During a recent three-week trip to Ngulcwini, Swaziland, Africa,
Thief River Falls resident Bonnie Van Schaick was pictured with
Walter, a pastor, who was the impetus for the Walter Project that
Bonnie created. The project has grown to include a school for
orphans. Bonnie anticipates that the school will open this month.
(Submitted photo)
Thief River Falls resident Bonnie Van Schaick (back row, center) and
Ngulcwini, Swaziland, Africa, residents and orphans stand in front
of the school that was constructed with Walter Project donations.
Bonnie created the Walter Project last year as a way to raise money
for a water well and electricity in Ngulcwini. It has grown to
include the school and other projects. (Submitted photo)
Looking back, it may seem that Bonnie Van Schaick was destined to
help people in the south African country of Swaziland.
Bonnie began helping the people of the Ngulcwini (GU-la-win-EE)
area of Swaziland a little over a year ago, and she could never have
imagined what direction that volunteer work would take her.
“I never had God’s voice speak to me, but I had a shove in this
direction,” she said.
The Thief River Falls resident originally went to Ngulcwini through
a program she learned about from Christian teacher and author Dr.
Bruce Wilkinson. She had planned to help people see better. That
plan changed once the machine that determines eyeglass prescriptions
didn’t make it through customs. Bonnie then decided to work in a
hospital there, but then she discovered she would only be observing
the work there. She found another way to help – spending time with
orphans.
Upon returning to the U.S. last year, Bonnie began raising funds
for the Walter Project, which she named after a pastor there. “A
year ago, all I saw was putting in power and water,” she said.
Before she knew it, Bonnie was raising money for a school for
orphans who are at the end of the pecking order in their town. After
her 2005 mission trip, she was asked to help build the school. She
hesitated at first, but she eventually agreed to raise funds for the
school. Bonnie decided to get involved to ensure that the kids there
get the same love, consideration and care as her three grandkids,
Charlie, Ben and Holly.
The school is entirely being funded through Walter Project
donations. The three-room school will provide an education for 90
orphans in first through sixth grades. In the future, it is hoped
that another building will be constructed for 35 to 40 preschoolers.
The Swaziland Ministry of Education has provided 25 textbooks for
each grade level at the school.
During her three-week trip to Swaziland this August and September,
Bonnie expected that she would teach the residents the basics of
health care, cooking, and keeping clean. Again, her plans changed.
She met with Swaziland’s minister for education, Constance T.
Sisana Simelane, who assured her that the fees for children who are
unable to afford them would be paid by the Ministry of Education.
Students need to pay to be enrolled in public schools in Swaziland,
said Bonnie, who noted the payment of students’ fees were a great
concern for her.
The meeting gave Bonnie the assurance she needed. “It gave me much
relief that there was a future to what we were doing there,” she
said.
While in Swaziland, Bonnie also ordered desks for the school.
Blackboards were put into place while she was there. Bonnie
anticipates that school will begin sometime this month.
“The school will be registered with the government. It’s built on
the standards of all schools,” said Bonnie, who noted the
application to register the school is in the process of being
completed.
When the school is registered, the Ministry of Education will
provide teachers and pay for their salaries and benefits, Bonnie
said. In the meantime, Bonnie will pay for a teacher out of her own
pocket. The Ministry of Education also requires that a home be built
for the teacher prior to the school being registered.
Once the school is registered, the Ministry of Education will send
health teams to Ngulcwini to do complete physical examinations of
the children. They will also be tested for HIV, malaria and other
diseases, Bonnie learned during the meeting with Constance. If they
need medication, they will be provided with it. These children have
never been registered or immunized. When the students leave the
school, their education will continue.
Noticing the changes
Bonnie has already noticed changes in Ngulcwini since her first
visit there a year ago. Last year, the orphans were getting one meal
a day Mondays through Fridays at the abandoned building, where they
congregated. At that time, they were served food donated by various
organizations if there was food. The food was cooked by Ngulcwini
women who donate their time to feed the kids. This year, they also
had food from gardens that they and volunteers had planted.
And that has made a difference. “These kids were playing this
year,” Bonnie said.
Last year, the kids weren’t playing much. They were starving, but
they had fashioned a ball out of a plastic bag and leaves. This
year, they were playing with soccer balls donated by a charitable
organization.
Needed: More improvements
Despite the changes in Ngulcwini, more improvements are needed.
Future plans include a kitchen and storage area for the students’
food; a home for the teacher; an additional two or three classrooms;
a maize crib; the water well project, which has been set aside for
the time being; an outdoor toilet and shower facility for the
orphans; a church; and a training center that would have sewing
machines to enable residents to do craftwork that can be sold.
Bonnie hopes to pay for these items with donations from the Walter
Project. She pays for phone calls, mail, and money wire transfers
for the project out of her own pocket. She also pays for her own
plane tickets when she travels back and forth from Ngulcwini. The
monetary donations haven’t been given for those purposes, Bonnie
said. “This money has been given to the children.”
Thankful hearts
The children and adults of Ngulcwini appreciate the help. On her
latest trip, Bonnie learned how much the residents appreciated her
work. Yet, it took her awhile to determine what was occurring.
“They were walking single file from behind Walter’s house,” said
Bonnie, who noted more than 20 people, mostly women, were walking to
a pole barn that will eventually become their church.
Many of the women were volunteers who feed the orphans lunch five
days a week. Bonnie learned that the people were walking to meet
with her. “These women took their day to get cleaned up and just
thank me,” said Bonnie, who had no warning that they were planning
to do this.
Looking back on that moment, Bonnie cried. “They were just grateful
to God that someone was helping them,” she said.
Bonnie explained to them that God gave her the idea to help. She
said that ordinary people who have been able to, have donated to the
Walter Project. She said they’re not millionaires, but people who
have the heart to help other people.
Bonnie also told them her story of life during the Great
Depression. “They thought I was born with a diamond in my nose or
something,” she said.
Bonnie’s family survived on food from its garden during that time.
As a little girl, she found herself in a situation similar to what
the Ngulcwini residents are going through. She didn’t have indoor
plumbing. She had two dresses, one that was worn Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays, and one that was worn Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her
father told her that if she studied hard and worked hard, she could
go to school to become whatever she wanted. She became a nurse, and
she’s been helping people ever since that time.
To make a tax-deductible donation to the project, address a check
to the United Methodist Church and write “Walter Project” in the
memo area. The church is collecting the funds, and Bonnie is
managing the account and coordinating the project. Donations can be
sent to the United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 595, Thief River
Falls, MN 56701. All of the donations go to Swaziland. For more
information, go to
www.walterproject.org. |