Since the outbreak of Covid, Eswatini has experienced a huge decline in their supply of food. Every day we see cost of food increase and the quality decrease. Since 2019 we've watched the staples of food such as bread, milk, and basic necessities increase by 40%. While that might not seem like much, for most in the country it has been detrimental. Many of those who are employed have not had a cost of living pay increase for years. While still making the same amount of money, they have had to watch fuel, groceries, and basic necessities increase in price. Leaving many to have to choose some needs over others just to survive the month.
In our local community Justin has been talking with locals about how their crops faired this year. What he learned was heart breaking. Many talked about the cost of fertilizer and seeds being just too expensive to buy so they were unable to grow their maize. Maize being an important staple for every family. It is used to make mealie meal a type of grit or porridge served with each meal.
Many fields never saw a plow hit the ground due to pricing. But what was even more surprising was the very limited number of tractors available at all. In past years there has always been at least one or two people who owned tractors in a community. But due to cost of fuel or cost of repairs/maintenance, those who owned have watched them rot into the ground. When someone promised to come and plough their fields many waited day after day until the season to grow had passed them by.
Hearing all the stories and struggles has led us into a long season of prayer. Sometimes even though we want to help it just might not be in the Will of God that we be the answer. One thing you learn in the mission field is even though you see a need and you want to be the one to solve it, it's not always in His Will that you do. Through prayer and listening to what He wants for True Hearts Ministry it has led us to believe He wants us to help. But like all things it comes with a financial price attached.
How you can help this community:
To buy a used tractor in this country can be a big challenge. You might find one painted all nice and pretty but the engine and works are worn out. We've looked into the used market and it's just not beneficial in the long run. Living in a very rural community it is hard for a simple tractor mechanic to show when he said he will or even at all. We have talked to local dealers of tractors. Their answer was simple. If you want someone to work on your tractor you have to buy new from a dealer and set up a maintenance agreement. They too spoke of the days of waiting for a tractor or mechanic to show at their homesteads and totally understood our scenario.
With the local currency experiencing a huge loss against the dollar we are praying about this amount: $30,000. That would help purchase a tractor, plough, maintenance program, and peace of mind of a machine that was reliable and would last years and years. We understand that this is a huge amount but feel it has been handed to us by God to ask believing in faith He has already taken care of the need.
Can you help?
Please be in prayer on how you can help. Not only will this be a huge benefit to growing more of our own crops but helping our neighbors, widows and orphans with growing quality crops as well. If you have any questions on how to help or just want to know more, please feel free to email us at trueheartsministry@gmail.com. We will be more than happy to answer your questions or receive words of encouragment.
The picture below is of our community. The red star is True Hearts Ministry. The yellow are homesteads that couldn't afford to plough or never had a plough show up this planting season. The red are fields that had been partially plowed but didn't plough to their potential due to funds or tractor never finished the job. This is all within 1 kilometer (.6 mile) circle. By dimensions the yellow equals around 5 hectares or 12 acres. The red averages around 6 hectares or 15 acres.
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