~ Swaziland ~
Rolling hills and beautiful plains. Bright blue skies and breathtaking sunsets.
Yet, the beauty of the country doesn’t begin to compare to the beautiful people there.
Yet, the beauty of the country doesn’t begin to compare to the beautiful people there.
Bright eyes and big smiles.
Hugs and handshakes.
They are quick to laugh and quick to love!
It’s a beautiful country full of beautiful people, but it is dying.
Rapidly.
Rapidly.
There are many problems in Swaziland, the first being poverty. With poverty comes a lack of education. With ignorance comes violence. Yet none of these are the biggest problem facing Swazi today. The biggest problem is a deadly disease.
AIDS has taken over Swaziland, making it the most AIDS infected country in the world with over 44.2% that are HIV+. The population fell from 1.1 million 2 years ago than less than a million this year – which means the people are dying faster than they’re being born.
The statistics are heartbreaking.
- Life expectancy is 28.7 years
- 44.2% are HIV+
- Between the ages of 15 and 25 girls have an infection rate of 56%
- There are presently over 100,000 orphans in the less than 1 million population
- 58% of children don’t go to school because they can’t afford school fees/uniforms
- 70% of children will be HIV+ by the time they are 15 years old
- Only 1 in 10 children will make it to the age of 30
According to the UN statistics, the entire country will be dead – wiped off the face of the earth- by 2050.
That is, unless something drastic happens.
Well, guess what… We want to be that something drastic!
We believe that, as Christians, we are called to care for the ‘least of these’. (Matt 25:40) We are commanded by Christ to rush to their rescue- to feed them, to clothe them, to give them something to drink. (Matt 25:34 – 40, Matt 10:42) We know that God wants to save this country from death and destruction, and we are called to help Him carry out His plan!(Isaiah 1:17)
But it doesn’t stop there.
We don’t want to just “save” them from death. We don’t want to just sustain the life they are living. We know that God has more for them, He wants to give them a hope and a future! (Jeremiah 29:11)
Wow. It’s so hard to see all of that being put so bluntly. I feel like alot of the time people in general try to water down the harsh realities in order to free their own conscience from feeling too guilty. Thank you for putting this up, it was encouragement for me.
Thank you so much for posting this. I am definitely showing this to my family. It’s hard to read but it’s the truth. Thanks for sharing!
This breaks my heart! I cannot wait to hold and love these precious people!!! 🙂
i know that when we get over there this is going to hit us even harder and i think its going to be hard to leave people behind we have no idea how blessed we are…i cant wait to get over there and somehow be apart of helping these people