For those of you not familiar with Tito. He is a youth (15 years old) from the Mangwaneni
CarePoint who was recruited by one of our staff, Thabo (Tah-bow) to help with making round bricks for the retaining wall for the Fonteyn CarePoint which the Oasis mission team of Oct. 2008 built. Tito was the only worker who was not currently in school, but he wanted to be.Even after the bricks were made Tito proceeded to help Thabo, without pay, while the team was here and then every day after that from 8am - 5pm until the Christmas holiday. Even during the January break he worked hard during the remodeling of the Cup offices and HPC (Healing Place Church). Children's Cup and the Oasis church has helped pay for his school fees for this year so he could enter "Form 1" which is equivelent to a freshman in high school. He is studying, working hard and doing well.
Every Saturday he works at our house caring for our lawn. He really enjoys working with plants and yard care. He works hard and with excellence. He is active in the youth at HPC and is getting mentoring from several strong Christian men at our church.
It has been so exciting to see his growth over the past year. Last month, Tito came to me and asked me not to pay him anymore for the yard work but to save it for him. This is huge!!!!!! Whether it is because of poverty or the culture, it is rare, really rare, for a poor Swazi let alone a Swazi youth to initiate saving money. The truth is, the mentality is you get paid and you spend it immediately. Tito says he wants to save to buy some new clothes. I am his bank and he has made only one withdrawal, for a school party at the end of this term but otherwise it is growing weekly as well as my pride in him. I am proud of Thabo and Karabo and Roger for pouring into this youth and for molding him into a young man who will be a light to other Swazi youth. I don't know how we will be able to help with his school fees next January but I know God does and I
thank Him for letting me be a part of witnessing the tranformation in Tito! And I can't wait to see what the future holds for him!
1 comment:
Go Tito.
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