Some of the orphans standing in front of the new Magojela Soup Kitchen.

Nurse Thembeni Mdluli had never traveled out of Swaziland, neither owned a toothbrush nor seen so many white people before her trip to Santa Fe. Her parents named her Nurse because they’d hoped she’d grow up to be a nurse. Nurse is a sisal basket weaver from Ncheka, a remote village in the Lowveld of the Kingdom of Swaziland. When I first told her that her application to participate at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market 2009 had been successful, she screamed, cried and thanked God for such an opportunity, needless to say that she’d been unable to sleep for the entire week before the trip.

At the Market, Nurse was amazed at how interested people were, buyers wanted to know what her baskets were made of and what her life in Swaziland was like. As a breadwinner, Nurse is also a caregiver to her elderly mother, nieces, nephews and grandchildren who have all been orphaned, in the main, due to the rampant HIV AIDS pandemic in Swaziland. When asked why she wove baskets, she answered without hesitation, ‘to feed my family, pay school fees for my charges, and perhaps buy school shoes for my grandchildren’. It was whilst talking to us that Ann Woodward, a volunteer on Nurse’s stand, offered to host Nurse at her home for steak- real steak, for dinner (I want to believe this is where Nurse’s journey really began). As fate would have it, Nurse suffered from a toothache, add ice cold soup and Nurse was in tears as Anne flipped through her phone book trying to get a dentist to see Nurse the following day.

A child headed houshold at Ncheka Village.	A three legged pot donated by UNICEF inside the old Magojela Soup Kitchen.

After several frantic calls by Ann, Dr Richard Parker agreed to see her at 0730 hrs the next morning and a referral to Dr. Ray Martin ensured that between the two Doctors, Nurse received a free complete mouth/teeth scan, cleaning and whitening, two teeth extracted and a generous donation of toothbrushes and toothpastes. Walking out of Dr. Parker’s and Dr Martin’s offices, Nurse looked at me and said, ‘the orphaned and vulnerable children in my village will learn how to brush their teeth.’

Today (July 25, 2009), I drove to Nurse’s village because her Chief had summoned me. He too wants to know about Nurse’s travel ‘around the world’ as he calls it. The entire village has gathered at the Magojela Soup Kitchen which is where the orphaned and vulnerable children of Ncheka gather to receive at least meal a day (when they have stock). There are smiles everywhere, and for once in her life Nurse is the center of attraction as she distributes the toothbrushes. A little girl tugs at my finger and asks, ‘Is it Christmas today?’

To Dr. Parker and Martin, thank you for making the children in Nurse’s world smile. What probably amounted to nothing to you has been Christmas to 46 orphans at the Magojela Soup Kitchen. To Ann, Tom, Ray and Linda, we salute you. Thank you for a steak dinner that was a catalyst and as Nurse rightly said that night, ‘May God continue to guide you and light your footpath.’

Narrated by: Nokwazi Mabila (Nurse’s Translator).Nurse with some orphaned and vulnerable children from Magojela Soup Kitchen.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Richard Parker, DDS
Dental Design Studio
2019 Galisteo Street, Suite L2
Santa Fe, NM87505-2122