Sawubona “Greetings” from Swaziland. I hope all is well back state side and
just wanted to give all my wonderful friends and family and update on how the
last 500 days have gone in one email.
That is going to be hard to do but I wanted to highlight some of the
things I have been able to experiences, places I have seen, projects I am doing
and just try and capture a little bit of what it is like to be serving as a US
Peace Corps volunteer here in the small Kingdom of Swaziland.
One of the first projects I started when I arrived was
starting a boys club, BRO (Boys Reaching Out) and a girls club, GLOW (Girls
Leading Our World) at the high school.
We would meet about every 2 weeks during school terms at the end of the
day. The main focus of these clubs
is to educate the young men and women here in Swaziland about HIV/AIDS and how
to make a difference and avoid the virus.
In order to do that we have to address other issues surround the culture
here and some of that is gender equality, women empowerment, fatherhood, sexual
and reproductive health, self-esteem and building a future. My boys club has around 12 boys who
attend regularly and the girls club is upwards of 25 girls who attend. I have been able to build a
relationship with many of the members in both clubs and have been able to see
an improvement in many of there lives in the short year and a half I have been
here already. Some of the things
we do are games, dramas, play sports, arts and various crafts, music and movies
and lessons teaching various life skills.
Each year there is a camp for BRO and GLOW where the clubs around
Swaziland bring 2 to 3 members plus their local Swazi counterpart to a weeklong
camp. At the camp the kids get to
interact with other kids from around Swaziland and discuss some of these issues
more in-depth, have guest speakers, play sports and activities with each other
and enjoy a camp like environment.
Not to mention many of them it is there first time leaving their
communities, seeing the larger cities, riding in a bus, and getting all the
food they could want, plus showers.
As Peace Corps volunteers we organize this camp each year for all the
clubs to come together and it is one of the highlights of our service seeing
the kids grow and learn together.
Another project I began was to develop libraries at both the
primary and high school in my community.
The primary school has around 350 students from grade 1 up to grade
7. The high school has just over
200 students from Form 1 up to From 5, ranging in ages from 14 years old to 24
years old. The school systems are
all managed under the ministry of education here in Swaziland allowing students
to attend school for free with fees being paid by the government up to grade 7. A fund has been set up to allow OVC
(Orphaned and Vulnerable Children) to attend high school and the government
will pay those children’s school fees for them at a set rate. The high school I work at is comprised
of over 90% of the students are OVC, meaning they have lost 1 or both parents. Most have died from the HIV/AIDS epidemic
that hit Swaziland hard leaving 33% of the population living with HIV and 100%
of the 1.2 million people living in Swaziland affected in some way or another
by HIV/AIDS. The library projects
will allow the kids access to 1000s of new books in the schools enabling them
with a greater future. It will
allow students to escape this world and get lost in a good book and discover
the joy and culture of reading. In
Swaziland, English is a pass/fail subject and kids need to pass English with a
good proficiency if they even want to consider furthering their education here
in Swaziland. All high schools are
English mediums but in the rural schools the students lack motivation and the
drive to pursue their studies.
They continue to see their fellow peers and community members drop out
of school, get in trouble, make poor choices, and they believe this is their
only option as well. The libraries
at the schools will give students a place to go where it is safe and help give
them a brighter future. As Peace
Corps volunteers we have a program we organize every year called Books for
Africa/Swaziland where we are able to provide 1000 new books to 30 school
libraries each year. We also
provide training for the teachers and librarians of these new libraries and
continue to monitor and help sustain these school libraries long after we
depart. Through grants, donations,
community contributions and volunteer work one library at the primary school is
coming to completion and a library at the high school is waiting on a grant
approval through the US Embassy here in Swaziland. It is very exciting to see the teachers and students get
involved in this project and the joy on their faces when they open a new book.
One of my last big projects here has been the development of
a preschool in my community. There
was no preschool when I arrived and many parents expressed the need and
importance of a preschool for their children here. We were able to secure an old building near the schools to
renovate and turn into a school. I
was lucky enough to get partnered with a group of individuals from Canada and
the United States to help with this project. They have been a huge support with funding and donating
material needed for the school to succeed. We started with 4 walls and a leaky roof and now are able to
provide schooling for over 40 students.
It has been a huge project and one I am very proud of here for my
community. Some work we have done
is put a new roof on, build a 3 stall latrine, provide tables and chairs for
the students, school supplies and toys, new glass in the windows, fresh paint
and artwork on the school, and new fencing. The parents and community have come together to help with
the labor and making this school function. I have also been working with Megan’s preschool that she
currently works at in Vancouver, WA doing cultural exchange with their students
and they have also been able to provide financial support for further
renovations and needs for the school.
We are still working on getting a water tank and rain gutters for rain
water harvesting, building a kitchen so the children can have food at the
school, and building a playground for the children. The school has already made a huge impact in the children
and their education. It will help
them be prepared for primary school and help with their English. We will be having our first graduation
ceremony for the school on December 3rd where 22 students will move
on to Grade 1 in January. It will
be an exciting event and the community will come out to celebrate this
achievement of the students and community for all their hard work.
All of these projects would also not be possible without the
support of friends and family back home.
There are some links you can look at to learn more about these projects
and support them financially if able.
Other ways you can support is just to pray for these projects and their
success and share them with other friends and family. The Kingdom of Swaziland is a beautiful place with people
who care and love one another; it is the hidden gem of Africa as many like to
call it.
I have also been able to do a little traveling while here
and get to enjoy all that Swaziland has to offer during my free time and
holidays. I was able to go to
Durban, South Africa for New Years last year and recently was in St. Lucia in
South Africa for a week. I am
planning to go to Lesotho for New Years this year with another volunteer and do
some hiking and camping. Another
trip in the works is visiting Mozambique and the beaches there. My girlfriend Megan is going to be here
in February for a few weeks then shortly after her visit my family will be
arriving in March. I am looking
forward to my last 8 months here and getting to see my projects come to a
completion and the success of them, some more beautiful places that Africa has
to offer, and being able to share my experience with Megan and my family when
they visit. In Swaziland I went on
a game drive at one of the largest game reserves here called Hlalne Royal Game
Park and we saw Lions, Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffes, Hippos, Impala, Water
Buffalo, Warthogs, pretty much The Lion King. Have dome some great hikes around Swaziland, attended the
Marula Festival, went to Bushfire Festival and been able to visit other
volunteers around Swaziland. In my
community I have been to traditional weddings, all night church services,
school cultural days with traditional dancing, and helped slaughter chickens,
pigs and cows. It is hard to
explain all that I have been able to experience and put into words some of the
things but it has been a life changing experience already. They say the Peace Corps is the
toughest job you will ever love and they are correct in so many different ways. I want to thank you all for the support
and prayers during this time and I cannot wait to share this experience with
you more through my photos, blogs and stories.
Here are some links to our fundraising efforts and please
take some time to read through them and pray for all our work here in
Swaziland.
GLOW Camp 2015
BFA (Books for Africa)
Preschool
My Blog
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| The children at the preschool |
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