“My name is Phumaphi Ruth Ndlangamandla. I was born on the 30th of July 1978. I have two children and they are both done with school. I was raised by my father and my grandmother, my mother left me when I was 6 months old. Growing up without my mother was very painful because I never got to feel the love from having a mother. I stayed with my grandmother most of the time. I went to Matsebula Primary and High School. I stopped going to high school in Form 3 because there was no more money to pay the school fees. I had to look for a job in Matsapha (a town in the center of Eswatini). Even though I got a job, I was getting paid less because I didn’t get to finish my education. When I was working in Maphatsa, that’s when I when I met Charles Dlamini, he proposed to me and I said ‘YES’. We have been together for 8 years now and we stay in Malanda together. Life in general is difficult at the moment for me and my family, and we are in a community which is also struggling. On Sundays I go to church at Christian Life International Bible Church (CLIBC), the senior pastor there is Pastor Enoch. I enjoy singing at church a lot even though I am not the best when it comes to singing (she laughs). One of my children is sick and unable to do anything for herself so I am the one responsible for taking care of her. At home I am the only one who puts bread on the table for the family and that really pains me sometimes. My husband Charles is not working but sometimes he just comes to Volunteer here at Abide Well.

I really enjoy working at Abide Well and I have learned a lot of things working there. l learned how to paint, to float concrete, brick laying and cement plastering. In my spare time I have even started digging a foundation because I want to build a chicken coop. My dream is to keep egg layers just to sell and make extra money for my family. ”