Swazi Definitions

So I've realized that there are several words I write about a lot when talking about Swaziland, so here are a few quick definitions to help:

~ gogo's - grandmothers/older ladies/widows - These are the women who hold this society together & many times care for several grandchildren & neighborhood kids while parents are working or have died or have abandoned their children.  We have several gogos who volunteer to cook at our carepoints for the children of those areas.

~ carepoints - feeding centers - These are the 10 places around this part of the country where the women volunteer to cook & meals are served 5 or 6 days a week.  Many kids walk long distances to these carepoints for food, and for many people this is the only meal they get each day.  We have 1 gogo at each care point who is the "teacher" and voluteers to teach a Bible lesson each day.  Each carepoint cooks for anywhere from 15 to 60 kids each day.

~ ministry partners - these are the 8 full time Swazis that I work alongside of & have the privilege to lead.  They range in age from 20 to 32 & 4 are men & 4 are women.  Half of them are the D(discipleship) Team & prepare lessons & go to carepoints & teach the teachers so that they can teach the kids.  These 4 also help coordinate a lot of our home visits to people in the community.  The other half are our facilities/operations team & they do everything from logistics, vehicles, medical clinic aid, garden, building projects, getting food to the 10 carepoints, and much more.

~ the anchor center - our main carepoint - This is the piece of property given to AIM, where our team house is located, there is a pastor's house, a preschool, a church & a medical clinic.

~ orphans - child who has lost one or both parents - There are different designations based on how many parents a child has lost (double orphan=both parents gone).  Many children are cared for by extended family after parents pass away or when they get work somewhere.  Statistically, close to 20% of Swaziland's population are orphans.

~ OVC - orphaned or vulnerable children - Just because a child has a living parent or two doesn't mean that life is easy.  Many children care for themselves all day while parents are working & older siblings frequently care for younger siblings (today I saw a 2 & 3 year old walking to the carepoint together for food - no adult in sight, but this is a normal thing)