One Flip Flop

Wed. July 30, 2008

Today we travelled to Shewula, a very remote region of Swaziland that sits high in the mountains on the Mozambique border. There is a Neighborhood Care Point there which is supported by Kukhany O Kusha. An NCP can be different things, depending upon the needs of the region and the recourses that can be attained. Shelwula NCP is a church, preschool and feeding station caring for OVC’s (orphaned and vulnerable children) . It’s hard to put into words just how fragile and vulnerable these children really are, and stepping into this strange world can leave one feeling powerless and overwhelmed.

We drove for about 2 hours, much of it on dirt roads, and the last few kilometers on trails that were barely passable. We passed many homesteads along the way. A homestead is a collection of huts where extended families live in a communal style. The children usually stay in a hut together, one hut is for cooking and the others are for the respective husbands and wives. Though multiple marriage is a part of this heritage and is still practiced widely, it is not sanctioned by the Christian churches and monogamy is now more common than plural marriage. The livestock, food and resources as well as the work is shared by all. The elders are revered and often have their own huts.

It is strange how it happens, but as Chris observed, after a few days here one begins to develop a new set of eyes and we could tell with these new eyes that the region of Shewula was truly desperate and our arrival at the NCP confirmed that.

The building that housed the NCP was a two room lean-to type structure. The main room which served as the preschool and church, had a concrete floor, but the other room, where the older children received instruction, had a dirt floor. There was an outdoor toilet and no electricity nor was there a water source.

There were 48 children in attendance and though timid at first, they soon included us in their games. They were literally dressed in rags and few had shoes. The dry, dusty cracked feet of these children told their story in a manner beyond anything I could put into words. The children ranged in age from about 2 years to 10 and many had swollen bellies from lack of food. The teachers, who are volunteers, explained that most of these children relied on this NCP for their one meal per day, but they had run out of food 2 weeks ago. World Food Organization or UNICEF could often supply food, but the demand had been so high lately the supply was unreliable.

We played games with the children and had brought balls, a parachute games and of course balloon hats, which are always a big hit. The children stood patiently in line waiting their turn until all 48 were sporting a balloon hat. We had stopped at a roadside market along the way and bought 2 bags of oranges. Little did we know that may be all many of these children would eat today.

Our group went inside the church with the children and they sang for us and we sang for them and we sang together,. We took an offering within our group and were pleased to learn we had given enough for nearly 2 weeks worth of food. Babe Mkhonta asked that the teachers go get bread immediately so the children would not be hungry any longer.

While playing on the dusty, grassless schoolyard, one of the games the children seemed to enjoy involved a big circle, with the children taking turns going to the center and dancing while the others sang and clapped. As one little girl, who I guessed to be 5 or six years old, took her turn, I noticed that she was wearing only one flip flop. The other foot was bare. There she stood dancing and singing joyously and gleefully in a tattered dress and one flip flop. Why one flip flop, I wondered? Would it not be better to just be barefooted than to wear just one shoe? And then it occurred to me that her tattered dress and one worn, cracked flip flop was everything in this world that she owned, all that she possessed. I was again overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation here and the feeling of a powerlessness to help.