Busy Little Beaver

Friday 23 October 2009
11:33am

Hey Everyone! It has been CRAZY busy for me here the past couple of weeks. As Nov. 17th (date of In-Service Training and the end of our integration period) gets closer and closer, I am finding more and more meetings to attend, informants to interview, and homesteads to visit. In Nov. I am suppose to have all of this information compiled in a Community Assessment Report, which will be turned into PC and given to all of the NGOs and community leaders participating in the development of my area. It feels like I am doing a college research paper, except it does not have to be in APA/MLA format! :)
Sadly, I will have to make this entry short. I decided to finally go into town only about a ½ hour ago. Another volunteer has asked me to go into Nhlangano and help paint a world map on an orphanage. Yes, I did forewarn her that I lack any skill necessary to produce visual art of any kind, but she said that I would be fine coloring inside the lines. :) This gives me a nice chance to have a weekend away from site, bond with another volunteer, and play with kids and paint! Yay!
Some fun news on the hut-front, my sisi had her baby! Bondiswa is an adorable, healthy, little baby boy. My sisi left on Sunday morning via public transportation, had the child at 6:30pm, and by 3pm Monday she was getting off the public bus at our home, baby in tow. Also, other than hospital staff, she was alone during the delivery and hospital stay! According to her, it is actually against hospital policy to have family with you during delivery! She kept Make informed by calling the cell phone, and we had a fun time bonding trying to discuss Thobile and her baby without anyone on the homestead who could speak English. My siSwati is coming along, but not that well. :)
Well I have to go catch a 1pm bus to catch a khumbi to catch another khumbi to this orphanage…pheew… so I better wrap this up for now. Wish me luck with the painting! Hugs!

This is my new nephew, Bondiswa, only a couple days after he was born and my sisi, Thobile. He is so stinkin' cute!!!

I am sporting my new woven grass hat that I bought at the boMake market in my community. This is my armor against the crazy strong sun here. This is the inside of my hut... I should have picked-up before taking the picture. :-P

View of the back of the main house and the beautiful bush that is in our "back yard". Beware though, that bush has HUGE thorns! The open door is to Makes room and the blue door on the left goes into the kitchen.

Here is the front view of the homestead from the gate. My house is on the right, then the main house, then the girls house (behind the tree).

Hut sweet home! I am standing on the porch of the main house, which has two doors. One goes into a living room area, and the other goes into the boys' room.