Off we go . . .

On Wednesday five of us from Fresno will travel to Swaziland and South Africa. Our hope and prayer is that our presence will equip and encourage people who are committed to their own communities and their neighbors. On this trip will be; Shelley Verwey, Laura Clark, Kristen Nitz, Patti Thornton and myself (Wendi Hammond). Here is a recap of our plans:

• We will be showing local people technology provided by the Rotary Club of Fresno (here) which will enable them to prepare food and pasteurize water with solar. Pasteurization is verified using a little device called a WAPI (Water Pasteurization Indicator). On this trip we will take 250 of these little devices over, made by students from Fresno Pacific University and Fresno Christian High School. Water can be pasturized in simple bottles painted black and placed in the sun, but is expedited when used with a solar oven like the one Alice (above) made last year.
• We will be taking letters to caregivers of Shiselweni Home-Based Care from their sponsors in Fresno, CA. Sponsors provide financial support to help them better serve, along friendship and encouragement. I can’t wait to deliver messages from American friends to some of our faithful caregivers. You can learn more about SHBC here (http://www.shbcare.org/) or about sponsoring a caregiver through Project Glory here: (http://www.project-glory.org/).
• Along with sponsor letters, we will take several hundred bras for women who hike many miles to visit clients, but for whom wearing a bra is a luxury. Thanks ladies from Fresno!!
• Laura, who is a nurse, will visit some of the clients whose conditions are particularly difficult or beyond the capacity of the caregivers. Laura will be able to provide treatment and while doing so, equip caregivers to better care for these clients going forward.
• Shelley will get to meet Tabitha, the little girl she sponsors at New Hope Orphanage (http://www.newhopeswaziland.com/)
• I’ll be delivering a laptop to Bongani Dlamini from Swaziland Youth for Christ, donated by Johansan Transportation in Fresno, CA.
• Mostly, we hope that our visit will honor and fulfill the things that are most important to those of us who are part of Project Glory’s ministry. These are:
• Project Glory is about Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:16. We are about actions that point to Jesus, and pointing to others whose actions point to Jesus.
• And we are about supporting those who serve others. We have observed and learned, in part through our own mistakes, that much of the mission work done in the developing world fails to empower people to serve their own neighbor, and can in fact, rob them of the initiative to do so.
• Finally, we are about Africa, Swaziland in particular. We believe that the solutions for Swaziland must come from Swaziland. We also realize that people living in abject poverty, with the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world (nearly 40%) need help discovering and then facilitating their solutions.

We hope that you will keep up with us on our blog (http://www.swazi-team.blogspot.com/). We hope you will pray for us and for the wonderful caregivers of Shiselweni Home Based Care