Sawubona!

I've now been in Swaziland for 3 weeks and 3 days and absolutely loving it! It is a beautiful country, full of wonderfully friendly people and a fascinating culture.
The journey to get here was long and tiring, consisting of 3 planes, a four hour stop over and an hour car ride! But eventually we made it to Big Bend, Swaziland, my new home for a year! The drive from the airport, near Manzini, to Big Bend was amazing. It took us right through the heart of Swaziland, introducing us to many of the wonderful features this country has to offer. We drove through valleys, with rolling hills surrounding us on either side. We drove past homesteads, where you could see traditional houses and people going about their daily lives. We drove past goats and cattle wondering along or at the side of the road. The dry looking landscape was breathtaking and so African looking! I don't know how to describe it, but everything I saw was how I invisioned Africa to be but at the same time not. There is something very unique about Swaziland that it makes different to other African countries but it is a country of Africa all the same.

For the first few days we stayed with our hosts, to allow us to settle into our new surroundings. On our third day we were taken to Hlane National Park, which  is a Big Game Reserve just north of Big Bend. The sun was shining, a lovely 36 degrees celcius, and we went a 4x4 drive around the park. We had only just entered the reserve when we came across two rhino by the side of the track. This was my first real experience of seeing such enormous creatures in the wild and it is one I shall never forget. Here I was, in Africa, on my first ever safari! The day failed to dissapoint. We saw rhino, impala, wilderbeast, hippo, crocodiles, zebra, warthog, a giraffe and its baby (which is apparently a rare sight!) and an elephant, which we got so close to I could have alomst touched it when it walked by my window!

On the Sunday after out arrival we moved into the hostel, which was to be our home for the next year. My room is quite small, with only a bed, a desk and two small cupboards. I've decroated it with pictures of friends and family, some posters and a scotland flag to make it feel a but more personal. The girls at the hostel are extremely loud and it is a rare occasion when we get some peace and quiet! At first, the hostel took some getting use to, as it's like being on school camp every single day, but I'm now starting to get into a routine of things within the hostel and it is all quite normal now. Each morning the bell goes off at 5am to wake the girls up for school. This means each morning is a very early start! While I don't have to get up till 6am, it is hard to get back to sleep, as the bell continues to ring regularly and the girls make an awful lot of noise considering the time of day! I'm already fed up of the food they serve at hostel. Every meals involves meat. Every meals involves stodgey rice or pap. Every meals involves gravy. I will definitely not be able to cope with this for a year.

The projects are challenging but rewarding. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings (8-12) we work at the Moriah Centre, which is a mission pre-school just up the road. The school is run by a lady, Di Hampson, and is funded by a collection of international churches. Around 30 children attend, and all are from under-privalleged backgrounds. I teach the Lions class (5-7 year olds) and most of them will (hopefully) be going to primary school next year. These children are an abolsute delight to teach! They are well behaved (as well as can be expected of a 5 year old anyway!) and are extremely eager to learn. The Moriah Center is well established and well run. The lesson plans for the classes cover everything, preparing the children as best they can for primary school and the future. The building itself is very basic, and nothing campared to the standards back in the UK. There are 3 classrooms (Lepoards, Cheetahs and Lions), a small hall where the children do P.E and sing and a small communial area when they will eat their food. Each day the children will get half a peanut butter sandwich at snack time and at the end of the day will be given some lunch to take home (as the majority of these kids won't be fed at home because of poverty).

The second pre-school that we go to is called Injabulo. We run this practically by ourselves and it is already proving to be one of the most challenging things ever! All there is is a building with only two classrooms, no running water and no electicity. There are not other teachers here, or anybody who looks after the building and so the whole running of the pre-school lyes on our shoulders! The kids at Injabulo are brilliant, although have no discipline! There are many improvements to be made here but that is all part of our challenge this year. We are struggling to find a permanent translator who will come with us to help the children to understand what we teach them which is proving a problem as it means it is near impossible to do anything with the children, as they just don't understand! When we first arrived, the classrooms weren't being cleaned (which mothers within the community are meant to do) but we have since sorted this problem out. Each day, someone will come and cook mealie or pap on a fire under a tree, which the children can then each at snack time. Injabulo is situated in a very rural area. To get there requires a 20 minute drive along a dirt track road and over a croc infested river. It is a very beautiful drive though, and not one everyone gets to take to work! On our way to the school we pick up some of the children who have a long walk to get there. I love this project, even though it leaves me frustrated at the lack of organisation or effort put in by the community. Some days are stressful and a complete struggle but others are amazing and great fun! I'm detremined to try my best though and to over come the many, many challenges that arise as it is a pleasure to teach such fantastic children, and this really is their only hope of ever making it to primary school!

Soup Kitchen is emotionally very challenging, and gives me a few reality checks every time I go. On a Tuesday and Friday afternoon, Robyn and I, will make a stew type meal out of leftovers from the hostel and a local restuarant. We then take this stew, along with a container of water to a village north of Big Bend, where many orphaned children live. There is a small hut there where we serve out some of the stew and bread to around 50 children, who all line up with their plastic containers. The children really are desparate for the food we bring. The two times we come a week are the two times these children will eat a week. We often stay behind after serving out the good to play games with the kids which is great fun! It breaks my heart though, to know that many of them only live with their siblings and are extremely malnourished! It is a hard project, and it is painful to see some of these children in the condition they are, but it is one I love and am determined to do my best in!

So that is pretty much life in Swaziland, not to forget the swimming lessons we take on a Tuesday and Thursday, and soccer practice on a Monday and Wednesday. Life here is amazing and I am thoroughly enjoying my time so far!

Thanks for reading and I'll update again soon!