I cant believe I have been living here for three months already! From the very first day Penny and I set foot in Swaziland in August, our time here has been extremely eventful to say the least! Flying in along with the King of Malawi followed by a chance meeting with the Queen of Ghana, lead to an interesting start to the year. Africa certainly is full of surprises!
At first, I was a little uncertain as to exactly what I would be doing over here in Big Bend. The thought of being an ACTUAL teacheror at least pretending to be one anywaydid scare me a little! However now, I really cannot imagine being anywhere else, doing anything else. The projects are amazing!
Two days a week, Penny and I teach separate classes in a local Christian Pre-School, the Moriah Centre. I work with a class of just seven children, along with a Siswati speaking lady (and her adorable little boy). As well as a lot of fun and games, we teach the children basic English, Maths, shapes, colours etc. The headmistress does a fairly open lesson plan for each day, which makes our job much easier. Many of the children who attend this pre-school are orphans and come from extremely harsh living conditions, however each morning they show up full of smiles and giggles. A great motivation after suffering a grossly hot and stuffy night without a room fan, due to the regular power cuts! At the moment, we have been working towards their Graduation. Each class does their own little performance followed by a memory verse and then some songs.
Every Monday I go to the nearby, Majombe Primary School. After being greeted with an extremely friendly welcome, in other words, after being swamped by 42 extremely enthusiastic kids, I read with each Grade 1 pupil to help improve their English. Penny and I also give swimming lessons with Grade 3 and above pupils one afternoon a week. However we have only managed to get to the pool a handful of times since being here, as on the (very) occasional cloudy day, pupils and staff complain about the freezing temperatures. Despite it still being double the temperature it ever reaches back in Scotland!
Probably our most challenging, yet most rewarding Project is running the extremely rural Injabulo Pre-School. This project was only just set up last year by the previous two Project Trust volunteers; therefore a lot can and still needs to be done here in order to keep it up and running. Over 40 children, aging from 3-7 years old, attend the school, so as you can imagine, it can get extremely manic at times!! However due to the far distances some of the kids must walk to get to the school, the attendance is very unsettled. Some mornings the majority of the kids will be there waiting for us at 8.30am, but other times we can finish the day with as little as 6 children to wave goodbye to. We have been trying hard to improve the stability of the school in numerous ways so hopefully, when the new school year starts here in January, we will have a sturdier and proper running school.
Before coming here, Project Trust told us about the Soup Kitchen project we would be involved in. I therefore had an image of a centre in the town where we would donate food we manage to collect from hostel, which would then be cooked and dished out. I could not have been more wrong! About a thirty-minute drive away from hostel, twice a week we deliver food to a small hut in the middle of a dried up field. Each time we go, approximately 30 children and some adults, gather here, clutching their bowls, eager to see what is on the menu (normally a good homely stew)! As soon as we leave the car, kids run over with big cheerful faces and insist in helping us offload the boxes of food and water into the hut. Then Penny and I (and any hostel students from the High School who want to come along) dish it all out until each person has eaten. Any extras are left with the auntie there, for the following day. After they have enjoyed their grub, we sing and play games with them. This is truly amazing to witness and be a part of as they are all such joyful and appreciative children!
Although these are our main projects here, we have also been getting involved in the community here in other ways as well. We have been going to a local Primary School in the village to teach and choreograph dance for their nativity play. We also run a tutor group for children who attend another nearby Primary School and have been struggling in class. As you can see, there is more than enough to keep me occupied during the week! If I manage to get a spare hour or two during our days, a cold shower, or a swim in the hostel pool followed by a quick nap, are at the top of my agenda!
Rather than keeping our weekends empty and using them to lounge around at hostel, we try to plan to do something, or go somewhere new and exciting; so far, so good! We have been on two safaris, camped INSIDE one of the nearby game reserves, went to a local music festival, picnicked amongst natives up the Ubombo mountains, visited parts of South Africa and jet-skiedon one of the nearby croc infested dams!
Big Bend itself is bigger than I first imagined, however its far from being a huge and hectic place! The town has two food stores, a post office, a hospital and a police station. There is also a new golf club here in the town, which we have been out on onceand quickly discovered this is perhaps not one on Pennys hidden talents! When first arriving we were determined to join and get a membership as there are also tennis courts, a squash court and a mini fitness suit but needless to say, we still have not gotten round to this! Wed much rather spend any free time we get, relaxing and slobbing around than a vigorous workout session. Its for that reason alone, we have had no difficulty fitting in with the laid-back Swazi lifestyle!
At Sisekelo Girls Hostel, we are pretty much spoilt rotten by the many Auntis who work here! They cook all our meals for us and even do our washing. So much for roughing it out in Africa! The food is however not the most healthiest or nutritious. 99% of all meals include some sort of meat with fat on the side, so there is certainly no need to worry about me wasting away! Whenever we feel like a break from fatty hostel food and crave a nice fresh green salad…followed by a slice of cake…we head to the cafe in the town; another much appreciated luxury! Despite being here for a while now, I still have not gotten used to the sound of the bell! Every morning the first hostel alarm goes off at 4.30 followed by many other loud rings until the girls leave for school at 7. Even on weekends the bell goes off at 7.30am so there is no chance of a lie-in!
However, despite the Dreaded Bell, Im having a brilliant time!!! I find my work extremely rewarding and worthwhile, as there is such a strong need in this country for relief. We see so many children here everyday who have unimaginably tough lives at such a young age, which has opened my eyes as to how much we take for granted of even basic things such as clean running water and food to eat. I am so glad and thankful for being given this opportunity and really look forward to what the rest of the year brings! I will be sure to keep you updated!
Once again, THANK YOU so much for your support!! I love it out here!
