4 sisi

Friday I had the best African day yet. It was so cool. This is a picture of the 4 sisi (little sisters) who made my day so special. Left to right: Nosisa (13) Hlengiwe (13) and the twins Nelly and Thoakele (15). And they are all at my Moneni carepoint.
Now I’m the first to admit that back in the states I never cared much for teenagers. They kinda bugged me with their drama and such and I pretty much stuck to little ones. But here in Africa I’ve been forced to spend a lot of time with teenagers, since they usually seek me out for conversation, and they speak more English than the little ones so you can have an actually conversation, not just count to 10. And as I’ve gotten to know them, I’ve developed a new love for them.
As said in my “invasion” post, being a teen in Swaziland is risky business. And it’s worth repeating to keep fresh in your mind there in America that at age 15, only 1:15 will reach the age of 35. That statistic has stuck with me for weeks, and I considered it as I hung out with the girls. Chances are, not one of them will be alive in 20 years.
Hard to think about isn’t it? Especially now that I (we- if you are praying there in the states, you’re in the trenches with me,) have faces and names to go with this statistic. But worth thinking about. As you are sending your kids off to college, they will be leaving their children orphaned.
I know that I (we) can’t change harsh realities, and can’t “save the world” but I see now that I (we) can make a difference in the lives of a small few. Perhaps I can influence them to make the choices that will save their lives, or at least to make healthy choices that will increase the quality of their shortened lives.
For the next 3 weeks, the school here are on break so these (and the other 250-300) kids will be at the carepoints a lot. Please pray that I have the time to get there often and spend a lot of time building relationships with the children there. I’m considering doing a book study with Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the mind, for Kids with the teens if they are interested. I think it would be cool for them to have something just for them, as well give them some life “tools.”
Okay so this post was not supposed to be so long, or depressing. Sorry. Read on and you will see the cool things my sisis and I did.