Thursday Visit at Mbutfu, in Southeast Eswatini

 New friends have blessed us  at every step through our African travels. 

Hannah and Mapile invited us to visit their ministry in Mbutfu. Mapile both attended and worked at Emmanuel Wesleyan Bible College and Hannah grew up in Zambia as a Wesleyan missionary kid. 

We were invited to visit the feeding station they run for children in Mbutfu for ideas about what could be grown on the land to help supply the kids with food. 

The trip from Joy Mission took about 90 minutes.

About 260 children receive food here with the daily average being around 150 kids. 

Future garden area. A well was recently installed
 to provide water for the station and irrigation.

The pre-Covid Care point recently reopened.

Dreams also include a community garden nearby,  a sports area for the kids, library and tutors for educational assistance....

We were privileged  and blessed by this opportunity to hear about this project, visit with new friends and pray with them. 

To learn more about their ministry and see pictures, click

here.

Chicken coop for egg production.

Eswatini imports about 75% of its grain (mostly corn, wheat and rice) and exports include sugar, wood, beef.

We visited a clinic supported by area farmers.

One nurse will see patients on a large nearby farm-maybe 30 a day or so.

While other staff see patients at the clinic. 

Community members can be seen for a small fee and free after age 60.

This small trailer contains the lab where patients with HIV can have their blood work followed.

Wednesdays are the busiest days as those patients are seen and in the past had been the only day the clinic was open.

This area is the biggest in Eswatini we've seen for large scale agriculture. 

Banana and sugarcane.

The distant elevation change is a plateau with the top being South Africa.