swaziland, June 19, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,
June 19, 2009
Gary and I had a little road trip on Saturday, June 13th while Chris was in Jo’burg picking up the Nashville work team. We drove out into the country and took a loop trip that lasted about 6 hours. We had lunch at a great little outdoor café and then continued on the road through farmlands and beautiful scenery. We stopped at a couple of craft places, just to get an idea of prices. As we traveled on further west we came upon a beautiful valley with homesteads all about scattered on the hills. A gorgeous river was running through it. We loved the feel of the area and will go back again. The road then followed up into the hills where we drove through a huge logging town and then into the forested area where they do commercial logging. Then back down the mountain into the capital city of Mbabane. A great day to see some of the area and to relax together.

Saturday night the Nashville group arrived and the church members at St Paul’s Methodist had a welcoming dinner for them. The next day we all went up to Lomngeletjane School for church and a traditional lunch. During church there was much dancing and singing and I think the women of Lomngeletjane were really in a thankful and praising mood. The afternoon was spent visiting some homesteads around the church and the group divided up into smaller groups to visit, talk to the people, and to share with them the gifts of food we had bought for them. The groups were very moved by the poverty of the people and also their graciousness for allowing them into their humble homes.

One of the group members came back and told Chris that there was a family they visited with twins. One of the twins, Tiphelele, was very ill and Chris decided to go back to the homestead and see if the child was ill enough to go to the hospital. The mom brought both of the twins with her when she came to work with the New Orleans group. We had noticed at that time one seemed much smaller than her twin and slept the entire time. Chris decided to take the mother, Bongiwe, and baby, Tiphelele to the hospital. She was admitted immediately and put on oxygen. After some preliminary tests, the doctor said the baby had pneumonia and the infection had spread throughout her body. She also was malnourished. Chris stayed there to give the mom support and see if she needed any money and left late in the evening. The next day Chris went a couple of times to the hospital, each time bringing the mom food and the baby formula and nappies (diapers). She was such a caring support person for this sweet Swazi woman with a huge smile. She gave up most of her time on Monday and Tuesday to help this family out. I was so touched by her dedication to the baby and also to her mom. She had to go to an outside pharmacy to get a more potent antibiotic and had to go to three of them before she found one who had it. On Tuesday, the head pastor, Kanana, was going with Chris to visit and I asked if I could come along. It was an amazing experience. The hospital ward that the babies are in is one large room with many cribs spread around it, with a small area for the family to sit next to each crib. There was also a long table with several babies on it—I am assuming this is because they were out of cribs. There are a couple of low room dividers but everyone can see everyone else in the room. I counted at least 50 babies in that room and there were more in some hallways outside. The room is very old and the cribs are the old, metal kind with paint peeling off of them. Each mom has to supply food and drink for the baby as well anything else the child might need. The room was filled to capacity and I could hardly believe my eyes when we walked in. I was so moved by the sight of these sick children. Most were on IV’s that they put in their heads because their veins are so small. We stood and talked with the mom and then Chris asked to hold the baby. She snuggled with her and the baby seemed to just love it. We think the mom is very afraid to hold the baby and hasn’t done so since they came in. She thinks that she might hurt her or do something with the oxygen, so Chris held her to show her how. The mom did finally hold her for a bit but put her down almost immediately. I am sure this sweet baby needs to be held and cuddled. She needs not only nourishment for her body but love from her mom. The language barrier is hard but she can speak some English. We all said a prayer around the crib and then we left to go shopping for some more baby food and formula. My heart was so full by the time we left. As of when I am writing this (Friday) she is still in the hospital.

On Monday, when Jeri was driving to go to pick up some more local volunteers, she was rear ended at a right-hand turn (remember this is a “drive on the left-hand side” country) The driver did not see my signal and just slammed into the back of the tin can we have been driving. It caved in the back but I am ok—sore and have a bit of a headache. The accident happened right in front of the police sub-station—isn’t that convenient. This was quite an experience! I felt like I was the only non-Swazi for miles around. I was able to communicate and could tell the police what had happened. The other driver had no insurance (of course!) I finally got hold of Chris (Gary was up at the school about 15 km away) and she got there as soon as she could get away from the hospital with Bongiwe. We actually had some luck with all the procedures—getting a police report (only took three tries to get it!); getting two estimates from the “panel beaters” (yes, that’s right—that is what they call body shops here!) We thought this was country with no one to fix wrecked cars until we asked a local and they said to look under Panel Beaters in the Yellow Pages. We will probably have to rent a car while they fix our car because we use it so much to transport people and supplies. The estimates were a little over 15,000 Emalangeni (Swazi money), which is about $1,800 US. We’re sure they would have totaled the car in the states with repair costs what they are.

The Nashville team is made up mostly of youth (15 of them) and they are doing a phenomenal amount of work. They work so hard each day and there are still 2 more full days left of their week. Then we head to Kruger National park for more big animal viewing and then on to Johannesburg for three days. We will be working at a preschool, painting and then on to Soweto and the Apartheid Museum. We will write more on the weekend of June 27th. Hope all is well with each of you.

Well, it’s Friday and we still haven’t published this blog yet! Must do it quickly—we are up late tonight and have to leave very early in the morning for Kruger.

Love to all,
Jeri and Gary

This is the orchard and the owner, Lucky, where we have been getting good advice and some trees for the school

Some of the local women taking a rest at the construction site

A wood carver

Some of the beautiful batiks

The beautiful river on our drive on Saturday

Our dented car

Some of the women and children after church

Dancing in church

A local family, Zitelie, Maggie and her grandson

A typical homestead

Bongwie and her sweet baby, Tiphelele

Tiphelele, on her first day in the hospital

Swaziland, June 12, 2009

Decided to add this one after the fact--food we brought for the Gogo

Dear Friends and Family, June 12, 2009

This has been such a week of contrasts. Sunday, June 7, we participated in the World Hunger Day, a 5K walk. A beautiful, cool day filled with the sounds of the Swazi’s singing and chanting for a world without hunger. We were given orange tee shirts and it was a sea of orange as we walked up and down the streets of Manzini. It was a day filled with hope and challenges to the governments to stamp out hunger around the world. There were school children, marching bands, the Boy Scouts of Swaziland and hundreds of young and old people alike walking. We felt very much a part of the group, even if we were a small group of whites amongst the 2000 or more blacks. After the walk, a friend from the church who is the Deputy Mayor of Manzini was able to get us into the VIP tent to listen to the speeches. We sat right behind the several princes that were representing the King of Swaziland and we all thought that was pretty cool. We were told later that we were on the local TV that night!

In contrast, on Thursday, we went out to the homestead of a deaf and almost blind Gogo (grandmother) who lives with some of her family far out in the country. She lives in a round, mud hut with a thatched roof and dirt floor. They had built a fire inside of a tire wheel (without the tire) and the room was incredibly smoky. The only piece of furniture in this home was her cot—they had brought some rickety chairs and benches in for us to sit on. We were a small group, two local Manyano (Methodist outreach) women, Chris, Gary and I. Chris had said the Gogo was in her late nineties, but the Gogo told us “I am thousands and thousands of years old”. We brought her a warm blanket and some food, including oranges, maize, beans, tea and candles. She had been sick all week but she said because we had come so far to see her she wanted to meet us. We all felt we were in the presence of incredible woman, a woman of spirit and deep understanding. There was much laughter and talking among the Manyanos and this Gogo. Some of it was translated to us. She paraphrased a verse from the Bible to us—I was hungry and you fed me, I was cold, and you brought me a blanket, I was thirsty and you brought me oranges to quench my thirst, I was sick and you came to visit me-- we were extremely touched. As we left she shook each of our hands and said in a loud voice:”Many Thanks!” We only stayed a little bit and we are not sure we will ever see her again but she moved each of us and the conversation in the car on the way home was all about the meaning of being in mission—it is to go out and feed the hungry, clothe the unclothed, and visit the lonely and sick.

Another contrast this week was a visit on Monday to start the annual assessment visit to the 34 Methodist Schools in Swaziland. We were only able to visit two that day but what a contrast they were. At the first one we visited we were greeted warmly with a big hug by the Head Teacher (principal) whose name was Loveness! This was a school with children laughing, gardens and many plans for improving the school. We were taken into a classroom filled with 72, 7th graders who were perfectly behaved and we were astounded—in the US this probably would not be so. The second school we visited had a much more somber feel and the children didn’t seem nearly as free. This Head Teacher was quiet and suspicious—which I think this demeanor probably spread out to the children. She had more at her school—bigger gardens, more children, but she also had a computer lab that was unused and buildings that weren’t properly being used. She also seemed to question the reason for everything that Chris asked her. We have 30 more schools to visit before August when the reports are due. The reason for the assessment visits is to assess needs, find out how many OVC’s (orphaned and vulnerable children) there are and what medical needs there might be.

One really cute thing happened the other day when we were up at Lomngeletjane School working on cleaning out some of the storerooms. Jeri went into the preschool class to see how the teacher liked the cabinet—remember last week’s pictures? Well, the children (all under the age of 5) about 20 of them, were sitting quietly at their tables not making a sound. The teacher was nowhere to be seen. Jeri walked in, greeted them and with hand motions, asked where their teacher was (she used her hands to show a tall person and patted herself on the head). Well, this started off the funniest moment—they began singing in English and SiSwati the parts of the body; the head, eyes, nose, tongue all the way down to the feet. All of them participating and all of them with the correct hand movements. Jeri was laughing and tried to keep up with them but they had to go all the way to their feet. There was no stopping them!
The Nashville work team comes tomorrow. We will work all next week and then off to Kruger again, and maybe Jo’burg, so there probably won’t be another blog for a while. Please be in touch when you can and let us know how you are all doing. We LOVE hearing from you.
Blessings,
Gary & Jeri

This is the Hunger Walk we went on....

Swaziland Boy Scouts in Hunger Walk

Crowds of people on Hunger Walk

Loveness, Chris and deputy head teacher (like a vice principal)

72-7th graders in one room! (and one teacher)

The 6th graders garden-isn't it beautiful?

These students ran back in the class room, giggling the whole way

The Gogo's mud hut--her great granddaughter in yard

The rest of the homestead

The little great-granddaughter--don't think she has seen many white people

Through the smoke--2 Manyanos, Gogo, and Chris (see the new blanket?)

This is the sweet Gogo--through the smoke!

Swaziland-June 7, 2009 blog

Sanibonani! (Hello, to a group) June 7, 2009
We were going to write about Kruger this week but think we might be going again with another work team (from Nashville) so will save that report for another time. That way we can get all of our pictures organized and tell the whole story then.

We hope you are all well—we think of our friends and family often and hope you are also remembering us. This blog is one way we find that we can feel in connection with all of you. We love the comments some of you have made and if you can’t figure out how to leave comments, you can just email us at: zeldach@yahoo.com--either way works.

The week started out a little bit slow—we had a day off and were able to catch up on some financial stuff and housekeeping matters. We attended another church in the area but this time it was all in English and that was wonderful! The warmth and welcoming of us from the congregation made us feel very much at home. The church is called The International Church and is a more pentecostal church than we are used to but that was OK. There was a band and lots of singing.

Chris returned from taking the Louisiana team to the airport and on Tuesday we went up to the school at Lomngeletjane to talk to the builder John to make sure they were digging the septic tank the correct depth and to do some work around the yard and buildings. Chris is very worried about the fire danger around the school. There is a huge field of dead bushes and grasses just below the school that she hopes one day to build some more school buildings on. Right now there are some guava trees in amongst the weeds and some small pine trees are planted around the perimeter to block the wind. All need water, so we spent the afternoon walking through the tall grass finding the baby trees and marking them. Her hope is to get some of the children who can’t afford the school fees to water the trees in exchange for those fees. She is hoping that the next team that is coming will rent weedwackers and cut down the tall grasses. It is a huge fire danger and she is becoming more worried as each warm day passes and the winds on the hill at the school continue to blow.

On Thursday Jeri joined Chris and some of the Manyano (Methodist women who volunteer to go out into the community and help) go up to one of the Methodist schools where they help some of the children with HIV. They pay for the transport of these children to go to the clinic to get their free ARV’s (medicine to prevent getting full blown AIDS). They need to check on this periodically to make sure the money is actually being used and to touch base with children and see how they are doing. Much of the conversation was is SiSwati but she got the gist of it. Mainly we just sat and watched with a full heart, these sweet young children come in to talk with the Manyanos. Most of these children who came in looked fairly healthy. One little girl was very ill and has had ear infections for so long she can no longer hear. Jeri was very affected by this little one. The girl could hardly stand and had to keep squatting down. When she came in she greeted Chris with a handshake and then Jeri reached out her hand and the little girl responded back. It was decided to send her to the clinic right away as she is not getting any better.

After this, the Manyanos had a private meeting with one of the mother from the school and Chris felt they could talk more openly if we waited outside. More picture time for us with all the children gathering around looking at us curiously. Whenever we bring a camera out they stand still and smile—we can’t ever get them in a moment of spontaneity. They know what a camera is and think they must pose and of course, want to see themselves in the display.

Jeri wanted to share a little bit about the mom who met with the Manyanos. Some of you might remember a young boy, Mthokoziso, we have talked about who was taking care of his three sisters way out in the country. His parents had both abandoned them and they were all alone. Eventually Chris did find out the father was living close by and coming once in a while to visit the children. Not until recently did they find out the mother was also living in the area. These children had no food, no water, and their ‘home’ was a mud hut. During the rains this hut collapsed and the children were living under a tarp. Chris had been helping them for several months and the neighbors were angry that these children were getting food so they began stealing from the children and also putting up fences and gates to block their way from the road to where they lived. Chris finally had to step back, because she felt her presence was making the community angrier. Chris also found out the father was coming and taking some of the few items of food she had given to the children. He also took the tarp the children were using as a shelter from the rain and cold. Isn’t this about the saddest thing you have ever heard? There is a community health worker who has also been helping and she was able to find the mother and bring her in to the school to find out what happened and why she abandoned her children. It seems this was a very abusive relationship and the father was constantly bringing out the machete and large knife and threatening her life. She felt she had no other alternative but to leave. She is living on her parents homestead. She would really like to be back with the children but is too afraid of the husband. The hope is that she can bring the children to live with her and her parents. Of course, in the US we would sweep in, put the children in foster homes and maybe prosecute the parents for abandonment. Things are done very slowly and differently here in Swaziland. There is a chief of the village who actually has a say in what happens to the families in his chiefdom. There is a lot of talk that has to go on before action is taken.

Jeri never saw the three sisters but after the visit to the primary school they went up to the high school where this young boy is attending. When we first heard this story we thought he was nine years old and caring for his sisters, but later found out he is 14. He came out and Jeri fell in love with him almost immediately. A shy, slight young boy with the most engaging smile. He greeted each of the women very warmly and one of the women, who is quite large, gathered him into her wide arms and just loved on him for a bit. That is what Chris calls it when the Manyano women go out into the community—they ‘love on’ the children.
The Swazi greeting is very warm and such a sign of respect. They reach out their hand, with the other hand holding their elbow—then they do what we in the US would almost call a secret handshake—they shake, then grab the thumb, squeeze and then shake hand again. This feels like they are welcoming us into their lives. We love it and will show you all when we get back. The women talked to Mthokoziso, for a bit and decided to come back next week to talk to his teachers and see how he is doing in school. He is one of the children being sponsored in school by the Methodist Church.

On the way back, Jeri almost started a riot of the fruit and vegetables sellers. We were waiting (which is what we do a lot here) for someone and she saw a unique setting and a Kodak moment, snapped a picture, the flash went off, and the women began screaming at the car and picking up fruit as if to let it sail through the air to the car. Eventually they screamed themselves out and calm reigned again. The car was so far away that Jeri thought they wouldn’t care—but she was wrong! Chris said some people hate to have tourists take their picture and some tourists made promises they never kept, so there is a bad feeling about picture taking.

This is becoming a very long blog but we just had to tell you about an event that happened on Friday, June 5. We went up to the school to do some work and build a cabinet for the preschool. We had seen the children as school ended, cleaning the yard, washing the sidewalks, and some were burning some trash, with an older teacher’s supervision. We were up the hill at the preschool, just finishing up and Chris said that there seemed to be a lot more smoke from the trash fire and maybe we should go down and check it out. When we came over the rise of the hill, all of Chris’s worst fears were realized--the field in front of the school was all ablaze! Flames were shooting up and the grasses were bursting into flames. Very fast moving and VERY scary. There was the older man teacher, and two young boys using brush to beat the fire out and they were not succeeding. We immediately ran to the workers who were still digging the septic hole and they came running down the hill. One young man grabbed a hose attached to the water tank and ran into the fire putting out the most fearsome flames that were heading toward the neighbors field and home. We grabbed whatever we could—liter coke bottles, small bucket (with hole in it) and began running along the perimeter to put out the fires coming near to the school. The workers were using the brush to beat it all down. Finally after what seemed like hours (but was only about 20 minute), the flames were put out. We feel like we should have been listening closer to Damon, our firefighter son, when he has talked about fires and their behavior. We were all just running around trying to figure out what to do with little water readily available and it felt hopeless. It was actually the beating of the fire down that seemed to work best. A coke bottle really doesn’t work!

After we had made sure it was out, we were leaving and the young man (Wandile), who had used the hose and had run into the fire several times was sitting on the porch looking very ill. He said he could hardly breathe and it was very painful. We realized we needed to get him to the hospital so we brought the car down and we raced down the bumpy dirt roads to the nearest hospital. This was a very different experience—suffice it to say lines were long, there was much moving from room to room, but people were very patient and quiet, just waiting their turn. It is a huge hospital and the one the children come to for their free ARV medication for AIDS. The young man, Wandile got a shot and some medication and two hours later we were out and ready to take him back up the hill (about 15-20 kilometers) to his home. He looked much better by then and was even talking. Gary took him home and Chris and I went off to do some errands. He asked Gary in the car on the way home “how do I become successful?” This turned into a whole discussion of where we live and now he wants to come to CA and work for a contractor! Chris said this is unusual for a young person to be concerned about making a success of their live here in Swaziland. She did say it is not unusual for a young person to want to come to the US. There is so little opportunity and the schools don’t really promote this. She knows of a contractor here in town and she is going to tell him about this young man who so desires to be successful and hopefully we can make a difference in his life. He is in his twenties and could actually go back to school if he wanted and had the funds. He did complete high school so that is a real plus.

Well this is probably enough for this blog. We hope you all enjoy sharing in our adventures in Swaziland!

Blessings to all,
Gary & Jeri

PS Jeri just had to include in the pictures, the sweet young woman, Adelaide (Jr) who is the granddaughter of Adelaide (the grandmother we share a place with) and her daughter--Novello



The school Jeri visited with the Manyano women where they met with the mother of Mthokoziso, the young boy living alone

The Manyano women and Chris (the missionary we work with)and the mother (left) of Mthokoziso

Mthokoziso

Sorry--duplicate

Preschoolers watching us make the cabinet

Preschool teacher with Gary and new cabinet

Adelaide (Jr) and Novelo (6 months)

Preschool children gathered around watching the cabinet making

Preschoolers singing their good-bye song with Gary

Fire got close to the new latrines

Burned area looking towards the neighbors home

(see Chris's blog for more action shots: chrisinswaziland.blogspot.com)