The Leadership for Africa Story

Leadership For Africa (LFA) is a registered non-profit organization in Swaziland, Africa as well as a 501 (c) (3) in Anchorage, Alaska.  This grass roots effort is run by  Robin and Michael Pratt who are LFA field directors. Their efforts in Swaziland are supported by:

• The Abbott Loop Community Church in Anchorage, Alaska
  

• Individuals who donate anywhere from US $20 to US $500 per month. In any given month there are around 12 donors, more or less.
  

• Sales of baskets made by the ladies in the Emkhuzweni Region which bring in varied amounts each month (anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand USD)
  

The Pratt's and their 4 children arrived in Africa in 1992.  Robin is a pediatric nurse and Michael comes from a construction background, having been a general contractor for 10 years in Anchorage.  Since then, they have been involved in rural community development work.  Because of its impact on every aspect of life in Africa, they have been drawn into the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Currently they have projects in Mbabane, the capital city and Emkhuzweni, a rural community in the north.  In Mbabane, LFA assists Women Who Care, a small group of concerned women who are dedicated to caring for and about the abandoned children and mentally challenged long-term patients at the Government Hospital.  LFA has also established the Sandra Lee Center; a home for abandoned babies.  The center now has 13 children who range in age from  4 months to 11 years.  There are currently two homes on the property and each one is run by a trained 'housemother' plus a helper.   As the children reach the appropriate age they will be enrolled in local schools.  Tuition, uniforms and shoes are provided by LFA as school is not free nor is it compulsory in Swaziland.

In the north, the Emkhuzweni Youth Zone is being developed as a response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has infected 40% of the population of Swaziland.  As families are impacted with the enormous death toll of people in their prime, a network of support is developing for children and youth who are being left behind to fend for themselves.   The priority remains to help orphans stay in their ancestral home with unhindered access to their maize fields.  Where there is no extended family to care for these children, LFA field workers will monitor them at home and in school, that is, if they are going at all.  In cases of sexual abuse or land right fights emergency shelter is available at the Center.

There are at least 26 families (that number will have grown by the time you read this) within a 5km radius of ECPC that have been orphaned.  These families are left to survive on their own or are dependent on married siblings that do not have sufficient means to provide for them.  Food aid is sporadic or often non-existent.  That is why LFA is also developing the Emkhuzweni Community Partnership Center (ECPC) that focuses on a community garden where traditional drought resistant crops can be grown.  Each family will have a plot assigned to them that will provide enough for them to be self-sufficient.

Vocational training in areas such as gardening, raising eggs, broiler production and goat milking will be available in the near future.  A sports program, initially for girls who play netball, is being established as well.  The idea is to keep them involved in mentoring relationships that will help postpone their sexual debut, ideally until marriage.  Sadly, there are many casual sexual encounters based on economic survival that perpetuates the spread of HIV/AIDS.  The objective is to get these kids involved in community, relationships with peers and authority figures, and provide them with goal oriented team activities.

Robin runs a nutrition clinic for malnourished children under the age of 5 on the adjacent property and Michael has been involved in various rural development projects such as the production of roof tiles that are being made at the center by local women who have either been widowed or abandoned by their husbands, and left to care for their children as well as others taken in out of the kindness of their hearts.

Some of these women also make traditional baskets out of sisal that are purchased by LFA and sent to the U.S.  They make beautiful gifts, particularly because of the story behind them.  The baskets are purchased at above market rates, and then sent to the US for resale.  Every penny raised from those sales goes directly back to the Community Partnership Center.  Michael effectively runs a "bank" for the basket ladies, advancing funds when money is tight for food or when school fees are due, against future delivery of baskets. For most of these women, basket sales are their only source of cash, as subsistance farming does not spin off any excess money. 

A principal focus of the ECPC is also to introduce economic activities that employ local women and create profits to be put back into the center. To that end, LFA purchased roof tile molds, which allow production of concrete roof tiles that are cheap, durable, and very functional. Traditionally, roofs are made of reed or recycled metal. Reeds have to be replaced every 5 years at considerable effort, while metal roofs are poor insulators from heat and cold, as well as hard to come by. Concrete roof tiles are much preferred, and the ECPC can sell them for cash or barter for goods that can be used for other ECPC efforts.

Recently, it was suggested that a library/reading facility be added to the center as a way of attracting children who may not be interested in sports or who cannot afford the cost of tuition.  The idea was enthusiastically received.  Illiteracy in Swaziland is a huge problem.  Currently we are devising ways to raise much-needed funds to get this project off the ground.  Ultimately, we'd like to have a computer class as well as books, basic necessities and electricity.