Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Eswatini

29/09/2026

22/09/2026

Good programme work continues long after an activity is completed.

The team reviews what happened, follows up on referrals, checks results and identifies gaps that need attention. This careful work helps NCM-E learn from implementation and improve the support communities receive.

It is not glamorous work, but it keeps us accountable.

10/09/2026

“But you have so much to be grateful for.”

Often, these words are offered with affection. Yet someone trying to explain how badly they are struggling may hear them as a reason to say less.

They may already be grateful. They may love their family, value their friendships and have hopes for the future. Serious distress can exist alongside all of this.

Today, 10 September, NCM-E marks World Su***de Prevention Day with a call to make it easier for people in distress to speak openly and receive the care they need.

Part of that work involves examining our instinct to reassure before we have understood. It is difficult to hear that someone we care about is suffering. We want to offer perspective, find an answer, say something that will make it better. In that hurry, we can leave too little room for them to tell us what is happening.

“I’m glad you told me. I’m listening.”

There is room to begin there, then help them reach a health worker and continue checking in. A conversation can open the way to care that someone needs.

If you are struggling, speak to someone you trust or a health worker, even if you cannot fully explain what you are feeling. You can ask someone to accompany you as you seek support.

If you feel in immediate danger of harming yourself, call 977 for an ambulance or seek urgent care at the nearest hospital, and ask someone you trust to stay with you. If you are supporting someone through such a crisis, remain with them while you arrange medical help.

***dePreventionDay

09/09/2026

NCM-E, through the READY+ programme, works with a national network of 25 health facilities spanning all four regions of Eswatini.

At these facilities, Peer Supporters work alongside health workers and programme staff to support adolescents and young people gain access to services. They share reliable information, create safe spaces, encourage treatment continuity and help young people navigate referrals.

From Pigg’s Peak to Siphofaneni, and from Mafutseni to Matsanjeni, NCM-E carries this work across the length and breadth of Eswatini. The scale of that reach reflects sustained work and partnerships, helping make care more accessible, responsive and humane.

30/08/2026

There is an old military adage that amateurs concern themselves with tactics while professionals concern themselves with logistics. Humanitarian and development work is, mercifully, a rather less martial enterprise, but the wisdom travels well.

The parts of our work that receive public attention are usually the parts that can be photographed. A community dialogue. A Peer Supporter speaking to a young person. A visiting delegation. A newly revitalised safe space. Yet each of these visible moments rests on a quieter accumulation of work that begins long before anyone arrives.

Someone has to balance the books, process the payment, arrange the transport, follow up with the supplier, check the programme and find the missing document. When something inevitably refuses to go according to plan - as is the nature of all plans - someone must fix that as well. Much of this work belongs to our finance and administrative teams, alongside colleagues whose contribution is most successful when everything simply works.

Siphofaneni gave us a rare opportunity to see almost the whole operation gathered in one place. Programme staff, administration, finance and Peer Supporters were all there. And while some of our colleagues have developed a prodigious ability to evade the camera, our photographer appears to have regarded the occasion as an opportunity to correct the historical record. Nobody escaped.

The young people rightly occupied the centre of the day. Their confidence and testimony gave the visit its meaning. But moments like that are also the product of an institution doing the less visible work well enough for young people to flourish within it. Resources have to be managed carefully, activities coordinated properly, partners received well, and Peer Supporters given what they need to do their work.

That vital competence is what allows programmes to run smoothly.

So this is for the people whose work is often easiest to overlook precisely because they do it so well.

At Siphofaneni, at least, we finally got them into the frame.

A small victory for institutional memory.

A rather less welcome one for those who had hoped to avoid the camera.

📸Say cheese!

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26/08/2026

At Siphofaneni Clinic yesterday, the words behind the gathering read: “Youth Friendly Health Starts With Us.” By the end of the visit, they felt less like a slogan and more like a description of what we had just witnessed.

The occasion brought together the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa, represented by Deputy Ambassador Jock Geselschap; colleagues from FRONTLINE AIDS and PATA; representatives of the Ministry of Health; the Siphofaneni Clinic team; and the young people at the heart of READY+.

Part of the visit was to see Siphofaneni’s revitalised READY+ safe space: a bright, welcoming place where young people can meet Peer Supporters, find reliable health information, ask difficult questions without judgement and spend time among people who understand their experiences.

But the most compelling account of the programme came from the young people themselves.

During a panel discussion, they took their place at the front and spoke about their lives, their experiences of READY+ and what meaningful youth-friendly healthcare looks like from the perspective of those who actually use it. Deputy Ambassador Geselschap and representatives of the Ministry of Health were among those listening, engaging them directly and asking questions as the conversation unfolded.

They spoke with striking confidence.

Deputy Ambassador Geselschap remarked on that confidence, and the observation stayed with us. After all, confidence is a difficult quality to quantify; it does not appear on a clinic register or fit neatly into a programme indicator, yet it can tell us something important about what is changing. A young person able to speak openly about their experience, articulate what they need and engage a gathering of health officials, development partners and diplomats with assurance has travelled some distance from where they began.

That is part of what READY+ seeks to make possible.

The programme places young people at the centre of the response to the challenges they face. Peer Supporters bring knowledge, encouragement and the credibility of shared experience. Safe spaces create room for young people to learn, form relationships, find support and develop their own voices. Yesterday, our visitors could see the physical expression of that work. More importantly, they could meet the young people who give it meaning.

The transformation of the Siphofaneni space tells its own story. With imagination, investment and care, a once-utilitarian structure has become somewhere young people can recognise as their own: colourful, dignified and deliberately designed around them.

That transformation also carries the imprint of partnership beyond Eswatini. The Embassy of the Netherlands in Mozambique helped make this space possible through its support for the programme, allowing an idea about youth-friendly care to take concrete form at Siphofaneni. Yesterday, representatives of the Netherlands’ mission in South Africa were able to see what that support has helped create. A space animated by young people who are increasingly confident in their health, their choices and their own voices.

That work rests on a wider circle of partnership. We are deeply appreciative of FRONTLINE AIDS, PATA, the Ministry of Health, the Siphofaneni Clinic team and the many people and organisations whose commitment continues to strengthen READY+.

Perhaps the best measure of what that collective effort has built was sitting before us yesterday: young people speaking about their own lives with confidence, surrounded by people who had come to listen.

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19/08/2026

Humanitarian work rests on a demanding moral proposition: that the suffering of another person places a claim upon us.

Across the world, that conviction sends people towards places others are fleeing. Humanitarian workers enter communities fractured by war, disaster, hunger and displacement, carrying medicine, food, water, protection and, sometimes, little more than the determination that a human life must not be abandoned to circumstance.

World Humanitarian Day asks us to honour those who live by this demanding creed. This year, that remembrance carries particular weight as humanitarian workers continue to lose their lives while serving people caught in some of the world's most unforgiving crises.

Here in Eswatini, the human need that has called forth such virtue takes on its own distinct and no less important form. It can be found in a household where food has become an uncertainty, in a young person struggling to balance the demands of life with their treatment, in a young mother learning to care for herself and her child, or in a family trying to navigate illness.

This is where the idea of compassion, the central value we at NCM-E try to lead with, acquires its substance.

We have seen this compassion take the form of food reaching families under strain; Peer Supporters walking alongside young people living with HIV; Young Peer Mothers supporting mothers and their babies; health workers, caregivers and community leaders building circles of support around those who might otherwise have to carry difficult burdens alone.

None of these acts, taken by themselves, will repair all that is broken in the world. Together, however, they form that great human chain, built person by person, household by household, that provides the support that makes possible all the joys of life.

Today, we honour humanitarian workers everywhere, including those who have given the last true measure of their devotion. We honour, too, the staff, volunteers, partners, health workers, community cadres and young people whose daily acts of care rarely make headlines, but make an immeasurable difference to the lives within their reach.

May we continue to see. May we continue to serve. May we continue to

World Humanitarian Day | 19 August 🌍

09/08/2026

Raised hands, eager answers and plenty of laughter marked our visit to Kwaluseni Infant Primary School. As learners prepared for the holidays, the morning gave us an opportunity to discuss the situations they may encounter outside school and how they can make choices that keep them safe and healthy.

Kwakha Indvodza introduced learners to human rights and the responsibilities that accompany them. Members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service spoke about crime prevention and the dangers of substance abuse, encouraging the children to seek help when they encounter situations that make them feel unsafe.

When Sicelo Kunene took the microphone, he brought the discussion closer to the everyday lives of the learners. He spoke about looking out for one another during the holidays, including supporting children who take HIV treatment by encouraging them to continue taking the correct dose at the correct time.

As is usual, Sicelo handled a serious subject with a warmth and directness that younger learners could understand. His contribution placed health within the broader lesson of the day: we all have choices to make, but we also have opportunities to help those around us make good ones.

The learners brought tremendous energy to the session. They listened, responded confidently and showed that important conversations about rights, safety and health can still be engaging and enjoyable.

We thank Kwaluseni Infant Primary School, Kwakha Indvodza and the Royal Eswatini Police Service for helping us send the learners into the holidays with useful knowledge and a stronger sense of responsibility for themselves and one another.

03/08/2026

After the school bell.

Last Tuesday, the conversation at Matsapha Government Primary School reached beyond the usual boundaries of the classroom. It was about the choices through which a young life is gradually built, and the part we can play in helping one another choose well.

Our partners from Kwakha Indvodza spoke to learners about human rights. Members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service discussed crime prevention, the dangers of substance abuse and the importance of treating others, particularly the elderly, with respect. One of the READY+ Peer Supporters invited learners to look beyond the attraction of the present moment, reminding them that some choices appear harmless or rewarding now, only for their dire consequences to unfold much later.

Then Sicelo Kunene, our READY+ Peer Supporter Supervisor, spoke about a responsibility some young people quietly carry every day: taking HIV treatment.

His message was direct. Children receiving treatment need to take the correct dose at the correct time, including when they are at home. The people around them can make that routine easier through encouragement, understanding and timely reminders.

What stood out about Sicelo’s message was that much-needed but little-applied virtue: good sense. He encouraged learners to support children taking HIV treatment by reminding them when it is time, helping them remember the correct dose and encouraging them to continue even when it becomes difficult.

It was something the learners could begin doing immediately. Sicelo showed them that they already have a part to play in helping someone at home remain healthy. Sometimes, that begins simply with paying attention and offering encouragement.

We are grateful to Matsapha Government Primary School, Kwakha Indvodza and the Royal Eswatini Police Service for joining us in a conversation that brought human rights, responsibility, safety and health into the same room. The words were shared at school, but their true value will be seen in the choices learners make and the care they show one another long after the school bell has rung.

31/07/2026

Ten years of READY in Eswatini

When READY began its work in Eswatini ten years ago, viral-load suppression stood at 50% or lower in some supported health facilities. This means that, for fewer than half of the people receiving treatment, the amount of HIV in the blood had been reduced to very low levels, allowing them to remain healthy and greatly reducing the risk of onward transmission. Today, suppression rates are around 90%, with some facilities reaching 95% and above.

These gains formed the background to an important discussion in Brazil involving Frontline AIDS Executive Director John Plastow, members of the Frontline AIDS and READY Movement, the Executive Director of NERCHA and the SNAP Programme Manager. Representing NCM-E and bringing the experience of implementing READY+ in Eswatini was the Country Program Coordinator, Winile Dlamini-Vermaak, who is managing the program in the country under the wider SRH regional program funded by the EKN Embassy..

The meeting considered the programme’s contribution to the national HIV response, the gaps that remain and the parts of the health system that must be strengthened. Particular appreciation was expressed for the peer-led model and the role Peer Supporters have played in helping adolescents and young people remain connected to treatment and care.

The improvement in viral-load suppression belongs to a much wider national effort. READY’s contribution has been to work within that effort while keeping young people visible: their circumstances, their treatment journeys and the forms of support that allow clinical services to succeed in their lives.

That work now faces a changing funding environment. Paediatric HIV treatment and support for adolescents and young people must remain firmly on the agenda. A decade of progress can be preserved only through continued investment, advocacy and attention to the people behind the data.

The figures show how far Eswatini has travelled. The discussion in Brazil concerned how we ensure that the journey continues.