Swaziland Facts:
- A man will pay 15 cows for a good bride.
- Swaziland has the highest AIDS/HIV population in the world.
- If the AIDS/HIV epidemic continues by 2050 Swaziland will not have any inhabitants.
My heart is very happy here in Swaziland. We are living in the countryside and there is a cool breeze blowing most of the day. The sunshine is warm and the afternoons can be quite hot but fall weather is in the air. The night sky is beautiful. After months of being in the city I love looking at the stars at night and watching the sunset over the mountains. I get a good look at the night sky whenever I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because we have an outhouse. We take bucket showers and wash our clothes by hand. We walk a lot, which I also love. I walk a lot at home and have missed physical activity.
This month my ministry changes daily. I am splitting my month between two teams and each team is split into groups of 2-4 to go to different ministry sites through the Adventures in Missions Manzini base. Last week I spent time at a hospice home and visiting children in the hospital. This week I have worked with preschool children and helped do administration work in the office. I love the variety that each day offers and the opportunity to get to know my squad mates better.
Saturday was one of my favorite days of the race. I wrote about my morning in my journal and thought I would share this entry with you to give you an idea of what my African life is like.
Right now I am laying in Meagan’s hammock in a little grove of trees at the top of the hill. To my left is a small brown cow grazing, to my right is a 3 year old girl wearing pink pants and a pink shirt sitting on a rock, and above me in the trees are her two older sisters. In front of me is the view of the countryside: houses, dirt roads, small mountains, cows and the noise of the traffic from the main highway. I also hear the rustle of leaves from the breeze, the birds, goats in the distance, dogs barking in the distance and voices of children playing carries throughout the valley.
The sun is hot but in the shade it is lovely!!! The sky is bright blue and there are clouds dotting the horizon. Every now and then I can hear the cow’s bell ringing as she walks around the area. The two older girls have left the trees and ran home. They left the 3 year old with me. Now they are walking up with a baby and another toddler-a little boy. They have settled in next to my hammock sitting on the rocks beside me. I have the baby in my lap. She is content rocking with me, and I love every minute of holding her.
The baby has now started to squirm so I give her back to her sisters. They are teaching me Siswati (the local language) and the little boy is singing. They are very content with me and I with them. They are now telling me their names and about their family. (My little friends’ names: Siphilile, Philasande, Sinakekelo, Nothando, and Xolani.) They all have different last names and live with their mothers, aunties, fathers and grandparents. I don’t exactly understand their family dynamics, but do know that polygamy is part of the culture. Their three older brothers just walked by on the dirt road. I ask the girls where their brothers are going, but they do not know. It feels like an Illinois July day and I am so happy to be here.
The kids are off to lunch. I can finally take a nap in my hammock. Not even five minutes later I hear the children. I open my eyes to see them running towards me. “We told our mom that you are here and she said you shouldn’t be here because of the snakes! You must go!” Before I can do anything, they are climbing the trees to take my hammock down. My sweet morning is over. Time to go back home because I do not want to meet any African snakes!
It is hard to believe that only two and half months are left of this journey. Thank you for all the encouraging blog comments after my last post in Cambodia. My cold ended up being typhoid fever, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been, because I did have the vaccine. It explains why I wasn’t feeling myself for the last few weeks of Cambodia!
Thank you for all your prayers, support and encouragement. As always I am so thankful for you and this opportunity! Live your days well!
“How we live our days is how we live our lives.” – Anne Dillard
