An Abrupt Change but Hope Remains
For 20 years, TLC has brought hope, help, and healing to the most isolated and underserved people of Eswatini. Through every challenge, we have chosen hope over despair, love over indifference, and generosity over selfishness. By God’s grace, we believe TLC will continue to walk this path of compassion no matter the challenge—for the next 20 years and beyond.
A Pivotal Moment
The U.S. government recently paused all foreign aid investments, including USAID funding for HIV and TB care. USAID has been one of our greatest champions and our largest financial donor for more than 15 years, and we are deeply grateful for their partnership. In the wake of this announcement, many of our supporters have reached out with messages of prayer, encouragement, and concern. Thank you. We are not giving up. Our commitment to compassionate care for the most vulnerable remains steadfast. But we are deeply concerned for our VIPs—our Very Important Patients.
Our Response
Due to the funding pause and a written stop order requiring immediate compliance, we have temporarily closed the campus to most patients. However, thanks to unrestricted donor support, we are still providing:
Essential medications for HIV and TB patients
Surgical follow-up care
This pause presents undeniable challenges. But it also exposes a deeper issue—one that has long affected TLC and many others in global health.
A System in Need of Change
Over the last five years, and especially since COVID, we have witnessed firsthand the cracks in the global health aid system. Too often, international aid:
Lacks data-driven allocation of resources (this is the reason TLC has suffered so greatly during and post COVID-19)
Fuels corruption and frustrates equitable health resource allocation
Masks mismanagement
Instead of delivering sustainable improvements in patient care, these flaws have created dependency, waste, and inefficiency. (We will share this story more in the coming weeks.) A nation’s health system cannot rely indefinitely on external funding. This has been our beating drum for the last five years. As our son Luke said in his Facebook post last week after we closed the gates for the first time ever, “A prophet is a fool until the prophecy comes true.”
Lasting transformation comes when countries take ownership of their own healthcare—prioritizing investments, strengthening accountability, and ensuring that resources put patients first and are allocated where they have the most impact.
Through COVID-19 and in the past several years, we’ve already faced what other organizations in global health are just now experiencing. This crisis started for TLC five years ago and has only worsened over time.
We are the nation’s healthcare facility of choice, but the resources go elsewhere. We encourage decision-makers to use data to determine investment and allocations to prevent the failure of the national healthcare system. The way forward is not simply more funding. The way forward is accountability, transparency, and partnerships that maximize every dollar for real, measurable impact. The pause in foreign aid is a moment of reckoning—for us as a country, for the globe, and for TLC. Now is the time to take responsibility, implement reforms, and build resilient, self-sustaining healthcare systems.
An Invitation
Many people have asked what they can do to help. We are convinced that God has prepared TLC for such a time as this. The systems and tools we have developed—not just for our own work, but for global transformation—have the potential to revolutionize humanitarian aid.
As we navigate this moment, we invite you to act:
Pray—For our patients, for wisdom, and for lasting reform in global medical aid.
Give—Your support ensures TLC can sustain care for those in need.
Engage your network—Share TLC’s story on social media and beyond. If you have a connection that could help us, get to the right decision-makers, please let us know pronto!
Write to Congress—Advocate for accountability, transparency, and efficiency in global health funding. We’ve prepared a letter template you can use, and you can find contact information for your representatives here.
The world’s future is shaped by those on the ground, and now is the time to align efforts accordingly. We will continue to share updates in the coming days and weeks. We are expectant! Thank you for standing with us and with the people of Eswatini. Your support means more than words can express.
With love from Eswatini,
Harry, Echo, and Team