BEST BIRTHDAY EVER !!!

Hi everyone,

Greetings from warm, sunny Swaziland. We’re just ending our summer, and most people here can’t believe that summers in the Midwest are much hotter and more humid than here. That said, we are in the highlands and have much cooler temps than the volunteers who are in the lowlands to the east. We hear the weather’s broken for most of you, so enjoy the spring.

Last week I was invited to visit the newly formed preschool in which I had a part in the teacher training. They meet in a church and are the only preschool in that community. They already have 15 children attending, and I hear, more are wishing to attend. The 2 teachers have done a fabulous job of doing a lot with very few resources. The kids are thriving and learning, not just their abc’s, but the basics of following directions, taking turns, etc. Best of all, the teacher is introducing traditional stories and folklore. Since many of these children are from single parent households, or have a father working in South Africa, that cultural heritage isn’t getting passed on. I gave them a dental health talk and passed out toothbrushes. Sadly, quite a few had visible decay. They all bring sweet drinks for their lunch, so I bet that is probably a big factor.

On Friday, a large preschool from our town came out to the Pasture Valley farm for a field trip. We were expecting about 80 children, but 130 arrived! Luckily we had 4 adults to divide the kids between-32 per adult leader !- and we rotated them to 5 stations: calves & timber; milking dairy; plant nursery; rabbits and chickens; childrens homes. I’m not sure they got too much out of the talks, but then they went into the Education Center for lunch. There we sang some Christian songs and they heard a Bible lesson on creation. They were here for about 2 hrs., but we were all ready for them to go. I’m grateful that my preschool class is so small. I doubt if I could manage a class of 30 children as this school does. Oh, my.

This was my birthday weekend, and I had a wonderful celebration. On Saturday the children gave me a party, complete with homemade cards, lots of hugs and a cake. We always clap for each year, so yes, they clapped 59 times! Most of the kids are surprised that I can do as much as I do, because in their eyes, 59 is VERY old. One of the best gifts was 2 giant mangoes – bigger than I’ve ever seen – and they were delicious. I’ll have to admit, I did not offer to share them with the kids. I hardly wanted to share with Mike.

And over Saturday and Sunday I got phone calls from both of my sisters, and all four of our children, so thanks very much to Alice, Helen, Mary, Dana, Ellen and Troy…When we say it is great to hear your voice, we truly mean, “it is great to hear your voice”. Thanks much for calling.

Then, Peter & Michelle hosted a lovely braii (cookout) for me on Sunday afternoon, and invited her parents who live on a nearby farm. To my surprise, Michelle’s mother baked me a cake and brought me preserved peaches, home pressed macadamia nut oil AND gave me 3 lovely pots that she had made. (she makes lovely pottery). I was overwhelmed. It was a delightful afternoon. It’s certainly not the typical Peace Corps experience.

We’re still having a learning curve on the rabbit and chicken care. The kids are divided into teams of 3 each – and each team has 1 day in the week to feed and water the animals. We were having a bit of a compliance problem, so mean old Aunty Gail decided we’d have to get tough – the animals must be properly fed & watered each day for a week, and then they get to watch a movie. Even if they miss 1 day, no movie. Last week they finally got it right, and we showed them The Wizard of Oz. They loved it, but are still not fully believing that the Munchkins are real, adult people. Yes, the movie night is a big deal, since they don’t have television on the farm (it’s available, but not really too much to watch). It’s bringing back memories of when Mike pulled the plug on our television for the summers our kids were growing up.

Time to go tutor my 2nd graders. I’m determined to get them to learn their basic math facts, esp. since we see the older ones still counting on their fingers. It’s an uphill battle since the schools don’t enforce it. The same with reading – they learn by rote, and not by phonetics. I’ll let you know how we do in the future. So far, I’m resorting to tests on Friday, with treats as an incentive for doing well.

Blessings, Gail

PS From Mike. Managed to get on my phone Monday a.m. and see the NCAA brackets. At least I know who is playing who, and when. No coverage whatsoever, here, not on TV, radio, newpapers, etc. Nada. Truth is, this is first sporting event I am really gonna miss. No real way to follow March Madness…so I will likely just jump on the web—on my phone—every couple days, to see who is advancing. I have been able to write up the brackets manually….and think Ohio State plays the 18th—Friday—in Cleveland. And if I got my facts correct, Carolina, and Kentucky are in that region. Should be interesting.