Throughout this trip I’ve seen many sides of Africa. I see the hunger and poverty every day. I see it when a two year old baby is the size of a six month old. I see it when a child’s diaper is really just a plastic bag. I see it when the rice is gone at the carepoint and children fight over burnt scrapings on the bottom of the pot. I see it when kids stomachs are huge not because they have enough food but because they are literally starving. I see it in the faces of crippled people on the sidewalk begging for money and love. And I see it while doing paperwork for the sponsored children and realize that their parents are both dead and they live with their unemployed grandmother and 10 other kids.
But I’ve also seen the love and pure joy. I see it when the children at the carepoint get together and sing about they’re love for The Lord. I see it in the eyes of people that we pray for and share the gospel with. I see it in the faces of the children we love on despite their dirty clothes and faces.
And, most recently, I saw it in Ptsiwe. She is a 4 year old girl that was attached to me the whole time we visited the Thulwane carepoint on Thursday. She sang to me and kissed my cheeks and we danced and played all day. Her smile melted my heart.
When it came time to leave, she waved, hugged me, and then took my hand and rubbed her thumb against mine. This is a Siswati way of saying “I love you.” It was so sweet, I wanted to cry. And I loved her too. She stole my heart and will always have a piece of it here with her in Swaziland.
-Allison
