Xenophobia and Hawa.

WOW. That is my word to describe what is going on here right now. So much has happened in the last week but two main topics: Xenophobia and Hawa.

Xenophobia: An unreasonable fear, distrust, or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anything perceived as foreign or different.

You may have heard about this on the news in America, but we're in the midst of it over in Africa. Recently in South Africa there has been a tragedy. Many of the South African people in the townships have gotten very upset over lack of jobs and so many foreigners in their country. They have been acting out against foreigners that have been living in their communities for many years. Mozambique and Zimbabwe people groups have been the targets. The S.Africans have been going into their homes at night and forcing them out, burning houses down, setting people on fire, cutting peoples limbs off... and the list goes on. There are tents set up for the refugees to live in but they are very overcrowded, toilets are overflowing, and people are getting very ill. Many Mozambicans are fleeing back to Mozambique for safety.

We were listening to the news during all of this but everything was going on in South Africa so we were not worried about our safety, just the safety of the people in South Africa. But then last Saturday, nearly a week ago, Pieter came into the room and said we needed to pack a bag because we were most likely leaving for South Africa very soon. Apparently there was much talk about the Mozambicans coming back and wanting to force the South Africans to leave their country. The people that we stay with are South Africans and many people in the community know of this, and even staff and friends of ours advised that we leave. I will admidt I was quite nervous. Along the way we received a great blessing and one of Pieter and Rika's friends runs a lodge and said we could stay there. And what turned out to be a scarey situation turned out to be a little vacation. We got to sleep in real beds (not air mattresses), eat good food, and relax. Another EXTREMELY exciting thing was that we got to go to Kruger National Park where we got to see giraffes, elephants, impala, kudu, lion, leopard, and so many AFRICAN animals. It was crazy! Finally on tuesday after things had settled down, and there had only been a couple acts against South Africans in Mozambique we decided to return.

PLEASE PLEASE keep these countries in your prayers that the Lord will continue providing peace to these countries, and for the people that have lost everything. All of us are realizing that in a country where there was already so much need, now has an even greater need. The family here is trying to figure out where our place is to help in all of this disaster.

HAWA.

We received a wonderful gift on Wednesday (the day after we returned to Mozambique). Her name is Hawa.

Luis and I went to a village on Wednesday with social services because there was a woman who was HIV positive and had two children she could not take care of. Hawa was one of those children and severely ill. She has AIDS, 3 years old, and 7.5 kilos (equals about 15 pounds). Telma when she got out of the hospital was 8 kilos. I thought Telma was so tiny last year. Hawa is even smaller, literally she looks like a skeleton with skin over it. Her hair is also completely the yellowy orange color coming from major nutrient deficiency. She has been consuming my time since I got back. Her brother was quite healthy and Pieter convinced the mother that if we aided her with food for him she could still take care of him, but Hawa was so close to death that we knew we needed to take her in. Pieter thinks what must have happened was the mom realized Hawa had AIDS and gave up hope on her and stopped feeding her.

We took her to a smaller clinic/hospital for a while yesterday and had tests run. We took her to this one because they don’t keep babies there and we wanted to be able to nurse Hawa back to health at the house. She slept with me the first night and I got to cuddle her all night long. You can tell that she has not received much affectionate touch because any time you rub her back she pushes your hand away. She also had a witch doctor necklace on her the day she arrived. This precious little girl needs so much love and support to make up for the lack there of in her life so far.

Have I found my calling in life? Working with the malnourished abandoned children? Only the Lord knows, but judging from the last two summers it will not come as a surprise, sorry mom and dad :)

Please be in prayer over Hawa, our special gift from the Lord: that the evils which have been placed over her will be broken, that she can learn to be loved and held, and that she will recover and get healthier day by day. This is a very critical time for her and any infection or too much wrong food could be detrimental.

I will post pictures of Hawa in a few days, so keep checking.

One last thing: Our friend that I had mentioned, Kali, passed away yesterday after an extreme up and down of hope and sadness to all who knew her. She is with the Lord now in a way better place than she was. But please pray for her family and friends who are still here and how they will cope with the loss from our lives.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support. I love getting your e-mails that are so encouraging!

~britt

P.S. Justin and Christie (from my church in KC) are on their way to be with us in Mozambique. Please pray for their safe travels