Ambassador James was impressed, not only with the range of programs, but also with SOHO’s deep involvement with the community.  She offered suggestions as to how her office may be able to assist in areas such as gardening and vocational training.

 Photos: 1. Indicate Antoinette Du Pont, her daughter Amanda, and Lorraine Hope SOHO Program Coordinator. The rest are community members. 2. Children at their tables eating their meals

Studies show that one out of every three girls like her will be sexually abused, particularly if she is unable to attend school as she gets older. Like her siblings, her clothes are usually ragged and torn. When school fees are not paid, she sits wonders about a future with nothing to hope for.

You can make a difference in her life— Your contribution will help with pay their school fees, and provide them with food, life-skills and basic health care.

For contributions of $100 or more, you will receive as a token of our appreciation, The Hope Seekers, Survival of Southern African Child Led Households in the Shadows of HIV/AIDS. This 192 page, hard cover coffee table book tells their courageous, inspiring stories with exquisite photography and engaging anecdotes.

All proceeds benefit the programs that will bring hope to children like Kholiswa.

Help us help her, now, before she becomes yet another statistic.

To make a contribution of $100 or more, and receive a copy of The Hope Seekers book, click here.

The reaction is often the same. When people come face to face with the immensity of the needs of child-headed households and the numbers of these households in southern Africa, a look of resignation comes over their faces.  It’s almost as if there is nothing the average person can do that will make a difference. And so, there is the risk that you do nothing.

It has been proven that some of the greatest atrocities of this and previous centuries have occurred because of apathy. Problems too overwhelming, resources too inadequate, inconvenience to self, etc.

In southern Africa where the majority of the population is youth, many of them shouldering adult responsibility, many of them female, many of them without the mentoring or parenting to know how to live life safely and well… we can look at the numbers and move on with our own lives hoping that someone or some establishment does something. Or we can join the growing throng of pebble throwers who are willing to toss their pebble into the pool knowing that eventually their ripples will make waves.

The pre-school that opened in Nhlambeni, Swaziland is one such pebble. A building designed by a woman and constructed by a small team now housing 33 children and counting.  They will learn to read and write, do math, and they will learn to love…others and themselves. For many of those children, it is their first time to hold a spoon in their hand, and get a warm meal in a clean bowl under a roof. Some of you sent $20 and $50 and $100 bills to make this happen, many donations from far away as Australia and New Zealand.

But that is only a beginning.  There will be more children to teach and feed, more abuse to address, more pains to heal.  If everyone gave what they could, the ripples would swell.

What happened at Ball State University in Indiana is another ripple.  Cardinal Communications staged a rally and scores of students showed up because they want to toss their pebbles into the pond. Some of them will go to Swaziland to serve the children themselves.

One day, when these orphaned children of today become the leaders of tomorrow, we will be thankful that we all intervened in their lives so that they will become our allies rather than possibly our adversaries.

As you stand at the edge of the pond, give your contribution today and help feed or educate children served by SOHO. Make waves because you can!

Warmest regards,

Cynthia Prime

Excerpts from Lorraine’s Letter…

 Dear Friends,

Last week our new Welcome Place at Nhlambeni opened.  It was preceded by a very hectic time trying to get the building finished.  Heather from Australia came for a month and helped with the painting by day and making teaching aids in the evenings.  I can tell you that building in Africa is a challenge while I battled with builders, electricians, plumbers and so on.  I have learned a lot – but am not sure if it will ever be used in the future!

There is still some work to do on the building but the biggest challenge in getting the grounds landscaped.  And a few minor details like getting a truck load of stones for the soak pit.  They will be needed once the septic tank fills up and overflows to it. Of course there were also teachers to recruit and train, cooks to recruit and teach how to use the stoves etc. And curriculum to prepare and teaching aids to make.

Last Tuesday was Opening Day.  It was preceded by some simply horrid weather – no doubt good for the maize – but certainly not for the “road” up to the building.  I am not sure it deserved the name road before this – but certainly doesn’t now. The road was causing problems because a tractor had gone up and down but then Monday afternoon a truck load of cement went up to the care point.  It was a very large truck and managed to really tear up the road where previously it had been fairly solid – leaving huge holes covered by puddles.  The truck then decided to go right into the care point site and turn well past the building – and then of course got stuck in the soft ground and spent the night there.

Next morning I came along where previously there had been no problems and got up to my axle in the hole hidden under water.  Eventually got pushed out – but other cars got stuck after me.  Then they sent an even bigger truck out to pull out the first one.  It was so long it could not fit in a part of the road that dipped down and up – and had to have a part of the road chipped out so it could negotiate it. For a while they and the rest of us used a longer, rougher, (but drier) road that wound up and around the hill.

Then ALL the cooks went along to school the day of the opening to enroll their own children.  I bought bread and jam for breakfast that day, and started preparing lunch with another helper.  But we did start on time – although much of the first day was spent calming children who were not sure of school – and generally settling them in.

Since then things have calmed down beautifully.  We now have 33 children attending – and possibly more to come.  The community members are thrilled with the building and think it very beautiful.  The kids love the food – and I think are starting to learn something.

Many thanks to all of you who have helped with your donations and prayers to make this possible.

Oh yes – Mhlosheni is going well also – and we are restarting the Tutoring programme again now school is back in.

-Lorraine

The event was coordinated by Ball State’s student run public relations and advertising firm Cardinal Communications, and attracted many students, nearly filling the lecture hall.  Cynthia spoke of her journey leading to the founding of Saving Orphans through Healthcare and Outreach, stories of the children, and the future for the children.  “I believe you are the ones who will bring hope and change in the lives of the children,” Cynthia remarked adamantly to the young audience.  As the speaking engagement came to an end, students made single file lines, signing up to become involved with SOHO.

 “She really pulls at your heartstrings, so she’s really a great person to watch,” says Sara McInerney, SOHO Student Account Manager at Cardinal Communications.  McInerney and her team of six have fundraised for SOHO throughout the school year, and are planning an event to take place in April at Ball State’s campus.  The event, a Barefoot Walk and Run, advocates on behalf of the children, for many of them do not have a pair of shoes and carryout their daily responsibilities without them.  The fundraiser will generate awareness on campus, and throughout the community, as many local businesses frequented by Ball State students are already showing their support through contributions for the event, and its participants.

“It’s really nice being able to work with students because they bring an entirely new energy and perspective,” says Rachel Phillips of SOHO.  “The students and young professionals I’ve worked with are passionate to serve both overseas and in their own communities.  They have a very generous attitude, and remember the stories of individual children. It shows me how much they genuinely care for our mission and the children.”

SOHO is fortunate to work with a diverse audience of supporters.  In the past, SOHO has worked with several academic institutions, and looks forward to future plans emphasizing American students mentoring their international counterparts in HIV/AIDS prevention, health, economic independence and self-empowerment.

Once a mother of six children, she has buried four and two have simply disappeared.  Going on 70, she receives the equivalent of $70.00 pension from the Swazi government every four months.  With this money, she has to feed herself and eight children.  Most often, hunger follows.

When SOHO came upon this household in the Nkahna area, not far from Mhlosheni Welcome Place, Gogo V was deserting the children every day so she could walk a long distance and try to sell scones to support herself and the children she cares for.

Of the eight children total, there is a one year old, two three year olds, a four year old, five and eight year old, and two teenagers who are 14 and 15.  In some cases, a surviving parent might leave in the hope of earning enough to support the children left behind. But in cases like Gogo V’s family, parents of the children are not heard of again.

SOHO has begun to provide monthly food parcels for the children, and some of their ragged clothing has been replaced by new or gently worn donated items. The children however are still vulnerable to an inopportune future, especially without the necessary means to pay for uninterrupted education.

For those who are on the brink of survival, too often, no one is there to offer aid.   Families like Gogo V’s depend on the basic resources given to  them by organizations like SOHO—without assistance, the lives of the children will remain uncertain.  Help us as we continue to help families like Gogo V’s.

The needs are great, but the price to support the average child-headed household is less than a candy bar a day.  For $35 dollars a month, you can sponsor a child—providing a full month’s worth of food and school fees, as well as school uniforms and a pair of black school shoes.  Contributors literally change the lives of the children when they give.

This season of giving and thanksgiving, offer the gift of hope to a child who needs it the most.

Dr. Kevin Thomas, a visiting physician from Los Angeles and Lorraine Hope, SOHO Program Coordinator, call out to him and he joins them readily.  Dr. Thomas opens his mouth; his tongue is white, ulcerated and his sputum bloody.  After some consultation, it was decided that Lorraine, a nurse, would do what she could to ease his discomfort and try to find a local resource to explore fully the health concerns of this child whose case is so typical.  A lack of health care causes avoidable loss of limbs, and on occasion, loss of life.

SOHO is working to recruit volunteer medical help to serve orphans and vulnerable children as well as their elderly caretakers at rural free clinics in Swaziland. The organization has just entered a groundbreaking collaboration with the Swaziland Ministry of Health. A Memorandum of Understanding between SOHO in the US, the Swaziland counterpart and the Government Ministry indicates that patients who are treated by volunteer health specialists recruited by SOHO, will be able to have cost free hospitalization and after care.  This bodes well for underserved children such as this one.  Dr. Thomas has committed to assist with coordination of a medical team for Spring 2013.

I had an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. But in short order, our Program Coordinator contacted SWAGAA (Swaziland Action Group Against AIDS). We work with them when there is suspected abuse, and depend on them to lead us to child-headed households where children are deeply at risk.

A SWAGAA representative took her to the various agencies to get the children examined. At least more than one organization’s shoulders will carry that burden.

SOHO has a lean, committed staff of people who do the work because their hearts are engaged. We would accomplish little but for the organizations with whom we collaborate in Africa and at home. We depend on our partners in country to navigate the cultural and political complexities that would otherwise be daunting. We depend on our US partners to provide the skills, resources and man/woman power to help us address the needs. We partner with other NGOs, universities, health care networks and government agencies and we are thankful because in so doing, together, we can be a catalyst for positive change.

In mid-June, a team of twelve doctoral psychology students, practicing psychologist Dr. Gretchen Moy, and faculty member Dr. Stephan Campbell from Nova Southeastern University, joined forces with SOHO to provide an array of capacity building and counseling services to Swaziland.

During a 14-day visit, the group conducted insightful sessions with several NGO’s including SWAGAA (Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse), and ADRA (Adventist Developmental and Relief Agency).  The students’ time was consumed educating the youth, listening to growing needs of the community, and paying special attention the children SOHO serves at its various sites.

Several students shared reflections of their experience volunteering through SOHO.

Dayna Jones remarks her most startling discovery, “being human is not enough to matter in Swaziland.”  She describes meeting an elderly woman rejected, improverished, and struggling to raise two children, “Her silence shouted strength and endurance to me…my heart sank because I could feel her pain.” After some time with the students, the elderly woman reached out and said, “You are my people.”

Jackie Hammerman explains the widespread misinformation related to substance abuse, and the transmission of HIV and AIDS, “It was blatantly false, and found in multiple schools in which the children reported such information is taught by their teachers. The report that “the human body NEEDS alcohol, as it does water” and that it “is not dangerous and that “people are to drink everyday”. Or the statement, “a circumcised penis will not contract HIV”. On top of this misinformation, the fact that it is being taught to future generations is deeply concerning and leaves no room for the light of truth to shine in and make change in the lives of Swaziland’s youth.”  Among the country’s greatest needs, Jackie believes in “accurate education…but first and foremost people [especially children] must be provided with basic needs in order to survive: food, water, clothing, and medicine.”

In a country that has lost nearly an entire generation to the devastation resultant of HIV/AIDS, poverty, stigmatization and lack of education only exacerbates the condition. Though many children are impacted through services addressing basic needs like food and clean water, a promising future also depends on accurate education regarding healthful living, a deep understanding HIV/AIDS, and instilling self-worth in their hearts.

Recently, my co-workers and I have passed around the book “Start Something That Matters” by the founder of TOMS Shoes, Blake Mycoskie. The book has a whole chapter dedicated to the importance of telling your story. Telling your story will set you apart from other organizations and it will help others connect with you and your mission.

Your story is what makes you who you are. You need people to love your story. Supporters bring awareness to your cause and legs to your mission. They become the best brand ambassadors you could ask for. After all, this idea is what brought me on my journey to the SOHO office today.

OUR children, SOHO’s children, have some of the most heart wrenching yet beautiful stories to tell. What makes their stories so different from the others? They have no voice, no one to listen to them. They live in a world where people treat them like they do not matter. They all matter to us; we have to lend them our voices.

As we reach a very critical point in SOHO’s development, we need to tell these children’s stories now more than ever. We have to tell these stories to every ear willing to listen and to every heart willing to bleed. After all, these stories are what gave SOHO life. These stories set us apart from every one else. These stories are the reason I sit here today.

All I ask of you in return? Listen.

Devan