Update: Hearts for Africa

Raelenna Ferguson tells Flourish about her second trip to Swaziland, Africa

The best hug of Raelenna Ferguson's life happened this summer in Swaziland, Africa.

Nikewe is 34, like Raelenna, and she has four children, like Raelenna. The two women speak different languages and have completely different life situations, but they connected as "soul sisters" all the same. The Swazi people are not "touchy feely," says Raelenna, and when she tried to give

Nikewe a goodbye hug the day before, her body went rigid and she didn't hug back. When they met again unexpectedly the next day, Nikewe approached Raelenna for a giant bear hug. Nikewe didn't understand why "Mrs. Ferguson"was crying that day.

"We were cheek to cheek. I'll never forget it," says Raelenna. She wanted to tell Nikewe that she'd be back again next summer, that her group had already purchased bags of maize to feed her village for months to come, but she'd

been told never to make promises. After all, a lot can change in a year. The people of Swaziland -- where life expectancy is 29 years old, the HIV

infection rate is 42.6 percent, and the unemployment rate tops 75 percent -- don't need more hurt and disappointment.

Raelenna has been to Swaziland before, but after leading 47 other Cape Girardeau-area residents on a second Heart for Africa mission trip, she says her life was changed in a whole new way. At the very least, the trip made Raelenna even more grateful for her life as an American woman. At the end of the week, Raelenna gave her shoes to a teenage girl -- and then her jacket -- and then her wrap. They fit just like Cinderella, she says, and the other volunteers gave their shoes away, too.

"I knew I would get back to my room with my luggage and have two other pairs of shoes," says Raelenna. "That girl will wear those shoes until the bottoms fall out, and then she'll still wear them."

Last year, Raelenna spent just over a week painting, cleaning, gardening and caring for children. This year, she worked side-by-side with Swazi residents to plant a community garden. Volunteers split up into groups of eight or 10 and were assigned to different villages. Raelenna -- who gets carsick -- admits that at first, she wondered why her group had to travel three hours up a winding, bumpy mountain road, then three hours back down every day, while the other volunteers were within 20 minutes of their volunteer sites.

When Raelenna arrived at her village, she learned that a 10-year-old girl had just died of AIDS -- "the disease" -- and that the village was still in mourning. The volunteers got to work in the garden while the sounds of mourning villagers filled the air. It took awhile for the children to show up -- Raelenna expected about 15 for Bible school-type activities -- but once word spread about the volunteers, they were quickly surrounded by about 200 excited children from nearby homesteads.

It was overwhelming to see all of those children, says Raelenna. Most of them were obviously malnourished, and likely had AIDS. She wanted to help them all -- she wanted to help Nikewe, she wanted to help the 12-year-old pregnant girl, and she wanted to help the 16-year-old mother of four. She forced herself to put things in perspective and focus on one person at a time by gardening, playing with the children and spending time with the adults.

"It doesn't seem important, but it really is," says Raelenna. "If we can lift Nikewe, we can help lift four other children." Lifting women makes a big difference because they run the village, she adds. The most striking thing from her trip? Not once on her homestead did Raelenna see a scrap of food or even a cooking utensil. Other volunteers helped their villages with meals, but Raelenna's group didn't even pack lunches for themselves because they didn't want to eat in front of the villagers, and they didn't have enough to share.

"It was hard to ask (if they had food) because they are very proud," says Raelenna. "They're not asking for handouts; they're more relational. They just want someone to sit and be with them."

It wasn't until the end of the week that the village pastor's wife mentioned food to Raelenna. "She said, very casually, 'We eat once a week on Sundays,'" says Raelenna. "She did not ask for food. It was not a big deal. It was just, 'We eat on Sundays.'" Raelenna was still trying to process the fact that they "only"eat on Sundays, when the woman asked if she could pray for the volunteers, because they felt so blessed to have them there. It was the only thing that ever made Raelenna uncomfortable in Africa.

At the end of the week, the Cape Girardeau volunteers attended a groundbreaking for a home for orphaned babies on Project Canaan, a 2,500-acre tract of land set aside for children¹s homes, schools, churches, fish farms and HIV/AIDS clinics. The baby home, to be called El Roi Baby Home (El Roi is mentioned in the Bible and means "the God who sees me"), will be built in memory of Jared Birk, a 2-year-old boy who died in a pool accident just days after his mother, Teresa Birk of Jackson, returned from Swaziland last summer. Volunteers also attended Litsemba, a praise and worship service held at the national stadium with about 10,000 orphans and over 400 volunteers. Every attendee received a blanket, a Bible and breakfast. It was here that Raelenna saw Nikewe again, dressed in a beat-up skirt and high heels and carrying a fake designer bag. Raelenna knew she had put on her best clothing because the king would be at Litsemba.

"Then I knew there was a reason for the three-hour drive, and it was her," says Raelenna. "It's not right that she only eats once a week, and her children eat once a week. And it's not because they're choosing not to eat -- there's just nothing there."

Raelenna is already planning a July 2011 trip to Swaziland with 50 Cape Girardeau volunteers. She and her husband, Jeremy, and teenage daughter, Riley, will be there, as will Teresa Birk and her teenage son, Austin. Like last year, volunteers will hold a Celebrate H.O.P.E. (Hunger, Orphans, Poverty, Education) fundraising banquet in February. Volunteer slots are still available.

"Really, the trip is about being there and serving people sacrificially," says Raelenna. "You think you're going to go there and make a difference in their lives, and you do, but they change you, too. Your outlook on everything is different. Your view on life, and the important things in life, is different."