C-H's travel stories: Swaziland, September 1, 2009

We are just now publishing (Sept 12, 2009) this blog because we have been on a two week trip through South Africa and have not had internet. We fly home on the 15th! Will write about this trip in a future blog.

Dear friends and family,

Well, our last week in Swaziland is over and what an emotional roller coaster it has been. This was the week for painting the clinic at the church—what fun that was! The ‘youth’ (in Swaziland that can mean anyone up to the age of 30) took this on as their mission project to do during the holiday when school was out. The clinic has not been used as a clinic for over two years and was really in disrepair. There were holes in the walls from termites, and water damage, dirty floors, and filthy walls. On Monday the 24th, the youth came and cleaned it up to start the painting and then moved everything out, all out in a flash! They worked so hard and fast we were done before lunch. Wednesday was paint day—they had so much fun singing and being with each other—it was a great joy to watch. They seem so much more “innocent” than our youth, and filled with enthusiasm and joy. They painted for most of the day and did a good job but much of it landed on the floor! So, the next day Chris, Gary and I spent the whole day scraping the paint off of where it was not supposed to be! They did have a good time and were all so sweet that we couldn’t help saying “oh well, they have good hearts!”

The rest of the week was spent preparing and then actually moving the 4 children we have talked about in past blogs (see June 7 blog for background). This is the young boy, Mthokozisi and his three sisters who have virtually been abandoned by their mother and father. They had been living alone in a small mud hut way out in the rural area. The Manyano Women of the Methodist Church had chosen Mthokozisi as their recipient of a grant to pay for his education for the next 5 years so there was a lot of concern about his living situation and how to remedy it. For over a year now they have been trying to figure out where the children could go and live where they would be safe. Their grandparents homestead was quite a ways from where they were living but it was decided to go ask them if the children could come live with them. The two chiefs had to be consulted—the one from where they were currently living and the one where the grandparents lived. Lots of talking, negotiating and lots of praying went on between the Manyano Women and the various community members who were involved. There was even a meeting with the father and he said it was OK for the children to live with the grandparents. The mother is very afraid of the father of the children (he threatens her with violence) so she had moved to a safe place but was happy that the children were being looked after. Neither of the parents really has taken responsibility for these sweet children. The father would periodically come back to the homestead and take from them much of the food that was donated by the church and also required the children to care for his animals which affected their school work greatly. They did not have time to study.

Finally this week was the time for the move. A very emotional time for the Manyanos involved and for Chris. All of their work was finally coming to fruition. On Tuesday 8/25, we (4 of us) went to the grandparents homestead to help get the new home ready for the children to move into. It is a two room cinder block building that was full of termites and very dirty. By the time we got there, the children were already finished cleaning and were waxing the floor (it is cement, but that is what they do here). We decided that the outside was our next task—it was full of trash, but in no time, with all of the children helping, we had it cleaned up. The grandparents were there—the Gogo helped us and the Mkhulu (grandfather) who is blind, sat on his small wooden bench. Eventually the grandpa (Mkhulu) decided to take Mthokozisi and his sisters to the land where he and the District Manyano will be building a new home for them. We all walked into the field and the Mkhulu and the GoGo both spoke at length—all in SiSwati. They kept pointing all around the fields and talking—we think they were talking about the land and its history. Then they squatted down and the Mkhulu took a bunch of grass in his hands and tied it into a knot. Then he asked Mthokozisi to go get a cinder block which he placed on top of the knot (so that the knot came up through the hole in the cinder block). This is the traditional way that land is passed down in a Swazi family. It was all very touching and I felt it was honor to be present and to be an observer. We could all tell that Mthokozisi and his sisters knew this was a special time in their lives.

The next day we actually moved the children from their old homestead onto the new one. We were able to get all their belongings in the back of Chris’ car and then with all 10 of us and their stuff squeezed into two cars we headed out. We only dropped off the children and their stuff as the dedication would be the next day. The Gogo and the Mkhulu were so grateful and kept thanking us. On Saturday (the 29th) the District pastor and some of the Manyano Women came for the dedication. We were all moved and felt great happiness in our hearts as we took part in this ceremony. There was lots of praying, singing and praising. Chris gave Mthokozisi a new Bible (in English) and also gave his sisters a book of Bible stories (also in Eng) that she said was for the girls to read out loud to the youngest sister so they could all learn English. We blessed the new home they are living in now and then went out to the land and the pastor took a branch and dipped it into water and shook the water all around to bless the land. There were many tears of joy. What a sweet blessing it was to be a part of all of this during our last week and to have all their hard work be finished.

Sunday, we attended St Paul’s Methodist for the last time. It also happened to be a special day and many of the members came in their tradition clothing. See the pictures below for an example of the beautiful clothing. The singing in the church was magnificent and so full of heart. We loved listening to the songs and singing along when we could. We will truly miss these people. They have all been so kind and loving to us. We will just have to find a way to come back someday.

Well, that’s it for now. Many of you have asked about the little baby (Tiphelele), that almost died so we will cover her story in our next blog.

Much love to all of you,

Gary & Jeri