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!

Sivivane Camp 2009

We finished camp! Woo Hoo! It was bitter sweet. Its nice to get a chance to sleep again, but sad to have to not be with the people anymore. Elizabeth Glacier Pediatric Foundation, Baylor Clinic, Paul Newman Foundation (Hole In the Wall), Young Heroes (NERCHA), and SNAP (Swaziland National Aids Program...plus US Peace Corps and much more were involved. The kids are now meeting in urban Swaziland for support group meetings. Soon Baylor Pediatric Clinic for HIV/AIDS hope to extended and decentralize the program into a community closer to me. I'm excited because maybe I can still work with kids in my community suffering with HIV and it would be closer to my village. The older teens for the 2nd week of camp were fun. Teenage life is just like I remembered...hours in front of the mirrors, talking about boys, and figuring out who you are. Some of these kids are head of the households though and also suffering with side effects from HIV treatments. I can't imagine what some of them are going through, but I am so thankful they shared their week with me. My favorite part was something very bitter sweet that I talked about earlier. Each day the girls would take their Anti Retro-viral meds. Before breakfast and before bed. Some also had to take ear drops, stomach pills, TB meds, etc. to fight off the other illnesses that were attacking their weak immune systems. I'm into my 2nd year here working daily with people who are positive, but I've never actually saw every aspect. I always return to my hut after working with my support groups in my community and don't actually see the details of living an HIV+ life. At camp, I was with them 24/7. I took them to the toilet when they would get sick. I saw the side effects and results of the virus every day and I stood with them as they took their meds. We would cheer for them once they finished administering all the medications. I can't begin to tell you what it was like to cheer for them. Me and two other women who worked with the girls in my group would clap and chant our team name as they swallowed. It was awesome because the girls would smile, but painful because I thought how everyday when they wake up and when they go to bed they are reminded that they are HIV+ by taking these meds. Some weren't even given a choice. Their parents gave it to them. Others made a mistake once or had no options in their mind because maybe they needed money and offering their bodies to older adults was the answer to get food or security. No matter what though, we dedicated ourselves to letting them be kids for a week. We gave them awards, through them up on on shoulders, taught them games, and let them feel safe and free. They didn't have to hide the fact they were HIV+ because kids from school weren't there or their brothers and sisters. It was an amazing experience watching them get excited and happy. We taught them actions to an R. Kelly song "World's Greatest" and they did actions. Some who were 16 looked like they were 9 because HIV slowed their growth. They had the smartest wittiest things to say, yet it came fro a body that didn't give them credit for their age. At the end of camp, the kids wrote journals. While reading them some said things like, "I was scared to talk before because I'm sick, but camp made me feel safe. I want to talk now." When I read some of the things and pictured the kids who I knew that said that...my heart dropped into my stomach. They really loved camp. The people from Hole In the Wall/Baylor CLinic are amazing. You should look it up online. I feel so blessed to be in Swaziland working with these kids and I really pray that God can use me to help in any way.

I hope you are all well. Please let me know how you are doing! Be blessed this Christmas season! Love you guys!

Hole In the Wall Camp

Time has been flying this month and I'm enjoying every minute! The beginning of this month I moved to Mbabane basically to get this HIV+ youth camp started. We stayed up late nights getting prepared as well as waking up early to arrange everything needed before the caregivers/camp counselors arrived for training. Me and my friend/fellow volunteer (Lisa) worked closely with two people from Hole in the Wall (Paul Newman's organization for children living with terminal illnesses). They are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Robin is sweet and gets things done. She is always smiling and has a gentle spirit about her. She is great on the leadership team. Padraig on the other hand is my long lost brother. We have a lot of similarities, BUT he manages to do everything with 20x more energy, smiles, and he has this personality that makes you want to be his friend. We feed off each others randomness and I'm learning a lot from him. He is this Irish guy with crazy brown hair that he pulls back with a headband and somewhat resembles Jack Black. That alone makes you want to be his friend. His energy never fails and kids are magnetically pulled to him. I'm been so blessed to be working with him and Robin and the Hole in the Wall foundation because they really do the work they set out to do and are amazing people. They have the sweetest job, making kids happy and finding games, cheers, chants, awards to boost their self esteems and hope for life. They help the kids not just cope with being HIV+, but learn to not be limited by it. Its so cool and they make these camps all over the world in some of the poorest and sadest conditions. I hope to be as cool as them one day. :)

I finished my first group of campers yesterday. We had training until Sunday and the campers arrived monday morning. The counselor training was awesome. We did it at a farm with 23 of us (6 other Peace Corps Volunteers we invited to participate and all the rest we Swazi professionals working as teachers or for different Non-Governemnt Organizations). I made a lot of new Swazi friends working in the capital and for Baylor Clinic. My goal was to help those Swazi friends empower their own Swazi children. I really didn't want to have it be about me playing with the kids while the Swazis watched. I really wanted to empower the Swazi counselors to empower their own children. It turns out I didn't even need to. I was given 11 girls in my group who range from 10-13 years old from all parts of Swaziland who go to Baylor Clinic in the capital to refill their ARV meds for HIV. I had two other Swazi women who helped my group. I was so nervous how much I would be able to interact with them with language barriers, but it ended up not being a problem at all. The Swazi women didn't even have to translate for me. I spoke SiSwati when I could, but the kids were so smart they could sometimes speak better English than me. We had so much fun playing and singing. Although I spent about 50% of the camp time in the bathroom. Girls are girls. Swazi, Mexican, British...they all go to the bathroom by the dozen and since they needed to be with an adult all the time...that meant me, "Auntie Sihle", had to go with too. :) I love the two ladies I am grouped with. One girl is really sporty and good at basketball. She always gets involved with the girls. The other one is more "Swazi Style" and singing traditional songs with them and teaches them traditional dances. I am so thankful the kids seemed to like me and trust me. The first night they were scared to sleep alone in the dorms, so it was a late night and eary morning. I woke up to four girls in their pjs asking if it was time to get up yet. 5 am and still have asleep, I forced myslef up and showed them how to use the showers. For many of them, they don't have running water let alone a shower or bath tub. They were so excited. I played crazy 8's with them 24/7 and sang/dance to "Single Ladies" more than what should be allowed. Some were little divas, but I didn't even care. I just joined in.

I am exhausted and our next group will be here tomorrow. They will be full of energy and hormones. A dangerous combo! I have 9 in my new group. They are all 15 years old. I remember that age, so this will be interesting. I'm definately learning a lot. Who knows what stage they are at or their home lives. A lot of them just started their ARV meds (it protects their white blood cells from the virus) so the rumor is they maybe tired. Its so interesting to think of kids in America in the camps I've worked at and the ones here. Every cultures' children are related so much, but their are definately circumstances and differences you see. Its been so fun, but I've seen so much too. The girls take their ARVs together before bed and at night. They were shy at first because at home often times some hide their medication so people won't find out they are HIV+. This new group will be different too from this past one. Most of the past group have HIV+ from their parents. They were born with it. This new group is older, so some of them may have gotten it from having being sexually active. Its going to be a whole new camp. All I know is that its been an amazing experience and these girls have been so generous letting me see what their lives are like living with HIV. The medications, side effects (diarreah, headaches and/or vomiting), and they've shared this experience with me. I pray that this next week we continue to give these kids a safe place to be with other girls that are dealing with the same issues and that we can show them love and support and give them hope. No one is certain how long they have on earth and these kids are have taught me so much more about myself and about life than I could ever teach them. It's so cool. And so humbling.

We finish the 22nd of Decemeber and then I will road trip down the coast. Me and three friends are taking a tent and spending Christmas together under the stars. We will eat sandwiches with a side of malaria pills and soak ourselves in bug spray and sunblock. Once I get back it is party time for the school in my village. We hopefully will have enough donations by then to start helping the school fix their issue on teacher's housing shortage. If you want to be a part of it, their is still time. I would love to work on something like this with all of you at home. Something we could leave here or know that we have directly helped people in Swaziland fulfill a need and empower them by teaching them building skills too. Check out the Peace Corps website under my name to read more about it. Love you guys lots. I miss you so much and hope you have a wonderful holiday season. I think of you guys often.

David Copperfield attends Thanksgiving with US Ambassador

I’m trying to pick up new skills while I am in Swaziland. I'm going to ask my host family brother how to plow with the oxen this week (Ivery Oregon Trail. I can carry a baby on my back with a towel and no hands. And now I can knit while I do all of those things at the same time. The scarf is electric blue. I will wear my scarf even in the dead of summer to show the people in my community. They think its amazing that I can take a bath without help, so knitting a scarf I‘d probably get a standing ovation.

I gave my friend (Jen) my rain jacket that I haven’t worn for months when she came to help me judge a debate competition for my school put on by World Vision. We saw a rash developing on Jen’s stomach as we walked back. We were worried (mostly me because I shared my bed with her the night before) that she had scabies or lice. Later as we sat at the shop, we saw that there was a cocoon inside my jacket she was wearing. Apparently the caterpillar hairs were rubbed off of the worm and were sticking into Jen’s skin! It made her stomach get a rash. It was terrible! I felt so bad! Later we found out from the Baylor doctors that those caterpillars carry neurotoxins and she was lucky with just a rash. I search my clothes now before putting them on. I’m glad she found it now instead of waiting. I would have looked like David Copperfield having butterflies fly out of my arm sleeves.

We played softball last week. Peace Corps vs. United States Embassy. Rumor had it we were playing against an ex-marine. Is that supposed to scare me? I bench press ex-marines…for breakfast. I played outfield. There was one play in particular that could have potentially stopped time. The ball was hit out towards me. Popfly. This was my ticket to acceptance. The ump yelled, "foul ball", but I continued with my arms stretched out before me ready to dive. I think it was a change of wind because the ball (as the US Ambassador watched) flipped a different direction at the last second. The ball bashed my nose in. It was a foul ball. People congratulated me on my hustle, but it was a crappy consolation prize to what could have been. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the US Ambassador saw me catch that ball. A secretarial position at the Oval Office? Director of International Affairs? I’ll never know what “could have been.” It just wasn’t my time I guess. I’ll get my big break soon. He must have been impressed somehow though or felt sorry for us because he invited us for Thanksgiving. It was fun. He has a pool and offered it to us. Unfortunately I gave Carmen Electra my swimming suit for the weekend and she hasn’t brought it back yet so no pool time for me. We played football though and ate. And ate again. Probably the best Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever had (no offense, mom). My stomach hurt, but I was happy. The Ambassador read an Obama speech to us before eating and we wiped our mouth with the US government emblem on our napkins. It ended up being a great Thanksgiving. US Ambassador (the only one in a tie), US Peace Corps, and US Embassy

I was taken from my site last Saturday. Apparently my hut can flood. The roads were muddy and flooded, so I had no transport and couldn’t walk anywhere because the rain had been down pouring for four days straight. My room quickly became a swimming pool and smells like a gym sock, but the last day of the week the sun came out. My friends, two kids below the age of 7, helped me clean up. Peace Corps heard that I was living in a life jacket, so they came to collect me and evacuate me from the flood.
Me and my friend (Bamaza)

My language teacher, Mrs. Gogosha, had a stroke earlier this month. She was my good friend. She was a lady in her late 70’s and had great English. She was actually supposed to be teaching me SiSwati, but we never got that far. When we would meet, it would turn into an English fest. She would tell me about her husband, her job, family issues, whatever….but it was nice to have her living close. She furnished half of my hut with her stuff. After her stroke on that Friday, her health went down fast. After arriving at the hospital she only lasted a few more days and Monday morning Mrs. Gogosha died. It was sad for my community. She was a very involved strong woman God. She will be missed, but I’m thankful I was able to be apart of her life when I had the chance. me (Sihle Sibandze) and Gogo Gogosha

I’m getting ready for a camp for the month of December. Basically I’m just going to hang out with them and hopefully teach them some dance moves. Its for teenagers who are HIV+ and we are showing them how to live after being infected. I think I’m going to learn a lot. The Paul Newman Foundation and Baylor Clinic are funding it and putting us in a workshop before it starts. I’m going to learn a lot from these kids. I’m excited to hang out with them. Lastly, the Teacher’s Housing Project in my community is going well. People at home have showed interest. If any of you would like to particiapte just a little. My sisters (Angi Kleinwolterink and Mikki Bobzein) as well as my mom (Judy Schaap) are thinking of ideas. It would be cool to work on this project with my friends and family at home. I’ve already began to make a DVD of the teachers and students who you would be effecting. I want to send one to you guys to show you what it looks like now, pictures and videos of the process, and then show you the roof and building when its completed so you can actually see where your money went. If your interested, please let my sisters, mom or dad know. All the money is going towards the roofing materials and transporting them to the village I am living in. Thanks guys!


The Kingdom of Swaziland government assigned a few more teachers to this school after seeing the need of increased enrollment due to asking the increase of the OVC population in my area (orphans and vulnerable children). Although the government will pay the minimal wages for these teachers, its up to those teachers to figure out a place to sleep when they are far from their families. Before there were 18 full time and part time teachers, now there are 21. This is better, but still leaves a problem on how to keep these teachers around. The roofing project would give them another place to sleep during the week to ensure the students have teachers available the entire school day. This clip is Babe Mamba (Pastor Jerome Mamba), the headmaster of the primary school, greeting you and giving you an idea of who he is and what you're investing in.

Teaching at my HIV outreach workshop with 65 pastors in Southern Swaziland.


GoGo Gogosha (my friend/SiSwati teacher) and me.



Peace Corps vs. United States Embassy with the US Ambassador.

Velebantfu Primary School Teachers

Hey guys! It’s your old friend Jaci down south of the equator. I've been here a year under the HIV/AIDS health educator sector. Even after all that time, I still feel like I’m figuring out what that job title means! What I do know though, is that it’s opened up a lot of doors to do really cool things in my community. I will be coming home in less than a year now. It’s unbelievable and yet I feel like there is still a lot of work to be done. It’s been great and I’ve learned a lot about the people and circumstances of the area I’m living in. Since you guys know me and are my friends and family at home, I want to share my new life with you the concerns of the Velebantfu community and the challenges we are sharing right now.

Quickly, Swaziland is a small, landlocked country inside of South Africa and also partially bordered by Mozambique. With an estimated 40% unemployment rate, Swaziland is struggling to provide a steady income for the families living within the country. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2006-07 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS. Swaziland is leading the world is HIV/AIDS prevalence.

39.4% of the total population is 14 years old and under. That means a lot of the work is in the primary schools all over Swaziland. Affects of poverty begin at an early age here. The life expectancy of the total population is 31.88 years old. Meaning a little less than half of their life was spent in school. This is a sad reality, but good to acknowledge when trying to be affective. Teachers sometimes need to fulfill the needs of children who don’t have parents or adequate caregivers.



The headmaster at my local primary school, Mr. Mamba, is one of the pastors I taught at a two day HIV/AIDS Outreach Workshop I just hosted in September. We’ve talked and expressed our concerns within the community and school children and have had many great conversations. His primary school has established an EFA program (Education for All) to ensure that orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the area are coming to school without the stresses of finding money for school fees. The government is helping pay for these children. This particular group of children makes up almost half of the schools attendees at my local school. Although minimal school fees are paid by the government for these students, the school depends on the parents, teachers, and community members to provide for their school uniforms, food, hygiene products and other special needs they come with like reading glasses and school materials. It’s not uncommon to find Mr. Mamba and the teachers using their own paycheck to purchase these things for their students after watching their conditions each day. Mr. Mamba has tried his best to cater to the growing needs of the children and teachers under him. They’ve built one teacher’s house to help a few of the teachers financially, constructed a kitchen to provide a meal for the kids (food provided by the World Food Program), and are borrowing an empty church to serve as an extra classroom for the time being. This was all implemented and built by community members, teachers, and parents. With growing attendance of the OVC population, more teachers are needed. The community began to build a four bedroom teacher’s home before the kitchen and classroom projects were presented. Due to the rapidly growing number of primary students, the teacher’s home was put on hold until they could satisfy the other needs of the school first. The teachers now commute back and forth to school every day from all over the area on a very meager salary. Thankfully the kitchen and classroom was completed. Sadly though, the community’s funds have now been exhausted on those projects. The teacher’s home is left incomplete. In order to finish they will need materials for a roof, windows and door frames. As you may know that this is some of the most expensive parts of the structure and since the location is not near a city, these materials are going to be transported into the mountain area where I live. This has been taken into the consideration and we have tried to make the cheapest routes we could without endangering the quality of the structure. The total amount includes all the materials and the transport to get it into southern Swaziland.



I’m really excited because I can see the potential this roofing project could do if funded. I know the people you would be investing in and I would be here for the entire construction period. I also would help them build unless that scares you…I can just watch. :) I can keep you updated on the process and give you pictures of where the money is going if interested. The community members will be doing all the constructing, using their own tools, and also adding what materials they have left.

Once they heard that I was going to try help them and they began clapping their hands with happiness! Up until now, the community and teaching staff have struggled to get what they have with limited outside help. They are excited to think there are people who may care about this project as much as they do. I know they would appreciate any help with this project we’ve developed. With a little less than 70% under the poverty line, you can see where the stress is for the community when trying to make improvements. Its amazing the work they’ve done to the school while their own families are fighting to get by. On the Peace Corps website www.peacecorps.gov/contribute you can find my project. The project number is 645-075. I know it is around Christmas time and it’s a difficult time to find extra cash, but even if you have an idea of how we could fundraise or who may want to partner in this project, we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much! This project will benefit a lot of Swazis. I'm excited to think how much hope we could install in the people here or the great ways we can invest in this project that could will affect hundreds of students, community members, and teachers here in the Velebantfu area.