Hi Family and Friends! My squad and I are in the country of Eswatini and I am loving this Southern African country so far! After a week on Debrief in South Africa with our leadership team from the States, we bused our entire squad to Manzini, Eswatini to one of AIM (Adventure in Missions) Bases. The work that AIM is doing here is incredible! AIM has been establishing sites called “care points” throughout the Manzini area for the past 15 years that work to feed and educate kids in the area that do not have access in the same way as many kids. After 15 years of work here, there are 39 care point sites in the area and locals are being raised up through the program to lead, equip and train other locals to run and operate all of these care points! AIM’s ultimate goal in Manzini is to establish these care points so that any child can get a filling meal and teaching, and then ultimately the locals will carry on the work at the care points. 

My specific job this month has been to work at one specific care point. At this care point, we play with the kids, give some relief to the care point staff, and help with food preparation and serving. This has been one of my favorite jobs that I have had on the World Race! We start off each day with caring for the kindergarten aged kids. They start their days learning how to read and write and while we have been working there, it has been so fun to play with them and get to know them individually! We then help the women in charge of food preparation cook food like rice, broth, and some vegetables in a large metal pots. For a lot of the children at this care point, the meal that they are given here is the only meal that they will eat in the day and some even go home to share it with other people in their families. 

After the morning, kids aged 8-15 years old come to the care point after school to recieve help with their studies if they need it, and they are fed food for the day. These kids have also been so fun for us to get to know! They have shown us some of their beautiful Siswati songs and their Eswatini dances! It has been beautiful to feel immersed into their culture by getting to know and interact with the kids! 

My squad and I will be in Eswatini for another two weeks and while we are here, we would love prayers for the kids that we are interacting with! I would also love prayers for my recovery from a strange flu that I contracted a few days ago! Thank you all for your love and support! 

With love, 

Claire