Hi everyone,
Mike and I took a few days off and explored Maputo, Mozambique. Most others we know stay a minimal time in Maputo and head to the beach towns to the north or south, or to one of the neighboring beach islands. We chose to make this an urban get-away and had a great time. Stayed in a modest backpackers that was central to the city. There we got a walking map of the city, which specified areas to avoid due to crime. We had heard that Maputo was a bit rough, somewhat dirty, and not really worth exploring. We found the opposite to be true. Yes, there were few actual sites worth mentioning, but just walking the neighborhoods, people watching, observing the development going on, stopping in cafes for espresso and pastry or gelatto was fun for us. I had heard that Mozambique as a country has a greater emphasis on the arts, vocational trades, and will have a bit more of a European feel. That said, it is also a country that has been at war much more than at peace in the last 20 years. So, yes we did see a bit more artistic expression, but there's plenty of room for growth in that area. Then, there's the Fish Market. We took a long Sunday morning walk, checked out an old-world, restored hotel, saw lots of embassy sites, past the presidential compound, and ended up at our destination - and bought some great looking prawns, & red snapper. The Fish Market has lots of local restaurants nearby who will cook the fish you choose, but we decided to take it all back to our backpackers. I managed to get 4 great meals from it all - prawns for lunch, snapper for 2 nights of dinner and a great fish chowder for our last night. Considering the backpackers kitchen was quite limited in scope (1 skillet, 1 pot, 2 burners and salt) - we still ate our fill & I was most happy. There's virtually no fish to speak of in Swaziland & the one kind you can buy is small & I don't trust that it's been kept frozen. So, I'll have to rely on these great gastronomic memories for awhile til we get back to the US. One perk of our backpackers was a small balcony that looked out over Maputo Bay. We both really miss looking at a body of water from time to time, so we spent our evenings having a drink & gazing at the ocean. Then, on our second day we took a local ferry boat a short distance across Maputo Bay to a beach. It was amazing to us to look back at Maputo, with more than 1 million people, and then to cross to a place that felt like most small African villages we know - dirt roads, small shacks, nothing going on. We walked up the beach for 2.5 miles and saw only a few local fishermen in their "sailboats". Some were also trying to catch fish by hand in 2-man nets. The boats looked less sea-worthy than the boats we remember the St. Lucian fishermen used in the mid-1970's. We did end up at a small but nice hotel where we changed into swimsuits, swam & had a drink at the bar. We were the only people there. Because of the climate and direct access to the Indian Ocean, Maputo felt a lot like St. Lucia - hot, humid, lots of tropical trees I recognized & lots of tropical fruits - mangos, papaya, coconuts, etc. We did visit a craft market, went to an art museum (small), a natural history museum (a throw-back to colonial days), as well as window shopped in some nice, modern shopping malls.
We did it all via public transport and by foot & had a great time. We're back in Swaziland and will celebrate Thanksgiving at the US Ambassador's home, as we have done the past 2 years. This year we have a new ambassador, so it will be nice to meet her. Then, we're looking forward to returning to the children's home and ready to face the upcoming Christmas craziness. Love to all, Gail
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Hi everyone from Gail this time,
All is well here - I had to go to the peace corps office for medical checkups and am enjoying time on their fast and free internet service. Small pleasures. All the checkups went fine, so I have peace of mind. I find I'm actually out in the sun less here than during US summers, but am in it some everyday, so the cumulation does count. One good thing about peace corps is that they do take care of you medically & so far I've been extremely pleased with the care I've been given.
I thought I'd talk a bit about Bambanani and how these 3 income generating groups are going. The US sales were beyond expectations - both in actual sales, donations, and most importantly the positive feedback from everyone who saw the improvement in quality of the products. This past spring I was able to facilitate an 8 week sewing class for 1 of my groups. I was surprised to see how many had machines, but sad to learn how many needed repair. Apparently, finding a reliable repair person is rare here. So, I helped with that, and then they were off to the races. I could focus on product design, and the teacher was able to impliment these patterns into good quality bags. We'll continue to work on improvement, but so far, the products are selling well. I've had to learn that my tastes do not always translate into what sells. In fact, a few items that I have my doubts about have sold very well. My third group is working on making products with used plastic bags. They've learned how to cut up a plastic bag into one long strip and then crocheting with it. They've made some cute hats which sold well to an Australian visitor. Now we are cutting up bags and laying them flat into several layers. Then we fuse the plastic together by sandwiching it between heavy duty foil and ironing it together. Before that we add an "african" touch by cutting out animal figures - elephants, zebras, monkeys, etc. I've had to provide patterns for these African images and then have had to "teach" the ladies how to put them together, because most of these women have never seen an elephant, zebra or giraffe. How sad that these animals are so familiar to us, and speak Africa to us, yet those who live here have no idea what they look like. I was looking at the blog of our newest grandson, Ben, and he is sitting in a bouncy chair with an elephant & giraffe on it. Soon he'll be pointing out those animals and saying the words correctly. What's wrong with this picture? So - I have to teach my ladies which fabric to buy that "says Africa" to our western market, even though to them, Africa speaks a different language of colors and fabrics. Thankfully, these women seem to get how important it is to make products that will sell, so they defer to my judgment and opinions of others who bought from me. Our third and newest group is very enterprizing and really wants to learn to sew. Unfortunately, only one of the group of 14 has a machine. So, I'm in the process of getting the community and the other non-profits organizations which support this group to come together so we can get machines to them. That means finding a safe but accessible place to keep them to that these women can take advantage of the 8 week sewing class taught by a local Swazi teacher. So far, things are moving forward & we hope to have things rolling in the next month or two.
We received communication about a new UN initiative - International Day of the Girl Child. We were asked to set aside a day to focus on girls empowerment. Since we have a captive audience at our children's home, that was easy to do. We had our lower elementary students participate in a "battle of the sexes" spelling and math bee. It went well, but the girls defeated themselves by not believing in their abilities beforehand. Thus, the importance of continuing such a practice. For the older kids - we broke them into 4 teams and had them select prominent African women to report on to the group. Again, some of the boys snickered and made negative comments regarding gender equality, but they really embraced the achievements of these women, esp. those who took initiative to change an inequality within their community.
We'll keep on expressing the message - girls are clever and strong. Hopefully some will believe it.
Mike celebrated his 60th birthday this week - he got cards from all the kids. The homemade artwork is precious. They will all get ice cream - a special treat. I made him a chocolate cake which we enjoyed at our fellowship dinner. We feel so blessed to assigned to this special place, that just being there is a gift in itself. We hope all of you can experience the joys of small pleasures as we have. Bye for now, Gail
All is well here - I had to go to the peace corps office for medical checkups and am enjoying time on their fast and free internet service. Small pleasures. All the checkups went fine, so I have peace of mind. I find I'm actually out in the sun less here than during US summers, but am in it some everyday, so the cumulation does count. One good thing about peace corps is that they do take care of you medically & so far I've been extremely pleased with the care I've been given.
I thought I'd talk a bit about Bambanani and how these 3 income generating groups are going. The US sales were beyond expectations - both in actual sales, donations, and most importantly the positive feedback from everyone who saw the improvement in quality of the products. This past spring I was able to facilitate an 8 week sewing class for 1 of my groups. I was surprised to see how many had machines, but sad to learn how many needed repair. Apparently, finding a reliable repair person is rare here. So, I helped with that, and then they were off to the races. I could focus on product design, and the teacher was able to impliment these patterns into good quality bags. We'll continue to work on improvement, but so far, the products are selling well. I've had to learn that my tastes do not always translate into what sells. In fact, a few items that I have my doubts about have sold very well. My third group is working on making products with used plastic bags. They've learned how to cut up a plastic bag into one long strip and then crocheting with it. They've made some cute hats which sold well to an Australian visitor. Now we are cutting up bags and laying them flat into several layers. Then we fuse the plastic together by sandwiching it between heavy duty foil and ironing it together. Before that we add an "african" touch by cutting out animal figures - elephants, zebras, monkeys, etc. I've had to provide patterns for these African images and then have had to "teach" the ladies how to put them together, because most of these women have never seen an elephant, zebra or giraffe. How sad that these animals are so familiar to us, and speak Africa to us, yet those who live here have no idea what they look like. I was looking at the blog of our newest grandson, Ben, and he is sitting in a bouncy chair with an elephant & giraffe on it. Soon he'll be pointing out those animals and saying the words correctly. What's wrong with this picture? So - I have to teach my ladies which fabric to buy that "says Africa" to our western market, even though to them, Africa speaks a different language of colors and fabrics. Thankfully, these women seem to get how important it is to make products that will sell, so they defer to my judgment and opinions of others who bought from me. Our third and newest group is very enterprizing and really wants to learn to sew. Unfortunately, only one of the group of 14 has a machine. So, I'm in the process of getting the community and the other non-profits organizations which support this group to come together so we can get machines to them. That means finding a safe but accessible place to keep them to that these women can take advantage of the 8 week sewing class taught by a local Swazi teacher. So far, things are moving forward & we hope to have things rolling in the next month or two.
We received communication about a new UN initiative - International Day of the Girl Child. We were asked to set aside a day to focus on girls empowerment. Since we have a captive audience at our children's home, that was easy to do. We had our lower elementary students participate in a "battle of the sexes" spelling and math bee. It went well, but the girls defeated themselves by not believing in their abilities beforehand. Thus, the importance of continuing such a practice. For the older kids - we broke them into 4 teams and had them select prominent African women to report on to the group. Again, some of the boys snickered and made negative comments regarding gender equality, but they really embraced the achievements of these women, esp. those who took initiative to change an inequality within their community.
We'll keep on expressing the message - girls are clever and strong. Hopefully some will believe it.
Mike celebrated his 60th birthday this week - he got cards from all the kids. The homemade artwork is precious. They will all get ice cream - a special treat. I made him a chocolate cake which we enjoyed at our fellowship dinner. We feel so blessed to assigned to this special place, that just being there is a gift in itself. We hope all of you can experience the joys of small pleasures as we have. Bye for now, Gail
Saturday, September 29, 2012
JUST ANOTHER FAST COUPLE WEEKS !!
Hi All, We are definitely trying to get
back into putting up a blog every few weeks or so…so here goes.
End
of the Month (Again)
I write this about 6am on Thursday 27 Sept.
End of the month always very very exciting in Swaziland…the folks that have
paying jobs, about 99% get paid once a month, and this is at the end of
month…so town gets a little crazy with everyone collecting pay---usually the
money is dropped into an individuals bank account, and since very very few have
checking accounts, and this is cash society, almost everyone queues up at ATMS
to withdraw all their pay in cash….as a result, not unusual to see lines of
50-60 people at ATMs ( which frequently run out of cash!), and town is a
madhouse with folks buying what they need for the next month….we usually try to
avoid town, this week J…
Report
Cards, Report Cards, Report Cards
Africa is on January—December academic
year, three terms in Swaziland. The First Term 24 Jan to 20 April, Second Term
8 May to 17 August, and Third Term 18 September to 7 December. Thankfully the Third Term started on time…and
as I think you may remember we had a ten week teachers strike, that started
early in Term Two….anyhow, tomorrow the report cards for Term Two come out, and
will be most interesting to see what happens. With 29 children in school, of
course we have great interest—and not sure if all the kids will be passed, due
to the strike, or if almost all will fail, because of no marking, or what….all
we know for now is that the children will get report cards…..who knows what
they will look like, or how the schools will be able to give grades !
September
Newsletter/ Internet Connection
I trust by now most of you have seen the
“Special Edition” Newsletter, we sent out about a week ago. It is posted on
website if you have not seen it. It was due out end of October, but we moved up
publication due to planned Internet termination. To make a very long story
short—only one cell service provider in Swaziland, MTN ( that is why our cell
costs are 10 times what they are in USA!)..but in May 2011 Swaziland Post and
Telecommunication (SPTC- the govt post office) announced a wireless, internet
service…that we have been using, gratefully. MTN sued SPTC in International Court,
claiming they had been granted a monopoly for wireless service…and MTN won. It
was announced that the SPTC Internet service was going away 21 September….and
we would be back to walking into town—60 minutes—and going to internet café for
service ( or using my MTN serviced cellphone). So now we are back into walking to town for
internet, hoping the café is open, has power, etc., dodging computer viruses,
and all in all much slower performance, and lots more difficulty downloading
photos, etc. Ugh. Keep the emails, photos coming, and please be patient if takes
a little while for us to respond properly.
September
Weather Wettest in History
Seems like everywhere else on the planet,
the weather patterns here are a little screwed up…when we moved to Africa, June
2010—November 2010…we had no rain, as it was winter/dry. Then our first summer
( Dec 2010—March 2011) it rained a LOT, and all was a mud puddle. Winter 2011 (
May-August) was coldest on record, we burned a fire for heat every night from
Mothers Day to Labour Day. Then our second summer ( Dec 2011-March 2012) much
dryer than normal, especially compared to our first. And this last winter
(May—August 2012) much much milder, only burned fire about 3 nights weekly. And
now the rains have come….we have had more rain in first three weeks of
September than any prior Sept in history. The farmers are happy, as are the
children because we have had several swimming ponds ( we call them dams) pop
up, and lots of impromptu swimming taking place…..as for future weather, all we
know is summer is coming fast, and things are getting green, growing like
crazy, and trees blossoming. It is a beautiful, warm, sunny time in Africa,
with morning sunup around 5:15am….
9
September—Baptism for 14, And Even Earlier Than Planned !
In the latest newsletter, we had a nice
write-up, with photo about the Baptism we held for the 14 children that had
arrived since Sept 2010. Here is part of the story, that did not make it into
the newsletter. You might remember that our very first weekend here…we baptised
all 22 children in town at Holy Trinity Anglican Church. Well, the time had
come, to baptise the 14 children that had arrived since Sept 2010…and our plan
was that we would do this Baptism, in Education Center on the grounds here, at
1:30PM Sunday 9 Sept. All was made ready, food was being prepared for about 50
in attendance, we were making Ed Centre ready with seating, decorations,
etc…when at 11:30am the Pastor, and the delegation from town arrived ! Seems
somehow we got wires crossed, and we all KNEW the time was set for 1:30pm, and
the Pastor and all from town thought 11:30am ! Anyhow, as we say in Africa, we “made
a plan” and on the fly notified all that the Baptisms would take place at noon.
Thankfully, as all the children are resident here, there were minimal logistics
issues…..and we still had all the food ready to serve after the service around
1:30pm. The service was good, all that needed to attend did arrive in time, and
the meal was great also…and we finished a couple hours earlier than planned !!
Kind of like throwing a party, and having all the guests arrive two hours early
!
Happy
Birthday Grandad, Hatch, and Livvy !
Big week for birthdays this week with three
on the 25th. We were grateful to be able to call Columbus around 7PM
( Africa time) Tuesday, to wish Grandad Messick well on his 85th
birthday. It was great to hear his voice and talk for a few minutes. And also
Tuesday Hatch/Livvy celebrated birthday # 2….so Happy Birthday—again to the two
little ones !! We miss everyone, but are busy and the days continue to fly
by….with never enough time to do all that needs to get done.
And Troy we are especially thinking of you,
getting ready to go off to Basic Training in mid-October, and we know your
“going-away” party is set for 6 October…so we must talk before you head off,
and perhaps during the party.
That’s all for now. All good here. Healthy.
Happy. Love to all.
Cheers !
Saturday, September 8, 2012
BACK IN SWAZILAND
Hi everyone,
It’s been 3 weeks since we left the US after a delightful,
but busy 4 weeks stateside. I’ll have to
admit, I was a bit slow getting readjusted to the pace here, as I think I was
grieving with knowledge that I won’t be seeing our kids, grandkids, parents,
family & friends for yet another year.
Yet, I know we made the right decision to remain here for another
year. We’ll all just have to be better
communicators, knowing that this year will go quickly. It was so great to see everyone, reacquaint
with the twins, hold baby Ben for the first time. Thanks to all for making the effort to see
us, despite our crazy travelling schedule – Columbus, Sarasota, Berkeley, D.C.,
Columbus. As always, we cherish your
support and prayers.
As we expected, we hit the ground running after arrival
back. Two return visitors were staying
at the farm: a former peace corps, Justine, back for a holiday and to visit her
former host family as well as a gentleman from Texas, Dennis, who comes
annually to help support projects at the Methodist schools in the region. We
always enjoy sharing stories and having their help with events happening here.
The kids are on school holiday, so the holiday program is in
full swing. Each morning we have a
shortened preschool, as well as a planned 1 ½ hr. program for the gradeschool
kids. During these last 4 weeks, we’ve
done everything from building individual boats from wood to writing essays and
poems to first aid to building leadership skills to playing the recorder and
learning to read music. Yesterday we
asked them to find a picture of living thing in a book or magazine – animal,
bird, flower, etc. and then draw it on a big piece of paper. Most found the idea overwhelming, as
creativity is virtually non-existent in the schools. They have no special
classes for art or music, so we try to give them that experience here. After lots of complaining, quite a few
finally settled down and drew some wonderful pictures. We also alternate 1 hr. of math or reading
each day. In the afternoon we do various
sports – again, trying to broaden their skills beyond the endless soccer
games. We’ve introduced volleyball, run
cross country, relay races, sack races, etc.
Winter is behind us, although we’re still getting the
occasional cold day. What I love about
the landscape here is that in the dead of winter (which is also the dry season)
when we haven’t had any rain for 6 mos. And the ground is brown and trees are
bare, a lovely tree called the Sacred Coral Tree blooms a beautiful coral-red
flower which remains for almost a month. As that flower was fading, other
flowering trees bloomed, again without the benefit of rain. We finally got our
first rain and it was abundant: 6 inches
in 2 days. Immediately, the grass is
greening up and leaves are emerging from the trees. No one complained yet about
slogging about in the mud. Generally
everything just gets put on hold during a heavy rain, so any meetings scheduled
got cancelled til next week. However, we
kept up our schedule with kids programming, substituting movies & indoor
activities for the sports.
Two female volunteers, Alicia and Tarah, arrived a week ago
and plan to be here for 4 mos. It’s so
nice to have long-term help. One of them
was here on a short term mission trip last summer & managed to incorporate
this trip into her master’s degree program.
They are taking over the preschool, thus freeing me up to focus on the
Bambanani income generating projects. Now
that there are 3 groups, it takes more time than I had before to run them properly. Naturally, as each group gains success, more
individuals want to join. We also have
plans to incorporate some individuals who are being supported at home by
another orphanage in town. I’m so
grateful to have this project to get me out into the rural areas and work with
the women there. Empowering them to
create and gain self-worth has been so rewarding. I know I cannot give each of them viable
jobs, but even the relatively small amounts I am able to pay out to each of
them for their handiwork has paid off in changing their attitudes towards
themselves in what they are capable of achieving. Over time, true leaders are emerging.
Earlier this week we slaughtered a cow. She was getting old and not producing much
milk anymore, so she’ll provide meat for the children and staff for a few
weeks. The event happens right out in
the pasture – skinning and dividing every part of the cow. No special care is taken to secure certain
cuts of meat, but the Swazis savor the intestines, organ meats, head, eyeballs,
everything. The next day, I saw several
boys each holding a hoof and scooping out the marrow from the inside with a
spoon. Then, later there were a few
sitting around the fire with a pot simmering.
They smiled and lifted the lid to reveal the udder boiling for a later
treat. Yum, yum. Thankfully, we aren’t expected to eat it with
them.
Tomorrow is a group baptism for the 14 children who have
arrived over the 18 months. I find it
interesting to note that none of the 36 children were previously baptised
before coming to the children’s home here. Yes, these children were the
forgotten, neglected and abused, but for a country that statistically is 85%
Christian, it seems rather odd to me that not one had received that sacrament. Because there are so many, the pastor will
come out to the farm. We’ll have a
regular service and then a celebration afterwards.
We’re off for a Saturday outing – Since volunteer Dennis has
a car, he has graciously offered to drive us out and about for some
exploring. Hopefully not too many roads
will be washed out from the rain. If we
stick to the main ones, which are paved, we’ll be OK. By for now, Gail &
Mike
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
GAILS EIGHT DAY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
VGreetings to all of you from Gail,
I wanted to thank you all for the birthday wishes. It was the longest birthday celebration I’ve yet experienced. Here’s the wrap-up. First there was the phone call from Mary on March 10. I’d just finished up a great beginning sewing lesson with 12 members of one of the Bambanani groups. It went much better than anticipated (all showed up, and were on time, learned a lot of basic skills and made a cell phone purse) – so I was beaming & then the phone rang just as I was entering a khumbi. Despite the noise, we had a good conversation highlighted by hearing both Hatch and Lavinia speak. Then on Sunday, Mike happened to mention to Michelle and her mother that Monday was my 60th birthday, so they invited me up for tea, and created a make-shift “cake” out of marshmallows, candies and cookies. At the end of the visit, Michelle’s sister & family stopped by and she had made a delicious cake that wasn’t exactly meant for my birthday, but we all shared it. Later on that evening we had a clear and fun conversation with Ellen, Gram and Granddad. Everyone sounded so good, it warmed our hearts. We’re so looking forward to Ellen & Kevin’s upcoming visit. On Monday, Michelle came buy with a card and some lovely after-bath powder. Then Peter stopped by after lunch with a gift from Candace: a cookbook of healthy foods and a Swazi candle. During the tutoring time, all 36 kids came by to bring me their homemade cards and hugs. It was so sweet to see their bright proud faces as they handed me their creations. Then came the phone calls from Dana as well as from Steve, Frank and my mom followed by Helen. Wow – I was glowing. Tues. was a day of normal activity. Wed. I was invited to come to tea at Michelle’s parents’ farm, so that we could meet a mutual friend’s mother who was visiting. Actually it was a surprise party for me, complete with lots of goodies to eat and MORE gifts: delightfully bright colored boots and a floppy sunhat from Michelle, homemade jam and a book from Cherie (Michelle’s mom), earrings and a book from Linda (the friend). Then, at the Wednesday Fellowship night, Lizel had a little parcel for me – 2 different kinds of lotion. I go through so much of it with the dry weather, I always need more. Had another normal two days before the once-a-month Pasture Valley birthday party. I got to sit up front with 3 of the Pasture Valley kids who share March birthdays with me, as well as Peter. Of course the kids are the center of that party, but each of us had our own cake, and Michelle made sure I had a few things to open: a chocolate bar, lotion and bath spray. One tradition at the P.V. parties is that after everyone sings Happy Birthday, they then clap once for every year. There was lots of laughter as they really did clap and count to 60. On Sunday, Mike checked the P.O. box and returned with 3 cards from home: from Frank & Kathleen, Mary and Sally. Phone calls are great, but there’s nothing like a card or letter that I can reread over and over. Well, that’s the story of the endless celebration. Clearly one of my most memorable. Thanks to everyone near and far for reminding me of all my blessings. That’s all for now. Next blog entry will describe my sewing lesson experiences thus far – lots to tell, so it will have to wait for another day. Love and hugs from afar, Gail
I wanted to thank you all for the birthday wishes. It was the longest birthday celebration I’ve yet experienced. Here’s the wrap-up. First there was the phone call from Mary on March 10. I’d just finished up a great beginning sewing lesson with 12 members of one of the Bambanani groups. It went much better than anticipated (all showed up, and were on time, learned a lot of basic skills and made a cell phone purse) – so I was beaming & then the phone rang just as I was entering a khumbi. Despite the noise, we had a good conversation highlighted by hearing both Hatch and Lavinia speak. Then on Sunday, Mike happened to mention to Michelle and her mother that Monday was my 60th birthday, so they invited me up for tea, and created a make-shift “cake” out of marshmallows, candies and cookies. At the end of the visit, Michelle’s sister & family stopped by and she had made a delicious cake that wasn’t exactly meant for my birthday, but we all shared it. Later on that evening we had a clear and fun conversation with Ellen, Gram and Granddad. Everyone sounded so good, it warmed our hearts. We’re so looking forward to Ellen & Kevin’s upcoming visit. On Monday, Michelle came buy with a card and some lovely after-bath powder. Then Peter stopped by after lunch with a gift from Candace: a cookbook of healthy foods and a Swazi candle. During the tutoring time, all 36 kids came by to bring me their homemade cards and hugs. It was so sweet to see their bright proud faces as they handed me their creations. Then came the phone calls from Dana as well as from Steve, Frank and my mom followed by Helen. Wow – I was glowing. Tues. was a day of normal activity. Wed. I was invited to come to tea at Michelle’s parents’ farm, so that we could meet a mutual friend’s mother who was visiting. Actually it was a surprise party for me, complete with lots of goodies to eat and MORE gifts: delightfully bright colored boots and a floppy sunhat from Michelle, homemade jam and a book from Cherie (Michelle’s mom), earrings and a book from Linda (the friend). Then, at the Wednesday Fellowship night, Lizel had a little parcel for me – 2 different kinds of lotion. I go through so much of it with the dry weather, I always need more. Had another normal two days before the once-a-month Pasture Valley birthday party. I got to sit up front with 3 of the Pasture Valley kids who share March birthdays with me, as well as Peter. Of course the kids are the center of that party, but each of us had our own cake, and Michelle made sure I had a few things to open: a chocolate bar, lotion and bath spray. One tradition at the P.V. parties is that after everyone sings Happy Birthday, they then clap once for every year. There was lots of laughter as they really did clap and count to 60. On Sunday, Mike checked the P.O. box and returned with 3 cards from home: from Frank & Kathleen, Mary and Sally. Phone calls are great, but there’s nothing like a card or letter that I can reread over and over. Well, that’s the story of the endless celebration. Clearly one of my most memorable. Thanks to everyone near and far for reminding me of all my blessings. That’s all for now. Next blog entry will describe my sewing lesson experiences thus far – lots to tell, so it will have to wait for another day. Love and hugs from afar, Gail
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY POST
BLOG POST 14 FEB 2012
Happy Valentines Day from Swaziland !!
Yes we do celebrate Valentines Day here, though a bit muted from the observance in the USA---or the USA simply too much “over the top” as it seems to be with a lot of things ? Anyhow, we have prepared some Valentines and put them on the beds of each of the children, so that they will have a nice Valentine Day surprise when they return home from school.
Ah yes, school. Thankfully school did start on time on 24 January….and since this break was about two months, and we have 29 schooling children, we were as you can imagine quite happy to see school start up again….in spite of the odd rumours that schools would be delayed, no money to pay teachers, etc etc. Bottomline is the schools opened as planned, and we are grateful for that !
As it is now mid-summer in Swaziland, the maize craze has taken hold again. You might remember that maize—corn—is the staple of the Swazi diet..and frankly, prior to coming to Africa we wondered if we would be eating maize, and only maize, three meals daily. I am happy to report we have quite the nice well rounded diet---but it is maize time again. In Ohio we used to say”” knee high by the Fourth of July”’…but here it seems we plant at beginning of summer (November?) and by about early January the corn is six feet tall, and now everywhere you go you see eating—we would call it “corn on the cob”. Basically, it is maize (corn) roasted in the husk, usually over an open fire, and then eaten hot…not unusual to see hawkers selling hot corn on street corners, or to jump on a bus and find a LOT of people chewing on corn cobs. I keep having visions of what Columbus, Ohio would look like in July/August if lots and lots of people were walking, meeting, driving….while eating corn on the cob. No butter or salt used here, and instead of holding on to both ends of cob, the preferred method is to hold ONE end of cob, like a baton, and simply knaw on the corn…..YUM YUM !
BIG NEWS BIG NEWS---Ellen ( our daughter) and Kevin ( her husband) are coming to visit. Plans are for them to arrive in Africa 1 April and stay about 11 days, and we are really excited about the trip….it is a LOOOOOONG plane trip, 16 hours in a jet from Atlanta to Johannesburg, but well worth it. We can not wait to see them here, and show them a little bit of our world.
ELECTRICITY in SWAZILAND—PAY AS YOU GO
Here is an interesting concept. We buy our electricity on a ”top up/pay as you go “ basis….just like top up phones in the USA. Works like this…we have a meter-in our kitchen!!—that shows us exactly how much electricity we have left….at this writing we have about 50 kilowatt hours. We use about 2.3 kilowatt hours daily….so we have about enough electricity left for about 22 days. So sometime between now and 22 days from now, I need to buy more electricity…go to shop tell them I want to get, say 400 kilowatt hours, hand over the cash, and they give me a receipt with pin code…I come home, load the 400 kilowatt hours..and we are good to go for another few months. Of course this is a boon for electric company—no billing needed, no fighting with customers about bills, no turning off elect if a customer not paying, and they get all the money in advance of use…but I also like it because no messing with bills or paper, and once every six months or so, I go buy six months worth of elec and we are done. Side note—for us, one kilowatt hour is about 10 cents USD….so we spend about 23 cents daily on electricity….or about $ 7.00 per month. Not bad. And we do have fridge, elec stove, lights, etc etc.
Not too much else today. Hope all good in USA, and the winter remains mild as we have heard.
Cheers, and love to all. Mike and Gail
Happy Valentines Day from Swaziland !!
Yes we do celebrate Valentines Day here, though a bit muted from the observance in the USA---or the USA simply too much “over the top” as it seems to be with a lot of things ? Anyhow, we have prepared some Valentines and put them on the beds of each of the children, so that they will have a nice Valentine Day surprise when they return home from school.
Ah yes, school. Thankfully school did start on time on 24 January….and since this break was about two months, and we have 29 schooling children, we were as you can imagine quite happy to see school start up again….in spite of the odd rumours that schools would be delayed, no money to pay teachers, etc etc. Bottomline is the schools opened as planned, and we are grateful for that !
As it is now mid-summer in Swaziland, the maize craze has taken hold again. You might remember that maize—corn—is the staple of the Swazi diet..and frankly, prior to coming to Africa we wondered if we would be eating maize, and only maize, three meals daily. I am happy to report we have quite the nice well rounded diet---but it is maize time again. In Ohio we used to say”” knee high by the Fourth of July”’…but here it seems we plant at beginning of summer (November?) and by about early January the corn is six feet tall, and now everywhere you go you see eating—we would call it “corn on the cob”. Basically, it is maize (corn) roasted in the husk, usually over an open fire, and then eaten hot…not unusual to see hawkers selling hot corn on street corners, or to jump on a bus and find a LOT of people chewing on corn cobs. I keep having visions of what Columbus, Ohio would look like in July/August if lots and lots of people were walking, meeting, driving….while eating corn on the cob. No butter or salt used here, and instead of holding on to both ends of cob, the preferred method is to hold ONE end of cob, like a baton, and simply knaw on the corn…..YUM YUM !
BIG NEWS BIG NEWS---Ellen ( our daughter) and Kevin ( her husband) are coming to visit. Plans are for them to arrive in Africa 1 April and stay about 11 days, and we are really excited about the trip….it is a LOOOOOONG plane trip, 16 hours in a jet from Atlanta to Johannesburg, but well worth it. We can not wait to see them here, and show them a little bit of our world.
ELECTRICITY in SWAZILAND—PAY AS YOU GO
Here is an interesting concept. We buy our electricity on a ”top up/pay as you go “ basis….just like top up phones in the USA. Works like this…we have a meter-in our kitchen!!—that shows us exactly how much electricity we have left….at this writing we have about 50 kilowatt hours. We use about 2.3 kilowatt hours daily….so we have about enough electricity left for about 22 days. So sometime between now and 22 days from now, I need to buy more electricity…go to shop tell them I want to get, say 400 kilowatt hours, hand over the cash, and they give me a receipt with pin code…I come home, load the 400 kilowatt hours..and we are good to go for another few months. Of course this is a boon for electric company—no billing needed, no fighting with customers about bills, no turning off elect if a customer not paying, and they get all the money in advance of use…but I also like it because no messing with bills or paper, and once every six months or so, I go buy six months worth of elec and we are done. Side note—for us, one kilowatt hour is about 10 cents USD….so we spend about 23 cents daily on electricity….or about $ 7.00 per month. Not bad. And we do have fridge, elec stove, lights, etc etc.
Not too much else today. Hope all good in USA, and the winter remains mild as we have heard.
Cheers, and love to all. Mike and Gail
Sunday, January 8, 2012
HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
Happy New Year everyone. Our New Year’s Eve celebrating was pretty quiet. Mike was in Johannesburg seeing our kids off on their return flight to the US, and I stayed here. We had quite a thunderstorm that evening, so even the scheduled fireworks were cancelled. Actually, since Mike & I rarely celebrate New Year’s, it seemed pretty normal. Swazi’s generally celebrate in the usual ways – lots of food and alcohol for those who drink. I saw a lot of fireworks being purchased, and heard quite a few going off. Alcohol consumption for most of the population is very limited; but those who do drink, often drink to excess. There’s a lot of drunk driving during the holidays, so I was glad we weren’t on the roads in the evening.
The children have been off school since Nov. 22. I have taken some of the free time to sort/catalogue books as seen in photo. School was scheduled to end Dec. 2, but the schools closed early – probably due to budget. They won’t go back til Jan. 24. So, even though that’s like our summer break in the US, this break has seemed quite long for us. We have scheduled activities every day, but it’s clear the kids need more structure. Last week we started the process of school prep. – that means having each child try on his uniform so we can inspect it and see if it fits, needs repair, etc. Each boy must have proper khaki shirt and pants, black oxford shoes and socks, and a knit track suit (jacket and pants) for cold days. Each girl must have a dress, black oxford shoes & socks and track suit. Then, once we determined who needs what, it meant trips to town for each group of 8 kids to be measured and order uniforms, purchase shoes & socks, etc. Quite an ordeal, and quite an expense. It’s no wonder more and more children are not attending school, either because the parents can’t afford the school fees or uniform. With an unemployment rate of around 40%, and an avg. wage of less than $2.00 US per day, I’m actually surprised as many children attend as do. Then, if one can afford the school fees, it’s another ordeal to pay them. The schools won’t accept a check; instead one must go to the bank and withdraw money from your account and then physically pay with cash to the bank established for that particular school. You can imagine the lines.
The kids do get proper report cards. Actually they are very detailed – with a percentage and letter grade for each of about 7 subject areas from English, SiSwati, Math, Social studies, science, religious ed. etc. Then they are ranked within their class (usually between 50 – 60 pupils) and within their grade. Even the first graders are ranked. We had several of our students do quite well and receive a high ranking. Others are near the bottom. Many start out behind, because there is no formal kindergarten, and there are few preschools in the rural areas. Quite a few of our kids arrive having never been to school, despite being of school-age. So, they start in my preschool until the next term starts and then begin in grade 1. This year, we’ll have a 6 yr, a 9 yr. and a 10 yr. old start grade 1. Thankfully, there will be others like them, so the stigma won’t be too bad. Our 4 new girls are adjusting quite well and seem happy to be here where it is safe, and there’s lots of food and love. More importantly, all the kids here have a difficult past, so the new ones don’t feel isolated.
Looks like sewing lessons are on the horizon for me for the first quarter of this year in several areas. Our housemothers want to learn to sew, so I’ve begun lessons with them on Saturdays. It’s such a joy to teach adults something they want to learn. We had 3 machines (hand crank) donated to us, so they are getting additional use now. (I taught the 3 oldest girls last year & they’ve continued to sew various things) Most importantly, with these skills, the housemothers can do better repairs on the kids’ clothing – from patching holes in knees, to replacing zippers to altering sizes for hand-me-downs. They also want to learn to make a housecoat to wear over their clothing when they work around the children’s home. Later we’ll learn to make some personal clothing.
Our Bambanani groups had an extremely successful year, thanks to all the support from so many of you in purchasing our products. Thankfully, the members are forward thinking in how they wish to utilize the additional funds that were generated. Both groups want to invest in the future and learn sewing skills. Those lessons are more than I have time for, but we’ll be meeting with the regional head of an organization called Women In Development who do teach sewing, amongst other things. I’m looking forward to hearing what their program is all about, and how they can help us. It turns out quite a few ladies have sewing machines. Unfortunately, most are in disrepair. So, the first thing will be to find a repairman to assess the machines. I looked at several, and all desperately needed oil, as well as repairs that were beyond my capabilities. Yet, I can think of no better way to utilize our additional funds than to get these machines up and running, and then improving skills. Looks like these programs will keep me busy when I’m not teaching preschool and tutoring. Actually it does provide a nice balance to my active life here. Thankfully, Mike helps with the business side of Bambanani, so together, we’re making it work for us. Most other volunteers can’t believe how busy we both are, yet we couldn’t be happier. Hope you have had a good start to 2012. Bye for now. Gail
The children have been off school since Nov. 22. I have taken some of the free time to sort/catalogue books as seen in photo. School was scheduled to end Dec. 2, but the schools closed early – probably due to budget. They won’t go back til Jan. 24. So, even though that’s like our summer break in the US, this break has seemed quite long for us. We have scheduled activities every day, but it’s clear the kids need more structure. Last week we started the process of school prep. – that means having each child try on his uniform so we can inspect it and see if it fits, needs repair, etc. Each boy must have proper khaki shirt and pants, black oxford shoes and socks, and a knit track suit (jacket and pants) for cold days. Each girl must have a dress, black oxford shoes & socks and track suit. Then, once we determined who needs what, it meant trips to town for each group of 8 kids to be measured and order uniforms, purchase shoes & socks, etc. Quite an ordeal, and quite an expense. It’s no wonder more and more children are not attending school, either because the parents can’t afford the school fees or uniform. With an unemployment rate of around 40%, and an avg. wage of less than $2.00 US per day, I’m actually surprised as many children attend as do. Then, if one can afford the school fees, it’s another ordeal to pay them. The schools won’t accept a check; instead one must go to the bank and withdraw money from your account and then physically pay with cash to the bank established for that particular school. You can imagine the lines.
The kids do get proper report cards. Actually they are very detailed – with a percentage and letter grade for each of about 7 subject areas from English, SiSwati, Math, Social studies, science, religious ed. etc. Then they are ranked within their class (usually between 50 – 60 pupils) and within their grade. Even the first graders are ranked. We had several of our students do quite well and receive a high ranking. Others are near the bottom. Many start out behind, because there is no formal kindergarten, and there are few preschools in the rural areas. Quite a few of our kids arrive having never been to school, despite being of school-age. So, they start in my preschool until the next term starts and then begin in grade 1. This year, we’ll have a 6 yr, a 9 yr. and a 10 yr. old start grade 1. Thankfully, there will be others like them, so the stigma won’t be too bad. Our 4 new girls are adjusting quite well and seem happy to be here where it is safe, and there’s lots of food and love. More importantly, all the kids here have a difficult past, so the new ones don’t feel isolated.
Looks like sewing lessons are on the horizon for me for the first quarter of this year in several areas. Our housemothers want to learn to sew, so I’ve begun lessons with them on Saturdays. It’s such a joy to teach adults something they want to learn. We had 3 machines (hand crank) donated to us, so they are getting additional use now. (I taught the 3 oldest girls last year & they’ve continued to sew various things) Most importantly, with these skills, the housemothers can do better repairs on the kids’ clothing – from patching holes in knees, to replacing zippers to altering sizes for hand-me-downs. They also want to learn to make a housecoat to wear over their clothing when they work around the children’s home. Later we’ll learn to make some personal clothing.
Our Bambanani groups had an extremely successful year, thanks to all the support from so many of you in purchasing our products. Thankfully, the members are forward thinking in how they wish to utilize the additional funds that were generated. Both groups want to invest in the future and learn sewing skills. Those lessons are more than I have time for, but we’ll be meeting with the regional head of an organization called Women In Development who do teach sewing, amongst other things. I’m looking forward to hearing what their program is all about, and how they can help us. It turns out quite a few ladies have sewing machines. Unfortunately, most are in disrepair. So, the first thing will be to find a repairman to assess the machines. I looked at several, and all desperately needed oil, as well as repairs that were beyond my capabilities. Yet, I can think of no better way to utilize our additional funds than to get these machines up and running, and then improving skills. Looks like these programs will keep me busy when I’m not teaching preschool and tutoring. Actually it does provide a nice balance to my active life here. Thankfully, Mike helps with the business side of Bambanani, so together, we’re making it work for us. Most other volunteers can’t believe how busy we both are, yet we couldn’t be happier. Hope you have had a good start to 2012. Bye for now. Gail
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