As winter descends on the Northern Hemisphere, and summer is at its height in the Southern Hemi, including Eswatini, we want to communicate our thanks – thanks for helping dear Emaswati, old and young.
Speaking of communicating, meet Mandla Kunene, deputy asset and project manager on the Miracle Campus. He leads a crew that numbers from 14 to 25, half of whom speak little or no English.
“Even those who understand English can become confused,” Mandla says. “We call materials by different names than they do in America.”
For instance, a Phillips screwdriver is a star; plywood is shutterboard.
Mandla learned English in school and determined to use his second language, the language of economics. “Our English is the British kind. We’re not used to Americans. You talk fast,” he laughs. “But I tell my Emaswati, learn by listening. Learn a new word every day.”
Communication extends to training. “I tell new workers that they are here to make the organization grow. Everyone must put a hand to the work. Don’t come thinking you know everything. Once you join TLC, you can learn what you have not known before.”
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| Mandla Kunene, deputy asset and project manager of the Miracle Campus, greets eye patients. |
Married and the father of a young boy and girl, Mandla has been at the Miracle Campus two years. “TLC is helping needy people with love. You can help but not from the heart and with love. That’s how TLC is different.”
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| Mandla rejoices with his aunt after her cataract surgery performed on the Miracle Campus. |
Continues Mandla: “Before TLC came to our country, people were dying like flies. Back then, we were still denying HIV and AIDs.
“We cried to God, and He heard. People who never thought they would have a wheelchair, do now. People who never thought they would be able to work again because HIV had them down, work now. In every area of medicine, TLC has brought change. Maybe if TLC had been here, my only two sisters would not have died…”
We need your heightened participation in 2016, as TLC branches into two mobile medical teams covering even more of rural Eswatini with comprehensive healthcare. It’s a huge undertaking!
We are deeply blessed by your commitment – past and present. Please be part of the future — and expansion — in 2016! We cannot do this without you!
Harry & Echo VanderWal for the entire TLC team