Adventures in Swaziland..

Hm.... I can't remember what I wrote last time so I'll do my best not to repeat myself. I think my last post talked about Kruger National Park, which was absolutely amazing... I could honestly spend another week there scoping out the wildlife if I had the time. Since then, my fellow volunteers and I have started our various projects. My volunteer projects involve 1) Building a new child care center for orphans who cannot afford to go to school. Many of these children do not have parents and they have lost them to HIV/AIDS. At the building site I have experienced manual labor like never before using wheelbarrels to haul dirt and cement to make bricks in a brick machine where we have to pump a lever up and down to compress the dirt and cement to form a brick, then remove it from the machine, place it on the ground and wait a couple days for it to dry to use it on the bulding. The first day I started the building had no walls, today the building's walls are about 4 feet high! In addition to the care center which is really like a daycare/school, we are also constructing an open-air soup kitchen to feed those in the community who are in need. Also, there is a wooden store room which is nearly completed. And last, but definitely not least, the there are 3 separate rooms for the toilets for girls, boys and teachers. There is a public shool only 50 feet away from our building site for young children and their parent's pay for their schooling. However, the children use their playground as rest room because someone tore them down. It's unsettling to look over and see the children urinating where they play, but that's just how it is Most people here in Swaziland live much different lives than we are used to in the states. They have chickens and goats running freely, wash their clothes my hand, carry heavy items on their heads, and speak a language that i can barely understand. And I love it. It has opened my eyes a great deal and allows me to appreciate everything I have back at home... (and realize I have way too much "stuff"). One of the women who works for our volunteer organization was so kind as to invite the voluneers over to her one room home and make us traditional Swazi food. We packed her home with all ten bodies and had a great time listening to music and dancing!
A little bit about Swaziland: The Kingdom of Swaziland is run by the king and is a patriarchal society where the men rule the roost. Men are able to take many wives, but have to pay a dowry to their fiancee's family. They pay this dowry in cows. So frequently Swazi men will ask you to marry them, and we give them response "how many cows will you give me?" apparently 25 is a good number, but I ususually tell them my parents are asking for more. I have to get off the computer now so I have to cut this short. I will be going to Mozambique Oct 26-31 to snorkel in the indian ocean with whales sharks, I will try to get some pics to share!!!!