Todays orphans, tomorrows leaders

Swaziland is having a crisis concerning the orphanage situation. Statistics report that one in three persons are infected and 8,000 children are orphaned monthly. The surrounding nations like South Africa and Botswana have governments with resources able to provide child support of about US$120 monthly to the orphans living with relatives or strangers but the Swaziland Government is not able to do so. Funds once available to help orphans has gone thousands of children were sent home before the end of the school year due to lack of funds to pay school fees, adding to the losses of hope for the future to the children of this nation.

Today I had a priviledge to meet Doctor Elizabeth Hynd, the founder and director of New Hope center, which started from zero in 1993. Doctor Hynd is the grandchild of the founder of Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital (from that time still some red brick old hospital buildings are left that her grandmother baked in small owen) and child of his son who renovated or actually built new buildings for the hospital. At that time the numbers of orphanages were still manageable with aunts and oncles alive. Now, added to the fact that it is not possible to adopt orphans anymore because government wanted to stricken the law to avoid human trafficking, it was decided that orphans can move to orphanages only after consultation of social worker, which is basically a process of months in a country with lack of both human and economical resources.

Elizabeth moved back to Swaziland in 1993 with a vision of an orphanage and due to numerous miracles throughout the story starting from building a wooden house in a country where it just isn’t the habit today New Hope Center has grown to be a home, school, training center and farm for hundreds of children based on gifts from warm-hearted individuals from all over the world. The mission of the New Hope Center is to provide a permanent home for orphaned and abandoned children, and to raise these children with love, education and a Biblical foundation, so that they are ready to lead Swaziland out of these difficult times and into a bright future. The aim is that these orphaned children will be the Godly leaders of African nations in the years to come. In the end of this month New Hope Center is going to have voluntary nurse, which I find very important, when nursing little and smaller scars and skin problems and wondering who teaches first aid, hygiene and sexual education to all these lovely smaller and bigger children.

Please read the amazing stories and more details of the New Hope from their website: http://www.newhopeswaziland.com/default.asp