Writing from Africa always puts a different slant on what needs to be said to friends and supporters in North America.
The sights and sighs of Swaziland seep into our pores. The strangeness of another culture quickly gives way to the tasks and opportunities of each day.
All who pray and give and work for The Luke Commission can rejoice! The VanderWals and their team are out in the bush, treating beloved Swazis who do not have regular medical care and telling them about this man Jesus who became God in the flesh to suffer as they do.
At one clinic, 500 patients received treatment and medications, 120 voluntarily tested for HIV, 100 were fitted with eyeglasses, and 800 children were dressed in new clothes and shoes.
One grandpa mkhulu said to Echo: “We do not understand. You forsake everything – your family, your country, your wealth – to come to a country you do not know. You work under the blazing African sun. We do not understand. We would not do that.”
Unfortunately, more Swazis are testing positive for HIV than before. The HIV rate for pregnant women has risen. Leaders here tell us the rate is especially high among young men and women, maybe as high as 80 percent. The ravages of the disease surround us.
“It’s a silent war,” Harry noted, “but we’ve come a long way in one year.”
Too often, patients will not admit they have AIDS even when it’s obvious physically.
HIV/AIDS is talked about in the third person.
Meanwhile family members are dying.
“We are helping Swazis know their HIV status and, more importantly, what they can do about it. The Swazis are learning to trust The Luke Commission, which is so necessary when we encourage them to test.”