To junior Sam Kendall, it was a school that seemed different after she helped give hope to many of the young Swazi.
“Going to school was defiantly odd for the first few days,” Kendall said. “It was a drastic change from waking up in Africa and seeing kids that didn’t have shoes to living here and seeing everything we actually have. It was a big change.”
Her time in Swaziland, a country comparable to the size of New Jersey, that is within the boundaries of South Africa, lasted 17 days. Put together by the Palm Harbor Calvary Chapel, HopeAlive2010 was a mission trip planned by people from the ministry moved by their visits to the country. Since March, the team received donations such as medical supplies, soccer balls, and quilts to give to Swazis. Most of those children were infected with HIV/AIDS, and those who weren’t faced being orphaned to only take care of their elders and younger siblings by the virus.
“It makes me so grateful for everything we have,” Kendall said. “Just being so close to it (HIV/AIDS) and not necessarily knowing who did and who didn’t have it made me so grateful for every little thing now. “
Sam and the team were able to experience first hand what hope meant in the country with the highest per captia infection rate in the world. After visiting a prison, sanitation was better compared to the Good Shepard Hospital. Bed frames were rusted. Infectious waste baskets didn’t look any different from general waste baskets. The team then heard the story about a malnourished boy that laid unresponsive with meningitis. He wasn’t expected to live past that night. HopeAlive then left the hospital to continue their work in other places such as youth and women conferences. They returned six days later and decided to check on the child. Sam quickly left the hospital after finding an empty bed and expecting the worst. Hope then happened, as she was brought back in to good news. A boy was walking around the building with a smile on his face. When Sam saw him, she saw the same boy she couldn’t talk to six days before. Since then, he has been deemed “The walking miracle”.
Of all the children that Sam was able to interact with, only one in every 10 will live to see the age of 30. With projects like HopeAlive, countries like Swaziland will be saved from the brink of extinction. It is said that the small country will be wiped out by 2050 at the rate the population is declining, but a new generation of young impact makers like HopeAlive are looking to birth a positive outlook on life.