Handbags and Vegetables

Thursday morning, I caught a ride with Ray (the “director of marketing” for the farm) into Manzini so that I could meet up with a woman named Julie that is doing ministry in some rural areas. As we drove the truck the 40 minutes along the dirt road to get to pavement, Ray said I’ll drive home which sounded like fun to me. In case you didn’t know, everything is right hand drive and they drive on the left side of the road here.

We arrived at Julie’s house a bit early since we didn’t know how long the drive might take with the morning fog and possible rain. I waited for another team of people from Africa Revolution (www.africarevolution.org) that was also going to see the ministry. Julie works for Adventures in Missions and the bag ministry grew out of their community care points. They have women from each area that volunteer to come cook meals for the kids in the area. The sewing became something for them to do while they waited during the day. It is a chance to give them some income especially out of thanks for volunteering when they have so little. As the ministry grew, Julie coordinated with the Singer dealer in South Africa and they were able to purchase manual sewing machines for the women that were willing to pay a portion of each paycheck toward paying them off. Otherwise, the women use a sewing machine available at the care point. The women meet each Thursday to cut material (provided by the ministry) to prepare for sewing and for a devotional. The last Thursday of each month is pay day (which was this week.) They are paid for each finished bag and it ends up being a decent income. Most of the people still need some additional financial education because the money is going within days as friends and family members see they have money and want some of it. Julie’s team has a savings account system set up so that the women can save money each month and then get it out in January when school fees are due. This works great since most folks panic when January comes around and they have no money. They have also found donors to match the savings account so everything is doubled when they pull it out in January. This ends up be a great motivator. Most of the women save nearly 100 of an average 700 paycheck each month so they have enough for all their kids to continue schooling.

While the women were cutting materials, we went with Julie and one of the ladies that volunteers to cook for the kids and is also a bag maker. Julie’s home church had come out and helped build her a house and we were going to take pictures of the progress. Grace hasn’t moved into her house yet because there are not doors but she was so excited to show us and praise the Lord for providing her a home. She is an older lady that lived with her son and his wife until her son died and his wife sold everything and left. This is not a traditional scenario to have a wife do that in Swaziland so it is surprising here too. Since then Grace has been staying with friends so she has shelter. Even through all those struggles, every other word is Hallelujah from her lips. When Julie said she had some folks willing to paint her house, Grace jumped for joy, clapped and lifted her hands in praise! It was quite inspiring! The house is similar to the houses we built in Mexico but made of block with a tin roof. Before we left, we prayed for Grace since she has been sick lately and then the other team sang a praise song in SiSwati they had learned. I have to say I like the style of prayer since I have experienced many other places too. Everyone prays at once and it is such a beautiful sound as you pray!

We returned to the care point and Allan from Africa Revolution led the devotion time on forgiveness. It was a great message and seemed to be well received. It is always difficult to share a message through a translator since the cadence of the talk is broken. I could still see the looks of understanding on the faces of the women so I know it was powerful for them. Afterward, the pay envelopes were distributed. Julie said they used to actually sing and dance each time they were paid but it doesn’t always happen now. They are still very grateful for the income though. Julie brings fresh vegetables from the market and they get divided into small bundles. Once the women are paid, they usually buy a bundle or two of vegetables since they cannot always get good vegetables in their areas. There were many bundles but they were all purchased quickly by smiling faces.

After selling out of most of the food items, we loaded up our stuff and heading back to Julie’s house. She has a garage filled with finished bags that she sells to visiting teams and some folks back in the US that ordered large bundles (since shipping is a hassle for small orders) to sell to their friends. She is always looking for more places to sell the bags so check out the website: www.timbalicrafts.org. Each bag has a tag with the name of the seamstress and you can read about her on the website. If you are reading this and want one REALLY BAD, I can be bribed to take one back for you just send me a message letting me know which style and any color preference. I reserve the right to say no if a ton of people ask me though.

Ray picked me up at Julie’s house and we headed back to the farm. I had actually forgotten about driving until Ray pulled over once he had navigated through Manzini and said “Now you drive.” We swapped and I took off. It is actually much simpler than I would have thought. Sure the gear shift is on your left but the driving part comes naturally since you are sitting on the right anyway. About half way to the farm, Ray commented that I must know where I am going since I had already made a couple of the turns and he hadn’t said anything. My drive on the dirt road was a little bit rougher than usual since I don’t know all the smoother lines. The government grader hasn’t been on the road for some time since the government hadn’t been able to pay some of the workers. I dropped off Ray at the store at the top of the hill by the farm so his walk home would be shorter. I told her I wasn’t as fast as he was but I hoped it was still ok. He laughed and said I may have actually gotten us home quicker.

Today I am listening to:
The sounds of the house being cleaned by the auntie and a SiSwati talk radio station (I have no idea what they are saying!)