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Jude's Swaziland Diary (Click HERE for the most recent entry) Since leaving work just over a month ago, I have enjoyed spending time with various family members and adjusting to the new season of my life. Preparations are going well, although there seem to be a lot of clearing away to do in the house to leave it in an orderly state for the remaining family staying here! As it is the holidays all the family are here and we have spent time together reading the bible and praying - I believe we need to pull together spiritually to equip us for the months ahead, this has been good for all of us. I am excited as the time for us to leave draws closer. I have no idea what is ahead of us, communication is not good between the UK and Swaziland, sometimes it is hard to talk to the guys there and ask the many questions I have to ask! Fortunately God knows what we are going into and I trust Him for our future. As I begin to pack my suitcase, (this in itself is a challenge as I try and cram in various medical supplies, books and clothes) and say my farewells to various friends and relatives I go with anticipation in my heart of God doing a great and wonderful thing in Swaziland. I know we as a family will change and it will be an amazing experience. I also know it won't all be plain sailing; things won't always go as we hoped and I may have many thoughts of my nice comfortable home in Ilfracombe! But I go with an open heart and mind; wanting to be used to bring hope and love to the many children we will be in contact with. I'm excited and looking forward to our visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town before we enter Swaziland. We are due to arrive in Swaziland 28th September. What a long journey! We set off at about 10.30pm from London, the very smart Emirates staff came round with dinner at 12.40am! We'd already had something to eat at the airport so I passed on that meal. Not easy to sleep on a plane is it? The seat just doesn't go back enough. The foot rest was good though, it rolled around so I was constantly doing my foot exercises, aware of deep vein thrombosis you see!! I think I finally dropped off in a semi deep sleep when the lights were back on and they were serving breakfast at 3.40am UK time but Dubai is 3 hours ahead so it was 6.40am. Breakfast was fruit and crinkly custard Danish I think! We landed at 8.30am (Dubai time) and waited for our connection, Dubai is a really nice airport although we weren't there for long - at 10am we were on the next flight. Another long flight - just over 7 hours but this is where it gets confusing as Johanesburg is only 1 hour behind the UK! We landed there at 4.15pm and spent just under an hour in the passport control line - no hurry, this is Africa! Finally we went through where we were met by Jeanine and her dad, they drove us to their house in Pretoria, usually takes 45 minutes but the road looked like the M25 on a busy Friday evening, so we arrived 2 hours later. The complex where they live in Pretoria had a security gate just like all the properties seem to have around the area and we have bars on the windows for obvious reasons - a little different from Ilfracombe! Our hosts are fantastic Jeanine's Mum and Dad have given up their room for us and taken their caravan to a local campsite. We'll see them tomorrow as they have church in their house. Jeanine is lovely and is looking after us so well. The first night in Africa we all slept soundly in a nice bed. Saturday morning we were taken to a park with a market in it but unfortunately the market wasn't on! So we strolled around and had a drink instead. The afternoon was time for another snooze, then about 4.30pm we ate lunch and played a game called 30 seconds, great fun. Don't want to bore you all too much so I'll stop for today, Am happy to be here so until next time... The Lord provided us with wonderful relaxing break in Cape Town where we stayed with a great couple in their home by the beach, it was an amazing experience forging new friendships and the Lord being so faithful in His provision both with the place where we stayed and a car being given to us for out stay there. We returned toPretoria on 27th, staying once again with Jeanine and her family. We had arranged for the guys from Swaziland to pick us up on Thursday 28th at the airport as we were also meeting our good friend Jamie there. Jon had phoned Swaziland on the Wednesday to check all was set for Thursday but unfortunately due to some miscommunication Pete had driven down on Wednesday morning to J'burg picking up another team of people and was expecting us also. We phoned around several rental companies for a car to drive ourselves up there but because it is a holiday season here in South Africa nothing was available. The coach was our next option so we called the coach company, fully booked until Saturday morning! I booked 6 single tickets for Saturday, this has given us a few extra days in Pretoria, which is fine, and the family we are staying with are so accommodating. Hopefully we will soon be reaching Swaziland. Our time in South Africa has given us a chance to get used to a mixture of culture but mainly we have made new relationships and continue to see God's faithfulness to us. First impressions The five and a half hour bus ride was fairly uneventful apart from the coffee! It came very strong, tons of sugar and black, since I usually take it white with no sugar, I found this undrinkable, so we had an interesting time trying to dispose of it down the loo!! What is it about us British never wanting to offend people? We arrived at Nelspruit at 12.30pm, with our 10 bags of luggage. Bernie met us, he took us on the 2 hour journey up to Bulembu, We travelled about 45km on a dirt road with trailer behind bumping about and dust flying everywhere. We passed through the South Africa border and 2 minutes later reached the Swazi border; this area is known to be one of the most beautiful borders in the world with far sweeping mountains all around you. It was a stunning view. Getting into Swaziland was just a matter of stamping our passports and writing our names down on their list, not a computer in sight!! We apparently have to go into Mbabane the capital to get a temporary residents permit. At 3pm we were deposited at the Lodge, this is Bulembu's finest hotel! It is very quaint and comfortable; Jon and I were the only one's in our section. I was advised not to look up at the ceiling as there might be something up there I wanted to kill! The girls were given their own little house within the lodge with two rooms in it. We were left to our own devices so Corey and Jamie our Canadian friends gave us a tour, we went up to an amazing view point where you see miles of unending mountain ranges - quite spectacular. We also looked at the endless number of buildings which in their heyday would have been well used in this previous thriving mining town, there is the empty swimming pool, the cinema which still has the projectors bolted to the floor, the squash court in need of a sweep and possible re plaster in places. There are also a few tennis courts in desperate need of repair. The other buildings included a large hall with a badminton court drawn out, again in need of a lick of paint and clean up. A large building had what used to be dormitories which have had walls taken down and the ministry intend to rebuild these to accommodate Teen Challenge students. Then there is the main Swazi community down in the centre of Bulembu that is another whole project!! There is so much need in this little community, which is possibly bigger than I yet know about. We visited our friends at ABC ministries - they have 25 children with
them at the moment and it's always a joy to go in and see Robyn and Gerry
and their brood of children and helpers. The First week The first few days we have spent time walking (seems like miles) around Bulembu, visiting ABC ministries, Jacaranda House (for abused girls), orientation with Hayley (volunteer teacher), this include a visit to the hospital which has 3 rooms open - two for consultations and one for stock!. I had a quick glance around and looked forward to going back there to have a proper look. The main hospital is completely closed off, last week a team of medical volunteers from the USA came and checked out the operating theatre, they reported that there was still blood on the instruments left in the room! Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday Friday Prayer requests
Until next time I'm sending lots of love. Jude Bulembu - each morning I look out of my window and see the mountain range before me, it is an awesome sight. Since being here I have got to know a lot of the other missionaries from the states, Korea, Canada, the nuns from the UK. It hasn't been all hard work as I have also attended several parties - a bridal shower, a baby shower, a birthday tea, two leaving do's. The walking continues, as we still have no transport. Jon celebrated his birthday on 15th; he walked up the highest mountain here called Emlanga. In true Jon fashion he suggested another way down and lost the pathway and ended up in brambles!! It took them a little longer as they did seriously get lost, but it was a birthday to remember. In the evening we invited the community round for bring and share, there were about 20-25 people. Some young nationals sang songs in SisSwati and we taught them some silly games!! We have finally moved into the house allocated to us. It has 4 bedrooms
and is next to ABC - this will be fantastic as we are very keen to be involved
with them. We are now in the process of collecting, buying and borrowing
furniture, crockery, cutlery and whatever else we need to furnish a house.
We have great plans to make it as homely and cosy as we can and are keen
to take on up to 4 children to foster. It is nearing the end of October now; we heard that 'the Valley of Hope' is leaving Bulembu as the founders are moving to the middle of Swaziland to continue with their ministry. We knew we had come at an interesting time and the Lord has placed us here for such a time as this! The new ministry BMS will now take over the school, they have offered Jon the position of Principle so he is now very busy organising a school. He has asked me to help him set the school up by being the school administrator so we travelled down to Durban (9 hours from Bulembu) and spent two weeks on a course to enable us to run an ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) school; this is a form of education which is very widely used in home schooling but the reason they are using it here in Bulembu is that many of the children have had no education or are very behind for their age and need to work at their own pace. It was a tough course working at individual desks learning about the ACE programme. We have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks to organise the school and prepare it for the new school year, which commences here in Africa at the end of January. We appreciate your prayers for the time ahead, we believe it is exciting to be here and although the future is uncertain, we know we can trust that the Lord has a plan ahead of us. On November 17th we heard Jon's Mum, my precious mum in law died after a very short illness, she had been diagnosed with brain tumours at the end of September, she died peacefully in her sleep. She was an amazing woman of God, faithful to the end. It has been hard over the last 6 weeks coming to terms with the fact that this was happening to her but both Jon and myself have peace in our hearts that she is now with our Lord Jesus. If the Lord opens up a way we will be returning to the UK for the funeral. Love and blessings. Jude xx We flew back to the UK on 30th November - Travel insurance is worth having!! It was so right that we went back for Mum's funeral. Right for Michael and Victoria, right for us to bring closure for all of us. Mum was a strong, admirable woman of God and many fantastic tributes were made from her children and grandchildren. The funeral took place on 2nd Dec and went very well - a lot of hard work and preparation put in by Jon's sister and sister-in-law. The month of December was spent catching up with friends, spending half the time in Mum's house and half the time in Ilfracombe, Devon. We have collected a few more personal possessions to take back with us, including winter clothes now we know how cold it can get in winter. Our luggage allowance is only 20kg each so we need to pray that we take the essential stuff. I also visited my previous employer and they very kindly donated a few medical supplies. The clinic in Bulembu is in great need of many things we probably take for granted in the UK, so it was a blessing to be given some useful items. We received an email from Bulembu whilst here in the UK to inform us of the very sad news of our pastor dying of a heart attack aged 34 yrs; unfortunately because of lack of medical facilities and equipment in the village, he didn't make it. This is shocking to me being so used to available emergency supplied in the UK. If anyone reading this is able to donate a defibrillator please let us know - this is a piece of equipment that you hope you never need to use but if you do it is obviously life saving. We also spent some time talking with people
about setting up a foundation in memory of Mum as she was in education
all her life and
supported
us in our work in Africa. We hope to raise funds to give the much-needed
education to the children in Swaziland. For Christmas the family were altogether (except Vic who flew to New York to spend time with her boyfriend), it was good to see extended family too. We are all keen to get back to Bulembu - we have missed everyone there and look forward to 2007 and all it has in store for us. God is good. We leave the UK on 27th Dec and will be back in Bulembu by 29th Dec. Isaiah 58 v 11 Jude It's interesting returning to a place you have lived in for about two and a half months and you have missed it so much! Bulembu is a gem, it is a place of beauty, a place where you can find solitude, a place of laughter and a place of great sadness at times. The children are so vulnerable and yet you can see with love given to them they flourish. On 2nd January our family invited Busi in to stay, we think she is 13 years old and has lived with the Jacaranda house (a house of abused and orphan children run by English nuns) for 5 years. We want to make a difference in her life by unconditional love and care, her knowledge of the English language is limited and sometimes we wonder how much she does understand but it's early days and she seems to be happy with us. Sian and Rachel have taken her under their wing and are great with her . My heart is to make a difference to many of these orphans but I know I need to take one at a time, I know my limitations! The sun is shining here today in Bulembu and it is now generally very hot, it's the middle of summer here so the children are still off school, we hear them all around us. Sometimes the ABC guys migrate over to our house and when the house is full of 15 children it's time to send them home!!! School preparations are coming along, I realise my time will be very busy up to the run up to opening on 5th February. Many forms need to printed up and photocopied, shelves built, desks built ( the carpenters in Bulembu are very speedy at building desks apparently), registrations of the kids and fees organised. School uniforms are also going to be slightly changed for ease of acquiring it. Jon and I also visited the Ministry of Health again to try and sort out my nurses registration, my transcripts were given in whilst I was in the UK but they were given back to me with a list of all the other things I needed to present to them, these things were given in originally in October and they were just waiting for the transcripts. Please pray that I will be patient and get this sorted out. I love nursing and although I am happy helping Jon sort out the school on the admin side, it is not really my favourite thing to do!! The clinic is in desperate need of more qualified staff, so I find the whole situation extremely frustrating............................I finally handed in my transcripts and they found my original papers, I will hopefully find out in the next few weeks or so if I have been approved by the swazi ministry of health to practice in Swaziland. Last Sunday, I was asked to have a look at a little boy aged 4 years old who had a very swollen eye. The clinic is closed on the weekend and the 2 resident nurses were nowhere to be seen, he had a very high temperature and did not look a very well little boy, I hunted through my textbooks and decided it looked like orbital cellulitis, I always struggled with eyes in my previous job and would quickly pass it on to a doctor! Anyway no doctor about here in Bulembu so through a translator I told his mum to give him medicine to bring the temperature down and that she must take him to the clinic first thing in the morning as he probably needed admitting to the hospital for IV antibiotics. When I popped back to his house a few hours later to check up on him, his mum was there in a room 10 x 10 with bare floor and no furniture, no electricity with 3 more children about 7, 2 and newborn, no man to be seen, this is quite typical of the swazi culture and the poverty is extreme. I heard the next day that the nurse had sent him to Piggs peak hospital and apparently they did nothing and told her to take him to Mbabane government hospital. By Wednesday evening I heard this little boy needed a lift to Mbabane as he still hadn't got there yet. Jon and I travelled the hour and a half to Mbabane with the 4 year old and him mum. Obviously his eye was looking worse and we took him to the casualty dept. We had lots of people staring at us as we were the only white people to be seen. We asked where we should go and were pointed to the eye dept, this was an office with literally masses of paper spread across the shelves, they informed us we needed to go to the Out patients dept to collect a green form. His mum and I walked to this dept while Jon cuddled the little lad on his lap. Mum was informed by the reception lady that the eye clinic was closed today so the little boy could not be seen. I intervened and informed her that we were already sitting in the eye dept waiting room and just needed the form, she then proceeded to fill in the form and charged us the R10 accordingly! We walked back to the eye waiting room and they were promised they would be seen. We had to go and see to other business ourselves so informed mum that we would come back later and see what was happening, as Jon put this little guy down next to his mum on the waiting room bench, he stretched out his arm and cried out for us to stay, it nearly broke my heart, probably for the first time in his little life he had been cuddled and cared for by a man showing compassion to him. Jon and I left the hospital in silence but it had an amazing impact on me, this little chap was so grateful in just receiving a loving cuddle when he was feeling so sick. We shopped and bought a bag of groceries for them and returned to the hospital, he was in ward 5 the adult eye ward, on an IV drip. I knocked on the door where 5 or 6 nurses were chatting and asked them what was happening, a senior nurse told us he would be in for some time as they were treating him for cellulitis with IV antibiotics and the infection was right behind the eye and could take a few weeks to heal. The incredible differences between the western medical system
and this one were clear to see, this little guy would have been sent to the
hospital immediately
in the UK and been treated the same day, yet here he was tossed from one
place to another and it took days to get him to the right place, thankfully
he finally
did get the treatment he needed and we pray that the Lord will give him total
healing in that right eye. Jude. Changes In February, a young lady arrived from America. Cassie has worked for Governors' (MP's) in the states, being very experienced at administrating, I decided to give her the main bulk of administrating the school. I was given the opportunity of spending a week in a swazi hospital set up by one of the directors here in Bulembu ministries Swaziland. It was fascinating, I was mainly in the ODP and A&E departments. Probably 50% of cases were either HIV+ or had TB or both. It was sad too as I saw a few end stage AIDS cases where the only option was to make them comfortable. I also observed very basic nursing care in dressing wounds and administering medication. I learnt a lot though and the difference between western and third world medicine. I was asked to make an inventory at the hospital and try to bring some more organisation to the clinic. I have been approved on the swazi nursing register at last but cannot go and collect my certificate until I have a letter from BMS to say I am working there, I cannot get a letter until I have my TRP (temporary resident permit) as this gives me a work permit!!!!!!!!!! Patience is the name of the game. I have also been asked to head up a hospice as there are so many swazi people around us dying of AIDS and they have nowhere to go in their last days. The hospital has several wards which need renovations but it would be fairly easy and inexpensive to open one ward for this purpose, which is located close to the main entrance. Additionally I've been asked to be the nurse for the new children coming in to Bulembu on 1st April. The houses have been prepared and the swazi house mums trained up. There are 8 children coming into each house and at the moment 2 houses. This is something I'd like to take on. I now have some decisions to make and am really asking God to help me - please pray for me too as I am finding the whole transitioning period quite difficult. I love nursing but not speaking the language is a barrier. Sian and Rachel are learning Siswati and they are brilliant at it, I, on the other hand sound like I'm saying a whole different thing when I attempt a word or two! The swazi people look at me and have no idea what I was trying to say!! I know God could help me but really am I too old to try and learn another language when it's not natural on my list of talents? I need the Lord's guidance that's for sure - a time of transition is always hard. We now have another young girl of 14 years staying with us every weekend, her name is Phila and she is a delight. We are thinking and praying about taking her on full time as well as Busi. We own a Combie, it seats 10 adults fairly comfortably which is great but has an oil problem, we have previously left it in a garage for about 3 weeks and paid E8000 (£700) a few months ago and now it seems to have the same problem again so please pray for a healthy car for us! Victoria, our oldest daughter arrived with three friends just over a week ago. It is so nice to have her here with us, she is visiting for 3 months. We have a very busy house, cooking for 12 every day is quite a challenge! The shopping is obviously bigger too but I'm learning to cook many dishes with rice and pasta which always go a lot further. Bulembu is a strange place in many ways, it's difficult to explain sometimes how I'm feeling and what my role is here but as a family we are definitely here for a reason and maybe I will be able to explain that more fully at a later date. Ah, how circumstances can change in such a short time span. I'm practising nursing in the community - mainly at the weekends when the clinic is closed, the palliative care ward is unlikely to happen any time soon, it seems simple enough to me but this is Africa so I won't comment any more on that. Most of my day is spent as school administrator ordering materials and arranging courses for teaching staff, being a general support to Jon. I've had a major car crash, I was travelling to Mbabane in a borrowed 4 x 4 from another missionary, following Jon who was driving our kombi, we were taking it to the garage for more mechanical work. As I approached a bend going downhill (about 40kmph)the car skidded over some bumps in the road, I put the brakes on fairly hard (I know wrong decision) and skidded some more and totally lost control of the vehicle, I drove over to the side of the road hoping that would correct me. Unfortunately it did the opposite and I managed to tip the vehicle over and over down the hill! I wasn't wearing a seatbelt (fool I hear you all saying); now because I wasn't wearing a seatbelt I was able to lean my body over to the passenger seat protecting my face with my right arm and avoid all the flying glass from the windscreen. I would have had a face full of glass had I been wearing a seatbelt, (obviously not suggesting wearing a seatbelt is a bad thing) anyways I crawled out of the 4 x 4 with cuts and bruises. The Lord definitely looked after me. The poor car was in really bad shape though and probably a total wreck. We have replaced their car - it cost R45,000 (less in pounds but it still hurt) and now the kombi needs a new engine which is estimated at about R18,000. God is good and faithful and I will continue to praise Him.....Thanks to our good friends in Reading who have helped pay for a new engine for the kombi. The school continues to grow as new children come in from 'the Lighthouse programme' this is a vulnerable children project where children with no one are given a 'house mum'( a swazi Christian woman) and a house where about 8 or 9 children live. This is one of the main BMS projects and PIA (partners in action) from the states are the main sponsors. So life is pretty hard out here but I kind of love it. The people are amazing, they are in such need of love. They need Jesus in a big way, just stuff we take for granted and expect is not taken for granted and expected out here. Woman are so badly treated and used for sexual pleasure and baby making, just second class citizens which is so difficult to understand. We have just returned from picking Mike and his friend Calum up from Nelspruit, we had a weekend in Kruger, there were 11 of us in all. We saw the big three:- Elephants, Buffalo and Rhino, unfortunately we didn't get to see any Lions or Leopards but did hear a kill in the distance and our guide told us it was Lion's killing a Buffalo. It was also Vic's 21st birthday, so quite a memorable event for her to look back on. God willing we are
returning to the UK on August 2nd for a month, we are in need of a vehicle
to either borrow or if anyone could rent a vehicle
for us for that month we would be every grateful. After spending 5 weeks back in the UK we have arrived back in Bulembu. It was lovely catching up with family and friends and the time seemed to pass fairly quickly as we also had to pack up personal items in our house as we are now renting it out to a friend from our church in Woolacombe. This was an answer to our prayers as we were unsure of what we were going to do with the house and thought we may have to empty it of all the furniture to rent it commercially. Fortunately it is now all sorted and we are very happy to leave it in the capable hands of our friend. We packed our suitcases before leaving and really felt it right to pack donations from people for the school and health supplies – this put us at least 50kg over the limit between us all. I called the airline up and asked if we could have extra luggage they said definitely not. We still felt the Lord prompt us to have faith in Him and that he would get it through so when we got to the check out the guy asked us how many bags we had. We told him eight and we hoped and prayed they would be able to go on the plane. He said ‘Yes that’s fine, it’s the weekend and we have extra space’. No questions, just totally straight forward. We thanked him and God very much and Charlotte noticed that his name was Gabriel – maybe he was an angel! One thing I know for sure is that we had the faith to expect the impossible and God was as ever faithful. So begins the next season in Swaziland. Thanks so much for all your support, we are always amazed and yet why? He has promised to look after us. God never lets us down and always provides for us in every way. Please pray for us – pray that we will keep our eyes on the Lord and not be distracted by anything. Please pray that we will listen to the Lord, be guided by Him and obey His direction not man’s. Jude So another month has gone by. The rain has been falling and has been much needed here in Swaziland. My Mum came back with us at the beginning of September and has been visiting the ABC ministry house with Charlotte and going on several walks around Bulembu. We trekked up a little mountain and enjoyed the views across Bulembu, my Mum is very fit. She will be returning to the UK on 19th October. The School has taken on 6 more students and we are integrating them into the system, it is quite difficult as we have to do an ESL (English as a second language) course with them before they can fully appreciate the ACE programme. It looks likely that a lady who has just come into Bulembu will take over my job as school administrator – this will free me up to work in healthcare in the community. I am quite excited about that and am considering doing a diploma (long distance learning) in teaching and education relating to hiv/aids in the community. This is something that really excites me and I’ve been waiting a long time to do this. Yesterday we were travelling back from Piggs peak after going out for Jon’s birthday meal, the weather turned and suddenly it was thundering and lightening and hail stones were falling. It was a bad storm and the Lord really looked after us as we drove up the dirt track road to Bulembu. We saw lightening strike a tree at the side of us and it seem to bounce off the tree and gave our car a spark. It was very frightening and we were very aware of the danger we were in but the Lord looked after us and kept us all safe. We have sold our car which is an amazing answer to prayer for us, we have a Toyota Surf coming back from the garage soon, and this will be a much more suitable vehicle for us living up here in the mountains with the dirt roads which can be a problem. Love Jude I have commenced visiting the community and outskirts – a bit like a district nurse! finding out how many people are living in different areas and filling in a health questionnaire – hopefully this will give me some indication of the needs in the Bulembu area, including children and adults who are hiv positive, the sooner we get to the children the better, they stand a much better chance of survival and even living a long life if their status is established and they are put onto ARV treatment as soon as they need to go on it. I went on a course recently and learnt a lot about hiv in children and spent 3 days in the Baylor clinic, a specialist clinic in Mbabane (the capital) centre of Excellence in Swaziland. This is an amazing place; everything is free of charge (you usually have to pay for all education and healthcare in Swaziland). It has many doctors from the United States who have knowledge and a heart of compassion towards these children. It is supported by Baylor in Houston and Unicef. Funds are given to patients to enable them to get back for appointments, travel money and for essential foods for the children. This kind of care excites me and I’d like to partner with Baylor in Bulembu as they are bringing a doctor up to the community possibly every two weeks, they are also keen to have a refilling centre so I have been in discussions so I can be trained to see patients and give them ARV’s and follow up treatment.. My vision is for the children – to bring hope and a future. To save who I can before it is too late. I’d like to be able to provide finances, to pay for transport and food where and when necessary. Swaziland is dying. It is desperate for re-education; it is desperate for God, for lifestyle changes so that hiv infection stops being spread all over the country. Please partner with me by praying for this project and praying for Bulembu Ministries Swaziland as they undertake the responsibility of supporting all the projects going on in Bulembu. I look forward to seeing many of you in February when I return with Charlotte, Sian and Rachel for Victoria’s wedding. Jon returns in March. Please also pray for the girls as they will be staying in the UK to get jobs and finish education. Jon and I will return to Swaziland on March 9th. Thanks Jude Victoria, our eldest daughter was married in March in the UK, the wedding was lovely. We had a celebration and fed over 170 guests. The Lord is good and faithful and constantly provides for us. We give thanks to the Lord Jesus for his unending love to us. I am now involved monthly in the HIV/AIDS children’s clinic, Dr. Amy comes up from Mbabane to see the ministry and community children, to give their monthly ARV’s ( anti retrialviral ) medication. I am learning so much which is fantastic. Even learning how to work out calculations for ARV adherence, which is making sure they are taking the right amount at the right time, which is crucial to hiv care. This is a real achievement given my poor maths mind! Every other week I am responsible for running cd4 blood draw clinic which is an added service to the people in Bulembu and I take the bloods into the Mbabane government hospital the next day to be analysed. Community work varies from simply going from house to house taking names, ages and how many people are residing there, encouraging the residents to attend the clinic for hiv testing to caring for sick people, many of them children and then helping out with organising hospital visits and sadly funerals when the people die of AIDS. This is a much more frequent occurrence though than one would like. Jon and I collected two coffins for two 7 year old boys and took one to his family homestead to be buried. The other went to another family homestead. Very often mothers give birth to babies in their little huts with no running water or electricity in the hut, I am asked to go and check out the mothers and babies after delivery. I am missing the girls a lot now they are in the UK. I try and talk regularly with them, but communication is still fairly difficult at times. Rachel our youngest daughter is getting married in August to Corey in the UK and then they will be returning to Swaziland as Corey is running a water business here in Bulembu. Sian is thinking about going to College in September and Charlotte is visiting Victoria in the states at the moment. Mike is busy at University and will soon have completed his second year in Peace studies. Prayer requests:- Thanks for all your prayer support. Jude
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