Last Saturday, I met Lotta and PO Axelsson from SwaziAid, who had just returned home from Eswatini. While there, Lotta had visited Nobuhle – a woman who is very close to my heart and whose work we have had the privilege of supporting for some time through the Lena Maria's Friends Foundation.
As I listened to Lotta's story, I was deeply moved and grateful. But I was also reminded of just how great the needs are.
Nobuhle is currently in contact with 64 children with different disabilities, whom she regularly visits and does her best to help. She seeks out the families with the greatest needs and does whatever she can with the resources available to her.
These are things many of us easily take for granted: food, clothing, diapers and assistive equipment.
Government support is extremely limited. A family may, for example, apply for a wheelchair, only to receive an old, worn-out one that may also be difficult to use inside their home. Buying a new wheelchair themselves is simply impossible.
Nobuhle told Lotta that she tries to stay strong when she visits the families. She prepares herself through prayer and fasting and meets them with love and encouragement. But when she returns home, the tears come. Then she prays for the children and families she has met.
She says:
“God has given me love for these children.”
That touches me deeply.
Changing More Than Material Circumstances
Nobuhle's work is not only about providing food, clothing or financial help. She is also trying to change people's attitudes towards children with disabilities. There is still a great deal of misunderstanding and prejudice.
Lotta told me about one child who was beaten by an aunt because the child had soiled themselves. Nobuhle explained that the child was not doing it intentionally – the child simply had no way of managing it differently. Gradually, the aunt began to understand and started to love the child instead.
There are also beliefs that parents must somehow have done something wrong and that this is why they have a child with a disability. It can even be difficult for a mother to bake bread and sell it, for example, because customers may believe that her hands are not clean enough after caring for a child with a disability.
Nobuhle tries to challenge these attitudes with knowledge, love and a very different message:
These children are created by God and need the same love and dignity as everyone else.
“I Can Too!”
Something else in Lotta's story made me especially happy.
Nobuhle encourages the children to help at home according to their own abilities. A child who can only crawl might be able to help sweep the floor. A child with only one arm can help with the dishes.
And the children become proud when they discover:
I can contribute too. I can do something too.
I recognise this so well from my own life. It is easy for people to first notice what is missing. But so much changes when we begin asking instead:
What can you do? What do you have? What is possible for you?
We Can Be Part of Making a Difference
Nobuhle began helping these children long before she received any financial support. She simply gave from the little she had herself.
Today, she receives support through the Lena Maria's Friends Foundation, and it brings me such joy to know that the gifts we receive can be turned into practical help for children and their families.
But the needs are great. So I would like to ask you:
❤️ Would You Like to Help Make a Difference?
Diapers for just one older child can cost around SEK 300 per month. For many of the families Nobuhle meets, that is a significant expense – yet diapers are absolutely essential for the child's hygiene and dignity.
SEK 300 can therefore provide a month's supply of diapers for one child.
Every gift matters, no matter the amount. Donations to the Lena Maria's Friends Foundation enable us to continue supporting Nobuhle and her work with children with disabilities and their families.
🙏 Would You Like to Help?
You can give via bank transfer, PayPal or find out more about the different ways to support the work:
Thank you for being part of this. Through our gifts, we can help Nobuhle continue to see the children who are so easily overlooked – and remind them that they are valuable, important and loved.
Together, we can make a difference. ❤️
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