Siyaphuma!

Sitting with my back against the Taiwanese Embassy watching a soccer game of boys from the Kasi (ghetto) side in a vacant lot amongst million dollar estates of MP’s and NGO CEO’s. I am staying the night with my host bhuti who lived with us in Mpaka but who now stays in the Fonteyn neighborhood in Mbabane where mud and tin roofed huts are nestled into ravines beneath ostentatious mansions. In many ways this wrenching divide has defined our (almost) one year of Peace Corps service. As Peace Corps Volunteers we move in between the worlds of those who make a living trying to help and those who they try and help. There is some cognitive dissonance moving between the two worlds at which the gap between can be miles apart. Being caught between the development world and the developing world, to say my service is nothing like what I expected would be an understatement. There are some things that never factored into my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I never thought I would find a riding community and go out on morning mountain and road rides with Swazi and South African cycling enthusiasts. I never thought I would write music reviews for a national publication and be put on VIP lists and all that. I never thought that most of my friends in Swaziland would be Somalian refugees. I never thought we would celebrate our third wedding anniversary on an island off the coast of Mozambique. These things are fun. But leaning back watching a bunch of Swazi boys play soccer against the as the African sunset dips behind mountains in a swan song of red and orange; these are things I hope I never forget when look back on my service.

A lot has happened since you may have checked in with the Halls. Addy returned from a week + long GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp in Siteki. This event took months of planning and preparation and by all accounts was a fantastic success. GLOW was a week camp for girls from all over Swaziland. The camp focused on self-image, positive examples of femininity, empowerment and skills cultivation. They also included practical workshops like screen printing (our friends the Potters would be proud), hikes and a nature walk through Hlane Royal Game Preserve. Addy facilitated a workshop on grief and loss. Some of the stories she shared of what these girls have lost be it family members or the innocence of youth at such a young age paint a very sobering, but very real picture, of conditions for Women in Swaziland. Addy came back proud and exhausted. A lot of work but a lot of pay off. Here are some pictures from the week:

Addy’s Counterpart Zande from the Mpaka Railway Pre-School was a rock star. She won Ms. GLOW 2012.

Emaworkshops

This break has afforded some ample time to reflect on how our projects are going and projects we want to begin in the future. In fact we are in Mbabane right now attending a TEFL training with four of our counterparts from the camp. We are discussing the direction we want our class to take and learning invaluable skills on how to teach multi-level proficiency classes. This is coming just on the heels of a 10 week teacher training course that I taught at the camp to those who will be co-facilitators for these upcoming terms. We are excited to see our counterparts take a more active role in the teaching of the English classes so we get to see more scenes like this:

In other news the homestead has turned into a virtual construction site. Having some time off between terms I have been on the homestead a lot more and have been able to help in the construction of Patrick and Andile’s house. I learned how to pour a foundation, mix mortar and construct a house out of cement blocks.

We are in the middle of a major redesign of our place. Our host bhuti Dora built us a table and shelving and we are in the middle of constructing a showering area directly behind our house. Before that I had to dig this: 7x5 baby! with just a pick axe and shovel. This is a septic system for the excess water.

We have replanted our garden and it is taking off like crazy. We are already harvesting spinach and lettuce.