80 Reported Kids Raped in Swaziland Since January

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This just kills me. This means there are a lot more cases unreported. Please, please pray with us and send this to your friends to pray too. There's still so much work to do in Swaziland. This comes from our Country Director's blog - Jumbo and Kriek.

We have seen great progress in Ministry here in Swaziland, but when you read articles like this in the Observer this morning you know we still have ways to go to protect the children of Swaziland from all the predators roaming around. We are moving into the Marula season and alcohol abuse will be much higher the next 2 months.

Please join with us in a special prayer today for the protection and healing of the most precious in the eyes of our Father. Here is the article in the Swazi Observer of March 8, 2010

"ABOUT 80 children have been raped in Swaziland in the last two months, police have said. Statistics released by late last week indicate that from January to the end of February, at least 121 rape incidents were reported in the country, and more than two-thirds of these involved children.
Such alarming figures have fuelled the call for urgent passing of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Bill into law.

Police Director of Domestic Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Senior Superintendent Leckinah Magagula has raised an alarm, especially to women and children - who are major targets of abuse. Senior Superintendent Magagula encouraged parents to keep a ‘hawk-eye' on their children, particularly during the current marula season. The seasonal marula brew and alcohol abuse had been cited as the leading cause for most rape cases in the country. Magagula said a number of children were raped on the way home after school and some at their respective homes.

Police have warned that most children were raped by people well known to them. The statistics show that they are in danger from their siblings, parents, uncles, neighbors and helpers. The unprecedented increase in rape cases has fuelled police to call upon parliament to urgently pass the Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Bill to Law. Senior Superintendent Magagula observed that the country was using outdated laws with light penalties against the perpetrators. She prayed that parliament would apply the same urgency it show when passing the Human Trafficking Law. The country is stuck with pre-colonial laws such as the Crimes Act of 1889 and the Girls and Women's Protection Act of 1920. In essence, such laws cripple the efficiency of the judicial system and do not effectively address the evolving trends of abuse. "It is high time perpetrators are given harsher sentences," she said.

The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill have been tabled in both Houses of Parliament and this legislation seeks to address some major gaps which appear in the current laws dealing with sexual offences and domestic violence. For instance, it has broadened the definition of rape to cover not only unlawful sexual intercourse with another but also unlawful sexual acts committed under certain circumstances, including any coercive manner, under false pretence or by fraudulent means, under duress, fear of violence or psychological oppression."

Book Review: Love Mercy

I just finished the book Love Mercy by Lisa Samson and Ty Samson, a mother-daughter duet who travel to Swaziland and recount their journey of experiencing the kingdom of God. These woman actually traveled with Children's HopeChest and visited our carepoint. I was first compelled to read their story because I wanted to hear more about Swaziland but found myself struck by the authors' candid honesty regarding the questions and struggles they were faced with.

Throughout their journey to Swaziland, the authors relate stories of people they encountered. I couldn't forget the story they told about one couple who gave up everything to help the abandoned babies of Swaziland.

As Samson describes, "ABC became the first adoption agency in Swaziland. Local police now know where to drop off children they find who have been discarded and left to die. Charlotte, a little girl I held in my lap, was found by the river in a garbage bag. Another boy was buried in a shallow grave, the upturned earth noticed by a neighbor, who dug into the hole and found the child.

It all started with a woman with four things---a car, some bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a loving heart...

A housewife and stay-at-home mother, Robin prayed," Lord, use me" and meant it. She heard about some hungry kids living up the road in a squatter camp. Many were told "I wish you were dead" by the adults in their lives. Some were simply abandoned. She started by making them peanut butter sandwiches."

Samson goes on to describe the events leading to Robin and Gerald adopting their son and taking care of hundreds of abandoned kids. It's definitely the stories of ordinary people like this couple that are so moving and make the idea of living outside our comfort zone seem not so uncomfortable after all.

photo credit: Children's HopeChest

Bad news.

We just received some bad news. The piece of luggage the Children's HopeChest Vision Team had, with the pencil pouches and sponsor mail, was detained by customs in Swaziland. Unfortunately, this is something that just happens and there was no way to get any of the items back.

I encourage you all to keep writing to your kids---especially now, knowing they weren't able to receive our gifts and make sure to utilize the online function that allows you to send an email version of your letter.

To do this go to hopechest.org and click on the "write" tab on the upper right side of the page.

On a more positive side, the team from Swaziland is back in the U.S. and we are anxiously waiting to hear their stories and see if they have new pictures of the kids. I will keep you posted!

Gifts

A team of people are headed out in a week to visit the kids at our carepoint. A lot of sponsors have been asking about sending gifts to the kids, however, it's a little tricky as not all the kids are sponsored yet and not all of the sponsors may be able to participate. We need to make sure that all the kids are treated fairly and that no one is left out.

But, we found a way to send gifts to all of the 170 kids that would be fun, fair, and easy to pack. We are sending these cute pencil pouches to all the kids which include a pencil, eraser, ruler, pencil sharpener, and stickers.

If you would like to make a contribution toward the cost of these gifts you can hit the "donate" button on the side of this blog under the "Pencil Pouch Gift Fund". The pencil pouches came out to $1.50 a piece so this ended up being a cheap and easy gift to send. I'm open to more suggestions for future gifts so please let me know if you have any other ideas!

Have you noticed?

We now have one more sponsor added to our group! (I know, you probably didn't notice because there has been a lack of blogging lately) Slowly but surely, we are getting closer to our goal of 50 kids being sponsored.

If you are interested, this sweet girl needs a sponsor family. email me at meggan lambesis at gmail dot com

Do you have room in your heart...

for this little guy? He's twelve years old and is in 4th grade. He lives with his parents and six siblings. He lives in Manzini, which is a very poor neighborhood that has a high rate of unemployment which prevents parents from sending their kids to school and leaves the kids in a very vulnerable position. The sponsorship of this little guy will provide for his basic needs and also let him know that there is someone out there that cares about him. Email me at megganlambesis at gmail dot com if you want to sponsor him!

Pictures of the Carepoint

A family just recently visited our carepoint and spent some time with the kids---Here are some of the pictures they took. Do you recognize your little one?