For many of us, this holiday season will be filled with delicious food, exciting presents, and fun memories as we spend time with our families. That, however, will not be the case for Philiswa.

My wife and I met Philiswa (pill-ee-swa) on our most recent trip to Swaziland, Africa. What first stood out to us were her eyes. As you can see in the attached photo, she has one eye that wanders off by itself.

As we spent time with her and the 60+ other children in the village, we couldn’t help but notice that the other kids picked on her. It was as if they noticed her disability and felt that it was perfectly acceptable to hit her, take things from her, and laugh at her. Yet through all of this, she maintained a surprisingly positive spirit.

Learning more about the Swazi culture, we discovered that people with disabilities are often viewed as being demon-possessed. These unfortunate children, who already are struggling for survival, have to bear an additional burden.

Our trip was coming to an end, but we couldn’t get Philiswa out of our hearts and minds. We just knew we had to visit her family and encourage them. We wanted her parents to know that she was a special girl with a bright future. But unfortunately, while busily playing with the other children before our departure, we forgot to get her address.

Perhaps fate played a role, because guess who saw our minivan and came running out to the road? Philiswa, with a big smile on her face! We happened to have one five-gallon bucket of rice, beans, apples, sugar, and other goodies in our car.

We took her by the hand with the bucket of food and went to meet her parents. To our dismay, we learned that her dad had abandoned her years before and her mother remarried, didn’t want her, and left her behind. Her great-grandmother was now raising her.

We told the great-grandmother, “You’ve got one special girl here,” but her reaction was shocking. She said, “You can have her!” We were devastated to hear these words and poor Philiswa…she was standing right there.

Needless to say, we haven’t stopped thinking about Philiswa and her life back in the village. While we can’t bring her home and provide the love and care she deserves, we can fix her disability.

My wife, Joy, and I would like to offer you an easy way to partner with us.

Not only are we committed to taking 100% of the profits from this year’s sales of my book, Little Things Matter, to provide food and support to children in third-world countries, but we will also match the profits dollar for dollar to get Philiswa the medical care she desperately needs.

Little Things Matter can be a life-changing gift. If you buy the book for someone you know, you’ll actually be helping three people: one, the person who receives the book from you as a gift; two, a hungry child who will be fed from the profits; and three, Philiswa.

Philiswa’s name means “to be healed.” That’s exactly what we will do together!

If you decide to partner with us, please send me an email at todd@littlethingsmatter.com so that we can keep you informed about the process.

There’s still time to receive the books prior to Christmas, but you’ll need to act fast.

If you are not familiar with my book, click here.

For bulk pricing, click here.

If you want your books autographed, enter LTM in the “Promo Code” box during the checkout process.

If you prefer to download the electronic version on your Kindle, click here.

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation for Philiswa’s medical care, go to www.HopeChest.org and click on the “Designated Gift” tab in the upper-right corner. Make sure to enter SZ4003022 in the “Reference Number” field. The Gift Information section could be used for a more detailed description of your donation.

I want to thank all of you for your support over the last year since I launched my blog. It has been quite an exciting ride!

Happy holidays!

Todd

“If you can’t feed 100 people, just feed one.” —Mother Teresa

Attitude, Responsibility

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