Sanibonani! (Hello!)
** A few weeks have elapsed since I wrote the below entry (on September 10), and there's much more going on. The pace is definitely picking up! I've been formally introduced to the community at a meeting of the Inner Council (local government), started volunteering 1 day a week at the local clinic, have made arrangements to start a project at the high school, and started setting up meetings with other members of the community. I've also been invited to participate in a traditional Swazi wedding, and have been learning some traditional dance for the event. Everyday I walk around and marvel at how lucky I am to be in such a beautiful place!
I'll write more soon...
Training ended a little over two weeks ago, and I'm in my own house now. I live in the Hhohho region - near the capital, Mbabane. I have my own rondoval (small, round house) on the homestead of a Swazi family. I even have my own plot in the family garden, and will be planting this week.* I'm excited to start growing some food, and my family is eager to see what I grow (Swazi staples are maize, cabbage, spinach, onions, carrots, beets and green peppers; when I said I would be growing broccoli, basil, cilantro, etc., they had no idea what I was talking about - but they're definitely intrigued!). *UPDATE: It took me longer to get my garden started than anticipated, but finally got some stuff in the ground! So far, I'm working on runner beans, basil, strawberries, tomatoes and broccoli...
My host family is headed by a Make (mother), who is a nurse in the capital working primarily with TB patients. Make's husband passed away a few years ago. There is also a Gogo (grandmother) on the homestead - my Make's late husband's mother. Make speaks english very well, but gogo speaks none at all - which is actually good because it should encourage me to practice SiSwati! Make's adult daughter, Jabu, also lives on the homestead, but she works fairly far away, so she lives by her job during the week and stays at the homestead on the weekends. Her son, Mgendulo (pronounced Ben-de-low), also lives on the homestead. He's 11 years old and awesome - he's my buddy. Also, coincidentally his Anglo name (many Swazis have both a Swazi and an Anglo name) is Maxwell (for those who don't know, that's also the name of my 11 year old nephew in the states)! His english is really good and he's a really smart, funny, personable kid. There is also a teenage ovc who lives on the homestead, and Make's son, who's in college in Pretoria (South Africa), has a hut here where he stays during breaks.
Mgendulo has seen pics of all of the family, and I told him he can be pen pals with the kids. He's super excited about it, and he and I wrote letters to Ryan/Ianna/Angelica and Max today, which I'm dropping at the postoffice in a little while. Meg & Col - they will take a few weeks to get to you, but keep your eyes out for them!
Swaziland is a rural mountainous country, about the size of New Jersey, but with a population of only about 1.2 million. There are 2 largish towns/cities (Mbabane and Manzini) and a few smaller towns/cities, but the rest of the country is pretty much farm land. There are lots of animals here, but primarily those of the farm animal variety (eg: chickens, goats, cows, dogs, cats). I did, however, see zebras, hippos, warthogs and crocodiles on a day trip to Mlilane Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located near my town. Unfortunately, there are lots of snakes here, although only a few deadly varieties (none of which are in my region, thank goodness). Also, unfortunately, Swazis favorite way of avoiding snakes is by getting rid of long grass (or any grass, really); as a result, large swatches of land are routinely set on fire. It is not at all unsual to see a whole side of a mountain or a field up in flames. While this practice disturbs me greatly - for many reasons, specifically the environmental harm it causes - I can't help but be in awe of the casual control Swazis have over these fires. I was at a lecture in a church several weeks ago, and the fire came right up to the side of the building. I was nervous, but no one else was - rightfully so, since the fire was efficiently and effectively halted in time to prevent any damage at all.
My community is located in the highveld (high in the mountains), and is very beautiful and green. Swaziland is home to the largest (or one of the largest) man made forest(s) in the world, and I live near that forest. Timber is a big industry here, and many people in my community work in the timber mills. Well, I say many, but that's relative. The unemployment rate in the country is approaching 50%, which makes the US unemployment rate look like nothing. Because I live so close to the capital, the average income in my area is a little higher than in other regions, and there are more professionals around me. That being said, Swazis are still overall extremely poor. Swaziland is considered a middle income country, but that's only because the tiny percentage of wealthy here are extremely wealthy, and so they skew the statistics. However, since 80% of the land in Swaziland is Swazi Nation land (belongs to the government, as opposed to title deed land), the poor here at least have places to live and land to farm on. There are still major issues with food security, but generally not homelessness.
It gets a little cold in the evenings, because we're still at the end of winter, but overall it's pretty hot and sunny. There are some issues with water access in my community - we're near a river, but the levels were very low because it hadn't rained for approximately 6 months, so the water couldn't reach the pipes that bring the water from the river into my community. As a result, I had to walk with a large container and a wheel barrow to a community tap about a 5-10 minute walk from my house to collect water. I'm pretty pathetic pushing my water home, when you see the Swazi ladies carrying these enormous, heavy water containers on their heads! It's pretty awesome. However, we had several days of rain last week which raised the water level of the river and filled the large Jojo water tank on the homestead, so, for now at least, I have access to water from a tap on the property. It's amazing the things we take for granted in the US. I also have to boil, filter and bleach my water, and wash my clothes by hand. You get used to this stuff pretty quickly, though - but it is very time consuming and labor intensive.
People overall have been welcoming and friendly. They are not, however, used to seeing white people outside of the big cities, and so my presence is very conspicuous. They are especially not used to white people speaking (or trying to speak :) SiSwati, and so they laugh alot when I greet them in their language. The laughter is generally a result of their pleasure and surprise, but it does get a little tiring having people stare at you and laugh at you all the time :) .
This period of my service is referred to as integration, and therefore my primary job right now is simply getting out into the community and meeting people. I've met many people already who are interested in working with me, and I see exciting things on the horizon!
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