ONE YEAR IN THE SWAZ--and more !

Greetings Everyone,

Life for us continues to be a crazy mix of many scheduled activities coupled with lots of unexpected events to make for busy but productive days. Because summer is when most Americans want to travel, we have had quite a few groups visit us for mission-type work. It’s been great to have the extra help, and fun to share our experiences with them and to help them understand what life here is all about. I do wonder how the kids process all these people coming, becoming their “friend” and then leaving after a week or 2. They are very private about their feelings, and we feel the benefits of these positive role models far outweighs the negatives of the revolving door of volunteers.
Our 3 male students from The University of North Carolina have had a tremendous impact on the kids and have done some real farm work and helped with some much needed repairs on the farm, and at the Childrens Homes. Because it is now the dry season, there’s a real threat of fires. We have a mix of open grasslands coupled with lots of forests used for firewood & timber growing/harvesting. Those who live here play the cat and mouse game of creating controlled burns to keep future fires contained and then being ever ready for the fire outbreaks. Of course there’s no fire service, except in the cities, so those in the country work together and help each other out. We have a huge container of water—500 litres-- with hose attached that remains on a truck for those emergencies. The Carolina boys have participated in controlled burns, and plenty of firefighting experiences. One of the reasons for the fires is that now is the time to smoke out a bee hive so as to collect the wild honey. It is delicious, but in the process of smoking, a fire often starts and gets out of control. Of course, the honey poachers run off, leaving us to contain the fire.
We’ve also had Cindy and Jane from the All4Jesus organization(USA) for a week. Then 4 ggentlemen from Texas also stayed for a week. In addition, a family of 6 have decided to leave Johannesburg, S.A. and move here to Swaziland, and have devoted the next 2 years to helping us at Pasture Valley. What a blessing and asset they have been. Pasture Valley hosts volunteer family-style dinners each Wed., and 2 weeks ago, the count was 20 !
This month marks our 1 year anniversary of arriving in Swaziland, as well as the arrival of the next wave of new Peace Corps volunteers. At the same time, we are saying goodbye to those who are completing their service. Thankfully, several are extending for another year and most have signed on to work with non-profit organizations headquartered in Mbabane. We’re glad to have them around a bit longer. As we meet the new vols., we can’t help but reflect on how far we’ve come this past year, and hope we can help these newbies transition into the life called peace corps Swaziland. They are training in the region where we live, so we often run into them during our shopping visits.
Lots of good news from the children’s home. One of our grade 6 boys is part of his school choir. They placed 2nd in a regional choir competition which qualified them to go to the national competition in Manzini where they placed 3rd. Then one of our grade 7 boys entered his school’s science fair competition (with a little help from volunteer Joss) and received 1st place! These kids have so few opportunities to receive recognition, we’re thrilled they were so successful.
Our third home is nearing completion, and already, social welfare is calling with children needing placement. We agreed to take a lovely 3 yr. old girl last week, knowing that it will stretch us a bit for the short term until she can move to the new house. She is rather quiet and shy. I’m sure that will change with time. Now my little preschool is up to 4. I’m grateful to be able to have a real impact on these children’s early education, which will certainly impact their future learning. We’re interviewing for house mothers – a vital component to the management of any home. Unfortunately, the number of available candidates is small – so many are caring for extended family members as a result of HIV. And, we ask a lot of these individuals – they must agree to live and work here with only 1 long weekend off each month. Then, as the number of children’s home increases, those willing and able to do this work are already doing so elsewhere. I’ll address the whole HIV/AIDS issue here in Swaziland in the next 2 blogs – again, as I see it, having lived here 1 year.
We’re off to celebrate 3 birthdays today—all young boys. Always a fun affair – each child gets a cake—which they usually get to select from the bakery in town !-- and a few presents, which is probably more than they would ever have received at their home. We’ll play some games and watch a movie. Again, a big treat here. Imagine your child’s life without television, and limited access to video and computers. We do manage to have a lot of old fashioned fun without that technology.

Blessings to all of you, and keep the prayer chain rolling.

Love, Gail & Mike