America the Beautiful

Sanibonani (Hello) Friends!

I am so excited to be writing you. I can’t believe it is only a matter of weeks that I will be returning back to the US. You know when you start planning a trip somewhere and then becomes real once you start researching airline tickets and dates? Well, that is what is happening. It is November, but all I can think about are my plans for going home and prepping my work place to leave. I think now it is purely excitement thinking about going back to the US after two and a half years of being gone and I anxiously await seeing my friends and family, ESPECIALLY my nieces and nephews! I’m sure they have changed! I have too though. Actually, I am now a 4 foot man with a beard. It looks good on me if I do say so myself. I can’t wait to see how all of you have changed too! I will be back home in January for my 26th birthday and I can’t imagine a better gift than to see all of you again.

Host Family and Swazi Life:

So this month I’ve tried to take advantage of time with friends and exploring new adventures since I will be returning home soon. First, I decided to climb Sheba’s Breast, a small “mountain” in the HhoHho region of Swaziland. So when the Swaziland Breast cancer awareness walk was offering a chance to do a 10k/5k run last month up the paths of Sheba’s Breast, I jumped on it! I decided to do both a 5k and 10k back to back. Last year I ran a half marathon so in the back of my head I thought that eventhough I sit around in an office now and never miss a meal...I still am in the same physical condition I was a year ago living in my hut. I assumed wrong. My friend Rachel and I were about half dead running 5 minutes up the mountain and my friend Matthew ended up carrying our bags all the way up. Haha Soon the racers (mostly senior citizens) began to pass us. I just flapped my arm to signal to go around us on the steep path up because I didn’t have breath to say it. Needless to say, we only finished the 10k race. Only 3 older people were at the finish line when we pulled through to congratulate. The others had already left. Haha

To continue my adventures I convinced a visiting scholar from Columbia to go to Kruger Park, a game reserve in South Africa, with me. It was my last chance to see the “Big 5”. The Big 5 includes the Rhino, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, and Buffalo. From what I am told, they were the 5 big animals mostly hunted in Africa through history. I have seen all of them up til now…except the leopard. The leopard is stealthy and rare to spot (…pun intended!) and so I took this last chance to explore my luck. We backed a loaf of bread, peanut butter, apples, a block of cheese (that should have been refrigerated…my stomach cramps now seem justified), and a 5liter water container. We packed the back of our tiny Euro car and were off! We decided not to take any tours, but to go into the game drive alone and try to find the animals ourselves for three days. We were tugging up trails with that poor car on paths clearly meant and made by large animals. In the US, I am scared to hit deer crossing the road. This will probably be the last time I will be scared to hit an elephant family that is walking by. I should have worn a diaper because on multiple times we brushed elbows with death, I thought I was going to pee my pants. One time in particular we got lost. Why would we buy a map? We were on an adventure…and broke! We ended up somehow on this off road up on top of some mountain full of trees and bushes. I spotted a heard/pack/whatever of dinosaurs and what later turned our to be elephants! These elephants were HUGE and looked like they ate cars our size for breakfast. I’ve had bad experiences before with elephants at a game park in Swaziland. One charged me after I tried to take a picture in front of it eating a hotdog. Anyway, it is spring which means lots of babies throughout the park and most importantly, lots of protective mothers. This was no exception. As I slowly realized they were coming, we became very quiet and I turned off the car to appear invisible. Well, it kinda worked until 5 babies surrounded the car with one angry very large mother. She noticed us and threw her trunk up while flapping her ears. (I needed a new clean pair of shorts.) It was intense and for 30 minutes we were trapped. We were afraid to breathe just in case that would make her mad. We didn’t move and she eventually left, but not without showing her anger. They slowly walked off the path and two of the elephants began fighting. Karla and I slowly drove forward after I took my hands from covering my eyes and I slowly pulled forward away from the group of elephants. We survived. After we bathed stopped shaking, we began talking about how cool that was but neither of us wanted to spot another elephant for the rest of the day. 10 minutes later a new group of elephants found us along another path. Kruger Park is not made for armatures and by the end of our adventure we felt like Pacos Bill and Paul Bunyan. We fought monkeys who tried to vandalize our backseat, set free a large scorpion that got lost within our tent cover, and learn how to outrun a rhino who clearly didn’t want his photo taken. It was an amazing trip and at the perfect time. Driving up and down the mountains and terrains of the southern region of the park for hours on end looking for animals was amazing and therapeutic. There were wild flowers and beautiful sunsets. I felt so much peace there and the adventure left us both feeling quite liberated. To rad more about these adventures...and to see lots of pictures go to karlainafrica.blogspot.com

My host family brother got position one in his class. When I lived at home with the family, I really invested in this brother. He was sick for a while and during that time we really bonded. Sadly he hasn’t been able to pay his school fees to attend school this term because he is an orphan. Thankfully, I finally talked about it with my parents and they offered to help. This is common though and it got me thinking that often times when we donate money or try helping people in other countries, we just give money to the situation. I’m happy my parents can trust that the money is directly going to school fees because I am putting it in the account for them and that we know the child and his living situation. I’ve been living with him for two years so its nice to really see what the need is and the best way to help. I know we don’t always have the opportunity of directly knowing the person we are trying to help especially when donating to large organizations, but if this is something you are interested in, I want you to look at a website called Young Heroes. My good friend is the director and also my pal does a lot of the consulting within the program. They are about 5 staff deep, but they manage and are all very passionate about the work they do. It really is amazing. They are people of integrity and are on leadership team with me for Hole In the Wall camps here in Swaziland. If you are interested in seeing their work or want to help them, take a look at their webpage. There are some cool stories on there and also some great pictures. I was considering signing up my brother to be apart of their program to get help, but they only take double orphans (both mother and father are deceased). My brother’s father is living, but it is still tough because he still doesn’t financially support the child. This program is great though and they are always willing to talk to you and offer invitations to come visit the kids that you end up assisting. www.youngheroes.org.sz

Entertainment
I was in the newspaper about two weekends ago. It was supposed to be an article about Peace Crops work in Swaziland and so the PC director asked me to interview on behalf of the program. One of the articles had a special piece about my love life. Haha According to the article, I am "stressed by love proposals” (if that doesn't like I have a big head…than I don't know what would) and I am currently not dating anyone. Sounds like a dating column? I thought so too! The funny thing is, we didn’t even talk about that during the interview. There are few people who know about my love life, but thankfully I now have the entire Kingdom of Swaziland to discuss it with.

Work
Like I said earlier, I will be home in about 10 weeks! While I am trying to slow down my work life and not start new projects, it has been difficult. My whole Swazi existence has been to get involved in anything and everything, so now as I turn down or pass off projects to others it feels a bit sad. Its like I am missing an opportunity to help, but I know I would be doing more harm than good getting involved in new projects now. By Thanksgiving all my work as Baylor’s Teen Club coordinator will officially be over and I will just be working at camp. I think these next few weeks will fly by quickly. Scary! I’ve really enjoyed the amazing and challenging experiences I’ve had here in Southern Africa and it will be sad to say goodbye to not only host families and communities that I lived with the past two years, but the new city friends and connections I’ve made in these past few months.

We are opening a new support group in the Lubombo region. It’s the first of its kind. I so excited for Teen Club and the progress that has been made. We are planning a giant Christmas party for the kids in December. There are 350 of them that are in the program. We’ve been trying to get donations for the past month to help pay for the party. Its been going well and we are on our way to a great Christmas. Last Christmas I received the worst sunburn of my life. Not a lump of coal, but 3rd degree burns from head to toe by laying on the beaches of the Indian Ocean. I’m hoping Santa brings me sunblock this year.
I’m sad I need to start saying by to the kids now. I won’t be there for December Teen Club because of camp. My little friend, Masotja (name changed), is a little Casanova. He is 14 years old and ever since I started as the support group coordinator, he has joyfully given me these cute little winks and smiles. He just found out I was leaving. I missed one of my HIV teen support group meetings last month to work on applications for grad school. The southern support group has a special place in my heart because it’s the one I started when I first became coordinator and a lot of kids from last camp I recruited from that area. Masotja was telling the adults that since I wasn't there that day it wasn't going to be fun. The purpose of support group, of course, is to get the kids to meet each other, but when the adults that attended that day told me this I couldn't help but be a little flattered. Haha Masotja's little brother also had HIV and passed away earlier that week. This job is really humbling and I see how disposable I am too. Many people (I can think of a few of you back at home!) that could coordinate this program better and more effortlessly than I do I’m sure! I try though and sometimes I wish my work with Masotja and others could go on forever. I also recognize its time to go back home. It will be bitter sweet leaving after the past 2 ½ years. I know though that there will be plenty of people left behind here that will pick up where I left off and continue to mold these kids. I’m gonna miss the teens I work with, especially those I’ve managed to really get to know well. Camp in December will be a great way to end and I will build relationships with lots of new kids. I just pray that it isn’t too exhausting emotionally right before I depart for America. My last support group is next week in Masotja’s region of Swaziland. I’ve been there since the opening, so I know the kids. Those little turkeys are gonna tear me up next Saturday!


See you soon! I know some of you are married, have beards now (I’m talking to you, Tina), new haircuts, fresh tattoos, babies, and maybe even a mix of the above…tattooed bearded babies, but whatever the changes that have happened to you since I left in 2008, know that I am excited to apart of them again. I’m also excited to play Pop 5 while eating Mexican food…after taking a 40 min shower. I’m counting the days and asking for your prayers as I try to end things well here. If you think of it, I would appreciate your help. Thank you guy so much for your support through prayer, donations for the roofing project, packages, letters and phone calls the past 31 months! I know I wouldn’t have made it this long without your support. Love you guys and talk to you…SEE you all soon! XXX

Ntokozo

Hey everyone! Wow, I’ve missed you!Camp is finished! (sigh) The planning and late hours that had consumed my life for the months of July and August is over! Although a sense of relief goes through my body when I think about it, I get excited thinking of all the young friends I had made and hope to see again at Teen Club meetings. A little less than 100 campers went through our 2 week long camp. Each teen had been disclosed to about their HIV positive status. Our camp leadership team (4 of us representing organizations like Young Heroes, EGPAF, and Baylor) worked night and day prepping and training for the upcoming adventure and getting people ready for our 3 ½ week absence. As time lead up to camp, I was being challenged emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. I don’t know if it was a sense of homesickness (both the US and for the home I had made in the rural areas that I had left in order to begin work with Baylor Clinic in the capital), exhaustion, unfamiliarity with…everything, or stress of time and over commitment that left my days long. A lot of my friends around me from the past two years were heading back to the USA and some of my local friends were going through personal hardships, all of which came at once. I wasn’t sure if I could handle 3 weeks of no sleep once camp season rolled around, but I can honestly say camp came at the exact time I needed it.


(above: We was "the head" inside a box during an evening box skit. People would look under boxes on a table and yell to the audience what was under the box. My head was in one of them. People would flip out and in some cases, chuck the box back at my face because they got scared. hahah ouch.)


Whether it was when I was dressed up in rubber gloves and BO smelling blankets guarding a rubber chicken for an hour in 90 degree heat before being tied to the ground by 11 year old boys or maybe it was while I was doing the “Cha Cha Slide” with a cafeteria staff, but camp gave me clarity. Although there were many great moments, let me tell you about the 2 things that filled my heart with joy and readjusted my hope in only a matter of weeks.

Through out the week for every meal, one of the teens would be surprised by being announced as “Super Camper”. It would be their time to be recognized in front of everyone (staff and other campers) about something good they were found doing. Maybe it was holding the door open for someone or cleaning up dishes for the people sitting next to them at lunch. We start by pounding on anything we can find and singing the song “We Will Rock You” throughout the cafeteria. When a camper’s name is called, they are shocked! One time in particular was amazing. A kid wanted to be super camper so bad and worked so hard to do the right thing throughout the week. His name is Zakhele and after his parents died he was pushed around from relative to relative looking for a place to stay. He is 15 years old and sells candy to kids in school to help pay for his school fees. He has an amazing story, just like many of the others, but when his name was called for Super Camper he did something different. Usually the kids scream and run to the front to get their bracelet. Zakhele though continued to sit. We looked over at him not sure if he heard his name and just then he suddenly through his fists wide in the air, leaned his head back with his eyes closed while everyone all the kids cheered for him and he let out a big, “YESSSSSSSSSS!” It was like that was the moment he was waiting for his whole life. Once the cheers die down, we yell a chant. We had 50-60 kids/staff and cooks yelling, “Ungu Zakhele! Ungu Zakhele! Ungu soooooo Zakhele!” English: “YOU are Zakhele! YOU are Zakhele! YOU are soooo Zakhele!” Meaning something like, you are unique and special and there is no one like YOU! The camper usually just stands there beaming and soaking in all the people that are screaming, taking pictures with cardboard cameras, and cheering for them just because they were caught holding someone’s jacket while they went to the bathroom that morning. It’s PIMP!


(above: a picture of one of the kids putting up his Super Camper award on the "hall of fame" wall. note that it is really loud at this moment while people are screaming and congratualting the camper.)


For me, I tried by all means to empower staff quickly (but effectively of course haha) as being on leadership team, but I also wanted to play with the kids! Within the first few days of the second camp, I found the coolest kid ever. He was such a polite and independent little dude and always willing to help his friends. I didn’t get to hang with him as much as I would have wanted to, because he was in the boy’s cabin. We would play during all camp games, meals and fall victim to each other’s occasional “tap the shoulder and walk away” bit when passing in the hallway. We clicked. Either had the maturity of a 25 year old blonde girl or I had one of a 12 year old boy. I watched all the kids the whole week do great things for each other, but Ntokozo was unique, kind and really humble.

The last day of camp I came late into the giant circle of kids all holding hands. We were going to eat breakfast and then go pack our things to go home. I snuck in next to two girls and made myself part of the circle. I thought I saw Ntokozo out of the corner of my eye across the room with all his friends, so I was surprised when I felt his hand tap me on the back to join the circle next to me. He broke in between me and the little girl and grasped my hand tightly. He didn't look up at me to see my reaction or anything. He just held my hand tight and closed his eyes as we listened to a camper pray for the food. Once we all said “amen”, he looked up, smiled and walked back to his friends again. That kid was/is the bomb. Ntokozo loved on everyone. He managed to make people feel like their presence mattered. He did that for many people throughout the week. He would be the first kid to run and give high fives to each kid who received a super camper award, he cheered wildly for every child in games (even if he had never talked to the person before in his life), and he went out of his way to help people out. What a kid, huh? He is 12 years old and to some, he may have many good reasons to be angry with life. He was born with HIV and fights the stigma in Swaziland everyday, yet his personal stresses didn’t seem to even bother him or effect the way he treats people.

By the end of camp, it was no longer about kids coming together because they were victims of HIV. Some of our staff also had the virus. We all managed to build a safe community for two weeks where all our troubles from home or with life were gone. Not just for the teens, but even for us staff. We were teaching our kids things and our kids were teaching us things.

I can choose to see my experiences the past few months as difficult in many ways. Despite the challenges that have seemed to overwhelm me lately, how can I use them to grow rather than become stressed. Ntokozo didn’t show good character because everything was perfect in his life. Who knows of the other hardships at home he may be facing and the stigma that he struggles with from friends and family daily. He helped others because he embraced his challenges and circumstances. He chooses to be better than what life is offering him. His actions were a reflection of the person inside. I want a humble heart like Ntokozo. I told you before and I will say it again, “He is the bomb” and that's if you fold it in half. Camp was just what I needed. :)


(above: This shot was taken while all 50 campers one week chased me around a soccer field. I'm the one way to the right...the one with the white thighs. Bad day to wear a skirt I guess.)


Thanks so much for the prayers and calls from home. You guys are great and are never far from my thoughts. I now (2 years later) figured out how to text people in the US. Awesome. haha Keep your cell phones close in case you get a little surprise from south of the equator. (Sounds like slang for if you pooped your pants, but what it means is maybe I can send you a text from down here in South Africa!) Take care friends!

Meet the Fockers

WOW! It’s been so long! How are all of you? Just so you know you haven’t been forgotten and I hope you haven’t forgotten me- your good ol’ friend south of the Equator. I feel like I have neglected this blog the past two months, so I apoloize. When the supply is low, the demand is high. ☺ Thankfully, I did have some complaints which was kinda nice because now I know I wasn’t writing just to make myself think people wanted to read about my life. Haha Social ranking in this life relies heavily on whether or not you have a blog on the world wide web. I am proud to say that I will be able to write more regularly now that I have moved to closer to a computer! I have moved to the big city (Mbabane) to begin with Baylor as the Teen Club Support Group Coordinator. I’m overwhelmed by the conveniences of life in the capital and my regular showering habits. I’m clean! No longer is it like my host community in southern Swaziland having everyone eagerly greet me by name, children repeatedly yelling, “Ha whar uuu??” when walking past the school, and being allowed to go to the bathroom whenever I want. Apparently those rules don’t apply in the capital city and people get offended if you squat on their yard. Haha Just kidding. The truth is though, people don’t care as much when I arrive to the Baylor Clinic and the children in the city have better English than I do I’ve noticed. To both your and my surprise, I’ve been busy but it feels good to be back blogging to my homies back in the US.

Once I arrived from Lesotho over Easter, I got right into work. Lacey De Jager and Adam Sieff came to visit! Which having friends and family from back at home visit are one of the highlights of being here! Although it was nice to catch up a bit, we enjoyed our adventures that could only happen when the three of us unite. Let me brief you because we could talk about this vacation for days: Lacey was a champ. We went to Mozambique and made a lot of random friends. We hung out with a girl named Judith form Mexico City, chatted it up with some dudes from Chile and Argentina, drank out of of coconuts near the beach, bought jewelry from local markets, and hiked around the entire city of Maputo about 100 times. We were on a poor man’s budget so we ate our weight in local Mozambiquan bread and tuna packets she packed from home. Haha It was so fun. I had an event the first weekend Lacey came, so she helped me coordinate half of it. We held a career fair for all the youth in my area. It had its crazy moments (a lot of them actually), but at the end of the day the purpose of the event was met. It was a totally humbling experience. I know it would have not been of any success without the people praying for it constantly and having the amazing volunteers/friends helping out. Lacey took over the workshop part with my host aunt (Thobile) while I ran the other half. They were champs. 36 students and out out school youth from 8 local high schools within the area I live were able to learn how to write resumes, have successful interviews, and how to start their own businesses after/during school to generate income for their families. I invited a program called Juinor Achievement Program to facilitate the project and it went really well. The kids enjoyed the presentation and now have the information to begin business clubs within their schools to teach other students how to begin income generation. At the same time (poor planning maybe? Haha) I was coordinating a Future Planning Day for all the youth within a 15K radius. Eight high schools came throughout the day to participate and a lot of drop out/out of school youth that are unemployed came. Population Service International came to do HIV testing (which is difficult to test teenagers) for two hours for the youth who were sitting around. I gave incentives to get tested for HIV (Adam Sieff’s “Sieffstyle” CD) and everyone got a prize. 30 kids were tested and 10 kids were recruited for male circumcision, which helps reduce the chances of contracting HIV. It was so fun and God really showed himself during the constant challenges faced and overcome during the course of the day. ☺ Long story short, Lacey was really busy the entire time she was in Africa but she helped me in so many ways with all my projects and community work. I’m so thankful she came. She even helped me finish up the library we built in the high school. She wrote down book numbers and recorded everything for us to organize the room. When Adam came, we took on Swaziland to the max. We wanted him to see as much as possible. Our first night all together was a clear indication that our time together was going to awesome. Our backpackers didn’t pick us up and arranged another backpackers to collect us at 11:30pm from the airport with Adam and his stuff. Once someone picked us up finally, the 5 minute drive to the backpackers (across the road) became a two hour drive of confusion and madness. Welcome to Jo’burg, Adam. When we stopped at our 4th gas station to get directions (driver’s first night on the job) and so that he could have a cigarette, we couldn’t help but get excited for the remainder of our trip together knowing that our first 2 hours together had already been an adventure. Sieff gave a concert to the youth in my area, we walked around craft markets and the capital city, helped Sieff buy enough Bafana Bafana soccer jerseys to cloth South Africa, and we went to a game park with a small 70 year old Asian man named Lin we met when standing near a grocery store in Mbabane. Our time together was not a disappointment and I was so happy they could use their skills to help the youth in my area while they were around. Good friends.

We went to Durban two weeks ago for the Australia vs Germany World Cup game in South Africa! Six other friends and I went to the game over the weekend. It rocked! We watched England vs. USA on big screen while eating pizza downtown Durban, South Africa. It was awesome and the next day we went to our game in the stadium! We painted our faces and I made everyone wear a cape (because that’s normal). My friend, Hong, is so cool that she actually let me cut her hair so that I could give her a mohawk…that is fan dedication and one of the million reasons she is a hip hip lady. I jelled, spiked, and glittered her lovely very short locks until they could be considered a lethal weapon. As we got to the gate of the stadium and all my dreams came true, a news anchor from one of the South African news stations stopped me and my friends to get interviewed. It was hilarious and the viewers will not be disappointed. But than again, who has ever been disappointed talking to four strangers in body glitter and capes. I never have. I never have…(whispered). Haha

Now, I am working at Baylor Clinic in Mbabane. This is my first week here and I am temporarily living in an apartment with a nice 60 year old couple from Vermont. We call them "the Fockers"...but they don't know that. They are part of Peace Corps, but here just for a year working with the Ministry of Education. I am happy to be here, but miss my host community down in the south a lot. I miss having kids around and not being expected to have my clothes match. I guess its like they always say, “You don’t know what you had until its gone…” ☺ I look forward to visiting them once a month. The roomies I will live with in 2 weeks will be nothing short of amazing. I couldn’t have been paired with anyone better, one does Nelson Mandela impersonations and the other is a Canadian…enough said. I look forward to hearing from you guys too. I miss you guys and would love to hear what you’ve been up to. Take care. Love, Jaclyn.

Ending My Service!

Hi friends and family! You are missed! I hope your lives are going well and you've been showered with blessings since I've talked to you all last! :) Lots of things are happening around here. The library project at the high school has begun and is doing well. We received all 1,000 books two weeks ago and have been going full throttle since. We’ve been labeling, building shelves, and making a dewey decimal code for the entire stock. By “we are making the dewey decimal code”, I guess I mean “I am making a dewey decimal code”- which is dangerous. They aren’t familiar with this process because this is the first library they have ever had, so I am leading us as if I know what I’m doing. :) Talk about the blind leading the blind. I am leading a library team of 3 high school teachers, the high school principal (FYI- he went to school at University of Iowa), and five student representatives (8th grade through senior year) on a journey to build the first ever school library! Let’s cross our fingers! Sometimes I find myself leading people and I feel sorry for them. Haha I can’t help but want to ask, “Should I really be leading this meeting? You are honestly thinking I am the most experienced?!? You can read, right? That may make you more qualified…” High fives to those people who have sat through my community meetings the past 2 years. People of patience, that’s for sure. :) We had a close of service conference last week. The whole group got together to discuss post peace corps plans and do paperwork. May not sound that fun, but it was. We had a talent show. Despite not wanting to get involved, I sang Sweet Caroline with my friends Jay and Hilary. Who can say no to Neil Diamond? Not this guy. My friend, Lacey is coming next month though to keep me from the lonliness of losing the volunteers around me. I just can’t believe its already been 2 years. Well, sometimes I can…like when my grandpa is taking a bath in the middle of the homestead. Then it seems like time is crawling (I wish I were kinding). Lacey will be here just in time for the annual music festival BUSHFIRE. Lacey will get to see some of the people I have shared this experience with and also they will meet the girl from all the stories I tell. I’m really excited for her to come and she will be here just in time to help me with my final event in my community. I am doing a career fair and HIV/AIDS testing day for about eight high schools in the area. I originally was going to do it for the high school I teach at to get them ready for jobs after school or learn who to talk to in order to begin trade skills (carpentry, metal work, bead work, show making, bee keeping, etc.), but now the Ministry of Education asked me to include seven more of their high schools. YIKES! Since I am a pushover, I now am planning an event for all eight high schools and out of school young adults (projected 800-900 people) in one day on May 28, 2010. I want each of the teens to get an opportunity to get tested. It is a little bit of a stressful time because in itself it is a big task and I’m trying to end things here in my community, but I am lucky that one of my best buds from home will be here during that event to watch me slowly go insane. It’s been a while, so let me brief you on Easter! I preached for Palm Sunday about outreach and how to help HIV positive members in the church. It ended up going well and I pray that God was able to use that experience to help get people thinking about ways they can help. That is the great thing about living overseas, somehow just because I can spell my name that means I am suddenly qualified to be a high school teacher, government worker, build houses, diagnose skin conditions and preach. It’s hilarious. I think it’s my availability that gets me into the strangest situations. This is my life…randomness follows me. You will all suffer through it once again when I return. Maybe one of the things you miss about me (wink). But I’m apologizing in advance. :) Over Easter I went to beautiful Lesotho. It’s also a small landlocked country within South Africa, so in my ignorance I thought it would be like Swaziland. Oh my goodness! It was beautiful. People wore those wool blankets everywhere made of the besotho sheep herds that are everywhere in the mountains. You would walk for large amounts of time and not see anyone, but a little boy shepherd wrapped in a blanket herding a giant flock of sheep with bells around their necks. It was so cool. We made our vacation plans to be horse back for three straight days climbing up the Lesotho mountains to see waterfalls and cave paintings. Our first night was an adventure. No transport was left to bring us the rest of the way because it was after dark when we arrived in country, so we were stuck in the capital. The taxi guy didn’t speak English and no matter how many times I tried to speak SiSwati/Zulu to the man, he did not understand. I eventually tried to use Spanish, German, Italian, and I even broke out Arabic phrases…or at least something that sounded Arabic. Still he did not understand. I was about 5 seconds away from trying to communicate in whale noises when a drunk police man came to help. After sitting in a dark bus rank for an hour, the drunk police man took us to the Maseru police station. His English was good (wish I could say the same about his breath) and he gave me his phone to call the only person I know in Lesotho to help, a friend who worked with me during a Baylor teen camp last December. As my friend came to meet us, two of us stayed in the waiting room of the police station to wait for my friend had a place for us to sleep. The other two girls walked to the grocery store to buy bread and peanut butter for supper. Of course they were escorted by another police man. Haha We ate our supper that night in Lesotho’s capital police station waiting room and shared our food with a man who was brought in for questioning. We eventually met my friend, S’bu. We hailed another taxi only to see it was the same drunk police man from before driving a taxi car he recently invested in. As we arrived at the address S’bu instructed the drunk police man/drunk taxi driver (a jack of all trades) to bring us to, the man decided it was now or never to profess his love to me and become surprised when I didn’t share the same feelings. Somehow our taxi fair was reduced because of this and I left the taxi still single, so something went right that night. S’bu arranged us to stay at his friend’s house of whom was also an American volunteer with a British NGO called Kick 4 Life. We had prepared for the worst; rats, no water, and sleeping on the floor, but we were pleasantly surprised when the guy had a really nice place, had MTV, and we all were able to shower! Day 1. Needless to say, the trip was great. Cold, but great. We each had a horse. My guide always followed with his horse behind me because often times my horse, Jabu, would stray from the others and begin galloping in another direction. I was the only one that the guide made carry a stick the entire trip to whip my horse. I couldn’t do it, so the guide took the liberty to whip me (the horse) from behind periodically to pick up speed. This would often times surprise me and me and Jabu would end up sprinting until the guide couldn’t catch up with his horse Then Jabu would go back to his old shenanigans and we’d wonder away from the group. I would simpley say things like, “Jabu, I don’t think this looks safe…” as we contined to take a tiny trail along a cliff of a waterfall or “I wouldn’t eat that Jabu…” as it stopped way behind the rest to eat some farmer’s field of sorghum. Either way, Jabu was loyal to me. He got me safely through the Lesotho mountains. He never fell even in the rain. The trip was great. Just brushing teeth and eating a pot of rice and jumping back on my faithful horse. It tough to part with him, so as we arrived back to base camp I jumped off, took his reigns off, and gave him one last slap on the rear. “Good ol’ Jabu!” I said as he neighed loudly. That son of a gun. As I arrived back at home after my trip to Lesotho, my three amigos (my little nine year old bros) told me about the neighbor girl who had been bit by a snake while I was gone. It was quite sad for our family. I had just played with her the week before and marked her height on my growth chart in my room. While I was gone they were at their favorite spot on the rocks trying to get a pipe out fro min between a cracks and later realized it wasn’t a pipe, but rather a black mamba (they are really rare in my area). The snake bit the little girl on the leg. The kids ran and told one person who was bedridden. They had to wait until someone else came home. They took her to the clinic down my road where she died. Please pray for this family as they get through this. The grandma leading the homestead takes care of all the grandkids left behind from her daughters and sons who have died due to HIV/AIDS. A few months prior her roof burned down. I brought them blankets and medications for the ones who are sick and bedridden, but even emotionally I wish I could support them but language can be an obstacle sometimes. Please keep them in your thoughts and also with the little kids she was with (mostly between ages of 4-6 years). I am winding down at site otherwise. I have a little over a month before I leave my host family. I am dreading that day. For now, I try to just hang out with them as much as possible and be with people in my community. I’ve been working in the fields lately to help harvest the maize and throw stocks at my friend (Thobile), with love of course. Here is a video of us sawing wood together. We wanted to make an informational video on how to saw wood, but she became shy and I had to do the play by play. This is Thobile (my BEST friend here in Swaziland) and me trying to saw wood for the stove.
The project is still continuing with the roofing project. I’d like to thank everyone again who contributed. I will try to put up a video to tell you about the progress. We are hopeful it will be finished by mid-summer, but I will keep you posted!

Propane on my Back and Joy in my Heart.

Hey friends! How have you all been? It always feels like I have so much to tell you every time I blog. I guess its better than not having anything to say. That would be a warning sign I guess. :)

A few friends at World Vision called me last week to see if I would judge a debate competition. I’ve done this before and they tell me to bring along two or three other volunteers. Luckily two good friends of mine are fairly close by and we enjoy any excuse to meet up, so we judged the past competition. Last time it was four high schools in an old abandoned church. I figured the same thing would happen this time, so I didn’t think twice when preparing to hitch a ride to the small satellite World Vision office in my area. This time only one of my friends and fellow volunteer could help me. Her name is Justine. She got a lift that morning to the building and had the same carefree attitude I had. A few hours…and it should be over. Well, my friend at World Vision forgot to tell me that this was actually a bigger event than I thought. This time eight schools would be debating and it would take place in a large auditorium packed full of teenagers an hour away from the World Vision office. Justine and I were the honorary guests and sat at a table in front of everyone. Students packed the balcony and the floor had no sitting room. Of course I was wearing the ugliest bright-colored dress possible and huge rain boots with mud caked to the bottom. I walked into the room and walked through the quiet crowd looking up at me while I was dressed like a blindfolded fisherman. Of course we were late because they forgot to pick us up at the office, so we made quite the entrance as we entered the auditorium damp from the rain. My student, 1st Princess Ms. Culture (actually the winner of my pageant I held last year with my friend Alexis went to nationals and became Swaziland’s 1st Princess Ms. Culture) was a guest speaker sitting at the judge’s table with me to the left. Justine sat to my right and I got the “Paula” seat right smack in the middle. After judging the event all morning we were asked to tally up all the votes and find a best speaker in each category. They started asking us to do all sort of things and then said, “You have 5 minutes to do this.” People forget that just because we look different than most people around us, it doesn’t mean we have supernatural powers. Doing the best we could to add points on scraps of paper, we finished on time. Finally relaxed after all that work, a representative of the hosting school said, “Now if you could give out all the awards. Give critiques and….oh yeah, give a motivational speech.” Jigga what?!? Why make the children suffer by having to see what I am wearing again?! Justine and I split the task. I gave her my ideas what she should talk about for the motivational speech (She made it 3 minutes!) and I finished and gave out the awards. After I gave out awards, I somehow got stuck up there because no one came to take the microphone and gave me slips of paper and whispers of what I had to announce next. I involuntarily became the MC the remainder of the event for the 700 students, teachers, and World Vision Staff. What in the world happened? All I know is that Justine and I took too soft drinks as payment for holding the event together without any foresight of what we were getting into. Oh Africa...I’m not even mad. It was hilarious.

I’ve been working with my three senior classes. They are so much fun. I thought it would be really bad. Teens can sometimes get an attitude and when they know I am not that much older than them, they sometimes treat me that way. BUT my classes, although relaxed and call me friend and not teacher, still respect me a lot. Probably because form the beginning I told them I wasn’t being paid to be with them, so if they do anything that makes this difficult…I will leave and get to sleep in every morning on a guilt free conscience. They actually thought that was really funny and have been so much fun since. We finished our letters to MOC/FV High School seniors. They are SUPER excited to hear back from them. I was able to really use their letters to help them work on grammar and see what common mistakes are. They asked their own questions too like, “Do you know R. Kelly?“, a question burning inside of each of us. Also a popular one, “I hear you put adults in an old camp (aka nursing homes). Now we are waiting for Mrs. Wiese’s class to reply back, so we are reading plays like Ryan White (the famous HIV/AIDS story in US) and articles out of Newsweek and People. Although wanting to quiz them on Bradgelina or Jennifer Aniston's summer workout plans, I decided to use the articles dealing the more universal issues like the earthquake in Haiti, etc. I give them quizzes everyday (I'm that teacher), but later I let them ask questions about anything they want at the end of every class. I really like it and they seem to really enjoy it too. We are preparing ourselves for the library we are building in the high school and trying to put together students who want to make a club for the library.

I carried a propane tank 2 miles yesterday. Think about it...yep. Did you imagine me breathing heavy and primary school students following the white lady home with a tank up on her shoulder? Then you imagined it correctly. I've never sweat so much in my life. It was a humbling moment as I stopped every 2 seconds to readjust the propane. I kept imagining it blowing up when I carried it on my back and turning it into a rocket pack. Didn't happen though. I ended up looking like a sweaty piper leading the little mice (a trail of 12 first graders) out of the village down a grassy path to my home. This is just another day in my weird life. haha

Lastly, for those who have not heard, originally my plan was to return this summer. My two year contract is over! Can you believe its been that long already. Lord knows I’m super excited to get back and see you guys and my nieces and nephews and catch up on everything. I want to see Kim and Mike Poll’s baby, hear about Jantina’s new job, communicate with Kate in Mexico, get Lacey back to Sioux Falls, go to a Sieffstyle concert, see both of my sisters‘ new houses, and plenty of other things. The thing is though, I have an opportunity to work with the Baylor Pediatric HIV/AIDS Clinic here in Swaziland. They will give me an apartment in the capital and I will become the national Baylor Support Group Coordinator. It a brand new position and a much needed one. I will coordinating and developing HIV/AIDS support groups for kids and teens all over Swaziland for Baylor Clinic. They needed a full time placement and someone willing to stay until around October of 2011, BUT they are willing to work with me. I told them I want to go to school so they are going to let me do it as long as I can (January 2011). By then I will helped with starting a few different projects hopefully and have trained another volunteer into my spot fully so that they will take over when I am ready to leave. Next year the goal is to have a Swazi native SiSwati speaker holding the position. I wanted to help so bad, but I didn’t want to stay another year. I miss home. I miss you guys a lot! They have been flexible with me though and are letting me do it more on my terms so I can celebrate a late Christmas with the Schaap and Klienhesselink families!

I miss you all very much. Hope you are well and I think about all of you guys often.

Drive In Movie Hut

Hi everyone! Its been a while! I was busy with some things and I had my birthday. It was so fun. We hiked in the Malalotja moutntains. There were waterfalls and wildlife everywhere we walked. At one time a herd of Zebras came near us, so we chased them trying to see if we could ride them. They are so beautiful, but not stupid. They ran away and we were left in their dust and short of breath. We set up tents and roasted marshmellows over a fire we built. It was a great brithday and a lot of the volunteers ended up going in on the fun. Besides that, I thought I should catch you up on just a few things that have been happening in my community and in general. :) These are just a few highlights since I talked to you all last:

I got a package from the 2nd graders at South O’Brien School district. My niece and her classmates wrote me letters and made cards. They asked lots of questions about if "I’ve ever been pushed off a cliff or kidnapped..." I would have liked to not clear that rumor because it makes me look way cool, but I had to reply no in order to avoid putting a fear of traveling in any of those stinkers. It did, however, spark some ideas for a project. I decided to start working with the seniors in high school by teaching English class. I used to teach English, but I feel like it’s been so long that although I’m excited, I’m also a little nervous. I want to do a writing project though for the students to work on grammar and English writing skills. I’ve contacted some teachers from home, so I am going to partner with my past English teacher when I went to MOC/FV, Mrs. Weise, for a pen pal project! I will answer and correct grammar questions while my students get to ask all sorts of questions from high school students in the USA. They are so excited to get started. Me too. :) Funny how that works. Cross your fingers they listen to me. Haha Some seniors here are in their early 20’s and around my age. This may make it distracting during class, butthey need to listen because if you don’t pass English, you don’t graduate. A harsh reality for these kids when they don't get to practice it with people very often. I’m hoping to help out by giving the teachers some ideas and start listening comprehension this week to prepare them for their final exams this fall.

My host family aunt came to me and randlomly asked me what it means to be a “Cinderella”. I love these cultural exchanges. My counterpart asks me what Chris Brown is like and how often I get to see him. I asked her if she knew the story, but she didn’t so I find myself playing story teller. I couldn't help put crack up sometimes as my almost 30 year old aunt’s eyes widened when I told her what happened to Cinderella. She acted like I was talking about my friend and was getting really involved with the story. She kept asking me questions like, “…so then what did she say when the step sister did that?” It was wonderful. Soon I found myself speaking on behalf of Cinderella, “Well, what would you say to someone who ripped apart the dress you and your animal friends had been making all night?! She felt betrayed, Thobile. She cried.” Haha Sometimes I would laugh. Last week I found a volunteer with a copy of the movie Cinderella, so I brought it home and surprised my family. They really liked it. I love this family I live with and the things they teach me and what I get to teach them in return. I taught my sister about the Milky Way last night...what little I know about it the milky way. My grandma and little brothers loved the fact that pigs roll in the mud because they can’t sweat too. No one in America has ever been excited when I tried to talk about that? haha


I've opened up a movie theater in my room every other night. All the kids in the area (mostly from my homestead) come in after they've bathed and are ready for bed and sit on my grass mat while I start a movie on my laptop. They knock on my door in excitement once the sunsets after they race to see who gets the bucket to bathe first. I begin when the first 5 arrive. It’s so funny. One by one they knock (I’m teaching them to knock and use "please" and "thank you"). I ask, “Have you bathed? (check their feet) Did you brush your teeth? (they do a cheesey smile) Ok, you may enter.” I feel like a pre school bouncer. If they come in without knocking, I ask them to go outside and try again. Haha They really like the movie Dark Knight which I thought would be too scarey, but its a movie you don't need to hear the words so much to see who is good and who is bad. Sometimes I pop them popcorn which defeats the purpose of brushing their teeth, but they love it and are so cute I can’t help it. I’m a pushover. I gotta work on that before I have my own children. As for now, that's something I have to live with. :)

I wrote up a nomination for my counterpart in the community to get an award for his work with HIV/AIDS education. He volunteers everyday and is constantly working with the youth to teach them how to protect themselves and get involved with projects. Last week I received a package from Washington D.C. that had a framed certificate and thank you letter from the senior management of Peace Corps to my friend, Jabulani! I delivered it to him while he was sitting and talking to all his friends at the bus station near his home. He was so embarrassed yet so excited that every day since he sends me a text message to say thanks. He is such a good guy and works so hard volunteering his days without pay to reach the youth, so it was so great that he was chosen for the award. I'm glad his hard work was recognized.

My friend, Erin Freml, came to visit me! She is a Peace Corps Mozambique volunteer from Iowa. I met her before I came to Swaziland and so she decided to meet me in on her break to see my site. It was so fun to have someone from home around. We went hiking, washed laundry together at my river, she went to my meetings, and I took her on a game drive to look at the animals. To save on money, we brought a tent. Three other girls came too. We roasted hotdogs, but our curiosity got the best of us during our stay in the wild. This large elephant kept coming close to us and the tent all night. Although there was one electric wire around the plot of land we were staying on, the elephants liked to come close and eat from the trees around our tent spot. We grabbed our hotdogs in one hand and cameras in the other and snuck up close the large animal. It was eating and I wanted to get a photo of Erin eating next to it with her hotdog...naturally. A few times the elephant warned us it knew we were there, was getting annoyed, and flapped its ears. We tried to respect it and back away, but we somehow would magnetically get pulled closer to its huge mass. Finally the last picture I tried to take, the elephant through a fit. It through its trunk in the air, stomped its feet, and charged all of us. Erin and I broke off from the rest of the group while running away and hid behind an old shed. Although we felt bad for scaring it, we couldn’t help but laugh hysterically from our brief moment with death. All because we wanted a picture of us eating a hotdog in front of the elephant. Maybe it was not the smartest thing and in hindsight I feel bad for scaring the poor animal, but it was an experience I'll never forget and his vengeance was a success as each of us returned to the tent to find a clean pair of shorts.

Lastly, we have begun the roofing for the teacher's at the Primary School! I will take photos and keep all of you updated on what is happening! Thank you so much for those who helped and I will let you all know about the progress. Soon the teachers will have a place to sleep! The parents are all volunteering on Tuesday to learn how to do the cement work and lay more bricks.

I hope you are all doing well. I know you are keeping busy with everything at home so thanks for checking up on me. Also, Thanks to Helen and Owen Kleinwolterink for a really great package I just got a few weeks ago! Please let me know if anyone needs me to do anything for you while I'm here. Maybe you want me to bring you back a zebra or something. I look forward to hearing about life in the US and how the winter is treating you. Miss you all lots and lots. Talk to you soon. Be blessed, friends. :)

2010

Updates! After the Hole In the Wall Camp that ended on Christmas Eve, three friends and I rented a car in South Africa and drove down the coast of the Indian Ocean. We went to Kosi Bay which we set up a tent along an empty vast white sand beach. 1K down the shore from where we swam were giant sea turtles. We spent all of Christmas day reading on the beach, swimming, and eating peanut butter sandwiches. Once the moon came out, we went to watch the sea turtles lay their eggs. It was so interesting. The turtles follow the moonlight back into the water. We had to keep our flash off so it wouldn't get confused and follow our flashes back to the tent. We were crowded the way it was. After that, we went to St. Lucia for a few nights and then ended up about 4-5 hrs. south of that in Durban. Durban has the largest mall in the southern hemishere (which I guess isn't that hard to beat...), restraunts, and a Sea World! We watched a dolphin show and went to Indian Markets. One night we went to Avitar. Avitar fans have made it to South Africa. I repeat...the craziness has made it south of the equator. It was nice to be in an atmosphere that felt a little like home. Especially during the holidays. Lastly, I got to go surfing! The Iowan taught the Cali girls how to surf. That is sad. Moreso because they probably are doing it very wrong. haha I like to invent my own ways to surf and teach them to people who don't know I am an amiture. Everytime I would wipe out it I would tell them it was because that is what real surfers are supposed to dohalf way through a wave.

Roofing project update: It is funded! Fully funded! Woo hoo! The school and I met last week and our holding a community/parents meeting on Thursday this week to plan and plot the best ways to get the materials from town to up in the mountains where I live. I am so thankful for all the prayers and help from my peeps at home! Thank you! You guys have made a difference. A huge difference! Not only through helping them get a roof on the building, but also build relationships between people in the US and Swazis. They don't understand how you could take the money you've worked so hard to get and share it with them, people you haven't met. You guys have taught them a lot about how to help one another and understanding what the "church" means. This is something I've been trying to teach them day after day, workshop after workshop, and you guys have helped be an example of that. The cool thing is your money is going directly to the materials. So in reality you didn't donate money, but what the people will see is that you donated timber, nails, iron, etc. Materials not money. That is cool.

Lastly, I will tell you about my friend, "T.I.", a kid I worked with at camp last month. When I picture T.I., I see a small kid (the size of a small 6 yr old, although he was 10 yrs old) with an oversized backwards hat on. His clothes were loose fitting the way he liked it and although soft spoken, he carried this confidence around with him everywhere. The girls loved it. Throughout camp he had this mean cough that would come out with no warning, but it didn‘t keep him from going right back into his illuminating Swagger that he always seemed to follow him. During the last night’s talent show, T.I. lip-synced and danced to “Whatever You Like” on stage with his friends. The young girls were screaming as if it was a concert. Two of my girls couldn’t stop gasping while looking at each other squeezing each other’s hands while watching him scoot around the stage. Young love does that. (Wink.) I don’t think the real T.I. could have had a better stage presence. The volunteers and I were laughing so hard. T.I. went home the next day after our crazy week at camp at the end of December. We were all expecting to see him at future support group meetings which are held monthly, but apparently the cough worsened and it got to the point where T.I. got really sick. His poor body couldn’t fight off the things attacking him with his weak immune system and last week Wednesday we found out T.I. had died. T.I. is the first kid from our camp that has passed away. The thing is, I can’t imagine what the other kids/campers think when they go to support group meetings and see someone missing and hear they had died. What is going through their mind? Does it scare them? I’ve been with adults and seen them get sick and even die living with AIDS while I‘ve been here. I’ve even seen babies on my homestead or at that clinic that also living with the virus, but seeing an child like T.I. and seeing his personality and how he just started to have crushes on girls…it looks differently. They tell jokes, have these crazy personalities, they’re going through puberty, they are at this awkward age and yet their bodies are slowly telling them they are sick. Its interesting that even living here for almost two years now, I still find myself surprised. I see how each life is so unique. These kids were at a camp to feel free and relax. To take their meds and not worry about who is watching them or where to hide the pill box after so the other kids on the homestead don‘t see and tell kids at school and stigmatize them. T.I. and those kids reminded me of the uniqueness in life and with each life and environment. There is no “normal” person nor a “normal“ life. We are really each very special people. Different circumstances and different opportunities. Unique means: different from others in a way that makes somebody or something special and worthy of note. I couldn’t describe my family and friends back at home any better. Nor could I better describe those kids who attended the camp. Including T.I., “different from others in a way that makes somebody or something special and worthy of note”. T.I and his life is worthy of note. May he rest in peace with his new body performing “Whatever You Like” with the people who have been waiting for him and love him. :) Thank you T.I. for reminding us to see the uniqueness in each life and to be thankful for the opportunities we do have.

Miss you. Talk to you soon, everyone!