Breaking out of fat camp.

Yesterday a baby urinated on me. It reminded me that babies are babies in all parts of the world. Whether, Spanish, African, or American…they all know how to pick an easy target.

So if you are like me and my parents, you are thinking, “What is Jaci actually doing everyday?” Touché, my friend, touché. I ask myself the same question sometimes. haha Well, I have been doing some work. J I haven’t been able to help at the clinic the past month because I’ve been gone so much from home. I helped with World AIDS Day which was Dec. 1st. A Swaziland organization called NERCHA (National Emergency Relief Committee for HIV and AIDS) put together a walk to promote awareness in the rural committees. We walked from Mahamba to eNhlangano (about 3.5 hrs) and talked to people while passing by them on the streets. A lot of people joined and little barefoot kids ran beside us. The Swaziland Army band walked with us and entertained us for hours with songs we didn’t know. After a while though the tunes became familiar and I was able to sing along with my own lyrics. Another volunteer helped me serenade the other walkers in our limited Siswati lyrics we made up as we walked. So you know they were good. The Swazi people heard me sing Siswati songs titled, “Ngihambile kakhulu [I’m really hungry]“, “Ngifuna kuya umthoyi [I need to use the toilet]” and “Ngiyahamba na bangami bami [I’m walking with my Swazi friends]“ in every style. Rap, R&B, and Country. I made friends through my music….and enemies. We ended at a “stadium” where we had dramas and music. There was also free testing. So many people tried to test that they couldn’t do everyone. Its good that people wanted to test, but sad because a lot of people were willing to test and couldn’t. Who knows if they will try to do it again later or if they were just inspired to do it that one day. A main problem with events like these is not enough supplies, help, counselors for the magnitude of the events. People here love free stuff. You’d think they were Dutch. (drums) J A little joke for the citizens of Orange City. Its just frustrating because you want to help as many people as possible and turning people away when they are finally ready to do it really stinks. The other main event I just had was out Annual Youth Conference. Each volunteer in our region (7 volunteer villages in the south) met in one town with some kids from our own areas. I brought 20 teenagers. We brought in a girl in her 20’s who openly talked about being HIV+. The kids liked it and asked a lot of questions. Then I let them walk around town for a bit and had the kiddies back before dark.

I just got a message on my phone from another volunteer. She wrote, “How are you? Do you think this will be the hardest thing we ever do in our lives?” haha I laugh because texting is the only way to communicate so you can imagine the messages we give each other each day to support one another. Its not a surprise to get something like “Killed a rat against my mattress by running it into a corner. Scared to see if its still alive”….”My grandma is praying in front of my door with other elders in Siswati and I think they just prayed that God would use me to bring rain. I’m not comfortable with that.”…or “I made a bracelet out of leaves today. I used to be somebody...” Text messages keep us sane when we are hours away from each other. We need to send a message to vent about something that happened that day like being proposed to by an old man with horrific breath (the scent was a mix of decay and garlic) on a bus ride for 3 hrs! Yeah…I never knew I had a personal bubble until African public transport and I desperately wanted to turn to him and say, “tic tac, sir?” Or how about waking up with a bat caught in a sticky fly strip next to your head. That one was my friend because if it would have happened to me, I would be back in South Dakota. Probably doing intensive counseling sessions. So back to what I was talking about, J my friend asked me if I “thought this would be the hardest thing we’d ever do?” You know what, sometimes I think so. I guess it depends on the person. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but somedays if its not the physical or social challenges…than it’s the mental challenge that can easily discourage you. Being alone. So many changes are made the first few months that a lot of people ask, “Is it worth it?” Some it wasn’t, so they went home and I respect that. For me, I’m still here NOT because I haven’t encountered hard challenges or homesickness, but rather for a two reasons. First, I have faith God has something here for me yet. Something gives me hope to stick it out. I refuse to think God took me across the Atlantic to get diarrhea and bad tanlines. There’s hope in me still and it’s the kind that would be impossible for me to fabricate myself. I know He is intervening somehow. The other reason I’m still in Africa is because Timon and Pumba still owe me poker money. Heard they blew it at a strip club and that money is supposed to get me home. Haha Just kidding. Sorry. Its actually because I’m still learning from this experience, so I know something is happening. I’m still changing. I try assess my changes, “Am I changing for the better?” I’m okay with changing, for the better, but its just as easy to change for the worse sometimes. You know, I came wanting to help people and not think of myself and by that I wanted to make changes for the better with the people I interact with. Little did I know, the first (and the hardest) change here was going to be myself. Its hard to explain how, but its more or less a testing period than a changing maybe. I really like the Mother Theresa quote, “God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.” J Mama T is right. We aren’t ever promised a comfortable life. So I don’t know why I’m always surprised when I don’t have one. Actually we were told the opposite in the Bible, but knowing that doesn‘t make going home, taking a long shower and eating Pizza Ranch pizza any less appealing. J

So is this the hardest thing I’ll ever do? I hope not. Because then my life will be boring…

I just came back from Mozambique last week. It was a lot of fun. It rained a lot of the time, but it was nice to see something new. It was only a 3 hr. drive from my place and around $9 to get there. Within three hours a whole culture and language changes. Its so weird. Huts go from mud in Swaziland to reed sticks in Mozambique within the poverty areas. We ate a lot. I ate like I broke out of fat camp. I experienced a lot of "first time" moments. I swam in the Indian Ocean for the first time. I ate octopus for the first time. I was cursed at by a guy who was as high as a kite on Christmas. That is a story in itself, but he apoligized soon after and the spirit of Christmas remained. I was also chased by an elderly topless woman on the boardwalk who was clearly crazy and tried to throw mud from the sewer at us in the rain. It started with us walking fast, but although old she was quick and soon the quick walking past formed into a dead sprint as the locals laughed at our misfortune from the beach. That was another "first time." And hopefully last. I had a wonderful Christmas though and I felt really blessed to go visit Mozambique. I missed home a lot and its definately reminding me how great you all are at home and will make me appreciate future Christmas' even more when I get to be with family and friends. Love you guys! Hope you are well! I will try to upddate again soon!