UPDATE 4 DECEMBER 2011

Greetings from Swaziland – hope you are all surviving the holiday frenzy. I’ll have to admit, that’s one part of the US culture I do not miss. The slower, quieter pace is much better for my soul and spirit. That, however, doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with whatever family was able to gather. Our Peace Corps family (all 70 volunteers and about 20 staff) were invited to a grand buffet at the Ambassador’s residence. Also included, of course, were embassy staff, and several other displaced Americans. I was a lovely affair – so nice to dress up, and have adult conversation with so many interesting people. Sadly, it was rainy & cool, so only 2 brave souls swam in his pool. They managed to serve turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (they are grown locally in abundance), pumpkin pie, and much, much more. I was full for 2 days.
On the day before, the morning of, and the day after Thanksgiving, Peace Corps gathered us all at a conference centre to present some new programs, give us a chance to share our successes and challenges, and to review some peace corps policies. It was a very productive 2 days. In addition, in our “free time” I was able to sell quite a lot of our Bambanani jewellery. Another fellow volunteer has also started a similar program in another part of Swaziland. Her jewellery is lovely, distinctive, and compliments our products. It gave me new incentive to keep on improving and working on new designs. The good news is that from our successes with our sales in the US and through the many volunteers who have bought our products, we have had a very successful year. Not only have I been paying a fair wage to each of the craftspeople each month, but we will be able to invest in new development for the project, so as to keep it sustainable in the years to come. The group voted on a new sewing machine. I couldn’t be more pleased. We’ll work on training sessions beginning at the new year. They each will get a small year-end “bonus” as well, based on their sales. That is a very un-Swazi idea for them to embrace. The usual Swazi attitude, is all for one and one for all, in order to be “fair” to all. The group voted to do it this way, and even put it in writing – stating that they wanted to encourage the “lazy” ones to get working! On the way home, I took advantage of being in the “big” city and did some shopping – mostly for Bambanani supplies. I continually am surprised at what I am finding when I look carefully. Some items are actually cheaper here than in the states, esp. zippers and now even glass beads. All good for sustainability.
We had another treat that Thanksgiving weekend. On Friday evening after Thanksgiving we were invited to the farm of a friend of our host family. It was a much larger operation, more typical of what I would picture a South African farm would be – beautiful large farm house, “rustic”elegance. They served us a lovely meal – meat grilled on the braai, with salad, veggies, bread and dessert. Again, I had to pinch myself to be reminded that I am a Peace Corps Volunteer – as we could have been anywhere in large rural American farm. I could get used to this.
The kids are all home from school for about 6 weeks. Schools closed 2 weeks early, I suspect due to budget cuts. So, we have scheduled holiday programming each morning and afternoon. Michelle does not like idle time, and I agree. So, each morning they have farm chores for 1 hr.; then a break; then an activity for 1 hr. followed by either reading or math. Then the afternoon is looser – just 1 hr. of activities, one of which is swim lessons for 8 of them 3 days a week. Yes, I’m teaching swim lessons with another volunteer. We’re alternating with 2 groups of 8 kids, ages 10 – 18. We’re using the pool of a lovely guesthouse “nearby”. Michelle drives us there and we walk home – 1 hr. uphill. By the third day, I’m a bit beat. Half of the kids are water friendly, but can’t “swim” The other half are novices. The biggest surprise was that the 4 new children are the least fearful and most willing to accept instruction. I’m having fun. So far the other activities have been making Christmas cards, cooking and memory games.
One last comment. Just as I think things are going quite well, I learn of another difficult thing the Swazis must deal with. We’ve enjoyed relative efficient and reliable mail service overseas, so I just assumed the internal mail was the same – with the exception of no delivery, meaning everyone must go to a nearby town for collection of mail at their post office box, or at “general delivery”. Wrong. We’ve been watching Michelle try to collect a document from a colleague in Mbabane so that she can sign it and then return it. They’ve been at it for weeks. Both parties refuse to trust the internal mail, because they say it will never see it again! I wonder what they did before fax machines and email. No wonder things seem to move more slowly here. Thankfully, that’s not part of our world.
We’re enjoying the warm and mostly sunny weather, although the rains are coming more frequently now – which makes farmer Peter very happy. The cows produce much more milk when the grass is green. Gotta go get ready for church. Love and hugs to all of you. Gail and Mike