Prayer Requests

Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.  Psalm 89:8

We serve a God who is faithful to His promises and covenant in every way.

Wisdom!  We are moving in to areas of ministry and work way beyond what we originally envisaged.  Praise God!  This work needs to be done with excellence and integrity.

Support!  We appreciate your continued prayers and support!  I would ask you to share this work with interested friends and colleagues.  Our support during the year wanes during the US summer months.

Stateside!  Nathanael finishes school here in November.  We will be back in the States for about 6 weeks.  While it will be a time to visit family and help Nate get re-acclimated (reverse culture shock?) we do want to visit our supporters and reconnect.

We are honored and privileged to be able to be here in Swaziland and do what we do.  We are thankful for the support and prayers of everyone who makes it possible.

Newsletter:  http://eepurl.com/z0hSj

Australian Volunteers International

We have received confirmation that Kudvumisa Foundation will be receiving a "volunteer" from Australia in September.  Georgina will be joining us for a two year commitment:  her salary will be paid by AVI.  We have a small commitment to help with housing.

Her effort will be focused entirely on working with the ladies in Section 19 we call the "Sewing Ladies".  Much time and effort has been dedicated over the past two years to help these ladies learn the skills to create marketable items and achieve a minimal level of proficiency and quality to access American markets.  Georgina will continue to work on skills and marketable items, but  her primary goal will be to help these ladies develop the skills to operate as a business and ultimately to be able to stand alone with or without our help.


Gabby was here for 4 weeks between May and June with a Projects for Peace grant provided by the Davis Foundation Projects for Peace.  She was accompanied by two of her friends/co-grantees from Notre Dame of Maryland University: Amber and Andreina.  These girls spent three weeks in Section 19 teaching the "Sewing Ladies" and other ladies in the community how to crochet.  This is another skill added to the repertoire for these ladies, living in a difficult place under sometimes difficult circumstances.

PEPFAR Grant

The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was begun by President George W Bush in 2008 and sent billions to different countries and organizations to combat HIV.  Swaziland has received over $130 million since 2009.  This year an opportunity was advertised for small/nascent organizations to apply for 15 months of funding.  We fit those requirements perfectly!  We submitted a letter of Expression of Interest which was accepted and then a full proposal, which we just received notification this week, that was accepted.

This grant will allow us to expand geographically and demographically:  we will be able to expand into additional communities as well as remove the child/caregiver constraint on who is eligible to participate in the CHIPS program.  We included two specific pieces of lab equipment in the proposal for point of care blood work analysis.  Speeding up the turn around time for blood work will speed up the process for initiating new patients on HIV drugs as well as reduce the dependency on the local hospital lab.

A number of additional staff will be required:  a qualified nurse, counselors, monitoring & evaluation staff and lab technicians.

This is a tremendous answer to prayer as our official funding for this program is exhausted this year.

Mobile Clinic

We will be looking at purchasing a 4x4 vehicle for use as a mobile clinic.  This will come from the sale of our existing kombl (the one being replaced) and money from Divinity Lutheran in Maryland.  With a nurse that will come on staff in August (see PEPFAR Grant) we will be able to begin the transition of stable patients for our direct care and in-community HIV drug refills.  We are still working on a Memorandum of Understanding with Good Shepherd Hospital to operate as a medical outreach and source our supplies and drugs through them as well as a Public-Private Partnership with the Swaziland Ministry of Heath for our in-community services.

Replacement Van (Kombi)

It is finally happening!  We have full funding for the replacement patient transport vehicle.  Much thanks to the Baton Rouge-Capital City, Baltimore City, and Mbabane Rotary Clubs.  We are anticipating transfer of the full funds in the next two weeks.  The replacement van will seat 17 so we'll be able to carry more patients per trip.  This will allow us to expand the program to more communities and HIV affected people.  As part of the grant, the vehicle will have an in-vehicle video education system to help promote messages regarding health, hygiene, and positive living while the patients are being transported. Messages specifically tailored to an HIV+ audience for drug adherence and methods to stop new infections will be prominent.  As a Faith Based Organization (FBO) we also have the opportunity to share material which will share the Gospel message of hope.