Month 7.
Manzini, Swaziland.
1 house. 2 teams. 16 girls. 32 packs.
3 rooms. 1 bucket shower. 2 outhouses. 1 water tank.
4 piglets. 5 dogs. 8 goats. 15 cows. countless chickens.
1 AIM Care Point. 3 outbranching ministries. 4 city carepoint schools.
My month's ministries:
1) Teaching at Murray Camp Care Point.
1 small classroom. 1 dirt floor. 4 yellow walls.
25 adorable 4 & 5 years old.
25 broken pencil stubs.
25 torn notebooks.
25 cracked chairs.
25 smiling faces I got to see everyday.
2) Visiting patients at Hope House
20 homes.
20 patients.
20 caretakers.
20 hospital beds.
20 more smiling faces I got to see everyday.
A Day in My Swazi Life:
6:30am
Wake up from my sleeping pad slumber and spend time with Jesus over a bowl of cereal & yogurt.
8:00am
A stroll up our rocky driveway to wait for a Kombi (local Swazi transportation) to take us to town.
8:15-8:40am
Kombi party, usually consisting of awkward closeness & Celine Dion
8:40am
Picked up by our very own Kombi driver, Patrick, who drove us from town to our Carepoints. This ride mostly consisted of readings from the daily Swazi Post.
9:00am
Care Point arrival!
9:02am
Met with these smiling faces as the room filled with "Teacher Meghan! Teacher Meghan!"
9:02-9:30am
Arms crossed. Mouths closed. It's story time. Complete with motions, question time and of course…dancing.
9:30-10:45am
Pencils, notebooks, decks. Writing time. From ABC's to numbers to names, these little 5 year olds learned it all.
10:45am
Eyes closed. Hands together. It's time to thank Jesus.
[my favorite moment everyday]
10:45-11:30am
LUNCH AND RECESS! HOORAY!
11:30-12:00am
Review. Review. Review.
And said bye to the kiddies for the day.
12:00-2:00pm
My lunch break which usually consisted of a specially made PB&J, chips, and a red apple.
A teacher's lunch for sure.
2:00-3:15pm
HOPE HOUSE!
Daily visits with Miss Florence.
And Mr. Wilson.
3:15-3:30pm
Bus rink to try to catch us a Kombi home!
3:30-4:00pm
Sights that rolled by my window.
4:00pm
What seemed like the LONGEST walk home.
4:05pm
HOME!
4:05-5:00pm
Filled tubs with water, turned on the iPod and began laundry…by hand.
Oh the joys of simple living!
5:00-6:30pm
Dinner prep for 16 girls!
6:30pm
Dinner, normally consisting of cheeseburgers, pasta or salad and took place on the floor in our "living room".
And the rest of the night consisted of bucket showers, team time, trips to the outhouse and several episodes of "Friends" before I woke up and did it all again.
I'd say it was a pretty wonderful month.
Yep, just wonderful.
