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Family Strengthening in Eswatini

Strengthening families and equipping community leaders through practical training, innovation, and appropriate technologies is the next step for holistic transformation in Eswatini. When you give, you’re giving more than aid, you’re investing in strong families and resilient leaders.


Imagine giving families the ability to safely share their painful experiences instead of burying them. To be able to negotiate a better family life that suits each member of the family. Imagine parents that lovingly support their children through difficult seasons instead of dismissing or punishing them for simply speaking up.


We believe our Umdoni campus has vast potential to pour deeply into families to impact the communities we’re serving. We want to bring families, caregivers, and community members temporarily out of daily strife and into this safe learning environment. Exposing them to some of our best innovations that can richly impact their lives. Teaching them ways to connect on a healthy emotional level as a family unit.


For the past 17 years, Adventures in Missions has laid a solid foundation in Eswatini. We’ve strived to help kids to grow from the need for bare necessities to having hope and expectations of a full life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We’ve wanted to see kids having hope for their future, to grow out from abject poverty to become active contributors for their community.


Take a short tour of the Umdoni Leadership Camus with Melinda Babb. At Umdoni, we train students to become God-honoring holistic leaders who multiply their training by pouring into and training others. We drive leadership training with a focus on self-sustainability, skillset development, and innovative thinking.


We’re building on our foundations to strengthen families and to help bring more contributors into communities with our Umdoni campus. The unique environment we’re pioneering at Umdoni encourages rapid self-development, critical thinking, resiliency, acceptance of others, family and community enrichment, and a zero-waste mindset for business and daily living. We’re working to create God-honoring, holistic leaders who plant and nurture these concepts back in the community and beyond Eswatini’s borders.

This training environment has never been more needed than now. Eswatini is facing HIV, uncertainty from months of flash violence and political unrest, rampant poverty as well as magnified economic and health concerns from the Coronavirus pandemic. In spite of the challenges, we believe light shines brighter in the midst of darkness and pain. Strengthening families and equipping community leaders through practical training, innovation, and appropriate technologies is the vital next step for holistic transformation.

We believe that the conditions and timing are ripe for financial partners to bring tremendous value and change like never before in our history of working in Eswatini. Africa is yearning for servant leadership, your partnership can help bring hope and transformation on target, on time.


We’re so overwhelmed at the support and response from donors, thank you so much! This campaign was successfully fundraised but we still would love your help for making a positive impact in Eswatini.

Thank you all for your continued prayers

Please join us in praying for Eswatini:

  • To come to a timely and peaceful resolution for this civil unrest crisis.
  • That the current Covid-19 case count would remain low despite all the turmoil.
  • For safety for our staff, volunteers, missionaries, and all their families.
  • That supply lines would be safe so that vulnerable families can get the food they need.

Please pray for peace

Please join us in praying for Eswatini:

  • To come to a timely and peaceful resolution for this civil unrest crisis.
  • That the current Covid-19 case count would remain low despite all the turmoil.
  • For safety for our staff, volunteers, missionaries, and all their families.
  • That supply lines would be safe so that vulnerable families can get the food they need.

Umdoni Water Tower Project

Bheki Motsa, our country director speaks on how Umdoni fits in with the vision of the broader ministry and beyond.


Matt Gerber, our previous country director, is grateful and looking forward to a future that Umdoni can bring to the communities we serve in Eswatini. Matt is excited about the transformational possibilities sustainable appropriate technologies can bring when Swazis practice them at their homesteads. We’re continuing to see Swazis leading Swazis to bring lasting change.


William Mtsetfwa, our appropriate technologies specialist and trainer is passionate about using his creativity in service to students, friends, community members, and God. He is inspiring because he lives it, shocking integrity. Proof that we can import the thinking into a homestead. “Umdoni is hope for communities” William is such a force for good and positivity, he really lives to bring God’s kingdom to this earth.


Justice Khoza, our agricultural specialist, explains how agriculture brings sustainability and transformation in a way that can impact swazi homesteads. Umdoni is that place where we can welcome outsiders and marginalized to transform their nation for good. Where we lead from a heart of service and connection.


In 2004, when Adventures entered the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) for the first time, it was the epicenter of the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic. We found orphans and widows living in rural communities desperate for food and medical care.

This surviving generation of orphans is now the young leadership of a Kingdom in transition. Adventures is growing alongside them to bring whole-life sustainable living to hundreds of rural homesteads.

Adventures’ Umdoni Project is a 70-acre parcel of hardscrabble commercial farmland being converted into a center for sustainable agriculture and tourism. This project will train hundreds of young leaders and their families in holistic leadership skills that will bring spiritual and practical transformation to the neediest communities.

The Umdoni Project is making incremental progress. We’ve raised funds for several building projects and need to move forward with some critical infrastructure in order to lay a foundation for the continued progress of the vision.

The Water Tower is a 15,000-gallon elevated system providing gravity-fed water to the entire 70-acre farm. This is comparable to a municipal water system. The project will include connectivity to the existing well so upon completion it will be fully functional.


Thanks to all who have given toward this project! As of January 1, we have enough to purchase the water tower, but still need funds to complete the entire project – construction, plumbing, etc. Please consider sharing this project, praying for our team, or donating to help us cross the finish line!


Elliot appreciates you

Elliot Nkambule has been a great part of our team for years. He wanted to express his gratitude that he can continue to support his family and community, who is deeply missing their special friends who usually visit and spread such love. He’s thankful because of our wonderful partners and friends and he’s praying that each and every one of you can have divine protection through this season.

We are grateful

We are so very grateful for each and every person who prays, advocates, gives, comes, and partners with us in Eswatini. Without your support, ministry wouldn’t be possible especially in many of the very remote communities we serve. We appreciate you and all you’ve done over the years, our hearts are full of gratitude. We thank God for you and for what He is doing in and through this collective ministry.

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