It was a happy homecoming for the Brundage family of Scottsdale, Arizona, when they arrived in Swaziland at the end of June to spend two weeks working with Young Heroes.

While serving here with the Peace Corps in the 1990s, Patrick met his wife, Bella, who was working at a camp for refugees from the war in Mozambique. This time, they were accompanied by their three daughters, Maia, Monica and Zara. The girls arrived with children’s clothing to give out; they quickly gathered craft supplies so they’d be ready to share with the children they met whenever the opportunity arose.  Bella contributed her nursing experience when the family accompanied Young Heroes’ Family Relations Officers on community visits, while Patrick offered his skills in marketing and management to the staff and board of directors.

On one special day, the family visited the school where Patrick once taught.  But according to the Brundages’, their most exciting day came when they met the many children they sponsor in two communities.  As they became acquainted with their Swazi children, the orphans got to learn more about the family who generously supports them.  It was hard to tell who was happier: our sponsors or the children they help.

The cloudy sky could not dampen the spirits of those attending the June 17th launch of Bush Fire 2008, the multi-day music and arts festival that benefits Young Heroes. Invited guests included some of the event’s 50 corporate sponsors, including many who have returned from last year to again sponsor this year’s Bush Fire when it stages from August 1-3.

Speakers included representatives from Alliance Francaise, MTN, Standard Bank, First National Bank, Times of Swaziland, Swaziland Beverages and the Swaziland Arts and Culture Council. Also on hand to present remarks were Minister of Information and Public Services S’gayoyo Magongo and Khulekani Magongo, the Administrator of Young Heroes.

The guests were treated to a preview of the talent in store for festival attendees with performances by Bholoja, Bongiwe and Vincent, who were greeted with great enthusiasm. The highlight of the day was the introductory performance of a theme song, “Young Heroes,” by Jamludi. Click here to see a of the day.

The Times of Swaziland has reported that maize is more expensive in Swaziland than in South Africa: A comparison of mealie-meal prices against that of Johannesburg shows that the price has doubled here. This is mainly due to a hike in the price of farming inputs which are bought in South Africa.

Sipho Shongwe, of Swaziland Livestock Technical Services, said that “...farmers in the Kingdom do not have the capacity to subsidize the price of maize products; instead, they are forced to pass on to the consumer all the costs of production.” He further noted that small packs of mealie-meal have been overpriced by the retailers, making it hard for poor people who cannot afford larger packs. The Swaziland Livestock Technical Services advise that price could be reduced if the consumer and the Government would negotiate with the millers to charge a fair price.

Young Heroes is proud to be one of eight beneficiaries of an E80 000 donation from the Matsapha, Hub and Mall SuperSpar grocery stores. According to Spar Managing Directors Colin and Tish Foster, the donations were given to organizations that were carefully selected as doing good work in the country.

Young Heroes received a generous grant of E10 000 (about US$1,500). We’re greatly encouraged by such recognition, and we would like thank the directors and employees of SPAR for helping us to provide life’s basic necessities to the orphans we’re here to help.

The Demographic and Health Survey done by the Government of Swaziland through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare starkly describes the plight of women in the country. According to The Times Of Swaziland (30 May 2008), the study discloses that 40% of men believe women should be beaten. This comes at a time when nongovernmental organizations have called for harsh rulings against abusive men in response to a wave of murder and abuse.

House On Fire Managing Director Jiggs Thorne has once again confirmed a donation of 20% of Bush Fire’s profits to Young Heroes. Bush Fire, an annual music and arts festival, will take place this year from August 1- 3.

Along with bringing the best of African music to Swaziland, Bush Fire increases awareness of Young Heroes by providing a platform to discuss problems faced by orphans and the people and communities who care for them – problems such as hunger; poor performance at school; school drop out; health issues; and exploitation by people who offer food or other things in exchange for wrongdoing. These problems make the orphans more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS; Bush Fire enables us to spread that message in an atmosphere that is both entertaining and socially conscious.

This week, Young Heroes visited the KaNgcamphalala community for monitoring purposes.

The experience reminded us forcefully how important Young Heroes is in the lives of the orphan families that we support. Contrary to what we encountered upon enrolling the community, we were pleased to see that life has greatly improved for the families that have been sponsored.

This is even reflected in the children’s performance at school. For instance, teachers showered praises on Lihle Shongwe and thanked our program for supporting her. We were also delighted to learn that Vangile Ngcamphalala, the grandmother of the Ngcamphalala family, has been able to enroll all six children in school using Young Heroes grants.

With the help of Peace Corps volunteer Joe DelGiorno, Young Heroes has enrolled orphans from Lavumisa, one of the country’s poorest rural communities. Located in the dry Shiselweni lowveld on the South African border, Lavumisa is near the Jozini dam. But when our community contact, Mnothisa Phakathi, was asked if community members enjoy any benefits from being next to a lake, she told us that the development of a major tourist resort there has caused fishing to become very restricted for local residents.

Nine families have been identified so far from this community. All are all very poor, but the people are well educated on health issues. Unlike others, they are not secretive about their HIV status. Jean Salls, our Volunteer says "... I was overwhelmed that there could be so many orphans in this small community."

The most urgent situation we found is that of Felicia Mafu, who is doing Grade 1 at Lavumisa Primary School. She had been staying with her grandmother, who was forced to go to South Africa, where she has been looking in vain for work in the commercial farms. So, Felicia is now staying with her uncle, Phindile Cele, who is also young and unemployed. She has no school uniform and her school fees have not been paid; they are still waiting for a response from the government bursary program which is supposed to pay tuition for orphans and vulnerable children.

To underscore the importance of Young Heroes' work as a source of support and advocacy for orphans, a new United Nations survey shows that one in three Swazi women has suffered some form of sexual abuse as a child, while one in four experienced physical violence.

"Disabled children, children out of school and orphans are some of the most vulnerable groups," said Jama Gulaid, UNICEF representative in Swaziland."Poverty and the high prevalence of HIV create high numbers of marginalised children."

Our work helps children say "no" to this exploitation by providing them with the necessities of life, so they are less vulnerable to predators who offer food or clothing in return for sex. We also keep in close contact with our families, so we can monitor their situations and report any suspected cases of abuse to our partner organization, the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA).

The Mbabane Rotary Club has once again mobilized support for the orphans of Swaziland. This time, E70 931 (approximately US$10,000) was presented to Young Heroes Administrator Khulekani Magongo at the NERCHA offices in Mbabane. Ton Vriend, the treasurer of the Rotary Club said, “These funds are in honor of Tore Bockelie, who once lived in Swaziland. When he died, his family requested friends and relatives to donate to charity rather than buying flowers.”

The Bockelie Memorial Fund will provide food and clothing for twenty-one orphans for a period of three years. There is a great need for this support because the children that we serve do not have access to adequate nutrition. Often, they’re forced to leave school because they cannot afford to purchase the uniforms required.

By enabling them to maintain a healthy diet and attend school, the Bockelie Fund’s donation will make a huge difference in the lives of their sponsored Young Heroes. We wish to convey our deep appreciation to Mr. Bockelie’s friends and family who gave so generously.

Early this year, we received an invitation from a Peace Corps volunteer to witness challenges faced by orphan families in the drought-stricken community of Gamula, close to the Lavumisa border in the south. Our knowledge of the area gave us an idea as to what we were going to observe, but the reality proved that there are even more orphans than we expected who wake up in the morning without knowing where to get food for the day. The local authorities have a list of 66 orphans in this community who need help, including three child-headed households. Young Heroes has already enrolled a number of these families  into our program.

As Young Heroes enters our third year of operations, we have reviewed the year past and our objectives for the year ahead in our annual Report to Sponsors. 

To see it, click here. 

If you would like a copy emailed to you, please send a request to feedback@youngheroes.org.sz.

Young Heroes is proving to provide benefits to our sponsored children that go beyond immediate relief. With their improved health and nutrition, and more household funds to use for education, our kids are excelling in their schoolwork, too.

Two children who were out of school when enrolled in Young Heroes have passed their exams with flying colors at Kalanga Primary School. Zweli Mngomethulu is #2 in his Grade 2 class, while Phumzile Madolo is #3 in Grade 3. Their guardian, Sifiso Madolo, reports that he used part of their Young Heroes stipends to pay school fees.

Likewise, all our Young Heroes in Kubuta, who were enrolled through a Community Based Organization (CBO) named Zenzele, have passed their yearly exams. In Nhlalabantfu, our Young Heroes have passed with First Class with Merit in Grade 7 and Form 3.

Our Family Relation Officer, Phephelaphi Dlamini, was thrilled to find out that the Ngwenya family, one of our families at Nkwene, used $59.90 to buy a goat. ‘We were lucky to receive food parcels from our relatives during one month, so we decided to invest our Young Heroes stipend in livestock,” said their caretaker, Nkosingani Dlamini. The goat, which belongs to the orphans, gave birth to two; they’ve now multiplied into a herd of seven.