July Lubisi

By Jabulani Maziya - Project Officer

July Lusibi, strong and healthy now!

Someone needed  to care for July Lubisi.  He needed to overcome a downward spiral journey with HIV/TB.  There was no hope, he had chronic diarrhea and vomiting, mouth sores, and he could barely walk nor stand. Residing in Macethuka, two HTC counselors from Kudvumisa Foundation met him at Good Shepherd Hospital with his granny, who was accompanying him for his HIV/TB Care and Treatment.

It was in 2009 during one of the Kudvumisa Foundation Service Referral visits to the Hospital. Already frail and sickly, the Kudvumisa counselors encouraged him to hang in there; it was not yet the end of his life. Affectionately known as Siza, named after the former Mbabane Swallows lanky striker, July was a shadow of his old self. His world was crumbling. He relied most on his granny and the Member of Parliament of that time for transport to the hospital.

The counsellors continuously counselled and encouraged him to keep up with his doctor’s appointments, adhere to treatment and that he would soon regain his physique. They started taking him to the hospital for his ARV’s and TB meds. Eight months after starting treatment, he grew stronger and put on weight.  Currently he is employed by Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC). An unimaginable success from where he was just a few years earlier.  In April of this year he was down-referred from Good Shepherd Hospital to Kudvumisa Foundation to continue his ARV refills in his community of Macethuka.  He no longer even needs to take trips to the ART Clinic at Good Shepherd

• Giving Hope in the face of HIV & Poverty

Distributing Sawyer Filters in Vuvulane

We'll be in Mambaweni on Saturday to participate in a community meeting to discuss problems caused by the lack of clean drinking water in this community. The Rotary Club of Dumbarton in the UK has donated 30 Sawyer Filter kits for distribution. The water for this and the surrounding communities comes from irrigation ditches. The water has tested positive for some mix of E.coli and coliform bacteria. There is no sanitation here. The current diarrhea outbreak has taken the lives of nearly 40 children from across Swaziland. We would need close to 700 filters to help every family in this area. Filters cost approximately $65 apiece, but last a lifetime with proper care. Please visit www.KudvumisaFoundation.org (or the donate button on the KudvumisaFoundation Facebook page) if you would like to help. Message us if you can help!

Swaziland: Poor Sanitation, Poverty Behind Swazi Diarrhoea Outbreak

Visiting Resident & USAID Grant Extension

Tsan spent her first week at Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in Mbabane and the next two weeks with the Kudvumisa/CHIPS outreach team doing community HIV care and treatment.  She was a blessing to have with us and we wish her the best as she returns to Phoenix.


We just got word this week that USAID is willing to extend our grant to operate CHIPS through March of 2015.  There is a catch: we'll have to capture 3 quarters worth of results in 2.  But even this extension is a great opportunity to expand services, impact, and outreach. 
Prayer and Specific Need Requests

• Ever thought of serving on the mission field?  We need help in a multitude of areas: HIV outreach, crawfish, marula, sewing, moringa.....  medical, admin, business as ministry, training.......
• Pray for the CHIPS staff: to be a light and a true witness to Christ's compassion to the poor and helpless
• a 1000L fuel trailer (the van that Rotary donated requires low sulfur diesel which is only available an hour away from our office) for $2000.
• ongoing CHIPS operating expenses (for expenses beyond the scope of the USAID grant and to meet our obligation for 10% of the total grant funding) $6000
• start up expenses for the economic development projects (marula oil, nuts and fire logs and crawfish production) $5000

Lexington Leadership Foundation

We saw God doing many great things a week ago when we had the ministry team from Lexington Leadership Foundation, led by Miles Phelps.  This was a group of people who love the Lord and operate in the gifts of the Spirit.  They are a mixture of pastors, teachers, and nurses, all operating in the role of Evangelists, ministering the Love of Christ to hurting people.  Many came to know the Lord, many were healed, delivered from bondage of evil and oppression.  We actually saw the picture of Christ through Miles and the woman at the well.  He spoke to a lady about giving or selling herself to many men and he told her go and sin no more.  She accepted Christ and he told her how valuable she is in God’s eyes.  Many others were prayed for emotional hurts.  I watched as Rodney spoke to so many women of the hurts of their past and saw the tears roll down their faces as the Lord set them free from those hurts.  Michelle and Peggy prayed for one lady that had pneumonia.  As we prayed the fever broke, she was very sick and was sleeping when we left.  The next week Chips took her to GSH and she was admitted and treated and is now recovering.  One man that was prayed for by Alvin couldn’t lift his arms and by the time he was finished praying he was raising his arms in the air praising God!  There was one man that had been bound to a wheel chair for years.  God spoke to Miles to help him up out of the wheelchair and he took a few steps!  We prayed for a lady with severe Asthma and as we prayed we could hear her breathing improving.
 The team spoke to our CHIPS staff several mornings on integrity, forgiveness, offense, courage and pride.  We all learned a lot and were so encouraged!  They also spoke words of knowledge and prophesy over us, our ministry, as well as our staff.  God is so good to bless us with these ministers, pastors, teachers to encourage and strengthen us in Him!

Prayer and Specific Need Requests

• Pray for the CHIPS staff: to be a light and a true witness to Christ's compassion to the poor and helpless
• a 1000L fuel trailer (the van that Rotary donated requires low sulfur diesel which is only available an hour away from our office)
• ongoing CHIPS operating expenses (for expenses beyond the scope of the USAID grant and to meet our obligation for 10% of the total grant funding)
• start up expenses for the economic development projects (marula oil, nuts and fire logs and crawfish production)

Swazi Crawfish

Even though the temperature has dropped, we are still getting 20kg a week from Vuvulane (the crocodile proof traps are working!).  While we are enjoying eating them and introducing them to Swazi's, South Africans, and Portuguese alike, the real goal is to develop an export market.  Please help us pray about the next steps for this.  The proceeds are dedicated to the CHIPS program:  to ensure sustainability for the long term.

Partner Rewards Bonus Day - July 16th ONLY

If you were considering making a donation this month: donations made through GlobalGiving.org are matched today July 16th while funds last.

• Starting at  9 am EDT to 11:59 pm EDT on Wednesday, July 16th, GlobalGiving.org will be matching donations 30% for Partners!
• GlobalGiving will be matching donations up to $1,000 per donor per project.
• GlobalGiving is offering a $1,000 bonus award for the project that raises the most funds and a $500 bonus award for the project that comes in second. They are also offering another $1,000 bonus award for most individual donors and a $500 award for the project that comes in second.

Visiting Resident

We have a visiting Resident from Phoenix Children’s Hospital for the next few weeks working with our staff.  Tsan is doing a Global Health rotation and is attached to our CHIPS program here in Swaziland for the month of July.  She spent her first week at Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in Mbabane.  She was able to shadow doctors there and gain pediatric HIV experience.  The next two weeks will be spent in Vuvulane with the Kudvumisa/CHIPS outreach team doing community HIV care and treatment with emphasis on children and adolescents.  She will be sharing her expertise with our nurse and HTC counselors as well as learning from them.  We are excited to have her working with us for these next few weeks!
Tsan was born in Taiwan and went to medical school in North Carolina.  Her family lives in Washington.   She is very interested in pediatric HIV and wishes to further her experience and knowledge so she can use it in her practice back in the States.

GlobalGiving Open Challenge Week 2

GlobalGiving Open Challenge Week 2

We are over 50% towards our 30 day goal! Thank you for your continued interest in Kudvumisa Foundation. We founded this organization to provide quality and compassionate health care for HIV+ children, their caregivers, and the community at large.  Last week we told you about our participation in GlobalGiving’s Global Open fundraising challenge. We are excited about this awesome opportunity to earn a permanent spot on GlobalGiving.com and a chance to access GlobalGiving’s international network of donors, foundation and corporate partners, and innovative fundraising tools. So far $2605 from 21 donors has been raised.  We are over half way there!  But we still need your help. Kudvumisa Foundation still needs to raise $2,395 from at least 19 donors by June 30. So, here’s what you can do right now: Donate now to Kudvumisa Foundation at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/hiv-care-5000-children-caregivers-in-rural-swaziland/. Call or email at least five friends and ask them to donate Post a link to our project page your Facebook page asking your friends to donate Thank you for your continued support! God Bless! Daran & Teresa Rehmeyer

Hope in the face of HIV and Poverty

One Today is a mobile app that lets you change the world, one day and $1 at a time. Learn more.

Hope in the face of HIV and Poverty

Swaziland has the highest percentage HIV+ population in the world at 26.5% in 2012 and two thirds of the population live on less than $1.50 per day.

$1 = 1 week of medical care for 1 HIV+ child or caregiver

 

Combine HIV with poverty and hopelessness rules. Kudvumisa provides comprehensive in-community HIV care for children and adults in the Lubombo Region of Swaziland. A healthy child can go to school. A healthy caregiver, whether a mother, father, auntie, or older sibling can work to care for the children under their care. Health without the burden of HIV/AIDS is a first step in combating poverty.

Kudvumisa Foundation USA Inc

Learn more at www.kudvumisafoundation.org
 
Two goals: Providing access to health care for HIV+ children and caregivers in rural Swaziland and developing economic opportunity for impoverished and isolated communities in Swaziland

A Permanent Swazi Home

URGENT
A Permanent Swazi Home

For the past five years we have worked out of first a rented small one room office in Tambankulu and now with our expanded staff and secure drug storage requirements a three room office in Vuvulane.  We were given another building in the compound to use for our economic development projects as well.  Yesterday Daran was approached by a man waiving a "court order" threatening to arrest him as "illegally occupying" the two buildings.  We are apparently stuck between two groups vying for control of the properties.  Which is right?  Don't know.  But this is the problem of not having a permanent home in this area where options for space are few.
Several years back we floated the idea and our dream of purchasing a partially developed property in Maphiveni. There was space for a clinic, class rooms for adult education, space for the economic development "incubators", commercially lease-able space for financial sustainability, a house for missionaries and visitors, and space to build staff housing.  A Rotary Donor Advised Fund was set up through the Rotary Foundation and is currently at $39,711 about 12% of the total funding needed to purchase this property.  With the current exchange rate, our dollars can go much farther than two years ago. We would ask you to prayerfully consider helping us reach this goal. 

Information and online donations to the DAF can be found at at this link.

New Mobile Clinic
Halleluiah!  Our staff are ecstatic over the new mobile clinic that was delivered this month.  Major funding for the clinic came from Divinity Lutheran Church in Towson, MD.  It has been a huge boost in effectiveness in serving the patients we see in each community.

We'll have more pictures of the clinic in action next time.

Sewing Bible Study

Sewing Bible Study
Teresa has started a Bible study with our ladies that are in the sewing program.  It is going well, one of them broke down crying in the middle of one of the recent Bible studies.  She said that she does want to follow Jesus, but it is so hard with her life circumstances.  She accepted Jesus into her heart and wants to do what is right but it is very difficult with a husband that gets drunk and beats her.  Some of her livelihood is brewing marula beer to sell to the neighbors as they try to do anything that they can to make money.  Hence why we are trying to get them to do the sewing instead.  This past week she broke down when she was asking for prayer that her eldest son who is working will come and get her and take her to their homestead and take care of her.  She is HIV positive, receiving her care with CHIPS.  She also asked for prayer for strength because she doesn't feel like God is with her or hears her when she prays.  Teresa: as I was encouraging her to read her Bible and claim the promises that are in God's word, one of the other ladies leaned over and said, she can't read her Bible because she doesn't know how to read.  At that point I felt really stupid and thought wow, that is really hard!  I told the ladies that can read to please read the Bible to her and encourage her in the Lord.  That made me think, boy I don't have any problems in comparison.  We really need an adult reading program as well for these ladies.

Other Requests

• a 1000L fuel trailer (the van that Rotary donated requires low sulfur diesel which is only available an hour away from our office)
• ongoing CHIPS operating expenses (for expenses beyond the scope of the USAID grant and to meet our obligation for 10% of the total grant funding)
• start up expenses for the economic development projects (marula oil, nuts and fire logs and crawfish production)

 follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend 

 

Give our ministry a 10% raise, donate directly at www.KudvumisaFoundation.org  or use the link below



  Or simply mail your gift to:

 Kudvumisa Foundation USA, Inc.
709 Highspire Road
Glenmoore, PA  19343

CHIPS Staff in Vuvulane

Kudvumisa staff. Front row: Bongiwe (M&E), Mary (HTC), Bongani (nurse), Hlobsile (HTC); back row: Teresa, Mfanzile (Finance), Jabulani (Program Manager), Mduduzi (HTC)

All standing in front of our new digs in Vuvulane.

Swaziland Update: New Donation Site and Van Status

New Donation Method - Van Status

URGENT Donate directly to Kudvumisa  Foundation USA, Inc. We are please to announce that all of our ministry supporters may now donate directly to Kudvumisa Foundation USA, Inc. There are several ways to give: through the website, mobile site, or by mail. We encourage you to go to http://kudvumisafoundation.org and select the donation links to begin donating directly to our ministry.  Other Donation Options Donate by Mail - Send checks to: Mobile Donations Use this QR code from your mobile device to donate while on-the-go. Van purchased through Rotary   The replacement patient van is almost delivered. We are waiting on final registration which we are hoping happens on November 1st. This will allow us to begin transporting patients next week!  Praise God and thanks for your continued support.

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Give our ministry a 10% raise, donate directly at www.KudvumisaFoundation.org. Or simply mail your gift to:  Kudvumisa Foundation USA, Inc. 709 Highspire Road Glenmoore, PA  19343

2013 10 08 - New Office Building and 501c3 status approved!

From: Du______ L R________
Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2013 9:34 PM
To:   Da_____ R_________
Subject: Yippee!!! 501 (c) (3) Approved!!!
Importance: High --- Spread the word, we’ve been approved!!!  On September 22, 2013, the IRS approved Kudvumisa Foundation USA Inc. tax exempt status.  We will keep you posted as we transition to receiving donations through the Kudvumisa Foundation.  Thanks to all who made this possible!

USAID Update

We’ve hired another counselor for the HIV testing, and finished interviews last week for a Finance and a Monitoring & Evaluation Officer.  These new positions are needed to help manage the grant from PEPFAR/USAID.

Swaziland Ministry of Health

As reported in the previous newsletter a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Swaziland Ministry of Health.  The “town” of Vuvulane has provided a building to move into rent free. Office renovations were needed to comply with the requirements for secure and climate controlled ARV drug storage, and secure storage for patient files. Installation of the required AC is pictured on the left. The air conditioner is a crucial requirement  for meeting the drug storage requirements from the Ministry of Health, not for staff comfort!

Office Renovations Complete

Total cost was about E16,000/$1,684USD; local labor was used and it was managed ourselves to reduce the cost. A donation of E3000/$316USD was received from an Australian couple who visited and saw our work. Please be prayerful about giving to provide for ongoing maintenance for this facility. The recently painted and renovated building is pictured on the right.

The ministry is still waiting on delivery of the new passenger van. The mobile clinic has been ordered; this vehicle is paid for and is being transported to Durban for the mobile clinic conversion.
 

For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these... Luke 18:16

There are a number of children in abusive situations in the communities we work in.  Neglect, rape, physical and emotional abuse; this takes a toll on us to watch as the government is unable to cope or deal with the situation.  Please pray for these children, there were three in particular need of a new home.  One of the three children was placed in a Christian orphanage that belongs to a friend of ours and he is doing very well!  Praise the Lord!  He is adjusting to having many brothers and sisters and a Make (mother) that takes care of him, rules that he must follow to protect him and to having electricity and running water.  His first bath was hilarious, he loved it! There was more water on the floor than in the tub! Light switches were also fascinating to him at first, he would not stop turning them on and off!

The other two (2) children were placed in a Buddhist orphanage which is very disappointing, but at least they are in a safe place. Teresa is working to get them moved to the Christian orphanage.  Please pray with us about this situation!
 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month internationally.  Teresa is involved in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Network here in Swaziland.  One of the King’s wives has shown an interest in coming to the Breast Cancer walk at the end of the month and Teresa will be visiting the Royal Palace today (10/08/13) to meet her and to discuss her presence at the walk.  This is a great honor and we ask that you please pray that it goes well and for an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with her!  Her presence in a public place has many complications and certain protocols must be followed which makes it difficult to navigate, so please pray for wisdom.

A dear friend of the Ministry needs your prayers.

Cheri McDaniel was very instrumental in getting us the funding through Rotary for the new van and setting up the donor advised fund for the property through Rotary.  Included here is an email from Cheri:  Dr Leo said I have colon cancer and the biopsy confirmed. Though the cat scan showed no signs of having spread to other body parts, the surgery will be what doctors call the "gold" test. My first hurdle is successfully going through surgery after being off blood thinners for a week, something my Cardiologist hoped I would never have to do. This makes a greater risk of heart attack or stroke which I have never had, thankfully. Then I will be a candidate to face necessary steps thereafter.  Dr Louis Barfield asked that as many as possible pray for him during this time.  Apparently I have a Christian surgeon!  Cheri’s surgery is tomorrow the 9th of October.

Prayer Requests

1. Pray for Cheri McDaniel, her doctor, surgery and recovery.
2. Pray for children that are in abusive situations.
3. Pray for funding for the needed building renovation and ongoing maintenance.
4. Praise God that the IRS 501c3 status has been granted.

We also need prayers for wisdom and strength as we move forward with expanding CHIPS and working with this grant, hiring new employees and many other challenges.  It has been very busy and stressful so please pray for health, peace and rest in the midst of all the changes and expansion.  These are all good things and we are very grateful that the Lord has blessed us with this grant and we want to do this with excellence!

Anna, who has been with us since we have been in Swaziland, is part of our family and we love her.  She has recently been diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer and she is on the waiting list for the government to send her to South Africa for radiation and chemotherapy, which are presently not available in the country.  We don’t know how long this will take since the government is having difficulty paying the bills to South Africa.  They will not take additional patients until they receive payment.  The treatment in South Africa is very expensive so we can’t afford to send her for treatment ourselves and she has no medical aide.  We are praying for the Lord to heal her and/or to provide a way for her to receive treatment.

 

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.