passed away. These people do not have the means to get to clinics or hospitals for testing or treatment. Two or three babies under the age of 5 die in this community each month from HIV related causes. Our goal is to be a facilitator for a project to provide them with education, and access to nearby clinics and the Good Sheppard Hospital to get the care and treatment they so desperately need.

During the past 3 years, working with Children’s Cup, we were able to roll out a program where we provided these services to the children at the care points. We will be trying to replicate this program in areas where it is needed. There are two additional areas of health education we will be focusing on: teaching pregnant women what they must do to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and education regarding water purification and how important it is. Their water source, the Mbuluzi River, is contaminated by run off from nearby farms, industry, human and animal excrement.

The rate of chronic diarrheas in this community is extremely high. In a clinic done for the children in this community recently, 33% of the children were identified as needing to be tested for HIV and almost half were victims of chronic diarrheas. When you add chronic diarrhea on top of already being HIV+, especially in children, you increase the risk of health issues such as dehydration, weakness, and weight loss. These people need to be taught how to treat the water source to make it clean before they drink it.

We will be working with the Home Based Care outreach team at Good Sheppard Hospital to provide HIV testing and treatment services to the Maphiveni community. They provide mobile services in the general area, approximately 30 km radius of the hospital. The area that we will be working in is 48km from the hospital; therefore, they do not have access to these services, unless transport is provided for them. This will be a program that we plan to replicate in other poor squatter communities in the Lobombo region.

The other opportunity that has been presented to Teresa is that of helping to provide guidelines for chemotherapy and breast cancer care in Swaziland. The Swaziland Breast Cancer Network wants Teresa to assist in developing this program for Swaziland. If diagnosed, cancer patients are presently being transported to South Africa for chemotherapy treatment, which is very difficult for them, as well as expensive for the government. Many times they are not able to complete their treatment due to cost constraints.

Long Term Ministry Vision

Ministry Mission

And the Lord said to him (Moses), what is that in your hand? (Exodus 4:2) God has given us everything we need to begin this earthly journey.

Ministry Vision

We see a long term investment into the lives of young people in Swaziland. Training these young men and women up and giving them Godly skills in life and in business. Affording them the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty, and excel.

Background

Beginning in 2005, we made the commitment to work with Children’s Cup to help develop the compassionate care and ministry outreaches to the children in the urban and peri-urban areas of Swaziland. Over the course of the three years, I oversaw the effective doubling of the number of NCP’s that ‘Cup managed and the doubling of the number of children attending. A concern from the beginning was the apparent loss or non-participation of the teenagers at the NCP’s. We have seen teenage boys and girls engaged in stealing, gangs, and prostitution in order to make money. For the NCP’s to have their intended impact on the community, they would need to provide a greater engagement of these older youth. Paradoxically, and of primary concern, is that these youth , as they fall back to their community, with no leadership and a crumbling (or nonexistent) social structure, are the ones to either make or break the fight against the HIV pandemic in southern Africa.

Key Ministry Objectives

The primary challenges in this sub-region are:

A culture that stifles innovation and creative thinking
Rampant under and unemployment
An education system that does not have the infrastructure or capital to educate the children through primary or secondary schools
A university system that struggles to find government bursaries for the majority of students that do attend

In answer to this, a program whose goal is to help break the cycle of poverty and HIV is essential.

At the age of 16, many young people in Swaziland are the head-of-household for their homes and providing for younger siblings. As the AIDS epidemic sweeps through this country, this age will become younger and younger. The ministry we have been involved in has been a great short term support to young, undernourished children affected by AIDS through loss of responsible relatives. Over the past two years we have seen these children grow. We have asked ourselves

What will happen when they are no longer eligible to be fed or choose not to participate at the NCP’s?”
What are we accomplishing – are we establishing lasting Godly principles in these children, that will change their lives or are we just a stop gap to the inevitable decline in health and values when they move on?

As God has spoken to us we have seen that it is Jesus that these children need. Our hearts yearn for a chance to feed these children more than food. They need the unending supply of God’s grace and the sustainable supply of meaning through self worth.

Grappling with these two ministerial objectives we feel we can be life changers here in Swaziland. By providing a ministry opportunity from where the NCP initiative ends, we can and will make a difference. This will be through two primary areas of focus:

1. Business Opportunity
The actual skills being taught are not what are important. Many skills based programs in Swaziland concentrate on specific skills with no concept of market saturation and effective wage earning capability. They do teach a specific skill, but they do nothing to prepare the student for effectively implementing the skill in a successful business.

The primary goal of the program will be to teach the participants to effect life changing attitudes about their potential and responsibilities. Secondary will be the specific skills. Even so, the skills that will be taught will be unique and provide opportunities in and of themselves as well as significant crossover into other areas of work.

Personal financial responsibility
Personal moral responsibility
Mastering basic business fundamentals
Entrepreneurial skills and training
Learning technical skills in glass blowing, etching, beadwork, torch work, slumping, etc.
Confidence to seek, and pursue, the dreams and ideas that God gives to each person

2. Camps
During the school year, schools are closed for several weeks between each term. We would use this time and the venue of the vacant schools to provide day camps. Impacting child-headed households will be the primary focus of these camps. Local and international groups will be engaged to assist in the running of life and business skill camps; teaching in areas they have specific expertise.

Skills for household management, health management and self reliance will be the primary focus:

Nutrition
Budgeting
Sustainable household vegetable plots
Disease management (HIV and TB being the primary focus)
Child rights
Homestead micro economic projects

Thobile Update - 17 Years Old

2008-08-06T23:21:00.006+02:00

Thobile is a little girl who is 17 years old, but only looks ten. We first met her about 2 years ago as we were planning a CarePoint at Madonsa, and decided that we (the Rehmeyers) would sponsor her, since she was too old to be sponsored thru Mission of Mercy. In the past two years, she has been going to Baylor Clinic and taking ARV’s, and has been able to go back to school. She has not been able to walk the long distance to get to school, so we have provided her with money for transport to get back and forth to school each day. This year in March, she was diagnosed with TB, and had to have daily injections for a while. She is still on oral TB meds, she has been hospitalized several times this year for various respiratory problems. After one of her hospitalizations she asked if we could get her a book sack with wheels because the one on her back was too heavy for her to carry.

She has been getting weaker and weaker. She was just discharged from the hospital in Manzini last week, on Thursday and readmitted to the hospital in Mbabane on Monday. They said that the hospital in Manzini said that she was too critical for them so they sent her to Mbabane. One of the nurses told me that when the Manzini hospital weren’t getting anywhere with a case and thought they might loose her, they sent her to Mbabane. I’m not sure if her TB is becoming resistant, or if she has another infection. Her mother seems to be very caring, but I don’t think that she is very responsible in keeping up with her medications.

When we arrived to see her on Monday, we found her lying on a mattress on the floor underneath another bed. There were empty beds in the front of the ward, so I asked why they couldn’t put her there. The answer was that the ward was divided into chronic and non-chronic cases, so she couldn’t go in that part of the ward. I think that they are trying to keep the TB cases separate, which is good, but there is nothing really protecting others from them. The next day she was in a bed, and asking for us to bring her something nice to eat!

I’m not sure what we are facing with this one. One of the Baylor doctors promised to go and see her. As of the second day, she had seen no doctor and nothing had been done except a chest x-ray. She is complaining that her legs are painful and weak and she is unable to walk. Please help us pray that the doctors have wisdom and that she gets the treatment that she needs!

update on Lomansontfu

2008-08-06T23:13:00.002+02:00

The beautiful little girl from Maphiveni with the large cyst on her cheek returned from Pretoria. Unfortunately the cyst is still there. She called me on my cell phone from the hospital several times, until I was able to make it to the hospital to get her. When I walked into the room, she smiled, grabbed her little bag and ran to hug me. We were going to have her family come get her the next day, but when the nurses told me how anxious she had been to have me come to get her, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her. We had her family come up and meet us in Manzini at one of the care points. When we drove up to the care point, she slumped down in the seat so the other kids couldn’t see her. She was afraid that they would stare and make fun of her. I quickly took her into the clinic so the kids couldn’t see her.
The doctor from Pretoria found that it is a very vascular cyst, which means that it is full of blood vessels. It can’t be removed until it is clotted off and the hope is that it will shrink. He did try to clot it by going in at her femoral vein in her groin and going up to the veins that feed the cyst. He wants to see her again in the 1st of October. So far, the cyst hasn’t shrunk, but we are praying that this will work. Once it is clotted, she will need surgery to remove it. Depending on how extensive it is, she may need reconstructive surgery as well. Please continue to pray for this situation and for this precious little girl!

New Beginnings

2008-07-14T15:55:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Thank you for all your support over the last three years. God has done wonderful things for us here in Swaziland and has opened so many doors we never knew existed!

We know that God has called us to Swaziland and the people here who are in need. Children’s Cup is doing a wonderful work in this country and we are proud to be associated with this organization. The focus of Children’s Cup is clear and well executed. As our time with Children’s Cup has shown us, there are many needs that are outside of the scope of work we are currently doing.

The vision of Children’s Cup is, and will always remain, our vision. After being in Swaziland for some time, our original calling has grown. A clearer picture of the overall need in Swaziland and our place in God, in fulfilling that need, has been solidifying in us for the past six months or more. We feel that the time has come to respond to this larger vision. Children’s Cups’ vision and the confines of the organization cannot facilitate this divergent direction. Prayerfully and with the consent and support of the Children’s Cup leadership here in Swaziland it has been decided that we shall continue working out our calling beyond their structures and leadership.

The number of children with HIV/AIDS and directly affected by HIV/AIDS continues to rise here in Swaziland. We seek ways to help those children who are still not being reached with diagnoses, treatment and coping strategies.

In parallel, there is a large and growing population of older teenagers and young adults who have had little or no training or encouragement/mentorship for growing up to be productive in their communities. There is no provision for being responsible for themselves, their families or even younger siblings that they may find themselves responsible for. We see a great need for developing progressive training in fields that would promise economic growth and self reliance as well as the moral and ethical foundations found in the Christian world view.

Coming alongside the leadership of Children’s Cup, training and assisting new leadership to take our place in Children’s Cup as well as helping with the transition of new leadership in Children’s Cup is our next goal. After three years of experience and commitment we shall be taking as long as needed to ensure a smooth hand over is done. During this hand over period our financial and other personal detailing will be sought out and communicated to you. We are preparing clear visionary goals and we will be sharing them with you as the Lord continues to direct and lead us.

As the Lord led us here as a family, He is continuing to lead and grow us as a family. Thank you again for all your prayer, support and generosity. We hope that you will be as excited as we are for the awesome work we expect to be doing here in Swaziland. Taking the last three years with Children’s Cup, and our lives, to the next level, we trust that God is refining our faith and growing us in Him.

Growing both in God and for God, in vision, action and impact for Swaziland.

God Bless

Daran, Teresa, Gabrielle, Danielle, Nathanael, & Joelle

Lomansontfu June 26

2008-06-27T08:02:00.003+02:00

Good News!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!! At long last, after 3 or 4 weeks, we finally have all of the documents necessary to send Lomansontfu to for her surgery to have the tumor removed. I saw the letter from the senior medical officer today, and it states that she will go to South Africa on Monday the 30 of June. Abraham came up from Maphiveni today and took the sister and the child to get the travel documents. He said that it was just God, because when he got here, he realized that one of the certificates he was bringing was not correct. So he prayed and asked the Lord to make a way where there is no way, and He did!! He said that they took them into an office and corrected the document and they were able to get the travel documents without even waiting in the line! We were rejoicing and praising God right there in the corridor of the children’s ward at the government hospital! Prayer works!

When I visited her earlier in the week, I felt led to just pray and agree with the child, and the sister that this paperwork would be gotten quickly and that the doors would be open to get her to I could hear the other care givers in the room agreeing with me in prayer, and God did hear us, and answer! The tumor is getting bigger every day and causing her more and more pain. One of the care givers in the room told me today that it causes her much pain and she cries at night.

Now we must get her older sister to Mbabane to travel with her on Monday.Please help us pray that this goes smoothly, they travel safely, and that the surgery goes well.God is a good God!!

Lomansontfu - June 22

2008-06-26T13:27:00.002+02:00

This is a little girl named Lomansontfu (name means Sunday), which probably means she was born on a Sunday. She is from our Maphiveni CarePoint. She is about 10 years old, and she is an orphan. She lives with her older brother and sisters. She is not treated very nicely by them, because she is just an extra mouth to feed. She has a large tumor growing on the side of her face. The doctors think that it is a myeloblastoma. She needs a major surgery to remove the tumor and probably plastic surgery because the tumor is eating into her jaw bone. This surgery can’t be done here is Swaziland. She has been in the Mbabane Government Hospital for 3 weeks waiting for the Senior Medical Officer to approve her case and provide the money through a government fund to send her to South Africa to have the surgery done. We are also waiting for her family to get her certificate of birth from the chief so they can get travel documents for her trip to South Africa.

Each time I see her, the tumor is bigger and bigger. Sometimes, she drools because she can’t keep her mouth closed. She is having a lot of pain, especially at night, and her gums are beginning to bleed. In spite of all of this, she manages to still have a beautiful smile that lights up her whole face! I pray that we can get the help that is needed for this little girl. Please pray that the funding, the paperwork and the approval will all come quickly so that she can get the medical care that she needs and deserves!

10 Year Old Caregiver - June 15

2008-06-26T13:17:00.002+02:00

There are so many children that are raising themselves. It is very common that the mom and dad die, and the younger ones are raised by the older siblings. Then the older sibling has children of their own and they are being taken care of by the younger siblings. In many cases, the older sibling is working and the younger sibling is raising their children. So, you have an 11 year old taking care of a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 1 year old. This 11 year old girl brought these little ones in to see me at one of the clinics. They all had scabies from poor hygiene. They also had infected sores from where they had been scratching. I can’t imagine my 10 ½ year old being capable of taking care of 3 little ones 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I’m sure that this little girl doesn’t get to go to school since she is the care giver for these little ones while their real mother works, or does nothing, whatever the case may be. She doesn’t have much choice in the matter, if she wants to eat; she has to take care of them. I’m sure that she needs to be tested for HIV herself, but she really has no caretaker to be responsible for her. I sent our counselor out to talk to this family about testing. I have not heard how it went yet. This is one of the many difficult situations that we deal with here in Swaziland, only God has the answers to them all!

Nothando - June 8

2008-06-26T12:47:00.005+02:00

This little girl’s name is Notando. She has TB, but not in her lungs. Her TB is in her lymph node on her neck. She is also HIV positive and eligible for ARV’s based on the fact that she has TB. She was hospitalized for about 2 weeks to begin her TB treatment. Both her mother and father are mentally challenged. She was discharged on TB meds, which she is supposed to take 3 tablets daily. When we tried to find out from the mother about the meds, she said that there were no meds. When I checked with the nurses at the hospital, they said that the dad had been trained about the meds and the meds were given to him. I had the teacher at the CarePoint investigate and we found the meds. It looks like none of the meds had been given since the child was discharged from the hospital, which had been about a week. So I had the teacher (Lindiwe) keep the meds and start giving them to Notando when she came to the CarePoint each day.

Now this little one needs to be started on ARVs also. This will be a big problem, because they have to be given 2 times daily, exactly 12 hours apart every day, without missing a dose. This will be next to impossible with mentally challenged parents. Lindiwe can give one dose a day, but the 2^nd dose will be difficult to ensure.

Notando has a younger brother. The mom brought him to me at the clinic this week. He was very sick, probably pneumonia. I knew that I could give her an antibiotic to give him, but it has to be given 3 times daily. This mom really does love her children and care about them, but she is just not capable of taking proper care of them. There is no way that she can handle this, so I told her to bring him to the government hospital the next morning, hoping that they would admit him to get him well. I sent them home with Tylenol for fever and nothing else. I didn’t feel good about my decision, but really had no other choice.

Please pray for me for wisdom. Sometimes I just don’t have the answers, but I know that I serve a big God that does have all of the answers!

Update for April MoM Medical Team

2008-06-23T18:10:00.001+02:00

I heard from one of our teachers that a lady from the Logoba CarePoint who was helped by the Mission of Mercy medical team wanted to say thank you for giving her the money to go to the hospital. This lady is pregnant, and was having problems with her pregnancy. The medical team collected money and gave it to her to go to the hospital to have proper tests and medical treatment. She was able to do that and had some left over for food. She has not had the baby yet, but everything seems to be OK with her pregnancy now. She just wanted to let the team know how much she appreciates their kindness!

Belated Mother's Day Update

2008-06-03T11:44:00.002+02:00

Again, when the medical team visited Maphiveni, they saw a baby who was dying from malnutrition. The mother is HIV positive and had no more breast milk, and the baby was starving to death. The team gathered money and sent for formula and bottles for this baby. We were able to work with the mom and baby, teaching her how to mix the formula and feed the baby with formula to save her life. We also counseled the mom about getting on ARV’s herself. Pastor LaSalette and her staff also counseled and prayed with her and she accepted the Lord and is now coming to the church regularly! I saw the baby on Mother’s day. She and mom both look good! Mom says that she is now laughing, and she was not doing that before. The baby is about 11 months old, still can’t sit up, but is making progress. Praise the Lord! What a great Mother’s Day Blessing!

MoM Clinic Outcomes

2008-06-03T11:33:00.002+02:00

George is a 16 year old boy who lives in Maphiveni. When the doctors visited in April, he had just gotten out of the hospital. He had recently been diagnosed with diabetes. He had collapsed the week before at school and been rushed to the hospital, unconscious. He was living with his old grandma (gogo), who has difficulty caring for him. Some of the members of the medical team from the States gave Pastor LaSalette some money to take him back to the hospital to get his blood sugar under control. When we checked it at the clinic, it was still very high, even though he was on insulin.

I went back to Maphiveni and checked on George a couple of weeks after the medical clinics. He is now living in a room at Pastor LaSalette’s church. He is being taken care of by Abraham, who also lives and works there at the church. He is trying to cook healthy meals for George and make sure he checks his blood sugar twice a day and takes his insulin. Pastor bought a blood glucose machine for him to check his blood sugar. George looks and feels so much better these days.