In 2022 Ncamiso Simelane lost his father, and his mother, who is unemployed and has four other children, was unable to pay for his school fees. SOHO has been assisting with these fees, which has enabled Ncamiso to continue his education. A very bright young man, Ncamiso has achieved multiple certificates of academic excellence. What’s more, even though Siswati is his birth language, Ncamiso earned the “Most Outstanding Learner in English Literature” this year, a very proud achievement. After he graduates from high school, the 16-year-old hopes to study medicine.

Grace Khunene is the caretaker of 16 grandchildren, ranging in age from 6 months to 12 years old. These children were abandoned by their parents either because they could not afford to support them, had to seek employment or died from AIDS. Prior to SOHO’s assistance, the family not only lacked food and clothing but also funds for the older children to enroll in school. With the generous support of donors, we initially provided assistance through food parcels and clothing. Eventually we were able to secure gardening tools, seeds and fencing to help the family start a garden and grow their own spinach, cabbage and onions. In addition, two of the children have been enrolled into high school, and SOHO purchased uniforms for them.

There are some stories where the odds of survival are truly one in a million. Such is the story of Promise Mavuso. In 2003 Promise’s father died, which scattered the family of nine children to whatever relatives would take them. Like so many children who are orphaned through HIV/AIDS, life was no longer safe. Within a short period Promise lived in four different homes; in each, she was sexually abused by male relatives.

Yet Promise was intent on completing school, which she saw as a door of opportunity. She successfully worked her way through primary school and then began high school in Vuvulane, a run-down community primarily occupied by laborers from the sugar cane plantations. The quality of education was not the best, but she felt it was better than none.

During high school Promise lived in a one-room shack with her mother. Because there was often no electricity, she would do her homework at school and try to get home before dark. One evening in 2007 a teacher asked Promise to stay and do extra chores. On the way home, she was raped at knife point by two men. Because she was viewed as a bringer of bad luck, Promise was sent away to Johannesburg. Eventually she was referred to an orphanage, but later escaped because the treatment was inhumane and hitchhiked to Eswatini with her mother who had lost track of her for some time. School became her obsession.

In Eswatini, an estimated 20% of children are unable to complete high school due to teen pregnancy, HIV prevalence, orphanhood, discouragement, violence and poverty. For a child without funds to eat regularly, high school fees make education even more inaccessible. Yet Promise persevered and eventually graduated from high school. She had one son who stayed with her sister in Eswatini while she sought job opportunities in Johannesburg. Working as a waitress, she met the manager of a law firm who was impressed by her service and offered her an entry-level job.

For the next five years Promise distinguished herself at work. She took courses to further her education and began to date a young professional at the Nigerian embassy. Then darkness descended again.

In December 2021, on her way home from work, Promise was dragged under a bridge, viciously gang raped and severely injured. While recovering from surgeries over the next three months she struggled to want to stay alive.

Since primary school, SOHO has been working with Promise and a younger sister to provide counseling, support and encouragement. Learning of Promise’s plight, a SOHO donor stepped in and covered the full cost of her hospitalization and care.

“Without SOHO, I would not be alive,” says Promise, who now has recovered physically and is taking online courses in psychology. Her goal is to provide Christian counseling and support for injured girls. “My past does not define me,” Promise says. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, but where you are going.”

Eight-year-old Mbali Nomusa Mathabela was left to fend for herself after her father abandoned her at Marekamp, where she hid in the bushes from potential abusers day and night. Eventually Mbali received assistance from an elderly Gogo who gave her a place to stay in her shanty, and SOHO stepped in to provide a food package each month. Yet because Mbali had no documentation, SOHO could not move her to a caring home, even though one was found. Thus, SOHO engaged Swaziland Action Group Again Abuse to conduct a search for any relatives, and Mbali was reconciled with her mother’s side of the family. SOHO also worked with Social Services to obtain a birth certificate for Mbali, which enabled her to be enrolled in school.

Ncamiso Dlamini is small for his age. In the Marekamp slums where he wandered, he was called “monkey” and treated like an animal. A child with a disability, he was cursed and considered no more value than a stray cat or dog. He didn’t know how to take care of himself, so he was consistently unclean, underfed and alone as other children did not want to play with him.

In 2023 Ncamiso was admitted to SOHO’s Hope Discovery Learning Center (HDLC). Today Ncamiso sports a heartwarming smile and seeks every opportunity to meet and greet. He is smart and realizes that he is valuable and wanted. He benefits from Marekamp’s feeding program and always seeks to share his meal with the Gogo who looks after him. He is a teacher’s pet at HDLC and a testament to SOHO’s philosophy that every child deserves love and grace.

Another example of SOHO’s transformational work is Siyamthemba (Siya) Nhleko of Mhlosheni. At age three, Siya lost both her parents. A younger cousin took her in, who struggled because she was unemployed but worked hard to put food on the table. SOHO entered the picture, providing a food parcel monthly, uniforms and school fees as well as emotional support, so that Siya could stay in school. Today she is one year away from graduation, with dreams of college if she is able to get a scholarship. With one in three girls suffering abuse and turning to trafficking in order to stay alive, Siya is a profile in courage.

Indeed, SOHO is not just about addressing individual needs, but also making significant change possible for orphans and vulnerable children in Eswatini. In addition to our feeding, educational and enrichment programs in Nhlambeni and Marekamp, we are now developing a new facility, Lentsaba Children’s Village & Farm, which will eventually provide loving homes for up to 250 children.

Fleeing genocide in Rwanda and hoping to find a new beginning, the Frederick family arrived in Eswatini a couple of years ago.

The parents and their eight children first stayed at a small refugee camp at Mpaka. Among their many challenges, they did not understand the language of their host country and had few possessions beyond the clothes on their backs. They then moved to Manzini, where they have made a home out of a large shed that is on the property of a local church.

Eeking out an existence has been difficult although the father, a pastor, and mother are hard-working. Until the family was absorbed into the SOHO food parcel program, sweet potatoes from their garden provided their main sustenance. The children would often faint in school because of hunger. In addition to food insecurity, the Fredericks have struggled to pay for school fees, which has often kept the children out of classes.

This spring SOHO co-founders Cynthia Prime and Linda Schultz and board member Dr. Dawn Lewis visited the family. During the visit, they met Kalen, the oldest daughter, who was deeply distressed. About 17 years of age, she desperately wants to be in school even though she is bullied because of her very dark skin. Kalen spoke of her desire to be a model and her interest in journalism. She wants to be admired and respected.

The women encouraged Kalen to embrace her natural beauty. Dawn took a stylish handbag from her shoulder and presented it to Kalen, with a promise to find a sponsor so she could return to school. Smiles replaced the tears on Kalen’s face and  hopelessness gave way to joy. The SOHO team is also working to get the other children back in school and regularly assess their progress.