Epilepsy Garden with SIFE

Saturday, May 28, 2011



members of the epileptic community



    Today we worked with the SIFE team to dig a garden for people with epilepsy. The people with epilepsy were wanting to grow the garden because it was the only way they could raise money to support themselves, and grow food to survive. They will be growing it to eat for themselves and sell it to their community. It was really great to get to work with SIFE team to do something that could benefit Swazis in a great way. Ploughing is not really my strongest suit, and there weren't enough shovels, picks, and other tools for everyone to have them at once. A lot of the work was tough, brutal work that the boys and men were doing. Us girls felt useless because we were standing around a lot. I know I was getting stressed about not helping much.



         Me and Chelsea and Claire met a litte girl there, though, and struck up a broken siSwati-English conversation. The girl taught us a song in English words, which we were surprised about. The song says, "God's love is like a circle, a circle big and round, big and round, a circle big and round. God's love is like an ocean, an ocean jumping high, jumping high, an ocean jumping high." The words to the song were so simple but it meant so much to me to hear a Swazi girl sing a song about God's love. He loves us all so much. his love reaches to Swaziland, America, and all around the world. Hearing that little girl sing just really blessed my heart and ministered to me. It was another reminder about how much love the Swazis have for God, that they teach their children about him and his love for us.



Swazi children we played with

I got a chance to meet a lot of members of SIFE team today. Through talking with them I got to hear stories and we got to share our faith and commonalities. God is still the same God to Swazis, Americans, Canadians--everyone. He is working all across the world, and calling people from every continent and nation to do his work.

SIFE team member who lost her father

I loved hearing once of the girls from the SIFE team who was only a couple years older than me telling me about how she can't imagine life without God--how life would be unbearable sometimes without him. She lost her father in 2005, and her attitude was so positive. Whe told me about her loss, I responded in sympathy, but she said, "Oh no, its okay." She went on to explain that death is the way we are with God in heaven, that it is a natural thing that happens. She had such a sense of acceptance that many I have talked to don't have. It was cool getting a different perspective on death and seeing someone so at peace about it. This girl, along with several others I met were also in school to be teachers. These women were bettering themselves and striving to help others. To know I have sisters in Africa that love Godd and share my dream of teaching is amazing.

They were all so excited when I told them I was a Christian, and knew Jesus. Most people in the U.S. don't get so enthused.

Until Then,
Holly Peffer

Okay, so a few thoughts/notes about this blog:

SIFE--I think I explained that SIFE stands for Students in Free Enterprise. It is a business club that many Swazi University students are a part of. We worked a lot with the SIFE team during our time in Swaziland. They were the ones in charge of many of our projects, like the epileptic garden, and giving out the hygiene packages to the schools (that I talked about in one of my first blogs). They are constantly doing things with their community, working to improve life for Swazis. SIFE is an incredible team, and I loved them all. I think I can speak for our team and say we all fell in love with the SIFE team members.

Another thought I had--I was copying my journal and a couple times I made references about God being the same God everywhere. I think it is cool to think that He never changes no matter the time period, or geographic location. He is still the same God. The people may change, and the cultures may be different, but God is steady, always reliable. I shared conversations with Americans, Canadians, and Africans on my trip, and we all had stories about God's amazing power and love, and grace. Something I was thinking while writing this, though, is that the way we experience God from culture to culture and time period to time period is different. Our personalites and backgrounds enable us to see God in an individual way that maybe not everyone has experienced. When we share our experiences, it helps us broaden our view of God. For instance, a Christian like Corrie ten Boom in a concentration camp has experienced God in ways that I never will, and has relied on Him for things I will never have to rely on Him for. Swazis have many stories of every day life where they have relied on God in situations that I will never go through. But I have stories to share with people too that could inspire them. Everyone has a story to tell about God in their lives. We have all experienced him in individualized ways. Share with as many people as you can.





four Swazi girls playing hand games