Quick updates while I'm in town:
1. Stitches are out and the wound is almost completely on the mend! Yay!
2. Search "PC Swaziland Welcome Video" on YouTube and you'll find many clips of the introductory video for the new Group 8 volunteers coming this June. Guess what! I'm in many of them. (For all you internet 'swavy' - inside joke with my mother - people that's www.youtube.com) :-P
3. I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter! I spent a good part of mine hopping a multitude of transportation options to get to my friend Lisa's where we enjoyed an assortment of non-traditional holiday foods.
4. I'll write another blog soonish. Hugs!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Getting Work Done in the Infirmary (aka Bed and Breakfast)
Thursday 25 March 2010
2:28pm
I’m back to site! After a two week stint in Mbabane letting my bug bitten wound heal I have finally been sewn up (3 stitches) and sent on my way for a little while. What did I do in Mbabane for that long? Surprisingly, I was somewhat productive. And no, I don’t consider watching all four Terminator movies for the first time productive, although I did accomplish that. :-P Networking was actually the biggest achievement of my medical hold. Here are some of the amazing people I met while living it up at a bed and breakfast.
The first few nights I stayed at Gloria’s (the AMAINGLY kind person who runs the B&B) there was another younger woman residing there and spending her brief time in Swaziland recruiting for the African Leadership Academy. This pre-college training takes youth (ages 16-18) from all over Africa to study together and prepare them to make positive future changes for Africa. It is a highly competitive program with a fast approaching application deadline. A couple of other PCVs and I talked to her at length about this program, and then offered our assistance in getting the information out to the youth in the rural communities. The next day I went to our office, and the Assistant Peace Corps Director scanned the forms and e-mailed them to every PCV in Swaziland! Many of the volunteers work in some capacity with their local high schools, for example, teaching life skills, leading health or debate clubs, organizing drama groups, and even tutoring in English. This gives us the most perfect opportunity to identify really bright, motivated students and give them the chance at a great education in South Africa with a highly diverse student body. Not to mention expanding the recruiting reach of our new friend by tenfold! Definitely a win, win, WIN situation!
A bit later in my stay, while enjoying a fantastic meal unlike anything I could make in my hut, we met two other fantastic people. One worked for UNICEF out of Jo’Burg, which is a wonderful connection to make. The other gentleman at the table with us was the photographer and author of what I found out later is an AMAZING book called The Bang Bang Club. I am very interested in reading this South African masterpiece, which was highly recommended by friend who just so happened to be finishing it at that moment! That was such an enjoyable evening.
I had very brief encounters with representatives from two other organizations that could and should become close partners with PCVs all over Swaziland. Both the National Youth Council and CEIT have similar goals to Peace Corps and can work together to accomplish them. I felt like a networking rep for the United States Peace Corps while sipping tea and hob knobbing with celebs. Not too shabby. :-)
Sadly, I was pulled from the gardening workshop for treatment, but all was not lost. I still may not be able to keep any kind of plant life alive, but my contact list as grown and blossomed beautifully. A grant proposal I submitted for a future bus stop health mural project also proved to be fruitful. It was accepted and funding should arrive within two weeks! ATTENTION!!! If you have any ideas for health slogans and/or artwork, please feel free to let me know. :-) They can be about anything from HIV/AIDS prevention to proper nutrition, from hygiene to anti-abuse campaigns, anything is welcomed for consideration in this health mass media project.
Other activities I did while in the sick ward: helped at the monthly Teen Club at Baylor, saw my good friend Shari back off to the States (you’re already missed hun:), learned the basics of knitting and pearling thanks to Gloria, watched, live, Obama sign a “history making” health bill that CNN then didn’t explain what it entails(??), celebrated St. Patty’s Day with beer, friends, and a work in progress premiere of the new welcome video for the volunteers coming in June (I’m in it sportin’ the braids :-/), took out the braids and adopted an afro for a few short hours, showered a MILLION more times than necessary, filled out a NCAA bracket that I will never know the results to, visited with many of my wonderful fellow volunteers as they passed through town, and became a regular at the Mbabane Clinic for my frequent dressing changes. Oh, and of course, got better acquainted with an earlier model of the current “Govinator” of California. :-P This is where I’m going to conclude my description of the two week vacation… I mean medical hold… that I experienced, but no worries ‘cause “I’ll be back!” ;-)
2:28pm
I’m back to site! After a two week stint in Mbabane letting my bug bitten wound heal I have finally been sewn up (3 stitches) and sent on my way for a little while. What did I do in Mbabane for that long? Surprisingly, I was somewhat productive. And no, I don’t consider watching all four Terminator movies for the first time productive, although I did accomplish that. :-P Networking was actually the biggest achievement of my medical hold. Here are some of the amazing people I met while living it up at a bed and breakfast.
The first few nights I stayed at Gloria’s (the AMAINGLY kind person who runs the B&B) there was another younger woman residing there and spending her brief time in Swaziland recruiting for the African Leadership Academy. This pre-college training takes youth (ages 16-18) from all over Africa to study together and prepare them to make positive future changes for Africa. It is a highly competitive program with a fast approaching application deadline. A couple of other PCVs and I talked to her at length about this program, and then offered our assistance in getting the information out to the youth in the rural communities. The next day I went to our office, and the Assistant Peace Corps Director scanned the forms and e-mailed them to every PCV in Swaziland! Many of the volunteers work in some capacity with their local high schools, for example, teaching life skills, leading health or debate clubs, organizing drama groups, and even tutoring in English. This gives us the most perfect opportunity to identify really bright, motivated students and give them the chance at a great education in South Africa with a highly diverse student body. Not to mention expanding the recruiting reach of our new friend by tenfold! Definitely a win, win, WIN situation!
A bit later in my stay, while enjoying a fantastic meal unlike anything I could make in my hut, we met two other fantastic people. One worked for UNICEF out of Jo’Burg, which is a wonderful connection to make. The other gentleman at the table with us was the photographer and author of what I found out later is an AMAZING book called The Bang Bang Club. I am very interested in reading this South African masterpiece, which was highly recommended by friend who just so happened to be finishing it at that moment! That was such an enjoyable evening.
I had very brief encounters with representatives from two other organizations that could and should become close partners with PCVs all over Swaziland. Both the National Youth Council and CEIT have similar goals to Peace Corps and can work together to accomplish them. I felt like a networking rep for the United States Peace Corps while sipping tea and hob knobbing with celebs. Not too shabby. :-)
Sadly, I was pulled from the gardening workshop for treatment, but all was not lost. I still may not be able to keep any kind of plant life alive, but my contact list as grown and blossomed beautifully. A grant proposal I submitted for a future bus stop health mural project also proved to be fruitful. It was accepted and funding should arrive within two weeks! ATTENTION!!! If you have any ideas for health slogans and/or artwork, please feel free to let me know. :-) They can be about anything from HIV/AIDS prevention to proper nutrition, from hygiene to anti-abuse campaigns, anything is welcomed for consideration in this health mass media project.
Other activities I did while in the sick ward: helped at the monthly Teen Club at Baylor, saw my good friend Shari back off to the States (you’re already missed hun:), learned the basics of knitting and pearling thanks to Gloria, watched, live, Obama sign a “history making” health bill that CNN then didn’t explain what it entails(??), celebrated St. Patty’s Day with beer, friends, and a work in progress premiere of the new welcome video for the volunteers coming in June (I’m in it sportin’ the braids :-/), took out the braids and adopted an afro for a few short hours, showered a MILLION more times than necessary, filled out a NCAA bracket that I will never know the results to, visited with many of my wonderful fellow volunteers as they passed through town, and became a regular at the Mbabane Clinic for my frequent dressing changes. Oh, and of course, got better acquainted with an earlier model of the current “Govinator” of California. :-P This is where I’m going to conclude my description of the two week vacation… I mean medical hold… that I experienced, but no worries ‘cause “I’ll be back!” ;-)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Attn!! If Wound Talk Makes You Feel Ill, DON'T Read!
And here's the rest of the story...
As you may know, about a week ago I was bitten by a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" bug on my left ankle. It started out looking no worse than a mosquito bite so I thought nothing of it. Then about two days later it started forming into a good centemeter sized blister. Once the blister opened, as a nurse in a not to distant past life would do, I started keeping it clean, medicated, and covered. This was not enough to fight the filth of Africa, I guess, 'cause a couple days later I woke with a swollen and red ankle (cellulitis).
I was heading north on Monday anyway to enjoy a week of friends, running water, and gardening/food security training so I took a detour to the office to see our Medical Officer. Right away I was put on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, then I was back on my way to training. The following morning my hands started looking spotted like a cheetah. Oh, oh, not good. Come to find out I may be allergic to something after all: Keflex (antibiotic I was on). Needless to say, I was picked up from the training site and brought back into Mbabane to observe my reactions to the meds and to keep an eye on my infection, which was now looking "funky" (my Med Officer's words. haha). Funky meant my skin was purplish in color with a blackening scab tissue over the wound.
Pictures were taken and sent to specialists in Pretoria, SA (regional PC med office) and if the infection would have continued I would have been too. Luckily, the following morning the new antibiotics were doing their job. I went to the Mbabane clinic to have a consultation about the wound now left by the bite blister. The area was shot up with anesthetic (lidocaine) and the dead tissue was scraped away. This revealed that the wound had gone quite deep (probably little less than a centemeter), so it was packed and bandaged.
Now I will be visiting the clinic every other day for sterile wound dressing changes (which they won't let me do myself back at my site even though I am capable), until this has healed. This means I will be away from my site and my hut for potentially up to 3 weeks!!!! :-( I am staying at a bed and breakfast in Mbabane where everyone on medical goes. Although that may sound like a vacation, I'm thinking it will be feeling like a prison stay within a couple days, especially since I don't feel ill or in much pain even. Next week I hope the amazing staff at Baylor Pediatric Clinic (who I did the children's camp with and with whom I have formed wonderful friendships) will allow me to come be an extra volunteer. This will help to keep the cabin fever at bay and maybe even make me useful. :-)
In conclusion, I still don't know how to keep plants alive, bugs are on my black list, I'll be missin' my hut/community/family/etc, but I will make the most of it and even enjoy the private bathroom, tv, and home cooked meals while I can. :-P Can't feel sorry for me now, huh? Ha ha ha.
Because multiple people asked to see pictures... blame them if you're grossed out, not me :-)
Yuck... this was before my visit to the clinic.
Quite swollen!
"Prettier" pictures of the braid removal process. Meredith was also in town so she helped me out.
Darryn with an Afro... nice :-P
Bouquet of used synthetic hair!
As you may know, about a week ago I was bitten by a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" bug on my left ankle. It started out looking no worse than a mosquito bite so I thought nothing of it. Then about two days later it started forming into a good centemeter sized blister. Once the blister opened, as a nurse in a not to distant past life would do, I started keeping it clean, medicated, and covered. This was not enough to fight the filth of Africa, I guess, 'cause a couple days later I woke with a swollen and red ankle (cellulitis).
I was heading north on Monday anyway to enjoy a week of friends, running water, and gardening/food security training so I took a detour to the office to see our Medical Officer. Right away I was put on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, then I was back on my way to training. The following morning my hands started looking spotted like a cheetah. Oh, oh, not good. Come to find out I may be allergic to something after all: Keflex (antibiotic I was on). Needless to say, I was picked up from the training site and brought back into Mbabane to observe my reactions to the meds and to keep an eye on my infection, which was now looking "funky" (my Med Officer's words. haha). Funky meant my skin was purplish in color with a blackening scab tissue over the wound.
Pictures were taken and sent to specialists in Pretoria, SA (regional PC med office) and if the infection would have continued I would have been too. Luckily, the following morning the new antibiotics were doing their job. I went to the Mbabane clinic to have a consultation about the wound now left by the bite blister. The area was shot up with anesthetic (lidocaine) and the dead tissue was scraped away. This revealed that the wound had gone quite deep (probably little less than a centemeter), so it was packed and bandaged.
Now I will be visiting the clinic every other day for sterile wound dressing changes (which they won't let me do myself back at my site even though I am capable), until this has healed. This means I will be away from my site and my hut for potentially up to 3 weeks!!!! :-( I am staying at a bed and breakfast in Mbabane where everyone on medical goes. Although that may sound like a vacation, I'm thinking it will be feeling like a prison stay within a couple days, especially since I don't feel ill or in much pain even. Next week I hope the amazing staff at Baylor Pediatric Clinic (who I did the children's camp with and with whom I have formed wonderful friendships) will allow me to come be an extra volunteer. This will help to keep the cabin fever at bay and maybe even make me useful. :-)
In conclusion, I still don't know how to keep plants alive, bugs are on my black list, I'll be missin' my hut/community/family/etc, but I will make the most of it and even enjoy the private bathroom, tv, and home cooked meals while I can. :-P Can't feel sorry for me now, huh? Ha ha ha.
Because multiple people asked to see pictures... blame them if you're grossed out, not me :-)
Yuck... this was before my visit to the clinic.
Quite swollen!
"Prettier" pictures of the braid removal process. Meredith was also in town so she helped me out.
Darryn with an Afro... nice :-P
Bouquet of used synthetic hair!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Business Woman
Friday 5th March 2010
7:21pm
Today I had the opportunity to give my second educational, community wide, workshop. What were these fabulous workshops on? Nutrition? Transmission of HIV? Health related at all?! Nope. I gave two sessions on how to write a professional Business Plan. You may be asking yourself, “What the heck does Darryn, being a nurse and HIV/AIDS educator, know about business plans?!” All I can say is that I now know more than I ever wanted to. :-P
The government of Swaziland is currently in the process of trying to stimulate their economy by giving out grants to start small businesses, which as I understand it never have to be paid back. The forms that my community members were filling out last week at Umphagatsi (weekly community meeting at chiefdom level) had asked for a business plan. I was continually asked to write these documents for people! Ummm… no thank you. I remembered that my PCV friend, Justine, had been previously working with an NGO called TechnoServe that focused on teaching high school youth the basics of business. I instantly excused myself from the meeting and called her in fit of desperation, and pleaded for her help! She said that she could easily teach me everything I needed to know about writing a business plan for a small Swazi business, so we made a sleepover date for the weekend. The community scheduled a Business Plan Writing Session with Zodwa for Monday morning. Have to admit I was pretty nervous. :-/
The following day a woman in my community asked me to explain how to fill out the three page application form. After describing the difference between a physical address and a postal address, I started to feel a bit more qualified to teach about business. I realized that whatever I taught was going to have to be VERY basic. Justine’s high school curriculum was exactly that! I could easily handle the topics included in a business plan such as, markets and competition, start-up budget tables, product/service description, and business location! As Justine put it, “Yay for our well rounded education”! With my flip chart paper (reminds of a Swazi version of power point –everyone uses it!!) and my high school business manual I walked into my first workshop teaching experience in Swaziland. And no one was there.
As I should have expected people, including my translator, didn’t arrive until about 1/2hour to an hour later than the starting time. A few people were there because they wanted to include a business plan in their application for the government grant and a few others were actually there for a school committee meeting and decided instead to see what crazy Zodwa was going to do. :-P I expected many more people to attend, since there were so many people applying for the grant. Come to find out the deadline for the application forms were the day they decided to have my session, so a large number of the applicants decided to run their papers to the chiefdom in the morning. Oh well.
I am declaring that session a success for two main reasons. Firstly, the people in the lesson really seemed to grasp the concepts we were discussing, especially when using examples like chicken projects, hair salons, and khumbi drivers. Secondly, they were so impressed with the section on writing a budget that they wanted me to give the same presentation today so they could get more community members to come! Yay to a teaching success story! I did give the same discussion today and more people came, even a few men who were at Monday’s lesson.
Looking in the TechnoServe curriculum manual I have decided to suggest and offer to teach about marketing and basic bookkeeping. I think they are going to take me up on it! So, when I return to the States don’t be surprised if I have all the skills to become a Forbes 500 person (is that even right?) in no time! :-P
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my teachers and the entire education system (although flawed) for giving me well rounded education. Those of you who are teachers or are studying to be teachers thank you. You don’t even know how much you are impacting the future of your students, or when they are going to have to pull out the information that you are bestowing on them. God bless you all!
7:21pm
Today I had the opportunity to give my second educational, community wide, workshop. What were these fabulous workshops on? Nutrition? Transmission of HIV? Health related at all?! Nope. I gave two sessions on how to write a professional Business Plan. You may be asking yourself, “What the heck does Darryn, being a nurse and HIV/AIDS educator, know about business plans?!” All I can say is that I now know more than I ever wanted to. :-P
The government of Swaziland is currently in the process of trying to stimulate their economy by giving out grants to start small businesses, which as I understand it never have to be paid back. The forms that my community members were filling out last week at Umphagatsi (weekly community meeting at chiefdom level) had asked for a business plan. I was continually asked to write these documents for people! Ummm… no thank you. I remembered that my PCV friend, Justine, had been previously working with an NGO called TechnoServe that focused on teaching high school youth the basics of business. I instantly excused myself from the meeting and called her in fit of desperation, and pleaded for her help! She said that she could easily teach me everything I needed to know about writing a business plan for a small Swazi business, so we made a sleepover date for the weekend. The community scheduled a Business Plan Writing Session with Zodwa for Monday morning. Have to admit I was pretty nervous. :-/
The following day a woman in my community asked me to explain how to fill out the three page application form. After describing the difference between a physical address and a postal address, I started to feel a bit more qualified to teach about business. I realized that whatever I taught was going to have to be VERY basic. Justine’s high school curriculum was exactly that! I could easily handle the topics included in a business plan such as, markets and competition, start-up budget tables, product/service description, and business location! As Justine put it, “Yay for our well rounded education”! With my flip chart paper (reminds of a Swazi version of power point –everyone uses it!!) and my high school business manual I walked into my first workshop teaching experience in Swaziland. And no one was there.
As I should have expected people, including my translator, didn’t arrive until about 1/2hour to an hour later than the starting time. A few people were there because they wanted to include a business plan in their application for the government grant and a few others were actually there for a school committee meeting and decided instead to see what crazy Zodwa was going to do. :-P I expected many more people to attend, since there were so many people applying for the grant. Come to find out the deadline for the application forms were the day they decided to have my session, so a large number of the applicants decided to run their papers to the chiefdom in the morning. Oh well.
I am declaring that session a success for two main reasons. Firstly, the people in the lesson really seemed to grasp the concepts we were discussing, especially when using examples like chicken projects, hair salons, and khumbi drivers. Secondly, they were so impressed with the section on writing a budget that they wanted me to give the same presentation today so they could get more community members to come! Yay to a teaching success story! I did give the same discussion today and more people came, even a few men who were at Monday’s lesson.
Looking in the TechnoServe curriculum manual I have decided to suggest and offer to teach about marketing and basic bookkeeping. I think they are going to take me up on it! So, when I return to the States don’t be surprised if I have all the skills to become a Forbes 500 person (is that even right?) in no time! :-P
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my teachers and the entire education system (although flawed) for giving me well rounded education. Those of you who are teachers or are studying to be teachers thank you. You don’t even know how much you are impacting the future of your students, or when they are going to have to pull out the information that you are bestowing on them. God bless you all!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Kids and Computers
2 March 2010
4:43pm
At this moment I have six adorable kids around me. We are sitting on my grass mat outside my hut. I was working on another blog which was almost finished and one of the kids accidently closed the document and erased my work. Oh well. You will hear about my business expertise another time. :-)
The kids are the proud typers of the following prose. :-) They wanted to write their names. The first boy is named Thobi, so I really don’t know what he was trying to write. A few of the others were too little to know how to write their names so we helped them. Here is their handiwork:
Mjhoblcl
Setsabile
Phelele
Mabuti
Neliswa
Sive
Zodwa – I wrote this with my eyes closed and they were amazed!
Lindokuhle dlamini – My 15 year old bhuti came over and also wanted to be a part of the fun :-)
Neliswa and Lindokuhle are the only two who live on my homestead. The others are neighbor kids that hang out in a pack with Neliswa. They are frequently at the homestead playing all sorts of interesting games. I was even taught two new card games, Crazy 8s and Sisu (“Stomach”), by them. When I first arrived in the community most of the younger kids were much more timid around me. Now my presence seems to be their best form of entertainment. I often hear little voiced “Sawubona”s or “Hello”s from homesteads as I walk by. I have a clan of uniformed school children accompanying me home if I walk past the primary school after they are let out for the day.
Just this morning I had about 5 little grade 1 or 2 boys running with me. They burst into laughter as I changed things up and had us doing high knee runs, penguin walks, and butt kicks. They made for a very enjoyable morning jog. I still occasionally get the really small child crying at the site of the crazy white monster, or skittish peeks from around their mothers’ skirts, but I’m building a good report with the youth.
This Friday is the second meeting of Zamokuhle Primary School’s brand new health club! 79 kids have signed up to be a part of my fun/educational group!!! I’m thinking for my sanity, I will need to split them into two groups and have the groups meet on alternating weeks. :-P I’m loving the kids, though!
These are a few of the Neighborhood "Clan". They were playing with bubbles and having a blast! Laughter brought me out of my hut and the scene was so darn cute I had to take a picture... then I joined in on the bubble swatting fun, of course! :-P
4:43pm
At this moment I have six adorable kids around me. We are sitting on my grass mat outside my hut. I was working on another blog which was almost finished and one of the kids accidently closed the document and erased my work. Oh well. You will hear about my business expertise another time. :-)
The kids are the proud typers of the following prose. :-) They wanted to write their names. The first boy is named Thobi, so I really don’t know what he was trying to write. A few of the others were too little to know how to write their names so we helped them. Here is their handiwork:
Mjhoblcl
Setsabile
Phelele
Mabuti
Neliswa
Sive
Zodwa – I wrote this with my eyes closed and they were amazed!
Lindokuhle dlamini – My 15 year old bhuti came over and also wanted to be a part of the fun :-)
Neliswa and Lindokuhle are the only two who live on my homestead. The others are neighbor kids that hang out in a pack with Neliswa. They are frequently at the homestead playing all sorts of interesting games. I was even taught two new card games, Crazy 8s and Sisu (“Stomach”), by them. When I first arrived in the community most of the younger kids were much more timid around me. Now my presence seems to be their best form of entertainment. I often hear little voiced “Sawubona”s or “Hello”s from homesteads as I walk by. I have a clan of uniformed school children accompanying me home if I walk past the primary school after they are let out for the day.
Just this morning I had about 5 little grade 1 or 2 boys running with me. They burst into laughter as I changed things up and had us doing high knee runs, penguin walks, and butt kicks. They made for a very enjoyable morning jog. I still occasionally get the really small child crying at the site of the crazy white monster, or skittish peeks from around their mothers’ skirts, but I’m building a good report with the youth.
This Friday is the second meeting of Zamokuhle Primary School’s brand new health club! 79 kids have signed up to be a part of my fun/educational group!!! I’m thinking for my sanity, I will need to split them into two groups and have the groups meet on alternating weeks. :-P I’m loving the kids, though!
These are a few of the Neighborhood "Clan". They were playing with bubbles and having a blast! Laughter brought me out of my hut and the scene was so darn cute I had to take a picture... then I joined in on the bubble swatting fun, of course! :-P
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Making Mud Pies/Walls
February 25th, 2010
Making Mud Pies/Walls
I don’t believe I have written before about my work with the community support group. I have become a member of a HIV +/- support group started by World Vision. Using my American perceptions, I pictured the support group to be a great psychosocially healthy experience where individuals sat in a circle and shared their experiences, challenges, knowledge, and resources (and if your mind also went to the musical RENT – singing about it :-P). My group has a different definition of support: financial. I have been told by other volunteers that this is a common focus of almost all such groups. People don’t wish to join a group that won’t provide them with some type of food or income generation. Not to fear though, I am also told that once the business aspects of the group are solidified, people have been more receptive to psychosocial discussions and education led by the volunteer! So, short of getting them singing, I hope in time I can assist the group in more than physical labor. Although, this is what I was doing when creating the story worthy moment (and pictures) I want to share in this entry. :-)
Every Saturday morning a group of about 6-12 women and 1 man (1 of only 2 males in the group) gather to continue to construct the chicken coop that the group has decided will be its income generation project. Previous Saturdays I have joined the women on their 20min track out to the woods to hack down some small trees as poles. I have to admit I was not naturally talented at this task, especially when they insisted I close my eyes because the sap is thought to cause blindness. Carrying the trees/poles on my head or shoulders was also a bit tricky to master, but after finding the balancing point it is not too difficult. A moment I wish I had had a camera for, though, was when I produced my membership contribution to the project: a live chicken. My Make (also a member) and I walked to the meeting together that day. I had on a baby blue baseball cap, salmon colored long sleeve sun shirt, and brown capris with a lihiya (long colorful fabric) wrapped around my taboo pants. I was a funny site to begin with. Now add to this comic picture a black live chicken under one arm and a 2 meter stick in the other! :-) We were quite the pair walking down the dirt road that day.
Somehow I have digressed from the story at hand! My most recent visit to the project, 2/13/10, started as they usually do… me completely clueless of what is happening and how I can possibly help. Behind the stick structure with a tin roof that has been constructed from our previous trips to the woods, a few women start digging up the earth and putting soil into a wheelbarrow. I think, “I can do that!” and grab myself a tool. This, as does everything else that involves me working, shocks all of the Swazis I in my presence. Many say, “Uyakwati!” which means “You know how!” Anyway, after a quite the pile of soil as been moved from its home behind the coop to the front, a bucket of water is poured on it and a few women take their shoes off and start mixing it with their feet!! Heck yeah! I was all about the mud stomping! My shoes quickly came off and I dug my toes into the gushy, mucky, probably bug infested natural goo. Laughter immediately ensued from the women and myself! A scene from “A Walk in the Clouds” came to mind and “Crush the grapes! Crush the grapes! Crush the grapes!” musically repeated itself over and over again. :-P
The mud that we were so gracefully creating (sarcasm alert – I almost slipped multiple times!), was slapped up against the stick walls as a plaster. I now know how to make the stick and mud structures that a large percentage of my community lives in. It was an interesting experience, and luckily I had my camera on me for it! Hopefully the project will be completed in a month… maybe two… and then I will try to get everyone to set a bit of time aside at the monthly meetings to discuss health related topics of their choosing. Right now I am enjoying the physical activity, the bonding opportunities with my neighbors, and an experience that allows me to finally put my childhood mud pie making skills to good use!
Making Mud Pies/Walls
I don’t believe I have written before about my work with the community support group. I have become a member of a HIV +/- support group started by World Vision. Using my American perceptions, I pictured the support group to be a great psychosocially healthy experience where individuals sat in a circle and shared their experiences, challenges, knowledge, and resources (and if your mind also went to the musical RENT – singing about it :-P). My group has a different definition of support: financial. I have been told by other volunteers that this is a common focus of almost all such groups. People don’t wish to join a group that won’t provide them with some type of food or income generation. Not to fear though, I am also told that once the business aspects of the group are solidified, people have been more receptive to psychosocial discussions and education led by the volunteer! So, short of getting them singing, I hope in time I can assist the group in more than physical labor. Although, this is what I was doing when creating the story worthy moment (and pictures) I want to share in this entry. :-)
Every Saturday morning a group of about 6-12 women and 1 man (1 of only 2 males in the group) gather to continue to construct the chicken coop that the group has decided will be its income generation project. Previous Saturdays I have joined the women on their 20min track out to the woods to hack down some small trees as poles. I have to admit I was not naturally talented at this task, especially when they insisted I close my eyes because the sap is thought to cause blindness. Carrying the trees/poles on my head or shoulders was also a bit tricky to master, but after finding the balancing point it is not too difficult. A moment I wish I had had a camera for, though, was when I produced my membership contribution to the project: a live chicken. My Make (also a member) and I walked to the meeting together that day. I had on a baby blue baseball cap, salmon colored long sleeve sun shirt, and brown capris with a lihiya (long colorful fabric) wrapped around my taboo pants. I was a funny site to begin with. Now add to this comic picture a black live chicken under one arm and a 2 meter stick in the other! :-) We were quite the pair walking down the dirt road that day.
Somehow I have digressed from the story at hand! My most recent visit to the project, 2/13/10, started as they usually do… me completely clueless of what is happening and how I can possibly help. Behind the stick structure with a tin roof that has been constructed from our previous trips to the woods, a few women start digging up the earth and putting soil into a wheelbarrow. I think, “I can do that!” and grab myself a tool. This, as does everything else that involves me working, shocks all of the Swazis I in my presence. Many say, “Uyakwati!” which means “You know how!” Anyway, after a quite the pile of soil as been moved from its home behind the coop to the front, a bucket of water is poured on it and a few women take their shoes off and start mixing it with their feet!! Heck yeah! I was all about the mud stomping! My shoes quickly came off and I dug my toes into the gushy, mucky, probably bug infested natural goo. Laughter immediately ensued from the women and myself! A scene from “A Walk in the Clouds” came to mind and “Crush the grapes! Crush the grapes! Crush the grapes!” musically repeated itself over and over again. :-P
The mud that we were so gracefully creating (sarcasm alert – I almost slipped multiple times!), was slapped up against the stick walls as a plaster. I now know how to make the stick and mud structures that a large percentage of my community lives in. It was an interesting experience, and luckily I had my camera on me for it! Hopefully the project will be completed in a month… maybe two… and then I will try to get everyone to set a bit of time aside at the monthly meetings to discuss health related topics of their choosing. Right now I am enjoying the physical activity, the bonding opportunities with my neighbors, and an experience that allows me to finally put my childhood mud pie making skills to good use!
Groundhog's Day!
So, you know I wouldn't be me if I didn't celebrate Groundhog's Day no matter where I was in the world. This Swaziland adventure is no exception! I was able to have a friend over, make tacos (big accomplishment in Swaziland), and talk to some amazing friends and family from the States! To start what I know will become yearly festivities amongst my volunteer friends I wrote an article for our post's monthly journal called the "SoJo". With my Mother's help on historical research, and a few international telephone interviews with Phil, I wrote the following. Enjoy and again, a VERY HAPPY GROUNDHOGS DAY from Swaziland!
SoJo's Official Weather Report
My morning ritual of sweeping the hut, a “refreshing” bucket bath, followed by breakfast has many times been accompanied by 93.9FM English Channel out of Mbabane. I was first introduced to this station by a community member who informed me that just after 6am and then again at 7am I could be informed about the day’s weather. This discovery made me very excited because, until then, my sisi was the closest I had to a weather girl, and her “glance to the sky” predictions were not always the most accurate. After only a few days of listening to the radio, though, I began to distrust the validity of the forecast. When there was a “very good chance of showers in the afternoon”, my 3pm sky would be cloudless. Their high temperature readings for Big Bend would be estimated at around 30-32 degrees Celsius, when my little thermometer was getting a reading of 40.6 degrees Celsius in the morning shade. My favorite was when they talked about cool and rainy conditions throughout the course of the day and then as an afterthought tagged on the line “…for the Western part of the country”. I guess I shouldn’t complain about the English channel forgetting to report about the weather at my site. For the past few months the lowveld has experienced HOT and DRY conditions pretty much day in and day out, but I believe there has to be a more reliable weather source out there…
Oh boy there is! In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania there is the world’s smallest and furriest weather forecaster known to all as Phil. I have been informed by highly reputable and reliable sources (my Mother & friends) that on February 2nd, 2010, Groundhog’s Day, he made the prognostication that the northern hemisphere will experience six more weeks of winter. I have taken his amazing wisdom and scientific expertise and translated it to our very own Swaziland. Thus, due to him seeing his shadow and relaying this to the Inner Council on Gobbler’s Knob in “Groundhogese”, we will have six more weeks of summer. Lowveld will continue to be hot and dry, Highveld will continue to be rainy, and Midveld will continue to be juuuuuust right. The Groundhog decrees, thus it shall be.
For the skeptics and/or genus discriminating few who believe that the Groundhog should not be allowed in the field of weather prediction, I would like to inform you that Phil has had a 100% accuracy rate since his first public prediction in 1887! In the 1700s his unique skill was recognized in his American ancestors by the German settlers who believed, as many Europeans did, that the immerging of hibernating animals was an omen that spring was soon to arrive. In that time and for centuries before, February 2nd was not dedicated to the amazingness of the groundhog, but was instead celebrated as Candlemas Day. On this religious holiday the custom was for clergy to bless candles and distribute them amongst the people. Being the halfway mark between winter and spring, the weather on that day was also observed and a prediction was made. According to an old Scotch couplet, “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, There’ll be two winters in the year”, and an old English song states, “If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again”.
In summary, if the weather is cloudy on this auspicious day, Phil will know that spring is around the corner and stay awake. If the weather is sunny, as it was this year, Phil will see his shadow and decide to hit the snooze button for another 6 week nap to avoid the wintery weather that will surely come. You really can’t get a more experienced, knowledgeable weather forecaster than Phil. If you still don’t believe me, listen to 93.9FM at 6am or 7am and your faith in the groundhog will grow as you realize the humans have no clue.
SoJo's Official Weather Report
My morning ritual of sweeping the hut, a “refreshing” bucket bath, followed by breakfast has many times been accompanied by 93.9FM English Channel out of Mbabane. I was first introduced to this station by a community member who informed me that just after 6am and then again at 7am I could be informed about the day’s weather. This discovery made me very excited because, until then, my sisi was the closest I had to a weather girl, and her “glance to the sky” predictions were not always the most accurate. After only a few days of listening to the radio, though, I began to distrust the validity of the forecast. When there was a “very good chance of showers in the afternoon”, my 3pm sky would be cloudless. Their high temperature readings for Big Bend would be estimated at around 30-32 degrees Celsius, when my little thermometer was getting a reading of 40.6 degrees Celsius in the morning shade. My favorite was when they talked about cool and rainy conditions throughout the course of the day and then as an afterthought tagged on the line “…for the Western part of the country”. I guess I shouldn’t complain about the English channel forgetting to report about the weather at my site. For the past few months the lowveld has experienced HOT and DRY conditions pretty much day in and day out, but I believe there has to be a more reliable weather source out there…
Oh boy there is! In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania there is the world’s smallest and furriest weather forecaster known to all as Phil. I have been informed by highly reputable and reliable sources (my Mother & friends) that on February 2nd, 2010, Groundhog’s Day, he made the prognostication that the northern hemisphere will experience six more weeks of winter. I have taken his amazing wisdom and scientific expertise and translated it to our very own Swaziland. Thus, due to him seeing his shadow and relaying this to the Inner Council on Gobbler’s Knob in “Groundhogese”, we will have six more weeks of summer. Lowveld will continue to be hot and dry, Highveld will continue to be rainy, and Midveld will continue to be juuuuuust right. The Groundhog decrees, thus it shall be.
For the skeptics and/or genus discriminating few who believe that the Groundhog should not be allowed in the field of weather prediction, I would like to inform you that Phil has had a 100% accuracy rate since his first public prediction in 1887! In the 1700s his unique skill was recognized in his American ancestors by the German settlers who believed, as many Europeans did, that the immerging of hibernating animals was an omen that spring was soon to arrive. In that time and for centuries before, February 2nd was not dedicated to the amazingness of the groundhog, but was instead celebrated as Candlemas Day. On this religious holiday the custom was for clergy to bless candles and distribute them amongst the people. Being the halfway mark between winter and spring, the weather on that day was also observed and a prediction was made. According to an old Scotch couplet, “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, There’ll be two winters in the year”, and an old English song states, “If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again”.
In summary, if the weather is cloudy on this auspicious day, Phil will know that spring is around the corner and stay awake. If the weather is sunny, as it was this year, Phil will see his shadow and decide to hit the snooze button for another 6 week nap to avoid the wintery weather that will surely come. You really can’t get a more experienced, knowledgeable weather forecaster than Phil. If you still don’t believe me, listen to 93.9FM at 6am or 7am and your faith in the groundhog will grow as you realize the humans have no clue.
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