Rhinos, Pit Latrines and Love
44 years ago, I was an unwanted baby, my biological mother was young and got pregnant unknowingly. The thing is my mother lived in Canada, where support is available if you want to access it. My biological mother had a family that may not have supported her being pregnant, but loved her and ensured she was cared for. My biological mother was not hopeless, and could easily access prenatal care, good nutrition, and social services. I was put up for adoption and placed with my adoptive family at 12 days old. Why was I born in Canada, and not to a teenage mother is Eswatini? God only knows.
I traveled to Eswatini in November 2023 and witnessed firsthand how joy and heartache, hope and hopelessness can coexist so closely. I could write or talk for hours on the joy I saw in those children’s eyes, the heartache I experienced witnessing the extreme poverty, and the amazing place that is Project Canaan. Instead, I’ll share one memory from a trip to a game reserve with some other visitors and a group of 10-year-olds from Project Canaan.
When the children turn 10 at Project Canaan their gift is a field trip to a wild rhino game reserve. This group of children had waited patiently until a group of visitors came and could join them. We saw giraffes, rhinos (up close!), hippos, impala, dung beetles, and a whole host of ‘African animals’. What I remember most about this amazing experience and is engraved in my brain, was the pit latrine at the entrance. The ride was long and all the children and most of the visitors were looking forward to a bathroom when we arrived. We arrived at the unmarked entrance to the game reserve only to find 2 pit latrines. The latrines were not something I was willing to use, no matter how bad I had to. It was not somewhere we wanted to let the children use either. We all decided we could wait just a little bit longer and use the ones in the game reserve park. Why is this memorable? Well, if you have followed along with Heart for Africa or read Janine’s book you will know that many teenage women are so hopeless they give birth in the pit latrines, only to leave their newborn baby at the bottom surrounded by human waste. I will never ever look at a pit latrine the same. Why was I, an unwanted child, born in a hospital in Canada and not in Eswatini in a pit latrine? God only knows.
The well-known musician Bono, from the band U2, said “where you live should no longer determine whether you live”, which is even a step further from “where you live shouldn’t determine how you live”. Project Canaan is a piece of Heaven surrounded by a country where many experience living hell. Project Canaan loves these children “back to life” as Janine says, children who come from some unfathomable circumstances. They give them a home, a family and so much hope.
I am so grateful I was able to see first hand the Joy of the children at Project Canaan and the hope that Project Canaan offers the country.
In the end, family has all to do with love, and less to do with biology.
Sandra Dyck, Egg Farmers of Canada and Heart for Africa trip volunteer
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