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 25^th. We were grateful to be able to call Columbus around 7PM ( Africa time) Tuesday, to wish Grandad Messick well on his 85^th 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 !

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