Skip to main content

The Great Kingdom Of Swaziland!

Swaziland. It just sounds cool, don't you think? I have always wanted to visit and finally the time was right. As Carmen and I entered the country we were suffering a bit of exhaustion from our long journey but still the excitement and curiosity of a new country kept us going. Immediately we could see why this country is renowned for its hiking and outdoor activities - mountains, woodlands, streams, plunging ravines and waterfalls cover this highly untouched landscape. It really would be wonderful to spend a week or two hiking in this stunning region but this particular trip didn't allow for such lengthy adventures.

However, even with just a few days we were not disappointed. We were able to get introduced to the culture and beautifully rich traditions. One highlight was
accidentally finding Maladela’s Homestead with the unique venue House of Fire. While there we toured the base for a community women’s cooperative for basket weaving called Gone Rural and saw the women dying the grass and weaving stunning stuff basket, mats and more! http://www.goneruralswazi.com/ We spent an afternoon at a cultural village where we were able to walk through a Swazi homestead, taste some traditional food and enjoy Swazi singing and dancing- a favorite for sure! One morning we strolled through the Manzini market where we bought some jewelry, played an instrument or two, marveled at the beautiful handicrafts and even learned how to wrap our heads the way the local Swazi women do. This was so fun as we were able to connect with the women and clearly they enjoyed showing us a part of their life and appreciated that we were willing to learn about them. We also stumbled upon a couple of nice coffee/pastry shops and indulged ourselves.

We were hosted by a lovely woman named Hlovisle along with her co workers at the Mennonite Central Committee. They are running an HIV and AIDS program very similar to our OVC program in World Concern. The statistics here are overwhelming and hard to grasp as nearly 40% of the country is HIV positive. There are different explanations for such high rates- polygamy (you may have heard of their King who picks an additional wife each year) as well as cultural practices and beliefs. We learned there is no Swazi word for sex so it clearly hasn't been a topic of discussion, in fact it has been a taboo subject historically. Now sex ed is taught in school but according to what we heard it is not done well and starts too late. There are condoms available everywhere and billboards and posters teaching about the dangers of AIDS but clearly the government has a huge task ahead of them to see that this disease doesn't destroy this nation.

This country is beautiful. The scenery is breathtaking (especially this time of year when the jacaranda trees are in bloom and literally dotting the whole region in purple), the people are noticeably warm and friendly, it exhibits a unique culture and has a surprisingly strong infrastructure with its smooth roads and clean water- we could drink from the tap (something I haven’t been able to do anywhere else in Africa apart from South Africa). Though we only had a few days here it quickly jumped high on our list for favorite countries visited so far.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WAWA!

I have been in Chad for a month now and I have to tell you the honeymoon is over. Reality has definitely set in and I have to tell you at this moment it is not so fun. I am in the capital city of Ndjamena and I have been here a week now and it is definitely testing my patience. It is not all bad but at the moment as I continue getting settled and discovering how to function here I would say this motto WAWA – West Africa Wins Again!- says it all. I believe very strongly that it is important to celebrate every victory, big or small but I have to be honest. Lately there have been very few victories for me to celebrate. But let me get there in a bit. The first thing I need to explain is that even though Chad is geographically in Central Africa, it is culturally French West African. What this means is a petty bureaucratic approach to education and administration where it is more about giving people position and power than getting things done. So, things are done over and over, and over in t...
3 comments
Read more

Touching Lives in Goz Beida through Cash for Work

This past week I was so proud as our staff facilitated a couple of project fairs which are part of our Cash for Work and Food for Work Programs. This is something I have heard a lot about while in Kenya but I’d never actually attended one. My staff did a great job! They are seasoned veterans at this as we have done many. Let me explain (and show you through the pics which run in order of the process) how it works and why I love it so much. To begin, together with the chiefs and community committee we identify those beneficiaries that will participate in the program. Most of the beneficiaries will then work in a variety of projects we select around their camp. Projects include digging water pans to collect rain water which is needed in such an arid area; planting trees and caring for them as part of our reforestation program; digging demi lunes or building contour lines which helps slow rain run off and thus slows erosion and environmental degradation. As workers clock a certain amount...
1 comment
Read more

A Typical Monday in Goz Bëida, Chad

6:00 Wake up, it’s still a bit dark, there is no power so I turn on my headlamp for light 6:05 Go check to see if the ‘city’ water is on yet- not yet- 6:10 Go boil water for morning tea for me and the guys 6:15 Check again to see if water is on – not yet…. 6:15 Breakfast! Tea + bread and jam or cereal with powdered milk or perhaps an omelet! 6:25 Read My Upmost for His Highest my favorite devotional book and from Bible 6:40 Water is on! Wash up and get ready for the day 6:55 Pack up and leave for the office in one of the land cruisers, 2 blocks away 7:05 Arrive at office hearing the sound of our staff singing French choruses for devotions 7:35 Devotions end and short staff meeting starts 8:00 Meeting ends, greet staff with my poor French, they laugh and I keep trying 8:05 The generator goes on, office is buzzing as field staff prep to go to the field 9:00 Field staff leaves, office gets a bit quiet, managers and admin remain at office 9-12 Work on reports, reply to emails (offline), re...
3 comments
Read more