Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I write this surrounded by shamrocks and leprechauns that the kids made this morning. We had quite the time explaining what we were doing to our housekeeper, Me Augustina. She thought it all was very nice. Everything is either “nice” or “smart”. She had a very good weekend despite the fact Saturday she went to three funerals for people from her neighborhood. (I will use neighborhood as it sounds better than "shanty town".) All three AIDS deaths she said, one was for a mother who has a daughter and an infant granddaughter who are still living but both positive as well. The funeral director here dictates when funerals will be held, almost always on Saturdays, and sometimes because of the volume of funerals, it will be up to a month after the death before the body will be buried. Have we mentioned the nicest home in town belongs to the funeral director? After just 6 weeks here I can not believe how much the AIDS epidemic has impacted me-it is literally everywhere. Some friends of ours, Ben and Sara, have a nanny and the nanny’s husband just died of AIDS. They are purchasing the casket and the cow for the funeral. It is very rude to not serve your funeral guests a meat hence, the cow.
It is estimated that there are over 150,000 orphans in Lesotho, 100,000 of those because their parents died of AIDS. To think the entire country is barely 2.2 million people. Over the weekend, I went to a school where the Jewels of Hope program operates on Saturday mornings. The room had about 40 junior high/high school age kids, boys and girls, all orphans, at tables making jewelry. The objective of Jewels of Hope is:
“To reach out to orphans with the love of Jesus and give them hope; by discipling each one through the Word of God and empowering them with life skills towards a safe and secure future. By partnering with families, churches and organizations to provide a means of income generation for child-headed households and vulnerable children, that is both safe and legitimate, whilst the children are able to continue with their education. The income generation activities, together with mentoring and Christian discipleship, take place within a project setting that is provided and maintained by the partner organization, using support systems and methods developed by Jewels of Hope. This project setting is known within Jewels of Hope as a ‘network’.”
Each Saturday, the teens make jewelry and then it is sold, (they are in desperate need of more ways to distribute the jewelry). The money earned buys new beads to make more jewelry as well as pays them a monthly salary. There was a table of teen moms with babies on their backs, who were busy trying to earn their 150 rand—a little over 20 dollars-for the month. It is a minimal amount, but about 40% of the people in Lesotho make less than 1.00 a day, so for teenagers, they are doing ok. Plus it is a place where they receive other help. When we were there, we distributed over 40 pairs of shoes and baby blankets to the mommies there. Many of the kids are also caring for younger siblings and several of those siblings where there as well. These are children raising children and this program keeps them in school and gives them a means of support, both financial and emotional.
Please pray for all involved in keeping Jewels of Hoping operating, and all those caring for orphan’s world wide. There is a desperate need for help for these children and it all begins with prayer.
Grace and Peace, Laura
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
James 2:15-1
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