A story of farming, faith.... and survival                            

 

   

 

 

“The people of Swaziland are warm and welcoming, but so desperately in need. Ravaged by poverty and HIV, it’s the children who touch us most. All too often they take on the responsibility of running the home, or fending for themselves, because in a country where the average life expectancy is just 32 years, there is often nobody else to care for them. Working with the Diocese of Swaziland, we are determined to help the people of Swaziland to help themselves. We hope and pray that when you read this brochure, you will feel moved to do likewise.” Andrew and Rosemary Symonds USPG Ireland Partners in Swaziland.

 

Introduction USPG Ireland is the Church of Ireland at work in the world. We believe that faith must mean action. Right now, we need to raise €300,000 to take action on behalf of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Africa. Swaziland is a small, landlocked country, nestling between South Africa and Mozambique. There, you will find people of faith, an active church, great poverty, and the highest HIV infection rate in the world, cutting down young and old, devastating families. Our partners in the Diocese of Swaziland want to help. They want to help prevent the spread of HIV, and they want to provide practical help for individuals and families whose lives have been shattered by HIV and AIDS. What’s more, they want to pay for it themselves. But they need to get started. Our project is to turn 200 acres of good land into a viable, profitable farm that will pay for years of ongoing work amongst the needy people of Swaziland. This document is about how you can help us. It’s not about whether you are in the Church of Ireland or not. We need people inside the church and outside, because in Swaziland we’ll be helping people who are inside the church and outside it. All that matters to us is that they need our help.

   

 

USPG Ireland USPG Ireland is Christian belief in action: a contemporary, relevant reaction to poverty and injustice, but drawing on over 300 years of tradition. USPG can trace its roots to 1701. Famous names have traversed the world under our banner: both David Livingstone and John Wesley were missionaries with what was to become USPG. Today, we put people at home in touch with those elsewhere who are in need. USPG always works through the Anglican Communion around the world, so there are people on the ground upon whom we can rely to make sure that our beliefs and values are upheld, and that every penny and cent of donated funds is well used.   Linda Chambers (pictured) is our National Director. While remaining part of the worldwide USPG family, here are some things that we believe make us distinctive.

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We are very definitely from Ireland, whether north or south. That makes us open, easy to work with, and we relate well to people overseas.

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We are warm and generous, and we want our supporters to get as close as they can to the work they support.

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Because we are small, we are very focused. That is why our appeal campaign is focused on just one major project at present.

 

Please read on, and whether you are an Anglican or not, think about how greatly your support is needed in Swaziland, and whether, by one means or another, you can make a direct impact on the lives of people in a faraway place.

 

 

Our Commitment to Swaziland Right now, USPG Ireland is focused on helping the people of Swaziland, through the Anglican Diocese of Swaziland. Swaziland is a small country, squeezed in between South Africa and Mozambique. It’s about 200km long and 130km broad at its widest point. It is home to approximately one million people. About 75% of the population are farmers, and desperately poor. Most people get by on less than €1 a day. It also has the world’s highest HIV infection rate. You may be shocked to learn that over 1 in 4 people in Swaziland at a conservative estimate (but maybe as many as 40%) have HIV. Consequently, Swaziland has the world’s lowest life expectancy: just 32 years. Six in every ten deaths are due to HIV. In Ireland we can, perhaps, understand about poor farmers; it’s not so long ago that many families just got by on a meagre portion of land. But how can we ever imagine what a life expectancy of 32 years is like? Perhaps the potato famine is our nearest reference point; and we know how that terrible blight resonates through our history, even 150 years on. At USPG Ireland, we yearn for justice for the people of Swaziland. We think of the children, the families, the bereaved parents, spouses, children, and we want to empower them to rise above the circumstances that encircle them. And we can.

 

 

Ever since Thomas Bray founded the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, we have responded to cries of, “Come over and help us.” The same request comes from Swaziland. How can we turn away? I believe passionately in the way we work – mutual support and respect; the sharing of stories and resources, both spiritual and financial. We can change lives, and our own lives are changed too. Linda Chambers USPG Ireland

 

Andrew Symonds is the Director of Development for the Diocese of Swaziland. His wife Rosemary assists with administration and in many practical ways. Together they are USPG Ireland’s eyes, ears, hands and feet in the country.

 

Swaziland is the world’s last absolute monarchy, ruled over by King Mswati III. It is a place where people are routinely imprisoned and tortured because they raise their voices against injustice. Unlike most churches in this religious country, the Anglicans and Roman Catholics speak out against oppression; we stand firmly on the side of the 70% of the population who live below the poverty line, who own no land, and no way to improve their prospects. The Diocese also has a detailed programme to help people affected by HIV. The programme encompasses the following:

 

 

Care Points: Places run by parish churches where orphans and vulnerable children can come every day after school for fellowship and food, and to interact with adults who care and will listen. Swaziland has 140,000 orphans. 15% of all households are headed by a child. It is heartbreaking to see a 5 year -old girl look after her 2 year-old sister with all the postures and mannerisms of a mother. We must do all we can to give children like these some semblance of a childhood.

Revd Gregory Makhubu at Matsanjeni care point

 

Home Based Care: Antiretroviral drugs are provided free to those with AIDS by the state. However, impoverished people have no access to other drugs – and it’s not AIDS, but the complications it leads to, that cause death. Anglican teams of retired nurses visit homes, often in isolated, rural areas, bringing painkillers, antibiotics, vitamin supplements; all designed not just to prolong life, but to prolong quality of life. Egumeni: In Swaziland the egumeni is a reed fence around a homestead. It’s the place where women and girls sit, and where these girls learn from their mothers and grandmothers. The egumeni programme is about passing on wisdom from generation to generation, and in particular, training in safe behaviour and self respect. In Swaziland, this isn’t just a matter of morals; it’s a matter of life and death. Life Skills: The Life Skills Training Programme provides a wide range of training for teenagers, enabling them to take control of their lives and stay safe. Topics range from personal identity to safe sex. In a country where most people beyond their mid 30s are dead, if the church doesn’t provide life skills, there are few others who can. Working in Schools: Education provides a route out of poverty. There are 27 Anglican schools in Swaziland, not just spreading knowledge, but promoting resource and skill sharing, offering pastoral support, encouraging Christian values, providing a meal for students every day, and helping communities meet the financial challenges they face.

 

We are sure you will think that the programme sounds splendid. It does. But there is just one problem. Paying for it.

We could, of course, raise money to finance each of those activities listed above. And we would never be finished, because we’d have to provide more money next year, and the year after, and so on. It would be much better if the Diocese of Swaziland could create its own wealth, so that these vital projects can be guaranteed to continue on into the future. What’s needed is a stable, ongoing income source, so that these programmes grow, and meet the needs of people in the long term, rather than starting and stopping dependent upon available funds. There is way to achieve just that: the Luyengo Agricultural Project.

 

 

From God’s Good Earth....

 

The locating of the first Anglican presence in Swaziland must surely have been providential. The parish of Usuthu Mission sits on 200 acres of good agricultural land, with unlimited access to the waters of the Great Usuthu River. This is the Luyengo Farm, and it is, potentially, the key to lives saved, families supported and a sustainable programme, like the one we have just described. There are a number of outbuildings on the site, but it is not yet a working farm. If, from USPG Ireland, we can inject €300,000, Andrew Symonds will help to lead the team who will make it into one. Here’s what we plan:

 

 

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Part of the site will be used to produce baby vegetables for export.

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Three harvests annually will create regular, seasonal employment locally.

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A pig farm will be established, with pigs fed from farm waste.

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Most importantly, the income from the farm will pay for the diocesan social care programme. The diocese will become self-sufficient, with a steady, reliable flow of income to pay for the HIV/AIDs programme.

 

“As a church we see agriculture as an answer to the continuance of our AIDS ministry. This land that we have is arable and fertile, with plenty of water running through it. We must use it, and we desperately need your help to get started.” Rt Revd Meshack Mabuza Bishop of Swaziland

Home based care – a volunteer’s day Sandra Dlamini is a typical volunteer on the Home Based Care programme. Aged 43, she and her husband Thembumuzi have seven children, and they work hard to make a living from farming. Sandra is also the HIV/AIDS Coordinator and home based caregiver for Mhlosheni Parish, where the Dlaminis live. Sandra’s day starts at 5am. By 10am breakfast is over and the household chores done. She has already completed what, for many, would be a day’s work. For Sandra, however, as she sets out on her home visits to patients, her day is really only beginning. Sandra makes 3 or visits per day – sometimes only 2 if the patients live far away. Today, at her first call, Sandra meets Gogo (Granny) Shongwe, a 70 year‐old lady who is bedridden and incontinent. Sandra helps Mrs Shongwe’s daughter‐in‐law to wash and change her. Her next visit is to Lawrence, who is HIV positive, and has been disabled by a stroke. He lives with his brother and sister‐in‐law, who can barely afford to keep themselves, without the added burden of Lawrence. Sandra ia able to leave some food with the family. Sandra’s last home visit is to check up on the Mhlanga family. Old Mrs Mhlanga, who is HIV positive, is often in poor health. Sandra advises her three sons, all of whom are unemployed. Two are married, and their wives can’t find work either. Together they scrape a living through farming and casual work. In spite of all, their stick and mud houses are neat and spotlessly clean. The daughters‐in‐law care for Mrs Mhlanga as if she was their own mother.

 

 

How you can help us  

We’re about making a direct connection between you and people in Swaziland who desperately need your help. You can make a difference that will last for generations, a difference for families, for children who struggle by alone, for young people whose choices today will determine the course, and the length, of their lives. Help us get the Luyengo Agricultural Project up and running. You can help through: •

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Your financial support. You may be able to give a small sum, or you may be in a position to make a major financial contribution. If you would like to discuss some of the specific ways in which we can use your contribution, please get in touch with Linda Chambers, the National Director of USPG Ireland, using one of the methods listed overleaf. Getting your workplace, golf club, or any group of people involved, whether by making a donation, or by organising a fundraising event. If you would like to stand with USPG Ireland, please get in contact with Linda Chambers. Signing up for our newsletter, and staying in touch. Email or write to us to let us know of your support in this way.

The need in Swaziland is enormous. We, as people from a small country with a turbulent past, now have the chance to help people from a small country who live in tragedy now. However constrained we may feel by our problems at home, they are as nothing compared to the challenges facing the people of Swaziland. Through USPG Ireland, let’s stand alongside them in their troubles.

 

“Swaziland finds itself in a serious situation due to the high incidence of HIV infection, and one of the main consequences is hunger. The Luyengo Farm Project, involving 200 acres of diocesan land, will generate income to be applied to projects run by the diocese for the benefit of the community. I am pleased to commend this project to you as one which will provide long term benefits for the people of Swaziland.” Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Church of Ireland House, 61-67 Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2QH or Gobadruish, Mohill, Co Leitrim Company registration number 438966; Charity number CHY7998  

Telephone Linda Chambers, National Director: From Northern Ireland: 00 353 71 9651998 or 00 353 86 8586337 From Republic of Ireland: 071 9651998 or 086 8586337 Email [email protected]