C-H's travel stories: Swaziland, July 12, 2009

This is a typical scene--a huge new soccer stadium for the World Cup 2010 and the shanty town right next to it. Where are there priorities?

Dear friends and family, July 12, 2009

Our hope is that you have all had a good week. It has warmed up a bit today and feels more like Spring in California than winter. Jeri mentioned how warm it was to a Swazi woman and she said she was still not feeling the warmth—guess our bodies all have a different way of feeling the weather. We’ve noticed that here in Africa, even on the mildest day, many people dress in heavy coats and warm hats—guess they have never lived through a Minnesota winter!

We are sorry we have gotten so far behind on our blog. There is so much to tell, we will have to separate it into two blogs.

First of all, we want to report that Tiphelele, the twin who was in the hospital is so much better. Thank you to all of you who have asked about her. I know our prayers have helped heal her. She was in the hospital for about 10 days. They told Chris that if she had not brought her in when she did that she probably would have died. She is now home and we saw her and her mom and the rest of the family at the community well on Wednesday. I have included several pictures of her and her family, plus some of the GOGO’s who have also cared for her.

We wanted to continue telling you about our time in Johannesburg. Our first visit on that Wednesday morning (June 24) was to the area of a huge student uprising in June of 1976. School authorities had decided that Afrikaners was the only language to be spoken in the schools. The Afrikaners were the white people in power—the minority ruling over the majority blacks. This decision caused much unrest and the students began a peaceful protest. It is still not clear why the police decided to notch it up a bit but they began to shoot indiscriminately. The students were chased through town and many police began shooting from a hilltop above the school where they were hiding—killing many. The students then ran to the Regina Mundi church for refuge, but then police stormed the church, firing live ammunition. Although no one was killed, many were injured and the church's sacred symbols were damaged. The broken marble altar (see picture below), the bullet holes in the ceilings and the damaged figure of Christ all bear testimony to the terrible lack of restraint shown by police that day. We were shocked to hear that the police had come into a place of sanctuary and refuge to do so much harm.

After visiting the church we continued to the Hector Pietersen museum. Hector was the first child (he was only 12) killed in the massacre and his picture was broadcast around the world. Over 800 people, mostly students were killed in the violence. We were all touched by the student’s stories and pictures at the museum. It was such a tragedy and showed the brutality of the Apartheid period in South Africa’s history.

Next we headed over to the Apartheid Museum. By that time we were overwhelmed with the stories of brutality and cruelty of humans against humans. This is an incredible museum with many exhibits showing the history of Apartheid and its ending with the first democratic election ever in South Africa, in 1994 with Mandela being elected president. This museum stands as a symbol of hope to the world for reconciliation. It had much the feel and impact of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

We then had to say goodbye to the women of Comeback Mission. They had been incredible guides to us this week and now it was time for them to go back. We hugged and off they went to continue their good work.

The next morning we all headed to a local market for some last minute tourist shopping. A fun, lively market in the heart of the city. Many incredible craft items as well as the things you would see at the local flea market. Where do they get all those watches????? Then it was time to drop the team off at the airport. Jeri had a bad experience at the airport. She stepped away from her car for a few seconds to say goodbye to our new friends and had her car “booted.” (meaning, there was a lock on the tires!) She was so irritated with the guy that she went upstairs and complained and told them she was not going to pay the fine and that they should have better signage. They took the “boot” off. Yebo, Jeri!

The next few days were taken up with errands, massages- Gary and Chris, haircuts for all of us; shopping and taking care of business. It is really interesting to live temporarily in a country like Swaziland. We are getting very familiar with the roadways and some of the customs. We still cringe when we meet up with a kombi (small mini-van crammed full of people that are used for transport—like a big taxi) because they have their own rules of the road—such as a stop sign is really a ‘hesitate’ sign or even a ‘maybe I will, maybe I won’t’ sign! They swerve around us at top speed, cutting in and out of traffic. They also continually honk to let their potential passengers know they are coming. They all need engine work—we can follow the stink of their exhaust for miles.

We have been able to find almost anything we want at the grocery store—except Mexican food. It looks different and might be packaged different but we are getting familiar with the stores and that makes it much more comfortable to shop. We eat a lot of chicken fixed different ways. People are very friendly to us and we have not yet felt uncomfortable in any situation. I would say there are not more than a 300 Caucasian people living here in this town of about 25,000. Some days we will go for the whole day and not see another Caucasian person but don’t really even think anything about it. This, after all, is Africa!

On Tuesday, June 30th, Chris, Gary and I, along with two of the Manyano women went out to a school to deliver some clothes and shoes to the OVC’s. They help with 12 children at the school and help pay for meds, transport and give them food from time to time. We often wonder if there is a stigma for these OVC’s or do the other children even know? We were so moved by the humbleness of these children. They stand quietly, waiting, so patient. Their eyes are what got to Jeri—so sad and yet, full of hope for whatever was coming. One of the little girls, Samkelesiwe is the one who was so ill the last time we came that she could not even stand. I have included a picture of her with Chris—see her sweet smile? Some of these children are HIV positive, some are single orphans and some are double orphans. Others might come from a family that cannot afford to buy them clothes and are therefore vulnerable. There are several pictures also of the children receiving the clothes and shoes. We both felt very sad to see these sweet children but also happy that we had clothes to give them. They seemed very appreciative and gave us shy smiles to show it.

The next day we went up to Lomngeletjane to water the trees that the last team had planted all around the fence area for a wind break. There are about 100 small pine trees and we had to walk up and down the hill to fill the 5 liter water bottle for each one. We worked hard at it for a while and felt like at least we were working off the donuts we ate for breakfast! (yes, they have donuts here) We had many bottles and filled a lot at one time but could only carry two at a time down the hill. The new head teacher (principal) saw us and asked if we wanted the children to help. Of course we said yes, and down they came, running gleefully because they were out of the classroom and also because they love to help us. It was hilarious to watch them—some with a water bottle almost as big as they were and some carried them on their heads. We got the job done in record time—the children thought it was a great game to outdo each other in the speed of watering the trees. The teacher said she is going to have the children water them each week, so this will give them some sense of responsibility for the school. YEBO!

Well, this is enough for now. I am going to close this blog and continue in a couple of days.

We love you all,

Jeri and Gary