We moved to Swaziland in January 2003. The internet makes it possible for us to send family in friends newsletters about life here. At some point (I forget when), a recipient told us how much they appreciated and enjoyed the newsletters. This inspired Rudy to put more effort into them. Below are our newsletters as far back as I can find them; the earlier ones aren't in very good chronological order. I hope they bring you some joy, entertainment, and maybe some thoughts to ponder. God bless you,Rudy Poglitsh
January 16, 2010
HOLIDAY ADVENTURESI went with Cub to town on Wednesday, January 14th. We hoped to catch an early kombi, but we found none and no people at the bus station at 6:40AM. This probably meant that the little buses had already come and gone. Fortunately, a former student from the 1990s also came along. He gave Grace a seat in the cab, and I sat with another former student in the bed.
The day in town was really fun. We picked up some packages, sent e-mails, set up the blog for newsletters, and shared a meal. Cubby was a trooper. As you may imagine, sitting in an office with dad pecking at a keyboard isn't much fun. Cub did her activity book for a while, and just sat next to me for a while after that. She was so wiped out by 1:30, though, that she fell asleep in a chair at the post office. I pushed two of the chairs together and let her lay flat; she slept until we had to leave, and after that she was recharged and good to go.
Cramming onto a kombi was a one-of-a-kind experience. I had a backpack on, and really wanted to get out sooner rather than later. The backpack helped and hindered me; it gave me extra bulk (always good when one is trying to bulldoze one's way) but it also made it hard to squeeze through the door. I hit my shin on the metal step while getting in; looks like a soccer injury from my high school era.
I realized that I had gotten in, as had the Christmas packages from our parents-but Cubby was still outside, standing on the curb. Remember that old American Express ad, "don't leave home without it"? How about this: "Your kid-don't leave town without her." After a moment of panic, I (loudly) told her to come in, and some folks outside gently got her inside the kombi. After that, she got passed over a couple of passengers (crowd-surfing of a kind) and we got to sit together. 45 minutes later, we were home.
One of the best parts of the day was having breakfast with Cub. Our kids are growing up, and it's dawning on me that I should spend time with them while I can. Grace is 7; in 11 years, she'll be out of the house. If I may be so bold, spend some time-in fair quantity-with your children today, if they are still at home with you.
FERRY SERVICEOn the morning of Sunday, January 10, Cubby was throwing up. We decided Ruth would stay home with her, and Grace and Kit and I would go to church. The hike includes a small river crossing a short distance from school. Thanks to her nifty "aqua-socks", Ruth usually carries the girls across by wading through the water and I hop across some rocks to the other side. We have had some rains, and the rivers are full but in no way torrential. I asked if Grace could carry Kit, and she said "Sure". Grace took off her shoes and I threw them across. She said "Okay Kit, back time! Climb on." Kit did as she was told, and the two got across without incident (the water was only ankle-deep on Grace). I was very proud of our eldest daughter. It's nice to see them step up and look out for each other.
CHIPMUNK UPDATESix months into the pregnancy, Ruth is moving more slowly; her final hike to church was January 3. Had she gone on the 10th, she would have waited for a kombi (though service is spotty on Sunday mornings) and taken a much shorter and gentler walk to the church.
We also have come up with a second nickname for Kit, which will translate into a proper name after birth: Jabu. This is the shorter form of either "Jabulile" or Jabulani", the female and male versions (respectively) of the Swazi name meaning "joy". So-Grace, Faith/Sikholiwe, Hope/Ntombikayise ("daddy's girl"), and Jabu. We like the name, but there's a second origin for this name choice: Jabulani is the name of the 2010 World Cup soccer ball. The tournament will be held in neighboring South Africa.
Many Swazis, knowing we have three girls and feeling we need a son (having a son is important in Swazi culture), have said they know Jabu will be a boy. If she turns out to be "Jabulile", we'll just say "That's the way the ball bounces!" I suspect the ensuing laughs will defuse their disappointment.
WORK ISSUESWhile Stan Mamba and I went out to fix the water today (Jan. 14), we spoke about work in general. I told him that when I was here the first time, a student came up and said to me "Poglitsh, look at my hands. Now look at your hands." His hands were rough with callouses, mine were pretty smooth. "You open your hands [here he held them up to the sky] and things just fall into them. I work for my living."
I had nothing to say, and that exchange has stayed with me since 1993. Mamba, in the car today, said Swazis don't really value physical labor; they think "working" means sitting with a collared shirt and tie at a desk. He also said that, unfortunately, business practice discourages physical labor. A receptionist at an auto garage, who meets customers and writes job tickets, can earn E2000 a month; the guys who fix the cars might pull in E750 a month. It concerns me that Swaziland shuffles kids through 12 years of paper-pushing, when their prospects of landing white-collar jobs are so slim. Yet that's the way things are right now, and the industry seems, by the pay scheme, to encourage it. Again, I had nothing to say.
PAINTINGWhen I got home, though, I found Sibusiso Gama painting our interior walls. Sibusiso finished school in 2008 and was painting for money before his graduation. He has continued that work, and is supporting himself. He did a fine job on our house and we would have had him come back on Monday to do some more painting, but he has some other work lined up. He left our house with E100 in his pocket. Mamba did say that having one's own business is the way to make a decent living these days. Sibusiso, to his happiness and ours, has figured that out. I hope more young people do.
BENEDICT 16I came across this from "Spe Salvi", the Pope's 2007 encyclical about hope. I hope it encourages you.
"It is not science that redeems man: man is redeemed by love. This applies even in terms of this present world. When someone has the experience of a great love in his life, this is a moment of "redemption" which gives a new meaning to his life. But soon he will also realize that the love bestowed upon him cannot by itself resolve the question of his life. It is a love that remains fragile. It can be destroyed by death. The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). If this absolute love exists, with its absolute certainty, then-only then-is man "redeemed", whatever should happen to him in his particular circumstances. This is what it means to say: Jesus Christ has "redeemed" us. Through him we have become certain of God, a God who is not a remote "first cause" of the world, because his only-begotten Son has become man and of him everyone can say: "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20)."
December 23, 2009ROAD TRIPWe are on the Summer/Christmas break, so the weather is hot and the free time is plentiful! One thing we like to do on these breaks (and especially the long one between school years) is visit friends. We know some folks in Manzini, the largest city in Swaziland (though Mbabane is the capital). We decided to make a few days of it beginning last Thursday. Ruth had an ob-gyn checkup at 10AM in Mbabane. Recently we have had trouble getting a kombi after 7AM. Not wanting to miss the appointment, and knowing the 6:15AM kombi (mini-bus) is reliable, we decided we'd catch the early bus. We woke the kids up at 5:30 and we were all out the door by 6. I was very impressed with our 3 girls, ages 7, 5, and 2. I very highly doubt I was that cooperative that early in the morning at any of those ages. See attached photo for a photo of the girls taken during this trip. Ruth's appointment went fine, so after that we all boarded a sprinter (another kind of mini-bus, only bigger and more comfortable) for Manzini where we had a very ecumenical weekend. Ruth and I were dozing off on this leg of the trip, and no wonder: the road is smooth, the seats are more spacious and more comfortable, and you can even get some airflow through to keep a little cool. Just what us 40-somethings with small kids who have been up for 5 hours need to fall asleep. In Manzini we had lunch with Bruce and Carol Britten, missionaries to Swaziland for nearly 40 years. I am always sobered when I meet people who have been doing something for as long or longer as I have been alive. Bruce and Carol direct the Zionist Bible College. A huge percentage of Swazis are connected to the Zionist churches, though the theology of these churches varies in its Biblical accuracy. The Britten's hope that ZBC will bring these pastors and their congregations more in line with the Bible. Ruth then went to a women's conference organized by the Baptists, while the girls and I went to nearby Salesian High School. We are on good terms with the priests there, and we arranged to spend a night there while Ruth had a teaching and worship sleepover with her Baptist girlfriends. The girls loved the soft-grass courtyard near our room. After dinner with the Fathers, the girls took a shower. This was a major treat. It was a big shower room, and seemed to have been built for elderly access; there was a tiled "ramp" from the floor of the bathroom into the shower area. Father Thompson, the recently assigned American priest, said these rooms had been renovated for the older priests. That may have explained the ramp. I later enjoyed a hot shower myself. I think my only major mistake this day was allowing the girls some Coca-Cola at dinner. I figured that with the long day and higher temperatures in Manzini, a little sugar and caffeine wouldn't keep them up. I figured wrong. Whenever they finally fell asleep that night, it was well past the normal time. Also, Manzini has mosquitoes and they found their way into our room. I swiped at 2 or 3 in the dark (you know it's futile, but it's an automatic response to that annoying buzzing) but had no more problems. Neither did the older two girls (Grace and Cub) show any signs of being bugged by the blood-suckers. But in the morning, Kit looked like a pincushion. Grace told me a few times "I counted 24 bites on her!" Mom's estimate was over 50. Boy, that boosted my self-esteem as a father. Next time we stay there we'll take bug repellent with us and lather the girls up good before bed. Friday was really fun. The girls slept a little later than usual (meaning they woke up sometime before 7, and not around 6) and this allowed me to attend a daily Mass with Father Thompson. Unlike the Sunday Mass, a Weekday Catholic church service only takes about 20-25 minutes. Lots of things are abbreviated. Father Thompson and I were the only two there, though in keeping with the the teaching of the Catholic faith, the "communion of saints"-those who have gone before us to their eternal heavenly reward-were also present. The whole big lot of us enjoyed the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord. I got back to the girls and let them play a bit before breakfast. After that we wandered into town and got another snack. We returned to Salesian and came across a group of volunteers (see more under "Catholic Moment" below). We helped them prepare for their youth group meeting. They were hosting a huge number (maybe 50 or so) of youth from the city, using the Bosco Youth Centre for games, snacks, and a movie. I guess they do this on a regular basis. It beats having the youth roam the streets, getting into trouble. We wandered back to the housing and the kids took another shower-just to be in the hot running water from above. I didn't require or forbid soap; this was for them. They loved it again. I said "take a shower" a few times in preparation for the event, and Kit seemed to pick up on the phrase, but not with full accuracy. Throughout the next 20 minutes in the shower with her sisters, she would say "Tastes like a SHOWER". After the shower, we attended another Mass-this one to celebrate the 150th founding of the Salesians. The Salesians are a group of priests founded by Saint John Bosco (1815-1888), who worked with street kids in Turin, Italy. They continue to work with youth, often as teachers, worldwide. Cub and Kit started to show signs of tiredness; they slept on my lap through most of the service. After the service we enjoyed the fingerfood and entertainment to celebrate their 150 years. We chowed chicken and cake and juice. We also got to meet some religious sisters from India, who are stationed in Malkerns (near Manzini). At least one of the sisters works with HIV/AIDS victims in a place called Hope House, right next to Salesian. Mark Blosser of Trans World Radio picked us up from there, and after a stop at a grocery store (which was selling a bottle rocket 4 feet tall with a rocket portion the size of a medium avocado; you'd need NASA clearance to launch that thing in the US), we picked up Ruth and went to the Blosser's home. TWR-Swaziland broadcasts Christian radio reaching as far as India. Mark (and a large proportion of his family) have been doing overseas mission work for decades. We enjoyed a night of conversaton and later a movie, called "Christmas Shoes". It was based on a song of the same name from a few years ago. It's a good family movie, but keep your box of Kleenex nearby. Cubby sobbed through a lot of the film. Another kingly meal (Saturday breakfast) with the Blossers, then we went back to the Baptist church for the final session of the retreat. We met some old friends there, the Poes, whose 2 years in Swaziland overlapped ours. They dropped us off at the Manzini bus rank, and we piled into another sprinter headed for Mbabane. I had picked up a nasty flu sometime after Thursday. I did not relish standing in line for 1 1/2 hours waiting to mosh-pit/shoehorn my family into a kombi with head-splitting sinus pressure and nasty stuff coming out my nose. I wanted to go home and lay in bed and drift in and out of consciousness. That's how I get over these things best. When we got out of the sprinter in Mbabane, my kombi-phobia was confirmed: a large and expectant knot of people stood at the "Nsukumbili-bound" bus station. I had been planning (plotting?) to see if I could talk Ruth into taking a taxi back to the school. I told her this at the rank. I asked her what she thought. She said "You're asking your wife who..." and I completed her sentence "doesn't like to spend money." She said that was true. I asked her if we had money for this in the budget; she said it would mean a little less money to spend in the US next time. That's $50 a year from now, I figured; we'll never miss it. "How much are you willing to spend?" I asked Ruth. "You'll have to decide that." I had figured 200 Emalangeni would be a fair price. As we approached the taxi rank, an energetic man approached us. I told him our destination, and he asked his boss who was standing nearby what that would cost. "200" the boss said. I would not be suprised to learn a divine grace was arranged here. "Deal; let's go" I responded. 90 minutes later we entered the house. After unpacking the really important stuff, I crawled into bed. The older 2 girls brought me a candy cane (a gift from the Blossers), in a box they hand-decorated. I told Ruth later "They really like me; what did I do to deserve such nice kids?" Ruth smiled. I hope your next road trip is as enjoyable as our 3 day jaunt was. CATHOLIC MOMENTBack for a moment to the volunteers. The Manzini Salesians run a volunteer program. Young and old people come for periods of 6 months to a year to participate in the youth work of the Salesians. This day, we met volunteers from Ireland, Chile, Switzerland, and Germany. The program is run by an Irish (I think) priest, and the Salesian priests we know include a Spaniard and an American. We also got to chat with the sisters from India. All these folks, working together in little Swaziland! "Catholic" means "universal"; this day, that word took on fresh meaning for me. It was a big blast. THE MEANING OF CHRISTMASI recently picked up Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical "Spe Salvi"-which means, I think, "In hope we were saved". This passage from section 5 of the encyclical is fitting at this time of year. Hope you enjoy it. ...the Roman State religion had become fossilized into simple ceremony which was scrupulously carried out, but by then it was merely "political religion". Philosophical rationalism had confined the gods within the realm of unreality. The Divine was seen in various ways in cosmic forces, but a God to whom one could pray did not exist. Paul [author of some New Testament letters] illustrates the essential problem of the religion of that time quite accurately when he contrasts life "according to Christ" with life under the dominion of the "elemental spirits of the universe" (Colossians 2:8). In this regard a text by Saint Gregory Nazianzen is enlightening. He says that at the very moment when the Magi, guided by the star, adored Christ the new king, astrology came to an end, because the stars were now moving in the orbit determined by Christ. This scene, in fact, overturns the world-view of that time, which in a different way has become fashionable once again today. It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and of evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love-a Person. And if we know this Person and he knows us, then truly the inexorable power of material elements no longer has the last word; we are not slaves of the universe and of its laws, we are free. In ancient times, honest enquiring minds were aware of this. Heaven in not empty. Life is not a simple product of laws and the randomness of matter, but within everything and at the same time above everything, there is a personal will, there is a Spirit who in Jesus has revealed himself as Love. NSUKUMHILLBILLY"Quality time" with your 7 year old daughter includes burning the household trash. She is especially excited to get burning plastic on the end of the piece of rebar you use to stir the burning refuse.Hillbilly Your girls so enjoy a shower, they ask for an "encore experience" without soap. In the midst of this shower your eldest child exclaims: "I can't get enough of this. I'd like to have a shower over me and I would just walk around with a shower over me."Hillbilly Not to give up on the bath, your three girls spend an hour splashing around at the tub at home. The water comes from the newly-scrubbed tanks, and not all the floating dirt is out of the lines yet. You hear gleeful shouts of "real tea!" and "look at the chocolate!"Hillbilly During your prayer time in the kitchen, you can kill a dozen flies with your bare hands before 6AM. Clap your hands just a couple of inches above them; when your hands come together, you will smash them between your death-dealing digits. I've killed hundreds of flies this way since our 2003 arrival. It's mightyHillbilly Have a good day and a Merry Christmas. **************December 12, 2009SON OF MAMBAI know I don't deserve that title, but I felt a little bit like one on Friday, Dec. 4. That was the day school closed for the year, and in the early afternoon I learned the water was out. I changed out of my Swazi clothes (I usually wear them on special occasions) and into my tattered slacks and t-shirt. 20 minutes later I stood beside the tank from which we take our water. Our 1-inch diameter pipe siphons water from the bottom of a tank along the community water system route. This tank is about 7 feet deep. Occasionally the siphon is broken and must be restored. Our pipe has a coupling about 5 yards from the tank. If I could open the coupling and suck hard enough to pull water up 7 feet from the bottom of the tank, I could get the siphon going and the taps at the school would have water again. Sure-and if I were 2 feet taller, 20 years younger, and had perfect vision and coordination, I could play point guard for the L.A. Lakers. Next time you sip Coke through a straw from a can on the table in front of you, imagine making your straw 7 feet long and 8 times the volume. This was not an option. But, I reasoned as I stared into the tank, if I could get the water up near the top of the tank, I could suck and get it flowing again. We used to take the water right from the inflow pipe, and re-established the siphon that way. But how to get the water up that high? Good thing I carry an empty peanut butter tub with me when I go to fix the water! I put this empty tub over the outflow pipe, and the water began to rise inside the tank. I felt sorry for the folks "downstream" whose taps suddenly went dry, but I knew it would only be for a short time. Time, however, wasn't on my side. We've had a good rainy summer so far, and the dark clouds were gathering in the west-the direction from which strong storms come. I was on my way to developing repetitive stress injury, looking into the tank then turning my head to look behind me at the clouds. As the water inexorably rose, I tried a couple of times to suck the water through. No luck. I thought maybe if I had a big bucket of water on top of the tank, I could suck water from it, then quickly run the 5 yards from the coupling to the tank and plunge the other end of the pipe into the water. I could then knock the (now submerged) peanut butter tub off the outflow pipe, causing the water level to fall and then replacing our pipe on the bottom of the tank. I borrowed a 20 liter bucket from a nearby homestead, but this approach didn't work. As I stood scratching my head and wishing the water would rise faster and the clouds wouldn't look so dark underneath, an Nsukumbili student came by. I waved him over and put him to work. He sat at the open, coupling end of the pipe and held it shut. I poured water from the 20 liter bucket into my end of the pipe. When I estimated (more like "wildly guessed") that the pipe was mostly full, I put my end into the tank and told him to open his end. SUCCESS! The water shot out of his end full-bore, and continuously. We reconnected the pipe, and called Ruth and asked her to check if water was flowing into the school tanks (we bought a second cell phone for such purposes; it sure does come in handy). 10 minutes later we got the "thumbs up" from Ruth. I gave the boy the peanut butter tub, and walked home satisfied. Stan Mamba, the school's all-around handyman and my hydraulics mentor, had been at Matsapha to upgrade his academic credentials. I wish he could have been there to see me do this. The credit is all his. Epilogue-Mamba called us this weekend, and told us that the water is out in the town of Matsapha where he is staying. We both laughed, and I told him that if he wants to take a bath, he'll have to come back to Nsukumbili. CHRISTMAS GREETINGSWe are in the month of Christmas, though the weather (hot with afternoon thunderstorms) and the daylength (it starts getting light at 4AM, and the sun sets around 6) don't seem much like the Christmases I remember in the USA. It's nice in Swaziland that the preparations for Christmas begin about mid-November, not around Labor Day (I remember seeing Christmas stuff in a wal-Mart in late summer) as they do in the USA. We love Christmas, but let's keep the announcements and preparations within shouting distance of the actual date. I was clearing my shelf this morning and came across a note from SMA, the Society of African Missions. We have had contact with SMA for many years, and they still (most graciously) send us their newsletter. Bear in mind that the note was written for dwellers in the northern hemisphere. The note reads: liturgical verse sung at both Christmas Eve and Good Friday in some Eastern Churches:"Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the tree.Today He who holds the whole creation in His hand is born of a Virgin.The King of angels is decked with a crown of thorns. He whose essence none can touch is bound in swaddling clothes as a mortal man.He who wraps the heavens in a cloud is wrapped in the purple of mockery.God who in the beginning fashioned the heavens lies in a manger.He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped in the face.He who rained manna on His people in the wilderness is fed on milk from His mother's breast.The Bridegroom of the Church is affixed to the cross with nails.The Bridegroom of the Church summons the wise men.The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.The Son of the Virgin accepts their gifts.We worship Thy Passion, O Christ!We worship Thy Passion, O Christ!We worship Thy Passion, O Christ!Show us also Thy Glorious Resurrection!Show us also Thy Glorious Theophany!" The Birth of Christ is a reminder that we, too, were "born in order to die", and that we were "baptized in order to be raised". May these thoughts lighten us as the winter's cold and snow lie heavy and worn on the ground and as we face any difficulties in life, knowing that they will give way to the glorious light, hope and radiance of Easter as we celebrate this glorious Winter Pascha. May you have a Blessed and Joyful Christmas and Holiday Season.************November 26, 2009RAIN DELAYSorry this newsletter is so late, but we have had a LOT of rain and couldn't get to town. It started raining Sunday, Nov. 15 and rained consistently until Saturday afternoon. The major dam in the country is 100% full (that's perhaps the first time that's happened) and no one is complaining about a lack of water. In fact, the large amount of rain caused an estimated E50 million (about $6.5 million) in damage. We will have to refertilize our corn; Ruth suspects the rain washed the fertilizer right through the soil. But it will be okay. CONDOM REALITY CHECKThis came from a friend in Haiti; I relay it here with permission."Your thoughts on HIV written to your friend reminds me of what I heard at a conference here in Haiti a number of years ago. A Haitian doctor was speaking about STD's to the whole conference. One of his points was that, while studies have shown a much lower effectiveness percentage, condom manufacturers themselves only claim 99.99% effectiveness for their condoms. That means that one of every 1000 condoms manufactured is not effective. All the men's eyes got wider. The doctor continued that every one sitting at the conference knew that Haiti never gets sent the first quality of anything, so most of what comes to Haiti is probably that 0.01% of condoms that are ineffective. He then stated that if you read the directions on the box condoms come in, they say to keep condoms in a cool, dry place away from things that can scratch or scrape the packaging. "And," he said, "Where do we keep our condoms? In our pockets!" Where it is warm, sweaty and rattling around with keys and change and who knows what else. He ventured that there was not one effective condom in all of Haiti! The men in the group were shocked and I think scared to death! I wanted to yell out, "Preach it, Doc!" It was so good to have that come from a Haitian doctor. It remains to be seen if that doctor can get the message spread to save lives. I do indeed thank the Lord that the AIDS problem in Haiti is not what it is in Africa, but we need to keep it that way and reduce the problem we do have." RAINSIt has rained for about 4 weeks! We have had only one scare with hail, but the stones were small and they didn't fall for very long. Most of the time it's been a steady and respectable rain; the kind that soaks in, and doesn't turn the rivers to hot chocolate color with the soil it has washed away. On Wednesday Nov 18 there was enough of a break in the weather to allow us to go to town for a pregnancy checkup. But the roads were bad--our combi did a slow motion skid through the mud and bumped into a soil bank on the way to town. It has been raining continually since then. Ruth and the girls didn't leave the house for 2 days. The roads must be a huge mess now. The rivers are swollen beyond anything we have experienced and are covering the low bridges on the roads. The flooding means that we didn't make it to church on Sunday. Times like these we are very glad that Rudy lives at the school and that we homeschool--very convenient to be able to avoid the transport dangers. When the sun shines again (and it will), the corn will shoot up. Those who planted early are happy; a neighbor's corn is already halfway to maturity. Ours is emerging, and it looks good. We had a pretty good haul of peaches and mulberries this year. We suspect we had some theivery towards the end on the peaches, and the birds picked off a lot of our mulberries until we got out there and put a net over the tree. Overall, we are happy with the fruit tree harvest. THIRD WIRE PROBLEMSThe power has come and gone a lot in the last 3 weeks or so. It appears that the middle of three transmission lines from town has gone slack, and a moderate wind bumps it into one of the other two wires. Our power then goes out, leaving us in the dark or with a "brownout" situation. The brownout isn't so bad; there's enough electricity to keep the lights half-lit (maybe Ruth and I should have some romantic evenings!), but the fridge and stove don't work under those conditions. SEC (Swaziland Electric Company) does a good job of getting out and fixing the outage, but unless they fix the saggy wire (if indeed that is the problem), they'll keep making trips out here. We've told the folks at the office about the saggy wire; I don't think it's been addressed yet.Note: While out this morning (Tuesday, 17 Nov.), it appears the slack has been taken out. This is hopeful! We have had power all during the recent "rain-in" which is wonderful since I don't think the power trucks will be able to get out here for awhile. VOTE OF CONFIDENCEOn a recent run to fix the water, Mamba stopped his pickup truck, got out, and told me to drive it. He and another colleague, Mbuyseni Gama, would check two other places along the pipeline and meet me at a predetermined spot. I saw not a hint of joking or doubt in Mamba's eyes; he said it very matter-of-factly. I asked him "Are you really sure?". He said "Yes, you are a driver, right?". I took over the wheel while he and Gama walked off. I was horrifically nervous. Sure I have driven before, but with left-hand-drive passenger cars on paved roads. Mamba's pickup truck is right-hand-drive, the dirt road was still a little slick from recent rains, and the bed was loaded with cut logs from a nearby forest and a 100 pound, 25-foot long metal irrigation pipe we were taking back to the school. We lashed the pipe down, but it was so long it hung a few feet out the back and stuck out another 5 feet over the top of the truck at a 45 degree angle. I felt like a combination of a small-town lumberyard owner (hillbilly?) and the driver of a 1992 Mogadishu "technical", the armed pickup trucks cruising Somalia's capital during their civil war. Still, I got to the pickup point without incident and parked the car. Mamba and Gama appeared 5 minutes later. Mamba congratulated me on turning the car off; it has some sort of electrical problem, and the key is only useful for turing the car on. Returning the key to the off position, and even removing it from its slot, does nothing. One has to put the car in a high gear and gently let out the clutch, thus stalling the engine. We all piled in, and I drove it back to the school. The gatekeeper, Jabulane Gama, was all smiles; he said he was happy I was driving, so that I would not forget how to drive. I told Mamba later that he gave me a great vote of confidence by letting me drive his car. Mamba does a lot with his pickup, and that he would trust me so quickly with it was very significant. I suspect his car is to him what a good horse was to cowboys in the old American West. DEATHSSomeone got struck and killed near our homestead last week, and a relative of a colleague hanged himself the week before. The man who hanged himself left a wife and 3 or 4 kids. Here is part of something I wrote to a friend about this. I learned today that the uncle of someone we know pretty well just hanged himself. He left a wife and 3 kids. You know what my response was, when Ruth told me? Of course we prayed first. Next, I took a collection of J.S. Bach's great organ works off the shelf and put it in the cd player. There is so much death here, Ken, that of course sadness has to be the first response, but I'm coming to think that simply affirming life and joy must be the second. Otherwise, despair will tint my vision. My life and joy is Jesus Christ. He, and the joy He brings, must be asserted. Mother Theresa is attributed as saying "Never let anything overwhelm your joy in the resurrection." Oddly (though I'm sure you've already learned this), faith in Christ allows me to mourn "better" or more freely than I could before I was a Christian. As Christ is my bedrock, I don't have to fear having "the bottom fall out of my life" in life's tragedies; I don't have to keep everything together in times like this. Christ has passed through the greatest tragedy, and emerged alive, never to die again, on the other side. Courage is now an option, as we are ultimately "bulletproof" from the slings and arrows of this life. We must not toy with sin, but the stuff that comes at us...we're bulletproof. I can mourn, and I can take action. We can face them head-on; we can plow head-first into the fusillade of injustice and injury in this world, trying to help others as we can. Okay, so probably not publishable-quality stuff, but it sure helps me. Pray for these folks, will you? ALL IN A DAYOne day recently I was writing at a table constructed from a discarded two-student desk frame and a broken door. Ruth was discussing the theology of the book of Romans with a teacher's wife, who was writing a paper on Romans. The power was out, so dinner was cooking happily on the propane gas cylinder. Assorted children sat on the floor behind me, playing Chutes and Ladders. All this took place about 4 in the afternoon. What a good setup for us. GREAT WEEKENDWe spent last weekend (14-15 November) in town. We ran errands on Saturday morning, including Ruth meeting an Italian Catholic nun who is her spiritual advisor, and Rudy (with Kit) meeting a Spanish priest in Manzini for confession. While crossing an intersection between the Church in Manzini and the bus rank, I found myself between a late-model Mercedes on my left and a man carting 6 boxes of chicks (baby chickens) with a dolly on my right. I was reminded that I am in Swaziland, Africa. The family reunited in Mbabane and listened to a Swazi woman who was once a Sangoma ("witch doctor/traditional healer") and is now a Christian pastor present the spiritual aspect of Swazi culture from the inside. We then spent a delightful evening with the couple who hosted the presentation. We went into town with the wife on Sunday morning and milled around until the grocery store opened at 9. In the course of our wanderings, we came across an office lobby with a half-scale creche set. Though it was early on a rainy Sunday morning, we found the door open and went in to look at the nativity scene. Ruth and I spontaneously sang "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". It was a moving few moments, in part I think because the acoustics were really nice in that tile-and-mirror lobby (we all know what wonderful singers we are in a shower); but also because we were giving testimony, even if no one else heard or saw us, to the newborn and returning King and Savior of the Universe. We spent a little time explaining the different figures to the girls; they pretty much figured out Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the three wise men. We did spend some time explaining that the real people probably had darker skin than these models (which were white-skinned), because the people who made these models made them like the people they are themselves. This wasn't all bad, we explained; it means the people who made the set have taken the faith into their own lives by depicting the characters in their own cultural context. Soon we will take out and put on the dining room table the plaster creche set given to us by the Haitian children of the youth group we worked with in Fort Myers, Florida. All three figures in that creche set-Jesus, Mary, and Joseph-look a lot like Swazis. At that time we will explain this enculturation dynamic to the girls again. After purchasing our food for the week we met with Father John Thompson, an American priest who recently came to Swaziland. Father Thompson spent almost 30 years between Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria before moving south. He drove us to the outstation church and celebrated Mass there. We hadn't informed any members of the congregation about Fr. Thompson's visit (better to promise little and deliver much), and everyone who was there (a pretty good crowd for a rainy day when the priest wasn't scheduled to come) was very happy. Father's pronunciation of the Mass in SiSwati is quite good, and his sermon was well-received. After church he and the Mubiru's and the Poglitsh's returned to Nsukumbili for food and fellowship. Fr. Thompson seems to have an endless supply of small religious items (crosses, pins, rosaries); some of these were distributed, much to the happiness of the recipients. He blessed Godfrey Mubiru's rosary, a rosary Godfrey recieved at his graduation (I forget if it was high school or college) in 1986; Xolile Mubiru, Godfrey's wife, was given a rosary, and she was clearly moved. Then everyone but the Poglitsh's left, and we closed the weekend with macaroni and cheese (one of the five dishes in Rudy's cooking repertoire. They aren't original or fancy, but they're good.) It was the kind of weekend which makes me recognize what a good situation this is for our family at this time. I am grateful to God for it. I hope you have good times like this with your loved ones sometime soon, too. NSUKUMHILLBILLIES OVERHEARDWhile looking at a radio-controlled toy Lamborghini in a shop window:Rudy: "Wow, a Lambo!"Grace: "Does that turn into a cow?"Hillbilly Grace explains a benefit of rural living:"Do you know why it's better to live out here than in town? Because here you can pee outside and in town you're really not supposed to. Here, if you really need to go, you can just pull up your underwear and go."Waaaaaay hillbilly************October 31, 2009WHOLE FOOD ON THE WINGOn Wednesday of this week, we left the doors open after dinner and let the tinhlwa (flying termites) come in. Swazi kids (and ours) love to catch, fry, then eat them. Hope (also known as Kit) went one step beyond last night: she would take a termite, pull its wings off, and eat it before the frying. Attached is video evidence. Unedited. Unretouched. Uncooked. Bon appetit! (photo of a flying termite in Odds and Ends II) DISTURBING YET HOPEFUL CONVERSATIONA couple weeks back I was spraying an invasive weed with Roundup. Roundup effectively kills any plant it is sprayed on, right down to the roots. There is a nationwide effort to eradicate this particular weed (I haven't learned the Swazi name for it), but newspaper reports say there is some sort of corruption in the project and it's not working right now. I decided I would take the task upon myself at the school. The form 3 students are taking their exams, and as a result they have time off at odd moments. A few students came and asked what I was doing. I explained myself, and they said that there is a government project to eradicate that weed but the workers only chop it down. Chopping is okay, the students said, but the plant quickly grows back. The students then said that, essentially, this is typical of Africans: they don't know the right way to do the job, and the problem will just come back. It is the British who have the answers, they concluded. I responded that well, look: 5 minutes ago you didn't know this Roundup chemical existed. You have quickly figured out that this chemical is a better way to do it. Africans, I told them, are just as smart as anyone else; you just don't always have the right information or tools. Their expressions seemed to show that the message got across. I was bummed that these young Swazis had such a low opinion of their own capacities, but was glad they realized that they can solve problems effectively. ELEVATOR TALKThough I've never been a salesman, I have heard that every salesman must have an elevator talk: a sales pitch to convince people to buy a product in the time it takes an elevator to move from the ground floor to the 5th. On Wednesday night (before the tinhlwa fest), Thokozane Khumalo and Mzwandile Nkhambule ate dinner with us. Mzwandile asked us about the moringa tree. We deffered to Thokzane, who has been introducing and promoting the tree around Swaziland for the last 18 months. Thokozane paused for 5 seconds, then launched a panegyric of moringa's nutritional benefits which would make any sales manager proud. Thokozane continued his "pitch" outside at our own moringa trees planted around the house. Ruth was very impressed; his information was accurate and his enthusiasm infectious. Moringa does have a lot of nutritional benefits, and it tolerates poor growing conditions. NSUKUMHILLBILLYLacking a proper bottle opener for a bottle of cooking wine, you crank a tapered wood screw into the cork and use a pair of pliers to pull the cork out.Hillbilly************October 17, 2009ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHERStan Mamba, the plumber/farmer/auto mechanic/SiSwati teacher is furthering his education. By his own admission, he procrastinated on some of the work and found himself in a time crunch. I told him that if he gave me his handwritten work, I could type it for him. We've done that a couple of times now. Most recently, he said "Hawu, Sg'coko (my Swazi nickname), the way you do that (typing) with your fingers..." I told him "Mamba, all those times you were fixing pipes and growing things, I was tapping away on a keyboard". It feels very good to make a small return to Mamba for all the help he gives the school, and our family by extension. WHAT'S IN A NAME?A couple weeks ago one of my students (Zinhle) told me smilingly, "Mphumelelo (a boy in class) is making fun of my father's name!" I asked her, "What is your father's name?" The girl replied "Pepsi". "Pepsi?", I asked. "Yes", she said. I thought maybe this pronunciation was a simplified version of something like "Mphepsilane" or something. I asked her to write the name down. She wrote "P-E-P-S-I". "That's your dad's name?" "Yes", she confirmed. I stifled some chuckles and later asked another, quite reliable student, "Hey, is Zinhle's dad's name Pepsi?" A small grin crossed his face and nodded in assent. I have puzzled and chuckled over that some since; but with children named "Cub" and "Chipmunk", I know I can't chuckle too hard. FULL METAL BUCKETAt our previous home (the one about 10 feet from where we now live) we had a great passive solar water heater. We tied into the plumbing in the attic with black irrigation pipe (about 1 1/4 inch diameter). The pipe took two big loops out on the roof, then came back into the house and fed the hot water faucets. During the day the water would heat up and allow a piping hot shower in the early afternoon. I have missed that arrangement, always feeling a little guilty and wasteful that we use electricity and natural gas to heat water for bathing. I have tried to think of ways to get back to the passive solar approach. Ruth spent some time at HEART, a simulated third-world rural village set in central Florida. She said that at HEART, they simply put a 55-gallon metal barrel on a stand and left it all day. By the end of the day, the water was good and hot. So I took our shiny silver bucket and spray-painted it with the darkest paint we had (an ultra-blue shade). I set it on top of our former rabbit house (which is now the repository of squashed tin cans and coke cans; I'll recycle them sometime) and pushed it against the wall. I covered the bucket with a piece of thick, clear plastic ("Visqueen" is the word that comes to mind, but I'm not sure) and just waited. By 2PM, the water was 130 degrees Fahrenheit! It is good enough for taking a bath in. Ruth uses it to bathe the girls, because they usually take a tubby in the early afternoon. We've yet to figure out a way to conserve the hot water until the evening, when Ruth and I like to wash up. But this is a step. BLACK MAMBA PASSIVE SOLAR WATER HEATERHot on the heels of the full metal bucket, my thoughts turned to getting a greater volume of hot water. Mr. Mamba (he of endless practicality) has a "scrapyard" of black irrigation pipe we have scrounged from various repair jobs. I found one just the right length; turned out, ironically, to be the pipe that used to be on the roof of the other house, which we scavenged from the roof to bypass the community water tanks (in order to bring water to our school) in 2007. Grace helped me close one end, and we filled the open (uphill) end with water. We simply left the pipe lying on the ground through the day. By the early afternoon, we had a full bucket of water just as hot or hotter as the metal bucket! Again, practicality and scale-up are problems to be solved, but even this experiment (which was used to wash the girls' hair) felt like a success. The heater was named 1) in honor of Stan Mamba, resident appropriate technology genius, and 2) for its obvious similarity to the highly-poisonous black mamba snake. NSUKUMHILLBILLYA "midnight" (more like 8:30PM) snack for your 7 year old daughter is the pan-fried flying termite she caught and you cooked earlier in the day.Hillbilly You spend your walk between your house and the school thinking about how to heat water outside; you come up with the metal bucket and the black mamba, and you put them into action.appropriate technology Hillbilly You hire teachers' kids to guard your peach trees with a slingshot. The renumeration? A piece of gum, a hard candy, or a small bag of chee-tos, and a 10% cut of the peach harvest when it comes in.Hillbilly Your daughter explains to you that roll-on antiperspirant is better than stick, because 1) the ball fits your armpit better and 2) after the product is used up, the ball can be removed and used as a toy.Hillbilly************October 10, 2009WEATHER REPORTSorry, Tromans, no Jako Pastorius link here. Still, the weather has been great! On Wednesday or Thursday I found myself with immense amounts of time on my hands, and all my teaching prep done. I couldn't stand the thought of wandering around the hallways and sitting at my desk, so I took a school wheelbarrow out to the soccer field and collected cow manure. I planned to put it on the trees on the west side of the school; I ended up putting it in our corn planting holes in our Farming God's Way corn plot. Between the one wheelbarrow I collected and a little we had left from last time, every hole got its one liter of manure. Just as we were finishing, it began to rain. It has been rainy since then until today (Sunday, 4 October). The rain has been of a respectable volume but not torrential, so it's feeding the plants and penetrating into the soil but not washing soil away. It's also just enough to keep the dust down on the roads but not so much that the roads are impassable. Just great. I didn't think I'd pay so much attention to the weather; but in a culture where whether you eat depends on whether it rains, precipitation becomes pretty important. THE BARE FACTSAn hour ago I was at the soccer field watching a game. One of my favorite teams went down fighting, 3-1. A substitution took place midway through the first half. As shorts and jerseys are sometimes in short supply, the player leaving the game took off his shorts and got right down to his BVDs-right in the middle of the field!-to give to his teammate. I uttered a suprised "Hawu!" (the SiSwati version of "What?!"), and Mbuyiseni Gama, the school groundskeeper, said to me "All of us are born without clothes" without missing a beat. True enough. TRANSPORTATION TREKYesterday I went to town for the typical Saturday chores (visit church, e-mail, post office, groceries). I hoped to catch the 6:30AM kombi so that this could be a quick trip; my bride's birthday was yesterday, and I wanted to get back quickly. No kombi came, even by 7. Fortunately, someone in a minivan-type thing did come by, and he took 7 of us to town. The errands around town were successful, but there's a catch on transport on the first weekend of any month: town is packed. Almost everyone is paid once a month at the end of the month, so everyone goes to town and gets all their stuff for the next 4 weeks. The bus rank is thus packed. I got to the spot where the kombis for Nsukumbili come, and it was as full of people as I've ever seen it. On top of that, people had their bulk supplies of groceries, etc. It looked like it would be a "sardine Saturday" getting back to the school. I really don't like continually looking at the bus rank entrance for what may be our kombi, then jostling/pressing/straight-arming/cross-checking people in order to get a seat. I decided to take a kombi through Pine Valley and see what transport I might be able to get from there. I left the Nsukumbili pickup spot and boarded a kombi bound for Mbuluzi school. It was very nice to get a nice seat with no mosh-pitting, and to depart about 10 minutes later when the kombi filled up. I even put my backpack on the seat next to me (instead of on my lap), and the trip still only cost me E6. I got off at the school and started walking. We used to go through Pine Valley all the time; but Shining Star bus (for reasons unknown) doesn't come to the school anymore, so I haven't been that way for a while. It was refreshing to see familiar sights and especially to be outside walking, with blue sky breaking through the clouds and the rustle of the eucalyptus trees in the breeze. A bus met me after about 10 minutes of walking and took me to the long, low bridge over the Mbuluzi River. As the bus approached the conductor indicated to me that it was not going all the way to where I wanted to go; I indicated I knew that and that it was okay. This bus was playing Swazi gospel music; I don't hear that as much on the kombis that take the shortcut, and it was (again) refreshing. I got off that bus, paid, and turned around to see another kombi dropping people off. I jogged over to it and got on. More Swazi gospel, and more familiar (and yet not recently-familiar) sights. This kombi dropped me about an hour by foot from the house, and I covered the rest of the trip under my own power. This fourth leg of the trip was like seeing something familiar with fresh eyes; the quiet and the beauty of this area was revealed to me again. It made me appreciate this area anew; we wouldn't want to live anywhere else in Swaziland. I did think wistfully that while the school rat-race goes on Monday to Friday within these razor wire-tipped fences, these trees/fields/hills/breezes/homesteads keep doing their peaceful thing. It made me think a little about trying to get some sort of development work that would have us live outside the schoolgrounds all the time, but a little reflection made it clear that we are in a very good situation in the school, and we can come up with a plan to get more involved in the community and get out on foot occasionally. The grass is always greener, after all, on the other side of the fence; the "wider community" would come with its own set of challenges. Still, I got more than I bargained for in taking this "road less traveled". I was only hoping to avoid a long wait and a mash for a seat; I got that, and a nice refresher in one reason why we're here. RURAL HEALTH MOTIVATORLast week I got a small, painful bump on my lower lip. Like most men, I poked and prodded and pinched it until it bled. It left a sizeable scab, though the pain went away. I found it interesting that for a couple of days the students made real eye contact with me when I was explaining something to them in class. I later figured they were probably just looking at my lip. Oh well. Anyway, I have two form 4 young men (approximately their junior year in high school) who are inseparable-and who talk incessantly. I told them they'll have a hard time when they finish school next year and have to go their separate ways. I suggested they become commentators for SuperSport 3 (the all-soccer channel) so they can continue their conversation. As I was meandering through class, one of the two asked me what was on my lip. I explained to him what I explained above. Joining him in the studio, his co-broadcaster said "I have the same thing, Mr. Poglitsh. Look at my lip." I thought this might cast some light on what I had. He said "Look at these beautiful lips. None as nice as these. Perfect. Beautiful." On and on he went, waving his index finger back and forth across his mouth and extolling the virtues of his lips. His co-anchor smiled, and I walked back to the board and kept teaching biology. GUEST WRITERAttached is an op-ed piece by the head of NERCHA, the Swazi government department tasked with addressing AIDS. During their swearing-in ceremony, he tells new Peace Corps Volunteers that to get good and depressed about the AIDS situation they should come visit him at his office. von Wissel's piece is reprinted here courtesy of the Times of Swaziland. The Times is the major newspaper for Swaziland's 1 million citizens; like USA Today, it is sold across the nation. When they aren't in class, teachers are on the lookout for the day's copy of the Times. Visit www.times.co.sz to view the online version. You will get a taste for life in the Kingdom.**********October 3, 2009IT IS HARD TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ONOn Monday a grandmother came up and told Rudy that Takhona Gama's mother had died. We spoke to a man from Takhona's homestead, and he said that Takhona's step-mother had died. Then we talked to a student from Takhona's homestead; he told us no one died. We talked to Takhona, and she said a brother died and would be buried far away (which would mean that "brother" didn't mean someone closely related, but a more distant relative). We later learned that the Swazi mother of a nearby Peace Corps volunteer (whose Swazi name is Thandeka Gama) died. The last we feel confident of; we aren't sure if that is related to the first report we heard or not; as for the death in Takhona's family, we're just not sure. But thanks to all for prayers and thoughts for her and her family, anyway. HOME IMPROVEMENTWhen the weather is overcast, the classrooms can be dark. All the classrooms have fluorescent bulbs, but many of them don't work. Last week I was teaching the form 2B students, and noticed that out of 4 bulbs, only one worked. This bulb was in a fixture in the back of the room, where some amount of light from the windows reached the students' desks. The bulbs over the chalkboard at the front of the room were useless, and as there are no windows towards the front of the room, the chalkboard was hard to read. So, I figured it would be a good idea to put the "live" bulb in the front. I went to the back of the room and took out the good one-no problem. I went to the front of the room and took out a bad one-no problem. I was installing the good one, and the other bulb in the two-bulb fixture fell out. It fell; standing there on a student's desk with my hands above my head holding the good bulb, I stared at the falling bulb like a deer stares into the headlights of an approaching car at night. We all know (especially us men, who as boys delighted to find these yard-long fluorescent tubes in trash cans and dumpsters) how dramatically they implode upon breaking. I feared the seemingly imminent crash and splintering of thin glass. The bulb hit the floor and bounced; a reprieve! The bulb hit the floor a second time and burst. This bulb perished just as spectacularly as its forbears had in my youth. I had warned the students before I started that this bulb changing had to be done carefully because it could be dangerous. Thankfully, no one was hurt. A couple students who came late to class were assigned sweeping duty, and in 10 minutes the front of the room was brighter and cleaner that it had been before class. Yikes! That was the most exciting moment in my science teaching career since the time a few students and I accidentally blew up a beaker using water and small chunks of sodium. That one went off like a grenade, and again-no serious injuries. I bet the students in both situations remember those days, though. GOOD AND BAD EXAMPLESI tend to prefer my bad news first, so here goes:I recently learned of a home situation of a student. The father and mother have 3 children. Dad has been having children with another woman (or women), and sending them to his home to be taken care of. The total number of kids at the home is now 10. Recently dad came home with another woman ("concubine", as another teacher put it) and insisted that the children (by the first wife) call her their mother. The children refused, and took some abuse (I don't remember if it was physical or verbal or both) for it. The dad assaulted the mother of the 3 children, breaking a rib. He said that if she comes back again, he will kill her. The original wife has not pressed charges. One of the original children (the group of 3) is pregnant. Dad is not providing support for any of the kids. I think it's fair to say this man is what you would call an anti-hero, the kind of guy you tell your sons NOT to become and you tell your daughters to avoid. On the sunnier side: Ruth recently relayed to me a conversation she had with another young man who had been in a similar home situation several years ago. He had a child, but wasn't yet married. Ruth gently explained that if he and his girlfriend didn't get married soon there was no telling what might happen--one or both of them might meet someone else and their relationship would dissolve-leaving their child in the lurch. Ruth said a look of realization, then determination, came into his eyes. Within a year he was married and trying to arrange work so that he could live with his family. More good news: Thokozane Khumalo, who has taken on about 11 other children from his recently-deceased dad's two wives has some good things happening. He has been working with SwaziAid on a moringa-promotion project which is doing some good things and brings him some income, now they have arranged a joint business project where they will provide the capital needed for him to start moringa, vegetable, and seedling production at his homestead. He also has a number of other skills (cell phone repair, farming, mechanics) he's using profitably on an as-available basis. He is reversing the curse of relational negligence and abuse in this area, starting in his own home. He is a ray of hope. We (and he!) would appreciate any and all prayers and thoughts on Thabile's and Thokozane's (and their own and adopted childrens') behalf. HOME SWEET HOMEOn Sunday we did our usual trip to church. Ruth is about 3 months pregnant, and the day was hot; she was feeling pretty beat just 20 minutes into the walk, and we were all hot and dry by the time we reached the church 2 hours later (the girls are getting faster; the trip is 2 1/2 hours now, not three). Still, the girls held up as well as they always do, with the occasional water and jellybean break along the way. Father Maseko came and celebrated Mass; it's always a joy to celebrate Confession and Eucharist at the outstation church. Father Maseko is a good priest, and the little church is packed when he comes. The Mubiru's were at church, so we got a lift with them in their car all the way home (what a relief!) Our combined families rapidly consumed ten oranges and 5 liters of lemonade and soda, played together and talked for a while, then parted in prayer. Ruth sat on the couch and read, Grace went out to play with her friends, I played dolls with the other two girls in their room and read "The Ugly Duckling" to Cubby. I was touched when, in the part of the story where the mother duck says "I wish that ugly duckling would just disappear", Cubby said "Maybe the mom wants the ugly duckling to go away from the meanness of the others". We had late snacks with the Mubiru's, so dinner was popcorn, sandwiches, canned beans, and other leftovers. The girls were very tired by 7:30PM; all three of them were laying down during our evening prayer, and were completely asleep within 30 minutes of getting to bed. I later reflected that I had spent 12 hours with my family, and we had all had a lot of fun. I know that Grace is 7 years old; 18 is only 11 years away, and we don't expect her to be living with us much after that time. I am glad for the time-and good times-I get with the kids, and Ruth, now. I hope other folks in situations like ours get/make such time for their spouses and children. Such opportunities won't last forever; make the most of them while you can.******September 23, 2009TAKHONA GAMATakhona Gama is a young woman who finished school in 2007 (I think). She attends the small outstation church we attend. We have learned that she is staying at home and tending a garden for profit: she grows spinach, and people come to buy it from her. This is very good news! We're glad to see her doing something profitable without trying to take the long, expensive, and unsure white collar education route to unemployment. Unfortunately, her grandmother informed us this morning that Takhona's mother died on Monday (today is Wednesday). THE MORE YOU POLISH...Last week I gave the form 3 students part of a past exam paper for practice. The form 3s will take their external exams (called the Junior Certificate, or J.C.). If they do well, they continue their educational career; if they don't do well, this might be the end of their schooling at Nsukumbili for a little while. While most of the students were working on their test, one boy was polishing his shoes. I said to him "You know, there's no 'shoe-polishing exam' on the J.C. The JC doesn't care if your shoes are polished; they care about what you can do on this test. Better to have unpolished shoes and knowledge than polished shoes." The student next to the young man receiving the lecture clued in and said with a smile: "The more you polish, the more you fail." PRODUCEThe spring is upon us! We are sitting under two days of misty to light rains, the grass is turning green, and people have started to talk about planting maize. In our garden, we are enjoying mulberries and a few strawberries. Ruth has sprayed the peach trees against worms, and we still need to put bird nets over them (we may have to set up a defense against marauding students, but haven't figured that out what that would be yet). Two banana plants just turned black and died, but other banana plants are taking their places and one plant has put out a bunch of bananas. That will be our first batch of the delicious, yellow, pasty fruit. Half of the avocado trees on the west side of the schoolgrounds look very good, and the other half look anemic or dead. Ruth suggests putting manure around them. Still, this is a hopeful time of year for agriculture; I am guardedly optimistic about what might come to pass. SUNDAY SCHOOL PARTYWe had a Sunday school party at the outstation church two weeks ago. The picnic-type games were fun and well-enjoyed, and the kids enjoyed their well-deserved prizes for their Sunday school attendance. I think my favorite part of the party was that the children, when asked, looked all around the floor and picked up the candy wrappers that had been dropped everywhere. The former Peace Corps Volunteers reading this will remember the great casualness with which candy wrappers are chucked on the ground. This day was happily different; the church floor was clean after everyone had left. 9-12-3A month ago, Jabulane Gama asked me to take pictures at his mdzimba. Jabulane is the day watchman, in charge of traffic in and out of the school gate. An mdzimba is a wedding party of sorts, when the bride's family comes to the groom's homestead to celebrate and present gifts. Ruth said it would be okay for me to go, and I later asked Jabulane what time the event would begin. He said 9AM. Mbuyiseni Gama, another school employee, immediately smiled and said "Noon". Mbuyseni and I laughed, and I told Jabulane I would be there between 10 and 11. The girls and I set out on the Saturday morning about 8AM; Grace and Faith walked, and Hope rode on my shoulders. I had been through a particularly unpleasant bout with diarrhea; I hadn't eaten much, and my innards were making me wonder if a long walk was such a good idea. But I had told Jabulane I would be there and this was his wedding party. Fortunately,after we got on the trail things were fine. I think my weakened state and the girls' 100% fitness just matched up; we had a great walk. We got to the homestead about 10:30 and shook hands all around. I took a nap with Hope while the other two girls played. Noon came and went. One came and went. Two came and went. I told Gama I had to leave no later than 4PM, to get the four of us home by dark. Only Hope had slept at all, and I suspected the other two were going to be completely exhausted after walking and playing outside all day. I figured the trip home would be hard enough for them without the added complication of walking in the dark. The bride's wedding party did appear at 3, and the function got underway. I shot as many pictures as I could before 4PM and the expiring of the camera battery (providentially, perhaps, those two events nearly coincided). As the battery winked out and the clock struck 4, the Poglitsh's said their goodbyes and were sent off in the direction of a shortcut to the school. An hour and a half later we were back at home. We all had a great time, and I am very proud of the girls; they surpassed all expectations for endurance. Much to their credit, the very next day they did the weekly walk to church. They have improved their speed; the walk takes 2 1/2 hours now instead of three.***********September 9, 2009PROFIT MARGINI was thinking recently that the "problem" with ethics is that it doesn't have a strong profit margin. Nike makes lots of money because many people want to look cool as they play their sport. Car makers make money because many people want their transportation to project a particular image of themselves. Then I thought "Wait a minute-doing the right thing shouldn't have to be financially beneficial. Life is more than money. Do the right thing because it's the right thing to do." I told this to Ruth, she pulled a book from the shelf, and read me a quotation from Robert Bolt's book "A Man for All Seasons". Whether Bolt quotes Saint Thomas More (executed in 1535) or puts these words in his mouth, they are good words: "If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us saintly...But since in fact we see that avarice, anger, envy, pride, sloth, lust, and stupidity commonly profit far beyond humility, chastity, fortitude, justice and thought, we have to choose, to be human at all...why then perhaps we must stand fast a little-even at the risk of being heroes." MORE CONDOM MADNESSAttached is a slide show concerning the effectiveness of condoms. It was passed to me by a reputable researcher. The author of the slide show, according to my source, is "one of the world’s greatest supporters and promoters of condoms". Given his slide show it's hard to understand why he thinks they're so great. Given the AIDS-related carnage we are familiar with here in Swaziland (and we are in touch with only a thin sliver of that carnage), pushing condoms in light of their "effectiveness" makes my blood boil. Let's see: This man reports that 75% of typical condom users having sex with HIV-positive people will contract the virus within 10 years of use. Why does he continue to promote condoms? Maybe he believes the age-old canard "people are just gonna do it anyway, and if 1 out of 4 survives, that's better than no survivors". I'm not sure a 75% casualty rate is all that good. More importantly, however, the premise is wrong: people aren't "just going to do it anyway". The day a critical mass of people awake from their stupor and realize 1) they are not the intellectual and behavioral hostages of the condom pushers and 2) they can make their own (truly wise) decisions, I anticipate a monumental and colorful backlash against the condom lobby. May that day come soon. MATH STORY PROBLEMA young man came to me in 2003 or 2004 at my desk before school started. He wore tattered clothes, and explained that he wanted to finish his schooling but had no money for it. I explained that I had no money to help him with, and he went away. I spoke to the headmaster later, and he explained that the school had no resources for him either. I was really frustrated, wishing there were some way to get him through school. Well, he did make it through school, finishing in 2007 on a government scholarship. I checked the amount it cost to get him through that last year: it was E4300. I met him in Mbabane a few weeks ago, working as a security guard directing parking lot traffic at the post office. He's probably making between 800 and 1200 Emalangeni ($100 to $158) a month, living in a miserably small (1 room) apartment, and facing no real career advancement options from this job. With E4300, he could do a whole lot of agriculture (fencing, irrigation, fertilizer, plant some trees, build housing for animals) while living under his own roof in his home area. I am a firm believer in the three Rs of education, and there are always young people for whom the white collar/academic track is the right thing. But I have seen too many men and women finish 12 (expensive) years of school who end up doing nothing which required that education. I don't have a clear answer as to a better way for young people out here, but it has something to do with assessing, appreciating, and developing the resources on hand in their homesteads. BARBEQUESomhlolo Day (Swazi Independence Day) and American Labor Day fell on the same Monday this year. We had a great cookout. An American priest who has recently moved to Swaziland after two decades in West Africa brought two friends who were visiting him from the US to our house for hamburgers, hotdogs, and Coca-cola. We rarely get folks from town coming out here, so this was a double treat. Father Thompson is hoping to get away from town so that he can learn more siSwati; towards that end, he may come spend some time in our area in October.***********September 4, 2009NEEDLESS DEATHSThree weeks ago I went with Mamba to fix the water system (long story, not worth telling). As we approached our first stop, he pointed out two homesteads. "You see those two homesteads?", he asked. "Sure", I said. It would take maybe 5 minutes to walk from one to the other. "They both had funerals last weekend, of makoti." Makoti are daughters-in-law; generally, they are relatively young wives and mothers. "One of them left a two-month-old baby" Mamba explained. A few days later I learned that the local owner of a fleet of kombis (minibuses) died. He was in his late 40s or early 50s. On Monday, Aug. 24 Mzwandile Nkhambule came by as I was spreading fertilizer around the line of avocado trees on the school grounds. He explained to me that one of our former students, while under the influence of alcohol, struck one of our current students in the back of the head with a knobkerrie-a traditional stick carried by men. The two boys had had some sort of verbal confrontation earlier at the wedding they were both attending. The assailant didn't mean to injure the other boy, but the victim did die in the early hours of Sunday morning. The dead boy was one of my science students; the other boy, 18 years of age, is in jail in Mbabane and will go before the judge on Wednesday September 2. The victim's funeral vigil was Saturday night, Aug. 29. He was buried this morning; we live close enough to the homestead that I just walked over for the burial. Funerals are never fun, but there is solace in the funeral of someone who has lived a long, Christ-centered, and fruitful life (I am thinking of my dad's mom and Pope John Paul II). These four deaths fall into the "avoidable and tragic" category. Were sexual continence and temperance stylish, all of these funerals (and a possible jail term) could have been prevented. I am confident, however, that this morning's funeral in Dlangeni was not the only one of someone whose life was cut short due to the consequences of bad decisions. I've written before that every time I look at the death notices in the Times of Swaziland, 85% to 90% of the faces are those younger than me (which at 41 is no longer spring chicken, but neither the age at which most people expect to check out). It's caused me to reflect that "Man does not live by bread alone". Though material poverty is bad and must be rectified, material well-being and creature comforts do not guarantee happiness. The assailant came from a well-off family; after getting a merit (the highest classification) on his Junior Certificate exam last year, he was studying in town. Things were rolling along for him, but his predilection for alcohol (something his dad had tried to cure him of before) got him into trouble. Over 90% of new AIDS infections stem from heterosexual intercourse; were the populace to keep sex where it belongs (after marriage, and only with one's spouse) we could be free of this scourge. I spoke with an employee of a Christian ministry yesterday, whose job is to travel to the different care points (places where kids, often orphans, come to get a meal) to preach to and encourage the young people. I told him his work is invaulable, because serious Christian discipleship would have prevented so many of our current tragedies. HOPE IN TOWNOn Aug. 22nd we visited Mathambo Ngobese. Mathambo has extensive knowledge and overflowing enthusiasm for healthy living. This enthusiasm expresses itself in promoting sexual chastity and organic gardening. His homestead in a peri-urban area of Mbabane is like stepping into a fruit and vegetable oasis. He has mango, peach, loquat and papaya trees. He has terraced his 30-degree plot of land so that he can garden on the terraces. He gardens by building rectangular "growing boxes" with foot-high walls made of lumber offcuts; this way, all the soil and accumulated organic matter stays where it can feed the plants, even when it rains. He has built a dry composting toilet, which converts human waste into rich soil while eliminating smell and the threat of disease. He believes in starting small, meaning folks growing food to feed themselves first. One of Nsukumbili's agriculture teachers came with us, and he spent most of the three hour visit with his jaw half-open in wonder and excitement. Putting this visit and the needless deaths side-by-side gives me perspective, and encouragement to keep trying to help Swazi youth find a better way for themselves. EXODUSWho says you can't run from your problems? The water pressure was falling Tuesday night. By mid-morning Wednesday, it was out. I went out and tried to fix it, even meeting the Natural Resources Department along the way. Our water supply now depends on water from the larger water project, because a number of homesteads are tied into our "private" line. Our private line was fine, but the community system was having a problem. The natural resource guys and I couldn't fix it, Mamba is busy elsewhere during the school break, and the natural resource guys closed the valve to the pipes delivering water to the school anyway (they want to build up the pressure for some reason). We had one tank remaining at the school, but that was going for a concrete job that must be done before school opens on Tuesday the 8th. I came back and informed Ruth of the issues, and that we would be going to town for a couple days starting Thursday. We called friends in town and asked if we could take baths at their home. They assented; we were gone before 6:30AM on Thursday morning, and are enjoying other people's water and the amenities of town. One of the very few teachers at school told me "You are running away because there is no water." I quickly and cheerfully agreed. We chuckled. We'll attend to that problem when school opens.**********August 20, 2009We try to visit the States every two years. We had hoped to make it this year. But plans have changed. Rudy was hoping to squeeze in another child while we still can and my doctor suggested making it sooner rather than later. As we looked at various life plans, having our babies born while Rudy is still teaching makes a lot of practical sense. Little Chipmunk is the current addition to the Poglitsh family! If everything goes well we will meet Chipmunk in April next year and our trip will need to be delayed for a year. We were recently asked about our plans for transitioning into agricultural and development work. That is delayed for a bit too. The current global economic situation doesn't seem to be conducive to raising the funds for such an activity and that is a factor. We were also counseled to carefully consider the timing of the move on family life. Getting our children a little older and more independant would make the transition easier. We are using this time to "test the waters" for our program ideas and gauge local interest. Recently we have had several opportunities open up. Rudy has started discipling a young man we know well. This may also provide a chance to test and refine the mentoring part of our small business/youth development program idea. A short conversation on the bus turned into a meeting about sexuality and health issues. A few young people who have been selected to teach the community about HIV prevention were quite suprised to find that condoms don't make you bullet-proof. You should have seen the face of the young man when I showed him a chart (from "Where Women Have No Doctor") showing how many children will be born per year for 100 couples using condoms consistantly. [The answer is 12 if you are interested.] One of the young ladies said that she is planning to return and bring a friend. One of the teacher's wives is interested in starting a small business and wants to meet with me. Another friend is considering starting a small business when he finishes school. Two former students and one current student are interested in beekeeping. We were able to find a useful contact. One of the three was able to go with that contact and visit other beekeepers and is looking at ways to get his own beehives. At our church we are encouraging people to make a small test plot "Umsimi WeNkhosi"--the Lord's field and pray for that plot, plan an experiment in it, make it beautiful, work joyfully in it, tithe from it, and enjoy the increase. So far we have two people registered. The cows got through the fence at the church. Cow-resistant green manures and strong (and thorny) hedge species are looking very important if agriculture is ever to become significantly more productive. While this is happening, I (Ruth) am slowly learning another lesson. The first hint occurred one day when I had been picking up the house and one of the children asked me to get something down for her. I did. And I had this epiphany and suddenly realized that everything that was taken down had to be put back later. I spent the rest of the day accutely aware how everything I moved and used would have to be cleaned and put back in place, and that life is a huge cycle of taking things down and putting them back. By personality, I am a project person. I see life in terms of idea--work--fulfillment. I am not a maintenance person who sees things in terms of task--repeat task--repeat task. Yet my intererests are in agriculture, which is definately cyclic, and I am becoming acutely aware that most of life is cyclic and repititious and if I don't redeem that time-if I don't live joyfully while sweeping the floor and putting away the laundry-there is very little life left to enjoy. I have ascribed meaning only to those things that fall outside of the maintenance routines of life. But if the mundane isn't meaningful or significant, there is very little meaning or significance in life. Life is what happens in this moment, and what is likely to be happening is very mundane. And for most of the world it is likely to be even more mundane than my tasks. Most people here shell all of their maize by hand, and walk to the mill to get it ground (which sure beats grinding it on a stone). So very slowly and hesitatingly my outlook on life is shifting. For most of my life, if you asked me how my day had gone, my evaluation of a good day was "It was a great day, I got so much done." Now my goal for five days of the week is to have things return to the state that they were in 24 hours before--children sleeping, house clean, dishes done, meals prepared and eaten, school work done. It is working (usually) until a project tries to work its way into that routine and wants to take over. It is a difficult shift, but it is becoming more comfortable.*************August 8, 2009Friday night found us in Mbabane at an American "Christmas in July" party. We had a white elephant gift exchange. I was the first to go, so I was allowed at the end to choose any of the other gifts. It was a painful choice. One man had a rubber snake that I was dying to put in our peach trees as a theft deterrent. But another man had a goldfish in a bag and for love of our children, I decided to go for the goldfish. Saturday was Hope Ntombikayise Poglitsh's 2nd birthday. We arranged to delay the celebration until Sunday so that we could have some friends from our little church come to our house. Mrs. Mubiru and Ruth had been planning a cake baking lesson and we thought this was a good excuse for our families to spend the afternoon together. Saturday night it began to rain-the first rain since a very light drizzle a month ago. It rained all night. We got up long before daybreak on Sunday morning to get everything ready so that we could leave for church by 7:00 am. Both Rudy and I were scheduled to teach. Continued rain and lightning canceled our plans to go to church. We also knew that the rain would make the roads impassable so our friends couldn't come. So we did the unthinkable: we slept in on a Sunday morning. Rudy went back to bed until 11:00. Ruth crawled into the girls bed to rest, read books to them, and have many rounds of "ride the pony" and wrestle-fest. It was really pleasant to have time with "Ntombi KK" with no other duties. About 10:00 the girls and I baked a cake for Hope's birthday. Rudy got up and we ate cake. Then Rudy did Sunday School for the girls. After reciting the Lord's prayer in siSwati I suggested that we also do it in English. The girls can say it fairly well in siSwati, but they have hardly ever heard the English version. Grace asked if Daddy would please read the Bible story in English, which he did. The girls colored their Sunday School pages while Rudy and I celebrated the Mass (complete with English songs--a real treat!) The girls named the goldfish Swimmy and as a family we decided to call him a boy so that Daddy wouldn't feel so lonely as the only male in the house. Swimmy's water was getting really opaque, so we ventured the first water change with much trepidation. After Marble's death we read that it is best to use a siphon to vacumm out the tank and only change part of the water at a time. It took two water changes, but we can see him more clearly now. Rudy started to cook lunch. I went to sort the completed Sunday School papers for the last 1/2 year into books for each Sunday School member. When I was about 1/3 finished, Rudy said that lunch was ready and Thokozane was here. And then the three ring circus began! Thokozane joined us for lunch. I had wanted to have a serious discussion with him. Since his father died he is now caring for 12 children in addition to his one. I wanted to talk to him about his financial plans, his agriculture plans, and to see if he had a plan to make sure he had the spiritual support he needs. So for the next few hours we held those discussions. He and his wife had figured out their projected expenses for the year. E400/mo for food and consumables (soap, candles, etc), E5000/yr for agricultural inputs, E3000/yr for school fees (four of the school age children are getting financial help from others), I added in E1200 for clothing (an elementary school uniform is E120 and for high school, at least E300 and then there are shoes) and you end up with E14,000/yr with nothing to cover emergencies or to buy any durable goods. For agricultural plans, he is planning to put in sweet corn. 1/2 hectare done well should provide him with E14,000 cash income. He is also considering doing some beekeeping which looks like it could provide several thousand a year with very little labor or cash input. He had been doing vegetable gardening, but neighbor's pigs found a way in and uprooted everything shortly before they were ready to harvest. The King has said that people aren't to let their pigs out to forage for themselves, but people do it anyway. Thokozane is planning to shoot his neighbors pig's enough to injure them but not kill them. I suggested he report to the chief first and announce his intentions so that if the neighbor's complain, he is covered. He does various jobs for people, and can make a couple thousand a year doing that, but some people don't pay and others delay for months. He has been doing some work with SwaziAid introducing moringa into Swaziland. That has been very good for him and pays well, but there is not much to do right now. His whole homestead is fenced but his relatives open up his fence and put their cattle in because they think that this is their homestead too, it has nice grass, and they don't care if their cows eat his crops. We talked about moving his fence to have it just around his fields and he thinks that would stop the fence opening. For spiritual support, much to my delight, Rudy offered to teach Thokozane so that he can get baptized and become a full member of the church. They set a weekly date and time, so we will see how things go. While we were having these heavy discussions the following things occured: Mzwandile arrived with some groceries that he had picked up for us. Cubby came in carrying Hope's shoes and announced that Kit had fallen into a mud puddle. Hope arrived soon thereafter, bawling and covered in mud from head to feet. 1 change of clothing. Grace was coming in and fell down and made huge surface scrapes on her leg which started to bleed. Before I could care for her, three girls arrived wanting to have their pictures taken. Rudy told me to refer them to a student who did that for a business. Just then Mr. Mamba brought over Nduduzo who stays with his family. She had been cutting some wood and somehow a large chunk flew up and made a deep gash over one eye. I washed out the cut, put on antiseptic, and improvised a butterfly bandage with bright yellow electrical tape. We discussed medical options--very few late on a Sunday afternoon--I think the plan is to take her in for some competent medical care tomorrow morning to see if she needs to get stitches or antibiotics. I helped Grace wash out her scrapes with antiseptic. Then she and her friends who arrived during the chaos above got chased out so that Thokozane and I could continue to discuss his situation. People don't like to share personal information here and I didn't want to have outsiders nearby. While outside, the girls decided to water the plants (hardly needed after the biggest rains in six months, but still quite fun.) Hope came in with wet clothes crying for a change. She wanted to go back outside and I didn't want another set of dirty clothes so I didn't do it. The next thing I know, she comes back out wearing one of Grace's dresses. But she is distressed that the shoulder keeps falling off, so we clothespinned the back. Grace and her friends wander in. Thokozane doesn't seem to mind. Next thing I see is a naked baby running out the back door. We call her back in and send her to get Grace's dress on again. After Rudy and Thokozane are making arrangements to meet, I go to the kitchen to make icing for the other half of the birthday cake so that Thokozane and Kayise can have a piece before they go. Mzwandile arrives to pick up school books just as we sit down, so he joins us and gets the last piece. We pack up a bag of food for Thokozane. They are down to just cornmeal at home. Hope is "melting down" after not napping all day (Oops, Mommy forgot!) so we stuff her full of baked beans, bread and butter and she gets to drink out of a little bottle (from the juice mix). Those are probably her favorite things, so it was an appropriate birthday dinner. Then we get her to bed. Rudy decides to pat her down and she is asleep in one minute. Everyone is now asleep. The rains are finished. I had thought a warm front must have been moving through bringing the rain, but it is freezing cold outside, we will probably have frost tomorrow morning. I put the fish in the girl's room since we have a heater in there. Hopefully he will be OK in the morning. Everyone is in bed and it is time for me to go too. ********August 1, 2009WE NEED A HELICOPTERIn late 2007, we (Mr. Stan Mamba and a group of students and I) tied the school into the larger community's water system. This larger system promises to bring water from the top of Sibebe (where the water never runs out) to faucets beyond Nsukumbili-a distance of (I'm guessing) 8 miles. The water system has a number of settling and storage tanks which are not yet operational. Much pipe has been laid in the ground, however, and we simply took a bit of 32mm plastic irrigation pipe (off the roof of the house we used to live in; the pipe was our solar water heater) and bypassed the tanks, getting the water into the water system's bigger pipes on the other side of the tanks. Some distance down the line we got the water back out of the community water system and into our own pipes again. We have had a plentiful flow since that day-until last week. Last week, Mr. Mamba was informed by a member of the water project work team that some work was going to be done on the system, and our connection would have to be removed (the builders of the system had known about our tie-in, and were fine with it.) We knew this time would come, but we did nothing about it when we could have. Sure enough, our water went out on Monday, July 20. I was waiting at the bus stop with my friend Dennis O'Connell; we were going to travel together to Mbabane, where he would get on a bus for the next destination on his 40-day journey through southern Africa. Mr. Mamba drove up and I approached him, hoping on the off-chance that he was going to Mbabane. He wasn't; he informed me that the water disconnect was upon us, and he was going to see what he could do about getting us connected to our previous source. He looked worried, which is not like him. This worried me. I went to town with Dennis and he found his bus. I then proceeded to run a few errands. Mamba called me and asked me to get some connectors-10 would be a good number. I got these, as well as a couple of harried calls from Mamba. It seemed things might not be going well; I felt a little guilty about being in town while he was out working, but that's how it was. I got back too late to help; it was after dark when I reached the school. Mamba, Thokozane Khumalo and I went out the next morning (Tuesday) and took a second shot at getting the school some water. We dug up a piece of pipe purchased by the local community and Nsukumbili together. As it had not been used for some time, a local resident had decided to dig it up and use it himself. He dug it out of the ground with a pick-and as one of us joked, it seems he dug it up by closing both his eyes and bringing the pick down where he thought the pipe might be. If he hit the pipe, he pulled up the pick with the pipe connected. We joked this way because he had inflicted well over a dozen punctures in the pipe. We applied the 10 connectors to the worst cuts, and hoped the less-important ones would hold. We then connected the pipe into another previous pipe which brought water from our old source. The flow was less than spectacular. At this rate the school would have an insufficient flow, because a number of homesteads along the way also tap into this pipe. We went to the bottom of the hill, the site of a leaking connection. Perhaps if we closed this leak, we would have enough water. But, of course, we were out of connectors. During this process we heard a helicopter-though we couldn't see it and because we were working in a bowl-shaped area, we couldn't tell where it was coming from. Finally it did appear over the top of the "bowl"; we waved at the folks inside, and they stuck their heads out and waved back. I was suprised to see two white faces waving and smiling at us-I said aloud "Those are white people!" The irony struck me right away. It would appear they were tourists out to see the countryside. Mamba commented that we needed one of those helicopters, to get ourselves and materials into and out of work areas quickly. We returned to the school and after a brief meeting with the headmaster, were given permission (and a blank check!) to go to town to get 300 meters of new pipe. We got the pipe quickly, but we also had to get paint-and the delivery truck from nearby Matsapha was running late, and we didn't get out of Mbabane until after 4PM. It's winter down here, and the sun set on our way back to the school. Mamba, however, is a driven man. I may have met more driven men in my life, but either I didn't know that about them or I have forgotten. He was bound and determined to have full water tanks at the school by morning. This meant the water had to be flowing at a good rate tonight. We dropped the paint supplies and pipe off at the school and prepared to head out again. Mamba had in mind to reconnect our bypass pipe up at the settling tanks and then take the water (somehow) back out of the community water system somewhere down the line. In his book "Aborting America" Dr. Bernard Nathanson explains that European medicine is practiced as if nothing will go wrong and assumes the doctor will do whatever he can if things don't go according to plan, while US medicine prepares for every imaginable complication no matter how remote. Stanford Mamba operates on the European model. I got back into his car with one T-connector and no tools. I asked "Should we bring some pipe?" He said "We'll come up with a plan." "How about some cutters?" I offered. Again, "We'll make a plan." Seemed like a doomed mission-but Mamba was in charge, and I really have no grounds on which to doubt him. He has pulled off innumerable seemingly impossible feats. We got to the settling tanks and reconnected our "hotwire" pipe. We drove down the hill to a fork in the road, and Mamba asked me if we should go and check the first point where water might emerge, or assume that the water is flowing and proceed to our "tie-in" point. I said the more thorough method would to be to make sure water is flowing, and that's what we did. The sun had set and the stars were coming out. Mamba either had his sandals on (made of old tires, Abbie Hoffman "Steal This Book" style) or was barefoot, I can't remember which now. We had no flashlight and no moon. Our only piece of technology was Mamba's cell phone, which has an LED light on it-but his cell phone battery was down to one bar, and he later informed me that the light simply goes off when the battery dies-no fade out. I wondered if he actually gets a charge out of doing repairs on a shoestring, minus the shoestring. To reach the first point we had to ascend a rock face. I knew where we were, but I didn't know the surface with my eyes closed. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. The rock face isn't that steep or long, but it is pretty rough and hard; a fall would be unpleasant. Mamba led. We passed a homestead with a barking dog which seemed to be coming closer. Okay, next complication: possibility of being attacked by a watchdog at night. As the barking sounds approached, Mamba wheeled around with this cellphone/flashlight and bumped into me. He figured he would startle the dog with the light. Fortunately the owner of the dog called off the attack. We got to the checkpoint, and found water entering the system. Back past the dog (not as scary this time) and down the rockface (actually a little more scary than the ascent, since stumbling while walking down the rock would precipitate a faster and harder-to-break fall). We got back to the car without incident and proceeded to the tie-in point. One cannot drive directly to the the tie-in point. Mamba parked the pickup about 50 yards downhill of the point, and we walked up to it. Again-I knew the path we were taking, but stepping up, over and around rocks the size of those 1970s beanbags in the dark is, um, exciting. Twisted ankles or broken legs, anyone? And can the other guy get you out on his back, while negotiating the very same semi-unknown territory you just got hurt on? Providentially, again, no incident. We reached the tie-in point and had to make something happen. During the day the folks from the community had added a 3-yard long piece of metal pipe to the main pipe. The main pipe went up into a pressure-breaking tank, and the 3-yard pipe came out at ground level with water flowing over the ground. The pipe for our system was about half an inch smaller in outside diameter than the metal pipe. All to say, we had all the water we wanted but couldn't (yet) get it into our system. Mamba propped the metal pipe up on a stone and tried shoving our pipe into the metal one. No luck-until we espied some leftover rubber strips (most often crafted from hopelessly-punctured bicycle innertubes), plastic grocery bags, and plastic wrappers from parts for the community water system. Mamba put our pipe into the metal pipe and applied the "binding devices" (rubber strips, plastic bags, etc.) so that we did have a considerable flow into our system. A few more connections (made with other plastic bags) secured our plumbing. Sure enough, Wednesday morning dawned with full tanks at Nsukumbili. Clothes were being washed, and crops were being irrigated, by mid-morning. We did go back midday on Wednesday and put our new pipe down, replacing the swiss-cheesed pipe (and taking our connectors with us, for future repairs). We expect that at some point we will have to reconnect to our old source in earnest, perhaps when the community water system goes fully operational. We did check that leaky point at the bottom of the hill. It wasn't leaking-but neither was any water coming in. Mamba asked me what we should do. I said the thorough thing to do would be to go up the other side of the hill (toward the source) and try to figure out the problem. But the sun was going down, and I didn't object when Mamba said we'd come back some other time. Lessons learned? Man, I wish I had some. Perhaps "think ahead"; maybe if we had tied ourselves into the old source when we knew these changes were coming, we could have avoided some trouble. Maybe we should (as Mamba suggested) get our very own source served by our very own pipes, so we don't have to mess with "the community"-we would have full control. And maybe this is God's way of teaching us to work together, and be patient, and be resourceful, and try to be brave in the face of dangers (dogs, rockslopes), and to stick with your friends. The third option certainly is more interesting, at least in retrospect (it's not always so fun when you're right in the middle of it!) I certainly wouldn't want every week to have days like this, and this would be no way to supply water for a major population center, and I think we would be wise to know when things might be done and take some earlier action. But I must say the experience carried the potential of personal growth, as well as bringing that precious liquid back to our kitchen sink and bathroom. When you turn on your tap later today, offer a prayer of thanks to the folks who keep it running day and night. You'll know how precious that water is the next time it goes out.************July 18, 2009SOCCER IAfter the soccer season ended (more below), I wanted to do something for the players who faithfully came to practice but never got in a game. Through some friends in town we have some connections with Waterford-Kamhlaba school, part of the United World College system. The fees at this school are far beyond the reach of any of our students, but I thought it would be great if we could organize a "friendly" with their soccer team. They were willing, and our administration was willing to pay the transport to get our players to town, so the game was on. On Wednesday, 8 July, Mr. Stan Mamba (whose wife just gave birth to a daughter!) loaded the 14 boys into the back of his pickup truck, and we made the 45 minute dusty ride to Mbabane. We waited in town for about 15 minutes, after which a bus from Waterford collected the boys. Most of Mbabane has paved roads; vehicles which don't leave the "city limits" don't feel the wear of gravel roads and the powdering of the dirt. This bus was IMMACULATE. It was white on the outside, it was carpeted on the inside, it was comfortable, it was in mint condition, and it was quiet. Even I felt like I was boarding an airplane. The boys boarded in shocked, but smiling, silence. They spread out from the front of the bus to the back, enjoying the undamaged and thickly-padded seats. Another 20 minutes in the whisper-quiet (it seemed like that, at least) bus found us at the top of the mountain on which Waterford sits. An afternoon shift of Waterford students were leaving the campus; they were staring at us, and we were staring at them. We were entering a world few of our students had ever encountered. We passed through the gate and walked across the soccer field to their coach. This field has real grass over almost all of it. This may sound strange, but the turf felt different under our feet. Most fields these boys play on are as hard as tennis courts and as abrasive as cheese graters. One player said out loud "We are playing in heaven today!" We exchanged more stares with field hockey athletes, then our boys repaired to the bathroom to put on their uniforms. The bathroom has a hot-air hand dryer, the kind you put your hands under to switch on. I wondered if they had ever seen such a thing; I demonstrated it to a couple of the boys and their looks of amazement and excitement were to die for. The ones to whom I demonstrated the hand dryer quickly called others over and showed it to them. This was shaping up to be a fantastic field trip. We met the coach, and he said he expected us to bring two teams. He had his varsity and JV ready to go, and he figured we'd play concurrent games. I was a little disappointed I didn't know that; it would have been fun to have even more Nsukumbili players enjoy this rare opportunity, but then I realized 1) it would have been hard to get all the students into town, and 2) these players now had a better opportunity: we decided to play two games, each one hour long, first against the varsity and then against the JVs. This made me even happier than having two teams, because these substitute kids really did deserve a treat. It's hard to know if the actual results in the games were "treats". The Waterford varsity team beat us 6-0. I hope our boys learned something about playing their positions, passing and not continually dribbling, playing physical but fair, and keeping shots on goal. I dare say we were individually as talented as most of their players, but they were stronger, faster, and better organized. They also got earfuls of chatter in Amharic, as a number of the Waterford players hailed from Ethiopia. The JV game was different; we looked like a different team. We went down 1-0 in the first minute, and I was smacking my forehead. But we pulled a goal back soon after; a rocket from midfield so unlikely (but welcome!) that I laughed for minutes afterward. We got a second goal before halftime, from a promising Form 1 (approximately grade 8) player. We entered halftime a goal up, and without a single complaint of tiredness. In the second half, the wheels came off. We had 4 extremely good chances to score. At the beginning of the season I kept one kid on the team and explained to him that I think he has promise, but that he would probably never see any game time. He agreed to this. He had three of those four extremely good chances, and he botched them all. After the second one he was hanging his head, but smiling. We lost 5-2 against their JVs. There were no tongue-lashings today, though, as these games didn't count for anything in the "real world". But I like to think they really counted for these players. A different bus took us back into Mbabane after the game. The driver explained that he had to drop us on the opposite side of town from where Mamba would pick us up again. I tried to convince him to take us to our pick-up point, but he was adamant that he had to get someone else and delivering us would make him late. Yikes. The sun was setting, and I had to get 14 teenage boys recently hopped-up from a fun afternoon through the heart of town. I wondered how many would disappear into bars along the way (more below). Happily, none did. Well, two were late to the pickup point, but the rest were all there on time. The two stragglers ran the last 50 yards, as Mamba was right there when we arrived. Another 45 minutes in the dust and we were home. What a great way to end the soccer season. Before we left Waterford, I suggested a "rematch" at our school. The coach was non-committal, but he didn't say no either. It might be a real experience for some of their students to play at our field. SOCCER IIThe Waterford game was on a Wednesday. I was struck that night by a classic "Africa is not a feminine continent" 24 hour bug. I was in bed most of Thursday, but was good to go again on Friday July 10. The school day was a little broken up, as the netball team had a game in Mbabane, we had employees from the Ministry of Education gathering information, and we had a pre-exam session for the proctors of the form 3 and 5 practice tests which began Monday, 13 July. A teacher from Entfubeni, the nearby elementary (primary) school, told me a month ago that we might have a teachers soccer game in Simunye sometime. I told him that I was interested, and that when he knew more details he should let me know so I could talk to Ruth about it. On Friday, one of the soccer-playing teachers said "Oh, also, that game in Simunye is tomorrow." Ah, information and planning Africa-style. Ruth said it would be fine if I went; it gives an opportunity to bond with colleagues outside the school walls. We took a nice mini-bus most of the way across the country heading due east. Simunye is part of the para-statal sugarcane plantation. It sits in the middle of the lowveld, a perennially dry and hot region. It was amazing to pass the fence into the estate proper; everything was green grass and colorful vegetation. Ruth says desert regions are sometimes very fertile, and all they need is water to bloom. That sure seemed true here. We were playing another teacher-team assembled from nearby Mhlume school (forget if it was a high school or a primary). We were playing in the "Goshe Szokolay Memorial Stadium". The name sounds a lot more eastern European than Swazi if you ask me. I didn't ask about the origins of the stadium's designation. Like Waterford most of the field was grass, and it was big, and it was surrounded by a gently-sloping berm about 10 feet high. This was a real treat, since the ball would not roll away forever if it went out of bounds. We tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, and then lost on penalty kicks. If you will indulge me a little spotlight, two neat things happened for me in this game. After about 15 minutes, the few fans would shout something like "booooo!" every time I touched the ball. I thought about this: I hadn't done anything dirty, I wasn't from some big rival team, and this game was only a friendly. I figured there must be a kinder, gentler explanation behind my "supporter's" action. Sure enough: at halftime, one of my colleagues (Mr. Thwala) explained that South Africa's national soccer team has a white man named Booth who plays defense. Whenever Booth touches the ball, the South African fans shout "Boooooth!" Thwala explained that Booth is a reliable player; the Simunye spectators were paying me a compliment. That felt nice. The second thing was this: I was selected to take a penalty kick for our team in the game-deciding shootout at the end. I sometimes took penalty kicks for Worthington High School-but 25 years is a long time. I knew it didn't really matter if I put it in or not, but I did want to sink it for old time(r)s sake. Thankfully, I did. I didn't put the ball RIGHT where I wanted (about a foot inside the post), but two feet within the post was good enough this day. We had a barbeque with volleyball after the game, then headed back home as the sun set on Simunye. I got to see some sort of antelope-thing in the lowveld as we travelled, and I was in the door back home at 7PM. What a ball. I look forward to the next such outing. I'm glad I got invited. SOCCER IIIThis section isn't the happiest, so if you're already having a less-than-ideal day you might set this e-mail aside or delete it completely. We like to send along good and happy news, and there is lots of that. But life isn't always friendly games on real-grass fields. I played soccer from the time I was 8 until I was 18. Ten years is a short time from the vantage point of 41 years of age, but it sure seemed a long time then. The last 5 years were played on a competitive club team and with a high school team, and so I learned from some good coaches and teammates about soccer beyond just kicking it around for fun. Soccer is without question the national sport of Swaziland; one sees occasional basketball players in town and expatriates playing cricket, but for the vast majority of Swaziland soccer is the only game in town (or rural area). 10 minutes of watching soccer here makes it clear that individual skills are formidable, but team strategy is woefully lacking. Fans and players are more often impressed if a player can push the ball between the legs of an opponent than they are with 6 consecutive passes ending with a shot on goal. I've frequently thought that Dynamo FC (the club team I played on) at their peak would cut all but the strongest teams here to ribbons, for this individuality-over-strategy dynamic. At the beginning of the school year I mentioned to someone (I don't remember who) that if I were the school team coach, I would start the tryouts by running the kids into the ground. Whoever showed committment by putting up with physical conditioning until they dropped would be those from whom I would choose a team. The running would also be my way of getting the kids to know who is in charge, and to follow directions. If they will run sprints when I shout "go!", then they would also listen to me when I instructed them to pass the ball to their teammate instead of dribbling it more. Passing the ball is a less onerous instruction than running another set of windsprints. I also added to my now-forgotten locutor that "But of course that [me being coach] will never happen." Boy was I wrong on that. I ended up on the "sports committee", a group of 5 teachers who organize the various sports (soccer, volleyball, netball-a girls sport like basketball) and cultural activities (sibhaca dancing for the boys, ummiso dancing for the girls). I volunteered to be involved with soccer, since I know more about that than sibhaca, ummiso, or volleyball. Somehow, my volunteering ended up with me being head coach. As soccer season begins after school already started, there was no 3 week period for pre-season training as there was in high school. This cut into my "run 'em 'til they drop" time. Since the students also have to walk home (and some of them also walk quite a distance to get there), this also curtailed my time. And since some students also don't live next to the school but board nearby for the week, we could have no practice on Fridays-they need the time from the end of school (1:30PM) to travel a few hours to get to their proper home. So, the first part of my ideal plan-3 weeks of two-a-day physical fitness training-was reduced to four (Monday to Thursday) 1 1/2 hour sessions. Even this proved too much for most of the students, who complained loudly and incessantly they hadn't touched a ball for four days. But they did the running, and I selected a team. The team did not include 8 boys who were admittedly good players; but I proceeded on the "vote with one's feet" premise, that if one was interested in playing, one would come for the conditioning. And here my problems began. For the next 2 weeks the athletic director (who supported my plan) and I received frequent pressure from other teachers to at least give the "Magnificent 8" (M8 heretofore) a chance to try out. I simply explained my procedure, that everyone knew the procedure, and that I saw no reason to change. In a staff meeting, one teacher (who had done nothing to support the team up to this point) complained that we had a junior squad. Other teachers (who had coached) explained that sometimes coaches have to pursue players with talent and talk them into coming out. This ran contrary to my experience with competitive soccer and contrary to my idea of what a high school sports coach does-namely, a coach shouldn't have to run after any player like a church nursery attendant running after a toddler, trying to coax them into playing. I'd rather have "junior players" who are willing to do the hard work, because they are more likely to give their best at every practice and game, and to do what the coach tells them. Having the experience of winning a tournament with Dynamo in an older age group and knowing it was our willingness to give every match all we had and following our coaches' instructions that helped us with the tournament, I knew this approach would work. I told the gathered teachers that if anyone wanted to coach the team I would gladly step aside and they could select any team they wanted and coach it any way they wanted. No takers. Eventually, however, it came to a vote in the sports committee. I made the mistake of saying I'd have to think about quitting if the committee insisted on the M8 returning to the team. The vote went against me, and I was too weak to walk out of the meeting. I had the less than savoury experience of getting walked on. I went up to the soccer field after the up/down vote and found the M8 already scrimmaging with the rest of the squad. So, I talked with the athletic director and came up with a new plan: the M8 would be given a (wholly undeserved, wholly unfair in my opinion) second tryout. This is the one where they were run into the ground. I chose 5 or 6 of those players. One of them later struck a schoolmate with a rock just above the eye. The assault victim was a linesman during a friendly match, and "Rocky" didn't like the call that he had made. "Rocky" was, happily, banned from any further participation with the team. So, we had our first game. we tied 0-0 with a pretty good team. As I told the team all season, my biggest concern with them was their inability to put the ball in the goal. They had their chances to do that in the first game, but didn't. Still, it was a fair result for the start of the season. Despite the rough start, this good result (everything but the goals) gave us some hope. We lost our second game 2-0 against a much stronger team. We controlled the second half, but our "goal-phobia" hurt us again. We tied the next two games, 2-2 and 1-1. In the third game our players scored early and then got lazy, assuming they had the game in hand. I told them this at halftime (when we had a 1 goal lead), but the message didn't get through. The other team scored 2 goals, and we got back a late goal ourselves to salvage the tie. In the final match we scored early again, but just couldn't put any more in the goal. This would have been a decent conclusion to the regular season, but after the 2-2 tie (the 3rd official game) we had another unsavoury incident. The game was played on a Friday afternoon in Mbabane, and the field is close to a number of small shops-including a liquour store. The captain was drinking something (more on the "something" later) from a can of Carling Black Label. I asked to see the can, and he refused. I grabbed his gear bag (which was hanging on one arm) and he let it go. Another player (an M8 member) saw what was happening and told the captain in SiSwati to "hide it". The beer can disappeared, and this marked the end of the incident. I reported the incident to the principal on Monday via a note. I was sick as a dog Sunday and Monday, and spent most of those days in bed. I came back to school on Tuesday and was told that the captain had been called to the office and had told the principal that he had found the can lying around and picked it up to use as a container to drink some Coke he was sharing with a friend. He was let off, since the administration had no reason not to believe his story. I was, um, not all that impressed. I met the vice-principal later in her office and we talked about it some more. She said that if we had had the can, at least we could have checked its contents. I explained that the only way I could have gotten the can would have been to tackle the captain to the the ground, and that didn't seem like a good idea. It also would seem uneccessary, as the captain could have allayed my fears by simply passing me the can to let me check its contents. Had the contents been Coke, I could have warned him simply not to use beer cans to drink soft drinks in order not to raise suspicion, and perhaps added a gentle, teacherly warning about the obesity and tooth decay threats of sugar-sweetened drinks. The captain was called into the office and told to give his side of the story. He said I knocked the can to the ground in our brief encounter. I told him, in the presence of the vice-principal and a member of the sports committee, that that was a lie and regardless of what any other witnesses might say, he and I both knew the truth of what happened. The captain was dismissed from the office and the M8 "hide it" man was called in. He corroborated the captain's fabrication, and I also informed him that he was lying. The M8 accomplice was likewise dismissed from the room, and the vice-principal, the sports committee member, and I decided what to do. The vice-principal decided that the captain should be punished, but not in the context of soccer as that might garner him support from the other players. This was a wholly unsatisfactory result to me, as I wanted the captain banned from further participation from the team (for insolance and disrespect if for no other reason). The shoe tread-marks on my balding head were growing deeper and deeper. The M8 accomplice was given no punishment whatsoever. The captain was called back into the office and told he would undergo some sort of punishment (turns out it was some sort of groundskeeping work around the school). After he exited the office we passed each other in the hallway and he said "It's better, Mr. Poglitsh". I curtly nodded my head but didn't make eye contact, in the hope of acknowleding receipt of his comment and simultaneously communicating "Not in my book". This was the day before our last game, a game we had to win by a huge margin in the hopes of advancing. Given the most recent turn of events, however, I wasn't all that motivated. I had players who had, through pressure applied by non-involved staff members and my own weakness, weasled their way onto the team and into starting positions. I also had a captain and senior player who had lied in my presence about what had transpired between us. I was working under an administration that took their word over mine, and allowed them to continue without allowing me to dismiss them from the team or give any soccer-related punishment. Pretty much all my hopes for the season were shot, and I wasn't going to get too worked up about whatever happened next, on the field or off. I told the vice-principal before the game that I would direct the students not to drink beer at the field (the fourth game was going to be played at the same field in Mbabane where the incident took place), but that I would do no more than take notes on what I saw after that. I told her that given the level of support I received the last time around, I wasn't going to put myself in any difficult positions (like tackling students) in order to enforce school rules. They tied 1-1. I substituted one kid at halftime, and he told me I hated him. Another player gently tried to talk me out of the subsitution, and I told him that next year he can tell the coach whatever he wants and can make whatever substitutions he wants. Ironically, the subsitution almost resulted in a goal early in the second half, and resulted in more offense for our team through the rest of the game. The game ended, no suspicious activity took place while the game after ours was played, the kombi came right around sunset and we (over)loaded it with kids and went back to school. About 5 or 6 extra kids (including 2 girls from the netball team) came back on the combi that didn't come into town with the combi. That's the way things go here sometimes. I do feel sympathy for the combi drivers; no wonder they're not eager to transport kids for these events and don't always show up on time. It's hard on their vehicles. I did arrange the friendly with Waterford that took place on Wednesday, 8 July. I called together a number of players who never got to play in a game but who faithfully came to practice. I explained the situation to them on Friday, 3 July and told them they would do well to keep their mouths shut so that the other players don't get jealous. On Saturday morning I heard a comment from one of the players chosen to play at Waterford that an M8 member (who did play in two games during the season) felt I was unfair for not including him on the Waterford trip. Man oh man, what a headache. No wonder head coaches don't stay in those positions for long periods. On Monday 6 July, a member of the sports committee told me that a local secondary school (goes up to form 3) wanted to come out and play a friendly with us at Nsukumbili. I was asked if this was a good idea, and what date would be good. We settled on Friday, 10 July. After the conversation, though, revulsion at the prospect of choosing and fielding a team and dealing with the gripes from various quarters hit me. I went to the athletic director and told him about the nascent arrangements, and that I would not coach the team Friday. He smiled and laughed his affable smile, but I pressed the point and rehashed all the frustrations of this soccer season. He really is a good guy, and of all the folks on staff he has been the one who faithfully stood by me all along. He was 100% behind doing things differently, but the oppostion was large and implacable. It was sad to see his smile and laughs turn to disappointment and sadness. He told me to tell the other sports committee member to call off the friendly, both for soccer and netball, that playing this secondary school would not benefit us but them. I went off and found the sports committee member and told him about the previous conversation. He didn't immediately call the other school as far as I know, but I did tell him he might want to talk to the athletic director about it. So, a bittersweet (like chocolate washed down with vinegar) soccer season. I'm glad the Waterford games and the teacher game came after the regular season. Otherwise, I suspect I would have given up entirely on being involved with soccer next year. I'm still not sure if I'll try to get involved in 2010. It certainly had its up moments, but it was really not fun getting the pressure, criticism, and lack of support at (what felt like) critical moments from the other staff and the higher-ups. We'll just see. Can other folks who have been involved in coaching/managing sports give me some perspective? I really would like to hear from people with more experience than me on this. NSUKUMHILLBILLYInstead of playing on the church playground before the service, your daughter and other church children whack the unmanicured, wheat-tall grass around the church in an effort to scare up and then grab 4-6 inch long grasshoppers. Any grasshoppers they apprehend will have their legs torn off, in anticipation of getting roasted and eaten later in the day.Hillbilly PRAYER REQUESTWe would like to have another child. For those of you who pray, we ask you to lift this request to the Father. For those of you who don't pray, try it and see what happens! Thanks.******July 4, 2009VISITORSRudy and (I forget which child) met two Americans in town a couple Saturdays ago. One of them wore a "Rice University soccer" pullover; that was the dead giveaway. A few minutes' conversation revealed that they are pre-med students in the US, and are on a summer program surveying medicine in Swaziland and Malawi for a few weeks. We invited them out to meet the rest of the family and mosey around the hills for a few hours, as they had not been out of the big cities in Swaziland. Elizabeth and Yiwen seemed to enjoy themselves, and our daughters always enjoy visitors. EXTRA TIMEThe cellphone service monopoly-holder (MTN, for Mobile Telephone Network) has a deal right now. Whatever amount of cell phone time you purchase today, you get that same amount free for use between 9PM that night and 4AM the following morning. Once 4PM rolls around, the "extra time" evaporates. When we buy "airtime" we always get E150 because 1) we know we will use it, 2) it is maddening to get cut off because you don't have enough money on the phone, and 3) because (before the described deal) you got a free E30 that works as regular time. I had forgotten about the "after 9PM deal" when I most recently got airtime; imagine my happy suprise when the vendor explained how I just scored 2 for 1 for talking after 9! I wondered if I could call the US (knowing that E150 would probably last about 2 minutes on such a call); I checked with the office, and learned I couldn't. The extra time applies only from cell phone to cell phone within Swaziland. I explained the situation to Ruth when Grace and I got home, and we eagerly waited for 9PM to arrive. We tried to figure out who in Swaziland we haven't spoken with recently, and who wouldn't mind hearing from us after 9. We did have good long conversations with two friends, but you'd be suprised how long it takes to burn that much money on a phone when the low network volume discounts kick in! We gave up by 9:45; we're getting to old to stay up past then. It did remind me of the time I had three cans of Code Red Mountain Dew over the course of a workday, and was able to stay up and call friends in Alaska from Florida because I couldn't sleep. TAG TEAM JUMPING CASTLEGrace and I were in town a couple Saturdays back, and we visited the inflatable jumping castle near the Spar grocery store. The girls love it-except when too many big boys get in there and do what boys do, which is treat themselves and other big boys as human bumper cars. This day was a little different, though; Grace and another girl teamed up and were (good-naturedly) slapping the the boys with Grace's sandals. The boys respected the sandal-slappers, more likely out of chivalrous deference than real fear. Girl power! MFANUKHONA DLAMINIMfanukhona was a guard at the Peace Corps office when I was a volunteer. We would sit and converse now and then. After I left I wondered what happened to him, and kept him on my prayer list. We did cross paths in 2003 or 2004 here in Swaziland, and then lost touch again. But this same Saturday with the sandal-slapping Grace, we met again. He now owns and operates his own hydraulic engine lift company. It was great to hear this piece of good news (tempered by the sad news that one of his young daughters died earlier this year). We plan for the whole family to meet him this Saturday, 4 July. SAFE SEX = SUCKER BETSwaziland's AIDS rate hovers a little above 30% for expectant moms; the rates for other groups are also unimaginably high. When we first arrived and were told the AIDS rates, we just said "That can't be right." Some folks here told us we were in denial; no, we just thought there's no way 3 out of 10 pregnant women can have this virus, anymore than we would believe someone who told us the moon is made of cheese or Barack Obama was last year's REAL pro-life presidential candidate. The latter two statements remain ficticious, but getting the same information from various and reliable sources led us to trust the bad statistical news about AIDS in Swaziland. Two weeks ago we learned that a relative of a friend is ill with AIDS. The man is a teacher, and has had children by about six women (none of whom he was married to). Some of those women are dead, and this young man (younger than I) is likely to follow the recent trajectory of some of his paramours. Bear in mind this means a half dozen orphans. The only real and lasting way out of this AIDS crisis (and the sexually-transmitted disease crisis in the USA or anywhere else) is good old-fashioned "no sex before or outside marriage". Swaziland's death toll is numbing (surveys of the photographs in the obituary pages still reveal about 90% of those whose funerals will take place over the weekend are under 40 years old), and though the funerals will continue for some time even if everyone today decided to stop sleeping around, things would eventually and inexorably turn around if the fornication and adultery ended this moment. Do your part by encouraging young people to practice chastity. This side of the globe, "sexual and reproductive health" is not just code for abortion and weapons of mass contraception (though it also covers those things too); it is a life and death issue for the couples (who probably shouldn't be, either because they're unmarried or married to other people) engaging in sex. NSUKUMHILLBILLYAfter-dinner entertainment is breaking off hardened rivulets of candle wax from the side of the candle and melting it just above the flame. The power has been out for two days due to high winds, and the liquid wax causes the candle flame to blaze half an inch higher and twice as bright for two seconds. The girls are enthralled and try their hand; they get pretty good at holding the hardened rivulet without burning their fingers.Hillbilly ***********June 20, 2009THE WAR AGAINST THE CHICKENSRuth has been involved in an ongoing struggle against marauding chickens. They make gardening "interesting" A few weeks ago she made an "appropriate technology" chicken fence around the flowers at the front of the house. It is standing up OK to the chickens, but she didn't count on larger marauders. There is a small herd of 2 and 3 year old children who wander around the teacher housing most of the day. The fence was designed to withstand two legged fowl, but the engineering didn't consider 30 lb children pulling themselves up over the bank in front of the house and trying to straddle the fence. With a few rebukes, nothing has toppled, but some serious reinforcements are needed by the steps. A self-closing gate would be another nice option. Hmmm. A serious victory was scored on Wednesday when Mzwandile and Ruth moved the fencing around the back kitchen garden to incorporate the children's garden and make the whole area chicken proof. The children's garden is self-watering (thanks to a drain from the kitchen sink diverted to the garden--Oh the fun things you can do when your pipes are on the outside of your house). Thursday morning the girls and I (Ruth) planted peas, wheat, beans, tomatoes, and radishes. TEAM DINNERNsukumbili's first official soccer game took place Friday, June 19 (more below). When I played soccer for Worthington High School (Ohio), we would often have a "team dinner" at a player's house the night before a game. So, the Nsukumbili players came to our house Thursday afternoon for chili and rice. They all loved it. We were afraid we wouldn't have enough food, but almost everyone had seconds (the captain was first in line for seconds, and he took more than his fair share of rice. This didn't make him popular with the others. I hope he has learned a lesson). They also watched part of our "2002 World Cup goals" video. The tape (yes, we still use videotape over here sometimes) shows all the goals from that tournament, from a bunch of angles. The team dinner was a rollicking success. THE GAMEI got back from the game 45 minutes ago (I'm writing on Friday afternoon). We played Somnjalose High School, from the Ezulwini Valley, about 10 minutes down the Malangwane hill from Mbabane (the name-dropping is for those Swaziland RPCVs; remember those names?) We fought well to a 0-0 tie. I was really pleased with how they played. Their defense was nearly flawless. Players who dribble too much sometimes kicked the habit (at least for this game). They guarded (marked) their opponents astonishingly well, much better than I had hoped they would. All my past coaches would have been pleased with their marking. The only thing we didn't do was score goals; they had their chances, but they didn't finish them. Maybe I should have been showing the goals video earlier in the season. They'll have to practice shooting. My biggest fear was that they would come to the game half-asleep, get 2 goals scored on them early, and have to play catchup the rest of the game. They have done that in the past. But today was different; they played strong and consistent from the first whistle and throughout the match. I was also pleased to notice that the other team started to look tired with about 15 or 20 minutes left in the game; I'd like to think the running they've been doing paid off. I wonder how much more of an advantage we could make of that if I could put them through some REAL physical training pre-season. I only ran them for 4 days, and they do mostly "maintainence" running in practice now. Overall, this was a very good outing. We play again on Wednesday. As we travelled back to the school, I told the players a few times that they need to put this game behind them and start again. Wednesday is a whole new game, and it has nothing to do with what happened today. I don't want them to get lazy with a taste of success. One last point: transportation. The game started at 1PM, and we had planned to leave by two hired minibuses at 11AM. They arrived at 11:45, and we got to the field at 12:30PM. This is remarkable; though the buses were late, we got to the field before the scheduled kickoff time. The game did start at 1, and we sat for only about 1 hour after the game waiting for the minibuses to return (they are commercial enterprises, so I suspect they made a passenger run during the game. I was home before dark. This is quite a change even since 2003 when we first arrived, when we would have arrived late because we hired a big slow bus that came over an hour past its scheduled time. Though things usually change slowly in Swaziland, transport has changed noticably in a short time. NSUKUMHILLBILLIES OVERHEARD"Dad, it's more fun to spit from high up. You watch it get smaller and smaller and then, splat!"Grace, age 7 "Dad, guess what I found in the trash: milk!" In fact, Grace had found a half-full can of milk powder in another teacher's trash pit. Ruth decided it was clean enough, and Grace and Cub ate fingerfuls of milk powder for the next two days. *************************June 6, 20092 EARS OF CORN-SWAZI STYLEYou ECHO/development folks should appreciate the attached photo. This picture was taken the day we harvested the corn from the garden at the church. Everyone had a good time, and the harvest was decent. Ruth is already planning what to do next in the demonstration garden. With a little management and 80 Emalangeni in fertilizer, she thinks a 15x15 yard area could produce two bags of corn worth 240 Emalangeni each. The numbers are promising! We hope we can demonstrate both high input (using fertilizer) and low input (using green manure) systems, and that others at the church and in the community will pick up on some practices that will make their own homesteads more productive. THOKOZANE KHUMALOThis is the young man who finished school in 2007 and has taken the initiative to build a good life for himself (volunteering at a construction site to get experience and which ended up paying his examination fees, working with SwaziAid on introducing the moringa plant to Swaziland, cell phone repair, and farming at his own homestead). He is also married (to a former classmate) and they have a son named Mazwi. Sadly, Thokozane's father died last Friday. His step-mother is also very sick. His late father and step-mother have 5 children, the youngest not quite two months. An exhausted Thokozane (he walked three hours from his home last Saturday to collect some money for the funeral, after having spent the week caring for his father and not having slept the Friday night of his dad's death) told us that he will take on the responsibility of the small ones. He is a hero in difficult times. Please keep him in your prayers and thoughts. SOCCERBy some strange chain of events, Rudy became soccer coach for the school this year. I decided to run tryouts something like the ones I remember (25 years ago! yikes!), so the first week was nothing but running. Some of the best players never appeared, and so they were not selected for the team. A continuing brouhaha ensued, with a number of staff complaining that this was a "junior team" and why shouldn't those good players be allowed back onto the team after taking some discipline. Coaches of other sports said that to get some players they wanted they had to go to the good players and coax them into coming to practice. I said that any boys interested should try out, and that I made my selections accordingly. Chasing "superstars" is not for me; I want guys who want to be there. I believe we had a cultural impasse. I suggested, in a staff meeting, that anyone interested in coaching the team is welcome-I would simply step aside and let them choose whoever they wanted, and coach however they wanted. No takers. In committee, the sports board decided to let the players in question have another tryout/disciplinary session. I ran the eight young men into the ground for 3 days (it was supposed to be four, but they did well and other players on the team suggested they had paid their dues and we needed to get ready for the season). I was pleased on the third day to see the "second-chancers" fall exhausted to the ground after the running. I'm learning how you can tell if a young man is really tired, and when he is just trotting. Of the eight, five were selected. So far they have integrated well into the team. It's been an uncomfortable ride at times, but I think things are okay now. We have played three practice games ("friendlies" in soccer parlance). We tied 3-3 against a local club, we tied a local school 1-1 and after 14 minutes of extra time won on penalty kicks, and we lost 3-2 to another local school. I have been pleased with the players in all three games. We scored the first two goals in the first game and got a late third goal to tie. We came from behind in the second game, and we also got two goals back after going down 2-0 in the third game. We lost the third game due to a late penalty kick from a handball in the penalty box. In all three games the boys played with great heart; this, I believe, is very important. I have instructed them to play attacking soccer-I want them to get forward and try to score goals. This may seem like a strange instruction-after all, what else would you do in trying to win a game? But for some reason, too often in the past they seemed to try to play "keep away" with the other team, and not go for goals. Another new idea is that the players should play "two touch"; control the ball with one touch of the foot, and pass it with the next kick. This too has been lacking in the past, as players have attemted to get themselves on the 11PM sports highlights with their fancy footwork. What inevitably happens is that the player continues to dribble until someone (maybe the third player he tries to dribble around) takes the ball from him. I threatened one of the best ball handlers that I will pull him out of the game if he does that. He has refrained, and his significant skills have become more effective in the game. Other players are also starting to kick the habit. A teacher from the school we played most recently (3-2 loss) commented that we were playing a different game; this was good to hear. The big tests come soon, though, when the friendlies end and the regular season starts (sometime next week). I have wondered a little about the willingness of the school to have me as coach. Soccer is serious business here, for the schools and in the wider communities. To allow an expatriate to coach the school team is a significant concession. I like to think it means there's a consensus that I can be trusted, even with something as important as this. A sense of responsibility begins to grow on me. Then, I remember that no one offered to take the job during or after the staff meeting; maybe they know it's just too much trouble, and even though they want certain players on the team, the coaching job is still better left to someone else. This helps keep things in perspective. Last off on soccer: we are always lacking enough soccer shoes. I wanted to bring a substitute into the third game when it was tied 2-2, in the hopes that he could score our game-winner. I had to wait 10 minutes until he could scrounge a pair of shoes his size. Substitutions usually mean I tell a player to get ready to come on; he puts on the one spare jersey we have, loosens the laces on his school shoes, then gets the shorts and the shoes from the player he is replacing when that player comes off the field. We play without one player for 2-3 minutes during this change. Fortunately, most other teams do the same thing. This, too, is new to me. So, I'm putting out feelers: are there folks out there with dusty pairs of soccer shoes that need new homes? Believe you me, we would put them to use. I would have a bag dedicated to the shoes, and I would mark them so it was clear that they belonged to the school. Whether you have "flats" or "studs" is fine. I was going to ask that we not receive replacable stud shoes, but you know-this is Africa: we improvise well. We could use them with the studs or just remove the studs and use them as flats. I don't have any mechanism yet in place for getting them over here; I'm just seeing if there's any interest. The players are young men from 15 to their early 20s; I think the sizes would range from 8 to 10. If you have some boots you're willing to let go and go for a good purpose, e-mail us. TADYou may remember that Marbles the fish perished. Ruth collected a tadpole later, and this aquatic houseguest is still alive and growing. We've had "Tad" since May 3rd. It is interesting to watch Tad get bigger and change. I do hope he/she makes it to froghood. I'm not sure where we'll release Tad; probably one of the local rivers. I wonder how emotional that will be. Just have to wait and see. After that Ruth is thinking of having a terrarium to raise worms, plants, and all the critters the kids find; I would like another fish. NSUKUMHILLBILLYYou visit friends in Manzini. Your children are enthralled with the ceiling fan, rolling around on the bed and staring at it with mouths wide open and shouts of hysterical glee. They all take turns pulling the chain.Hillbilly Soccer practice is interrupted by a "locker room incident"; cows have wandered over to the fence where the boys change out of their school clothes and put on their soccer clothes. The cows want to eat the school clothes. The boys wave their arms and whistle and throw dirt clods to chase off the bovine invaders. After that, the players return to running laps.Hillbilly A soccer substitution is delayed by 10 minutes while the player coming into the game tries to borrow the right sized soccer shoes.Hillbilly Your middle child exclaims "Two pictures on one page!" when finding a Mary Engelbreit day-at-a-time calendar page matching that description. You'd think she just won the lottery.Hillbilly You heat your bathwater in a metal bucket on a burner screwed into a propane tank that you keep in your bathroom. It's nice because it heats up the bathroom too.Hillbilly When your family chooses their dessert, it consists of the following: bread and marmalade for your 7 year old, unheated pork and beans for your 4 year old, a tomato for your one year old, and the leftover water from a can of corn for your wife. The husband skipped dessert this evening; he fell asleep on the couch after the main course.Hillbilly Your four year old cries because she can't eat her pork and beans right out of the can.Hillbilly Your youngest daughter is now called "Ntombi Kay Kay"-you are pleased. It is somewhat related to her legal name (NtombikaYise) and the grandparents aren't too thrilled to have grandchildren named "Kit" and "Cub".Hillbilly Your wife spends three days making a knee-high fence from the following materials: grass, corn stalks, sticks, netting cast off from a renovation project on a building in town, pipes from an abandoned ironing board, and an old refridgerator box. The fence keeps maurauding chickens out of her flowerbed.Hillbilly Our sister in law says that we could think of it as "green" instead of hillbilly. Then we could feel fashionable. *******************May 22, 2009DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALSMarbles' aquatic home was getting a bit cloudy in the middle of last week, so we decided to change his water. We did everything we thought we should, but by the next day he was swimming strangely and not eating. By the end of that next day, he was listless. Kayise, one of the children of the teachers, asked "What's wrong with Marbles?" I didn't want to say, but I had my suspicions. By the next morning, he was definitely dead. At breakfast Cubby asked what was wrong, and I said as plainly and gently as I could, "Marbles is dead". She started crying. Cubby "let go" of the slug the week before without knowing its ultimate fate; this time, she faced the death of her pet head-on. It was not pleasant. This took place on a Saturday morning, and I (Rudy) had to go to town. I gave her some hugs and comfort, and Ruth and I decided Marbles would be buried this day. The rest of the day had a pall over it for me, too; I did like Marbles (I picked him out at the pet store), and the girls did too. I did some internet research (type "How do you care for goldfish?" into google; man, the internet is handy) to try to figure out where we went wrong. I suspect we'll try again-if only because I would really like to have a fish. The girls haven't mentioned Marbles since, and they like playing with the marbles from the bottom of his (cleaned out) tank. The same Saturday evening, the night-watchman came to our house and gave us a chicken! I don't think he knew anything of Marbles' demise; it was just a "random act of kindness". It is a lovely shiny-brown hen with black streaks around the neck. Another teacher has a chicken enclosure, and he allowed us to put her in with his chickens. We may buy food and have the girls chuck it into the fowl. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21 CONSTRUCTION CREWLast Thursday I took the older two girls to the river. They love to swim. They met some other kids there, and they all had a ball together for 3 hours. In addition to swimming, they built some "homes" out of sand and water, complete with a number of rooms, doors between them, and decorative flowers. I was impressed. KNEE-JERK REACTIONMy form 3 students (roughly high-school sophmores) were learning about voluntary and involuntary actions. I have a pretty good knee-jerk response, having taught this a few times. I can relax my leg and tap the patellar tendon with my hand, and my leg kicks. I suspect, though, that the students think I'm faking it. There is a murmur and smiles through the classroom, indicating to me a lack of credence. This week, then, I called on a student to help me. He's the equipment manager for the team, and I trust him. He also sits in the front row and had a plastic ruler in hand, so everything seemed to be just right for his assistance. I showed him where to strike and tried to give him an idea of how hard. He took three whacks at it, and the leg showed a pretty good response. I think the students were more willing to believe I wasn't faking it, but still not wholly convinced I wasn't just making it up. My assistant didn't quite have the strength right, though; on the third tap, he broke his ruler in half. The part not in his hand flew out the door. My knee was a little sore, too. When I changed into shorts for soccer practice after school, I found a long, thin, shallow cut across my knee! I had a laugh, and showed the student when we got to the soccer field. He was worried (as I thought he would be), but I shook his hand and we laughed it off. OVERHEARD"It's interesting to see how the ideal female body changes in art through time. I think I have the ideal body for the 11th century." -Ruth Poglitsh "Hawu, leli umshayeli utawubulala tsine. Bengincono kushiya umtfwana wami ekhaya."-woman sitting next to Rudy on the kombi on the way back to school. She said "Oh no, this young driver is going to kill us. I should have left my child at home." A few of the kombi drivers are men in their 20s, and suffer under the illusion so many men that age do that they are as dextrous as Stealth fighter pilots and as indestructible as Arnold Shwartzenegger's "Terminator". These two illusions come out in their driving habits, and this woman was simply saying what I often think. We did arrive home without incident. "I know the difference between elephants and birds; elephants don't dance like birds."-Cubby*******************May 13, 2009MARBLESLast Monday I took the girls to a nearby homestead, to help harvest corn. Along the way, Cubby found a slug. She picked it up and the slug became her pet. Her pet fell off the piece of cardboard she found to keep it on, and some girls passing by picked up her pet and put it back on the cardboard. This got the slug dirty, and Cubby wanted to brush it off. I thought this would do more injury to "Sluggo". Cubby wanted to collect grass and put it on the cardboard for food. I knew this pet wasn't going to work out. I did my best to talk her into putting her pet in a cool, shady spot in the grass (these did exist, as we had had rain showers the night before), but Cubby wasn't budging. "I want to care for it!", she said through her sobs. I did feel for her; she wanted to love this little animal. I said "Cubby, do you want the best for your pet?" She nodded in affirmation. "The best thing for the slug is to be put down in the grass. There she can find food, and it is cool and damp." Cub relented; I was (and remain) proud of her. She really put the well-being of the slug ahead of her desire to keep it as a pet. I think there may be a lesson about true love in this experience. I also decided, however, that Cubby needed a real pet. I relayed the story and my conclusion to Ruth, and she agreed. The next time I went to town, I would come back with a fish. LUNCH AT SERENDIPITY'SOkay, the restaurant is called "Serendipity", but I couldn't help playing off the movie and song "Breakfast at Tiffany's"-Jim Richard, you really like that song, don't you? I did have lunch there on the Tuesday after the slug/corn harvest Monday. The Peace Corps office treated me to lunch with a Vilakati and an Nkhosi (Swazi employees) and a Peace Corps Response member, an American named Barry. Peace Corps is thinking about coming back to Swaziland in classroom education, and part of Barry's job is to figure out if that is a good idea and what form that classroom role should take. I gently told them our perspective: there are already too many kids chasing the small handful of white-collar jobs, and emphasizing practical job skills (construction, auto mechanics, fixing stuff like cellphones) and homestead development (improve farming practices so homesteads are more productive and more interesting places to stay) would be a better approach. I don't know how far my suggestions will go, but they got our 2 cents. After lunch, it was time to get a fish! (And you thought I'd leave you wondering "What about Marbles?") I went to the grocery store and got three small bags of marbles and a cylindrical glass flour jar. I visited a tiny (probably 3 square yard floorspace) fish store, and picked out a fish. The lady captured the fish, sold me some food, and off I went. I was carrying the fish (in a thin plastic bag) in a plastic grocery bag (equally thin). I boarded a combi, and realized only a small puncture and 3 minutes for all the water to run out stood between me and a dead pet. The entire city of Mbabane and the trip between town and home became threatening. If you haven't seen the animated movie "Horton Hears a Who", do; if you have seen it, I feel like Horton after he resolved to find a safe place for the clover-every corner his formerly friendly jungle became a pit of death! I held the bag suspended a couple inches from my lap, to reduce jiggle and swing. I also became paranoid about sharp metal corners, which are numerous on some kombis. Usually they just mean an annoying scrape on the arm or leg, but today they might spell tragedy. Long story short-we made it, no problem. Eezy peezy. The water was just the right amount for the container, and the 3 bags of marbles covered the bottom just fine. We asked what the fish should be named. Grace suggested Marbles, after the marbles in the tank. The girls contribute a little food each morning, and Marbles is doing fine. Ruth did collect some tadpoles this afternoon on the way back from church, and put one in with Marbles to have a tadpole and a goldfish grow up together. This was a grand idea for Marbles, as he swallowed his would-be tankmate in a few seconds. Sunday dinner was a treat for him today! The next trick will be changing the water. It's been a long time, but Ruth thinks she knows what to do. TOO CLOSE A SHAVEOn the way back from the homestead on Monday, the girls and I saw the road grader along the road. This brought instant apprehension, because the grader frequently cuts our water pipe as it improves the road. It is good that the big yellow machine moves and breaks the rocks in our thoroughfare, but for obvious reasons it's not too pleasant to go back and have to fix it later. Monday was fine, but when I came back on a kombi after buying Marbles on Tuesday afternoon, I saw two cuts in the pipe. They had hit it again. Mr. Mamba has the replacement couplings in his house, and he wasn't home. Fortunately, another teacher and I scrounged just enough parts to make the repairs. The next day the night watchman, two young men, and the girls and I fixed the cuts. The volume of water was low, but at least water was coming into the school tanks again. I felt a small sense of accomplishment in making the repairs, even though we had lots of help. To identify a problem and make the necessary cuts in the pipe and to put the new parts in myself without Stanford Mamba felt like a real step. The next day I went to try to find out why the flow was low, but I failed. Mamba went out a couple days later and discovered a nearby "adolescent headed-homestead" (the father had died, and the boys had run off their mother) had put a rock in the pipe to shunt water to their own homestead. When Mamba discovered this, he went to the homestead to talk to the boys. No one answered his knocks, so he removed the blockage and turned it over to the community police with an explanation of the situation. As enjoyable as living out here is, there is still the occasional unsavory incident. NSUKUMHILLBILLYYou clean out the children's empty tube of Colgate Junior Sparkling Star toothpaste (with the star-shaped opening!) and fill it with frosting to decorate your daughter's birthday cake.Hillbilly Your three daughters kneel on the bench seat of a kombi with their faces looking out the back window and excitedly exclaim "Look at all the dust!" as the vehicle speeds down the unpaved road. You'd think it was a snowy Christmas morning.Hillbilly *********May 2, 2009COLLECTIVE BARGAININGI took Grace and Cub to town on Saturday, 25 April. We got off the bus in Mbabane and had not made it out of the bus station when we got into a conversation with a 30-something Swazi man. After the obligatory hellos and how are yous, he said he would like to marry Grace (who turns 7 years old on May 8). He offered me 15 cattle. I politely laughed (as I always do), wishing neither to encourage nor insult the suitor. The conversation moved on, and another young man came up, and made the same offer on Grace. I laughed and said, "Ah, but this guy just offered me 15! Can you do better than that?" Bidder #2 offered me 16 cows. More laughs, and the daughters and I made our exit. The girls never enjoy overhearing these conversations so in private, we always tell them we are looking for men of GOOD CHARACTER; we aren't interested in the number of cows. ENDURO KIDSSchool term number 1 ended April 24th; we are enjoying the time off! During the school breaks, Ruth and I will split child care duties down the middle; I take them 7AM to noon, then she takes them noon to four. On the 29th of April, Ruth went to town on business and I took the three girls to the local waterfall (some of you have been there, now that I think of it). We left the house about 8:30 and got back about 2:30. The older two girls walked the whole way there and back. We had 5 hot dogs and two small bags of jellybeans among four of us, and each of the girls had a water bottle holding two cups of water. They complained not a bit. I was so proud of them. I don't think I was that tough when I was their age. We had a great time. OLGA NTSHALINTSHALIOn Ruth's trip to Mbabane she visited a number of offices, including that of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The first employee she met said "How is Rudy?" Ruth, having not introduced herself to the FAO employee, was suprised at the early question. Turns out the FAO worker is Olga Ntshalintshali, a woman who worked at Sibebe when our Peace Corps group was in training there in 1990. She now carries the surname Tsabedze. It's good to know she's doing well. BABE ABNER DLAMINIThis is the patriarch of the homestead where Marcos Bradley and I spent 10 days during our Peace Corps training. You may remember that he suffered a stroke about a year ago. You may also remember that he was steadily improving. Today the 3 girls and I visited him, and he is doing worse. The mobility he had been gaining in his right arm and leg has gone; he is understandably frustrated and disappointed. Abner is a tremendous worker, and I can't imagine how difficult this situation is for him. For those of you who pray, please pray for him. ************April 28, 2009FOR THE INTERESTEDHere's a link to an extensive article about Uganda's success against AIDS in the 1990s:http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1544373It is written by Edward Green, the writer of the Washington Post op-ed piece I sent on last week. This is a longer article, but it gives more concrete details of the successful Uganda effort and is quite readable. If you are interested in such things, do give it a look. Here's the punchline: "While we may never fully know 'what really happened in Uganda,' the available evidence, bolstered by more recent and similarly encouraging findings from places such as Kenya, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Zambia, and Zimbabwe, suggests that a comprehensive, behavior change-based strategy, ideally involving high-level political commitment and a diverse spectrum of community-based participation, may be the most effective prevention approach." AMAIZINGWe harvested the top half of our maize (corn) field last week. This plot of land had been so poor that not even blackjack (a type of weed that, providentially, is the main ingredient in a Swazi dish) would grow on it. Mr. Stanford Mamba, another teacher who is the resident farming and handiman genius, said our harvest was nothing to be ashamed of. We used the "Farming God's Way' technique, and are encouraged by the results. See more about Farming God's Way at www.farming-gods-way.org. FIELD BIOLOGY AND PETSCubby (our second child) has taken a liking to small animals. Yesterday on the way back from church, she came across a half-inch long green caterpillar thing (okay, I have an environmental biology degree, but I have no idea what this thing was). She picked it up and let it crawl around on her hands, turning her hands over when it started to get out of her sight. She then let it get on her dress and walk around on that. She held her dress up a little bit so the yard-long grass wouldn't knock her pet (now named "Rose"-I asked Cubby if her pet had a name, and that's what she told me) to the ground. Cubby wanted to pick Rose up often with her thumb and forefinger, but I told her it would be better to let Rose crawl around on her own, as repeated pickings-up might injure her. I didn't want to say "Picking your pet up like that again and again will probably cause you to squish her like a soft tomato", but that's what I had in mind. Then, it happened. Somehow, Rose fell off Cubby's dress and into the grass. Cubby looked frantically for a moment for her pet, but didn't find her. Cub was already tired from the walk to church and the two hours at church, so that didn't add to her emotional stability. I told her that Rose would be better off in the grass where she landed, since she would be able to eat and find a place to live there (which I think was entirely true; the place where we had been walking is not heavily traveled, and I think Rose would have a decent shot at a normal lifespan where she was). But words like these, of course, don't really console any of us in such moments. I was thinking about what words I could offer Cubby, and I was thinking that this would be my first "the pet has died" speech as a dad. I'm sure Cubby was more upset than me, but it's no small thing when your child has lost something they really do like and have actively cared about-even if they've only had it for 5 minutes. Ruth and I offered her a little solace as we descended a hill to a little river. Ruth and I have discussed getting a fish for a pet. I remember we had an angelfish named Fred when we lived in Los Angeles (mom and dad, do you remember?). Fred had just a plain old fishtank with the volume of a soccer ball, with marbles in the bottom. That was it. Fred was with us (I think) about 4 years-but it might have been less than that, as I was probably under 10 years old at the time. Ruth and I pretty much decided we'd pick up the items and do something like that, next time we were in town. When we reached the river, Ruth said "We can do this sooner!" A colony (or whatever it's called; there's my biology degree kicking in again) of frog eggs were just hatching into tadpoles. We took a water bottle and captured probably 10 of the little guys in the bottle. The girls' spirits (especially Cubby's) lifted quickly as they looked at the tadpoles in the bottom of the plastic bottle. We reached home in the back of a pickup truck (actually, Ruth and Hope, our youngest, got to sit in the cab; the rest of us were in the bed) and put our new pets in an empty peanut butter tub. This (Monday) afternoon we got some pond scum from a cistern in the school garden and gave it to the "tads" for food. We'll see what happens. I've been thinking how much fun this will be, but I just thought-what if most of them die? Yikes! What will I tell the girls? Cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess. Update: I wrote about the tadpoles on Monday; by Wednesday morning, the tadpoles were not moving. They weren't moving on Thursday, either. The kids took their demise well. Maybe we'll just try the fish thing. SUCCESSESSome time ago we met Doctor Maseko, a former student. Doctor is a very nice young man, soft-spoken and hard-working. After he finished form 5 he became an apprentice carpenter. He had said that his plan was to be an understudy for a while, then start his own shop. A couple years after that, we met Doctor on the bus. He said he had become a police officer. We are glad he is doing well. Sizwe (I forget his last name) is a young man who finished school in 2005. After not seeing him for a few years, we crossed paths in town on the Easter weekend. After smiles and handshakes I thought to ask him what he is doing, but decided not to-so many young people are not working, and I didn't want to put him on the spot. He told us, however, that he is a primary school teacher! Like us, he has not been paid yet this year; so, he really has moved into adulthood. With so many young people not doing what they want to, it is refreshing to hear these first-hand stories. NSUKUMHILLBILLYYour daughters' trip to the "backyard pool" means they put on their swimming suits and take a dip with their friends in the cistern in the school garden (see pond scum reference above). This is not a joke. This is Hillbilly *********************April 18, 2009A LITTLE MORE ON AIDS AND CONDOMSFollow this linkhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702825.htmlfor a Washington Post op-ed piece by Ed Green, a Harvard researcher dedicated to AIDS prevention worldwide. In this article Dr. Green addresses the firestorm of protest ignited by Pope Benedict's comments about the uselessness of condoms in slowing down AIDS in Africa. PLANTSI told Ruth recently that she has made a lot of things grow around our home. Our garden inside the school agriculture area has onions, peaches, pigeon peas, perennial peanut, lablab, cowpeas, sugar beans, sweet potatoes, various fruit trees, and corn-thanks to her. After the addition of a fenced-in garden of about 50 sq. ft. just behind our bedroom window, we also have papayas, chaya, beans, moringa and, perhaps most importantly, a propagation area where avocados, mangoes, and apple trees grow from seeds. Some of these seedlings have been planted around the school and some have been given to teachers. A number of children of teachers have planted their own banana plants, guava trees, and peach trees around their respective homes, and almost all of them are prospering. On the Monday after Easter Ruth directed the construction of an addition to the backyard garden, another 50 sq. ft. which Grace and Faith will cultivate. Ruth is making this place grow. SOCCERWe have a new athletic director, who is open to new ideas. I suggested that the way to pick this year's soccer team would to be to open the selection to any interested young men, make the hopefuls run laps and sprints for a straight week, then select the team from the players who were willing to do that non-ball physical conditioning. I wasn't pursuing the coaching job, I got it. About 25 young men did the running (with a great deal of complaining). Notably, the guys who are perennial fixtures on the team (and who are some of the best players in the school) did not come for the conditioning. The next week, when the soccer balls came out, they were there-and were promptly told to leave the soccer field. I suggested this change in approach because in the past the "regulars" have always played just how they feel-if they had decided to have a good game one day, they were marvelous. Then the next game, they would get scored on in the first 30 seconds and show no signs of life the rest of the game. I figured I would take a group of players who were willing to listen to the coach (and the first indication of a willingness to "listen" would be to run and run and run, with no hope of touching a ball) and introduce some disciplined, strategic play into their game. Swazi soccer is plagued by the desire to dribble the length of the field and push the ball between the goalkeepers legs for a goal. On Wednesday the school team played a scrimmage against a group of non-team players. Guess who made up that non-team squad? Those who had been refused the priviledge of walking-on to the school team. Not suprisingly, the non-team players came for blood.The school team conceded 3 goals in the first half. We got one goal in the second half, struck the crossbar once, and gave up another goal. The second half was better than the first. I do believe we have settled on a good first string team. We learned a lot. Our guys quickly fell back into the dribbling habit. We'll have to work on that. I still feel good about the overall approach. We don't have the superstars on the team, but the guys who have consistently shown up will have a chance to play for their school (which they otherwise wouldn't have) and a taste of life in a meritocracy. The "regulars" all play on local teams anyway, and the school team has never advanced past the group round. We had nothing to lose, and I saw an opportunity to do something different. We'll see how the overall experiment goes in the next school term, when we start playing other schools. **************April 4, 2009NEXT STEPLife can be a very mixed bag. We are excited about moving into doing agricultural work in this community. Now comes the difficulties of making that happen. The first issue we have been working on is finding a US organization who we can serve under. We aren't into the "Make your own organization" thing, though I am starting to understand the appeal. Our first choice group can't do overseas work because of complications related to the Patriot Act which restricts and monitors financial transactions between the US and overseas. We were referred to another group, which is a good group. A big challenge with that group is that their normal training would cost $11,000-15,000 for our family and take at least 4 months. Considering that we have been living on about $10,000/year and considering the state of the economy in the US, it is hard to imagine raising that kind of start-up support and being gone so long from here. A small group that works in Swaziland is open to being a channel for grants, but they aren't a 501(c)(3). Our church background complicates matters. We are familiar with how Evangelical missions groups work and do fundraising. Catholic churches aren't set up to help Catholic lay missionaries raise support like that. Frankly, we are pretty clueless how the Catholic missions work. Our friends and families come from both worlds, so an ecumenical group would be nice. We would like to keep expenses really low for the first two years so that we can get our feet wet in support raising and see how it goes. Finding a group that is large enough to know how to do what must be done and small enough to work with our odd situation seems daunting. We will have our first school break in about a month. We will spend a lot of it visiting local groups and getting advice from other Americans here. We found out that visa issues here should be pretty easy. You arrange to volunteer under the auspices of a local non-profit or church. You just have to pay about $120/year/person for the visa. We need to find a suitable local group to volunteer under. Housing is our next challenge. we had a nice available place picked out. Then someone broke into it a few days before we went to talk to its owner. Rudy thought that we could build a house for the school if they would let us stay in this one. The US embassy does some grants for such things. But it would probably cost about $15,000 and their grants are usually $3,000-5,000. A Swazi friend told us that we should be part of a large homestead if we want to be secure because we will attract thieves otherwise. But large homesteads don't ususally have 2-3 bedroom houses sitting unoccupied! I am starting to understand why groups build "compounds". It seems like lack of suitable housing in the community is a small thing, until you have three little girls and want to have electricity to run your fridge and computer. If you have advice for us, we are open to it. You never know what someone might know! We are all ears. MORE ON AIDS AND CONDOMSNice quote: "Maybe they tried it and it failed, and since it failed with them, they think it will fail with everyone", says David Kalema, a Ugandan activist, commenting on those who criticise abstinence. "I'm a testimony myself. I finished my primary (school) without having sex. I went for my secondary education, I didn't have sex, I went to University, I was not having sex. I never fell sick because of not having sex. Can this world tell me that it only worked with me? The way it worked with me it can work with everyone else. My friends who used to laugh at me thinking that abstinence is abnormal, most of them are dead by now." BE READY TO SING, PREACH OR DIE AT THE DROP OF A HATThat's the advice Ruth heard from a missionary many years ago. On Friday the 3rd of April, I got to take the second option. On Fridays usually a teacher gives a sermon to the gathered school at morning assembly. This morning the teacher leading assembly turned to me and asked "Is anyone preaching today?" I told him I didn't know, but I would ask someone who would. While the students sang a song, I asked that second person. He said he had no idea. I returned to the lead teacher and told him there was no plan, but that I would do it. I felt like taking a chance, and I had been thinking of a follow-up sermon to one delivered a few weeks ago. The song ended, and I took up my place in front of the students. I told them the following: "This is the shortest sermon you will probably ever hear, so I think you'll be able to remember it. A couple of weeks ago you were told that you should not chase after the things of this world, expecting them to give you lasting happiness. That is true. At the same time, God has put in you some particular skills and talents and abilities. Maybe you are good at academics, or farming, or sewing, or cooking, or just being helpful to other people. Whatever it is, I encourage you to develop those skills and interests as much as you can. Here at the beginning of your lives, ask the Lord what talents He has given you, and develop them. Those interests and abilities and talents are His gift to you; what you do with them is your gift back to Him. Ask Him what your mission is, and pursue it. Then at the end of your life, you can have a full and meaningful life to give to Him." I closed with a prayer that they would seek the Lord to know what their talents and missions were, so that at the close of their lives on earth they would go to Him and shine like the stars in the heavens. I got a little choked up at the end; despite the times I want to choke the kids themselves (classroom chenanigans can get under my skin), they are so full of promise and I want them to do well in life. At the same time, they face many discouragements and some lethal threats, and I want them to avoid those pitfalls. The rest of the day was one of the finest day I've ever had teaching, anywhere. The students were cooperative and engaged, and one class worked SILENTLY (and I mean like a good library silence) for an hour. I don't know if it had anything to do with the sermon, and I don't even desire to know. It was just a great day. Even the weather outside was great (and is now; I think I'll go enjoy a little bit of it). **************March 28, 2009WATERFORD IIWe made it! The students were in the wrong place at the right time for leaving the school, but we made it all the same. We agreed we would meet at the gate at 6:15AM; they were at the bus stop, 100 yards away, at the right time. I kept anxiously scanning the area looking for them, expecting they were still coming. As the appointed meeting time passed, I began to rant with a friend standing nearby. He said, "Who are those two at the bus station?" It was the girls. I half-ranted at them: "Didn't we say 'the gate'? Why are you here, and not there?'" We left 30 minutes late, but got to the school in good time. All's well that ends well. Thanks to everyone who prayed. They felt confident about the test, though they said the "fill in the appropriate word" on the English section was hard. Then again, one of the native English-speaking administrators said the same about that section. They said they liked the school: "It is nice at Waterford", said Bongiwe Mazibuko. The principal addressed the parents (and "guardians", like me) while the kids took the test. He said they take 1 out of 4 or 1 out of 5 students; the Nsukumbili contingent is going to have to have shined like the sun to get in. Even if they don't, I hope the experience broadens their horizons. The only part the students weren't impressed with was the Sibhaca dancing. It happened to be "University World College day", and the students demonstrated song and dance from their home lands. Some Swazi boys danced the traditional men's dance, which involves high kicks and bringing down the kicking foot with great force. Nok'thula Khanyile said "These boys need to come to Nsukumbili to learn to dance". I tried to defend them, saying they were dancing on concrete and couldn't bring their legs down hard. "But they can still lift their legs higher", she replied. Sometimes, students are the toughest critics of other students. KIDS SAY THE FUNNIEST THINGS All three of our girls are talking now, so we thought we would share a couple of recent quotes. Hope's vocabulary is very limited, but recently she has started calling Faith "Mommy". The two of them are inseparable playmates and Faith thinks that she should be the Mom since she is bigger. Faith tries to read. She puts on a reading voice and pretends to sound out the words and hesitates between words while she looks at the pictures and makes up a story. We got a new refrigerator last week. Faith opened the door. Hope came over. Faith pointed to the pictures inside the freezer door (showing how many months you can keep various foods) and said "See, Kit. It says 'Don't get inside.'" We were driving on a highway and Faith was giving comments about the traffic lanes. "I know what would be even funnier! One going this way [pointing down]. One going this way [pointing to the side]. And then frogs, peeking out with lizards carrying toy houses!" We moved around the bed in the girl's room recently. Grace was very excited. "This is REAL fun. Everyone will be happy. This is like a school bus. Or an airplane. Or a hospital!" Grace was explaining to Faith what the chickens were doing. "The boy chicken is just trying to marry the girl chicken. It is a short process. The boy chicken climbs on the girl chicken and then they are married. And then they separate." POPE BENEDICT IN AFRICAYou may have caught news of the Pope's trip to Africa, and specifically the dust-up about his comments about AIDS and condoms. As we are both Benedict fans and live in a country ravaged by AIDS, his comments were important to us. Benedict is right; more condoms just means more AIDS. Click on these links to get the opinions of 1) Martin Ssempa, a 20-year veteran of Uganda's successful fight against AIDS (successful until the condoms started arriving) and 2) Ed Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Prominent Ugandan AIDS Activist Thanks Pope for Opposition to Condomshttp://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032003.html Harvard AIDS Expert Says Pope is Correct on Condom Distribution Making AIDS Worsehttp://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031906.html World Leaders, Condom-Promoting Forces Attack Pope Over Condom AIDS Remarkshttp://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031902.html Enjoy a longer article by Edward Green at http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6172AIDS and the Churches: Getting the Story Right ******************March 21, 2009HAPPY AT SCHOOLHappy Gama is one of Rudy's former (early '90s) students. She was working in the textile factories in Matsapha and was moving into supervisory positions, but had to leave the work to take care of family here in Dlangeni. She is taking care of her own children and some from deceased relatives. She is unmarried. She's raises some maize (corn), but that's not always reliable. Happy has recently started a pre-school, with an enrollment of 25-30 children. She and Ruth visited for an hour or so this week, talking about how to run the finances of an educational institution and what resources she might use. They both had a good time. Happy seems enthusiastic and motivated about this prospect. WATERFORDI'm writing on Friday afternoon, 20 March. Tomorrow morning, two of my form 3 students will travel (Lord willin' and the creek don't rise) by taxi to Waterford-Kamhlaba school in Mbabane for an entrance exam. Waterford is part of the United World Colleges high school system. It offers a challenging education. I wondered last year if this school, given its location and its generous endowments might have academic scholarships for high-performance but low-income Swazi students. I called, and they do. Of course, the students have to prove their capabilities. These two students and I have been meeting 2-3 times a week for the past 2-3 weeks, working on the English composition and math skills the test will examine. I wish we had worked longer and harder on the preparations, but I suppose one can always say that. They have been faithful about coming for the preparations, and I am hopeful that even if they don't land a spot and a full ride, their horizons will be widened (along the lines of "You know, I could do this if I just studied even harder") by the testing. It also happens to be the "open house" day at Waterford. So, after the testing they will be able to wander around and visit some booths. I will confess that with the recent (and welcome) rains, I am worried about making it out of here tomorrow morning (our roads are, after all, dirt). Just this afternoon, we had a light shower. I really want this to happen, and I'm a little strung out (those of you who know me relatively well understand that even a "little strung out" is, in my case, higher strung than Venus Williams' tennis racket). For those of you who pray, I'd ask you to pray a small prayer now, even though the time has come and gone by the time you're reading this. Jesus is the Master, and as time and events and all other things are in His hands, I wouldn't be suprised if He answers "postdated" prayers. Your prayer for our safe and timely arrival a day or so later may get answered here on Friday afternoon/evening. Naturally, if you would also pray for the students (Bongiwe and Nokthula), that they'd get to the school on time tomorrow morning (6:15AM, in order to be ready to write at 8AM), we would appreciate it. SPORTS DAYOur track and field team has been practicing for a month or so. We were supposed to have a major track meet (7 schools) on Wednesday, 18 March. Steady rains Tuesday night, however, left the scheduled location (Prince of wales sports ground in Mbabane) unusable. So, the event was rescheduled for the next day at Somhlolo stadium, the national stadium of Swaziland (where the national soccer team scored their historic 2-1 win over Togo last year!) The second attempt at the track meet was marvelous. The school hired two big, nice buses; no cramping, and the ride was smooth. We arrived at the stadium on time, and everyone got in the gates quickly (which hasn't always happened in the past). The events began about 45 minutes after everyone was in the stadium and ran continuously until dusk. After the last awards were given, we exited the stadium and hopped right onto the buses, which left promptly. I was home by 7:30PM. This was so efficient, it was a little eerie. Events like this have not always been so smooth, but they have always been fun. FREE PRIMARY EDUCATIONThe constitution adopted in 2006 had a clause committing the government to free primary education in three years. The three years have elapsed, someone sued, and the high court said government must deliver. Right now the schools charge fees for everything from books to sports. It's important to get the three R's, but it's just hard to imagine where the government will get the money to do this. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. TRAVEL TIDBITRuth and Grace went to town today on errands. A few hundred yards into their trip, someone on the kombi (mini-bus) told the driver "You forgot Mister Khanyile!" Ruth said the driver stopped the kombi, put it in reverse, AND STEPPED OUT. I asked her "While it was moving?" "Yes!" she laughingly replied. It wasn't going fast, but it was going. A nearby passenger put a hand on the wheel. Ruth figures the driver wanted to check some part of the vehicle. A "pit stop" while the car is in motion? NASCAR pit crews, eat your hearts out. NSUKUMHILLBILLYRuth tells me that when she and Grace went to town today, they got to see a garbage truck empty a dumpster. Grace was excited.Hillbilly Our fridge has sprung an unfixable leak in the cooling line. We plan to buy a new fridge-and convert the old one into a chest of drawers for the girls, as our next residence here in Dlangeni won't have the built-in closets this house does.Hillbilly ********February 28, 2009RAIN!This has been the rainiest season I ever remember. Folks are even starting to grumble about "too much rain is turning the corn plants yellow". I don't know if we have really had too much; I just know we will miss the dust-free roads when June comes, and we will be glad mid-year that the source bringing water into our homes got such a huge recharge between October 2008 and this time. TWO MORE TRANSPORT STORIESI hope you're not tired of these, but I think these two are worth telling.#1About a month ago Cub and I boarded Shining Star Bus on a Saturday morning, bound for town. I like to ride the bus because 1) it is a more comfortable ride than the kombis, 2) the views are nicer, 3) it's owned by a student of mine from the 1990s. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to town instead of 45 minutes on the kombi, but this particular morning I was happy with the choice. We crossed the Mbuluzi River just below the school and started up the next hill. Unfortunately for us, the rains mentioned above had left this section of road slippery. The driver nearly got the bus to the flat, dry spot-but not quite. He backed down the hill and tried again. Got close again-but not quite. Five or six nearly-but-not-quite attempts later, Cubby was crying she was scared. She also threw up, probably through a combination of fear and motion sickness. So, we all (about 7 passengers at that point) got off and tried to see what we could do. I had expected the bus operators to say "Sorry, we won't make it to town today"; but I suppose because the bus was blocking a road other drivers wanted to use, Shining Star had to make it up the hill. We tried throwing big and small rocks in front of and behind the drive wheels. Someone brought a shovel and tried to chop up the mud so it gave more traction. Finally, a bunch of us (under the leadership of a woman) got behind the bus and tried to push it as the driver did his best to gun the engine and get past the slippery spot. Pushing what feels like a brick wall while standing on semi-slick mud and knowing you don't have a chance if you fall and the bus rolls over you certainly gets the pulse, breathing, and reflexes going! Suprisingly, however, the bus did make it up the 75 yards of slippery road while we were pushing. As we realized that it would finally make it, I jumped onto the ladder leading to the luggage rack on top and pumped my free fist in the air, celebrating victory for us all. I suspect our combined efforts had all the effect of a mosquito pushing with all his might against a stationary 100-car freight train: but this Saturday morning, we were heroes. #2On Monday, 23 February I planned to go to town to complete the details on my teaching contract. Some friends in town had offered to keep our older 2 daughters overnight, to give Ruth and I an almost-solitary evening. They also offered to take our youngest daughter during the day so I could move easily around town; the plan would have me pick up the little one right before returning to the school. The rain had fallen overnight, though, and we weren't sure if the kombis or Shining Star would run. We were at the bus station about 7AM-just in time to watch Shining Star disappear over the last hill out of Dlangeni. They had not come down that hill, reasonably expecting that if anyone wanted to ride the bus they would walk to it. The hills are not as slippery on foot as they are for cars. Okay, down to our last hope-a kombi. The school bell rang at 7:25AM-just when I realized I should be at school, standing in front of the students to led the opening assembly. In that catastrophic feeling you only get in a dream when you are walking naked in the middle of a city or when you realize your midterm exam is this Wednesday and not two weeks from this Wednesday, I panicked. Fortunately, I had told the vice-principal on Friday that I was going to town Monday, and we do have a backup system for such situations. Who needs coffee, when your transportation experiences keep the adrenaline flowing! Not 5 minutes after that, a kombi did pull up. Its riders got off and the kids (all 3) and I piled into the farthest back seat. Before we had traveled to Entfubeni Primary School, the kombi was a candidate for a police pullover for carrying too many passengers. My backpack was on Grace's lap, Cubby sat on my lap with her feet across Grace, and Kit sat on the lap of the woman next to me. Though the morning was wet and cool, 18 people in a vehicle smaller than a Volkswagen van with all the windows shut gets sauna-like pretty fast. And this one did. We rattled down the road and met the first big hill past the primary school. We got about halfway or 3/4 of the way up, and didn't get farther (#2 is starting to sound like #1 above, no?) The driver backed the kombi down the hill, with a little slip and slide here and there. Grace got a little worried about our backwards progress, but I told her the driver knew best. He took a second run at it, and summited the hill. The humidity, the low-level fear, and the occasional slipping got to Cubby. She started to weep and say her stomach hurt. Those are her leading indicators for vomiting. Good thing I had stuffed a couple plastic bread bags in my back pocket before we left the house, and that we hadn't fed any of the kids anything before leaving. She did throw up a few times; I really do feel sorry for her in those times. The ladies next to us said we should take her to the hospital when we got to town. I explained that it was just the heat and the motion, and that she would be fine once we got to town and out of the kombi. One lady believed us and explained it to the others. Kit had long since fallen asleep, very cutely, on the lap of the lady next to us. The last and steepest hill into town is made of concrete slabs with 1" deep grooves across it. Even in the wettest weather, it is passable. Feeling the tires touch that road is the "all clear" signal that you've made it to Mbabane. I met our friends, handed the children off about 9AM, and began the errands. The rain fell steadily all day in Mbabane. By 1PM the kombis said they were not going to the school, and I didn't blame them. I had to think about Kit, and the test for my students on Tuesday. The test was sitting in the house, and Ruth didn't know what it looked like, and I couldn't even call her as the cell phone tower was on the fritz. So I felt I really needed to get back to school, but I really didn't feel good about taking Kit with me. I had groceries, and she would be more weight, and I would have to walk through wet countryside with precipitation of unknown volumes expected to come. I talked to our friends and they agreed to keep Kit overnight, too. One problem solved! I boarded a bus for Pine Valley, figuring I'd take it to the end of the pavement in that direction and use my favorite footpath to the school. It turned out one of last year's graduates, a student named Sakhile Gama, had been running errands too. He also wanted to get home that day, and also knew that footpower would be the only way. He and I were on the same bus into Pine Valley, and we decided we'd hoof it together. We had the same route in mind, with one detour he knew well from his days as a herdboy (from the age of 6, he had taken the cattle-12 to 20 of them-out to pasture and back a few days a week). The rain wasn't falling most of the time (we did pass through some brief, heavy showers), so it was a pleasant hike. He kept saying he would be able to cross the river. I verbally doubted him twice, figuring all the rain would have swollen it by now. But he was emphatic, so I deferred to his more accumulated wisdom. We reached the river ford. He told me to stay back and wait while he checked. This made me nervous, for no good reason. He returned and said that his preferred route was good for him but not for me, so that we should cross together a little farther downstream. I was glad we'd be together. He started wading into the water. Probably I've seen/heard too many stories about people getting washed away in rain-swollen rivers; I was mighty nervous. I told him "Sakhile, you're taller than me." He said "Give me your bag". I did, and he carried it across. The water was mid-thigh on me, but the crossing was uneventful. We reached solid ground, I thanked him and gave him the remainder of the Life Savers we'd been nibbling on our 1 1/2 hours together, and bid him farewell. The final 30 minutes were solo; and boy howdy, rarely has a hot bath felt so good! I was warm and clean, my kids were in good (fun) hands, my students would get their test the next day, and Ruth and I had a completely solitary evening for the first time in...hmmm, time out of mind. All in one day.********February 7, 2009TRANSPORT SNIPPETSKanga In The TrunkI (Rudy) went to town one recent Saturday morning, a morning after some rain on Friday night. The regular bus I like to take wasn't running because the roads were slick. I had given up hope of getting to town and was preparing to leave the bus stop when a kombi pulled up I jumped in and off we went. 3/4 up a big hill, we started to lose traction. It's quite a change of atmosphere, when you go from enjoying your book to feeling claustophobically doomed in a minibus you are sure is going to slide (and probably flip, and roll, and burst into flames amidst the screams of terrified passengers--you know how you feel when your vehicle is out of control) catastrophically back down the hill. The conductor (the man who collects the bus fare) calmly opened the sliding door, hopped out, went to the back of the kombi, stood on the bumper and gripped the roof of the vehicle, and started hopping as though he were on a pogostick. We immediately began to make better forward progress, though we were still fishtailing a little. A passerby decided to help out. He smilingly joined the conductor, and the "kangaroo duo" got us up the hill. It's really something to look out the back window and see two young men hopping up and down like they're pumping up some giant automobile tire. You Do What You MustI nearly got my contract signed on Monday, Jan. 26. Some teachers were signing contracts on Friday, Jan. 23, but I didn't find out about it until it was too late to do anything. So, I figured I'd try to go on the Monday and see if anything could be done. Much to my happy suprise, my class of teachers (I'm designated as a temporary teacher; as an expatriate, I may be a temporary teacher as long as I'm here) was signing contracts on that day. Unfortunately, some form with the names of teachers who needed to sign had been cut off at the bottom-and my name was near the bottom. The administrator said "Come back on Friday with your official documents, and you can sign". Fair enough. School opened Tuesday, so I did my work at Nsukumbili on Tuesday, wednesday, and Thursday. The administration permitted my trip to town on Friday. It rained straight through Thursday night. I am never frustrated by rain, since I know it is crucial to the well-being of the nation. But a night of rain does have its consequences for transport. Also, I really wanted to get to town as per the administrator's word, so as not to make opportunity for delaying receipt of my salary. So I resolved that as long as the rain wasn't falling hard on Friday morning, I would walk to town. The rain let up around dawn (as it often does; I don't know why) and I set out. It was a wonderful walk; it always is. As it turned out, the weather cleared as the morning progressed. There are few sights I've ever seen as beautiful as this area on a sunny morning after a rainy night. The blue of the sky, the white of the clouds, the green of the vegetation, and the silvery glisten of the wet rock faces are stunning. I reached the end of the trail, and there was a car coming down the hill. I jogged the last bit of trail and the man happily took me to the town center. Man, this is great! By midday I signed my contract. Another great thing! Also by midday, the dark clouds had returned. By the time I was sitting in the internet cafe, I could hear the pounding of rain on the fiberglass roof of The Mall (folks who have been here know what I'm talking about. For folks who haven't, it's more like a glorified strip mall than a shopping complex worthy of the capital letters it bears). The rain fell steadily and heavily for 2 hours, and by 3PM I figured there was no way I'd make it back to the school that day. I called friends in town, pleaded my case, and they said it would be no problem for me to spend the night at their house. Saturday morning dawned partly cloudy, but I feared more afternoon thundershowers. After a few errands, I was at the bus rank by noon. A bus arrived soon after and we piled in. I was informed the bus would only go as far as Eluhheneni (where the outstation church is), as the road was still slippery. Fair enough, that meant the fare was only 10 bucks instead of 13, and I would get to take the 1 hour walk from the church to the house. We approached the slippery road, and the driver felt it was safe. We cautiously began the descent, and the conductor asked all the passengers for 3 more bucks each. Some mild fishtailing was all we had (and I was happy enough with that!), and I was back at school. It seemed ages before that I had walked to town, though it was only about 30 hours. The last school teaching contract I signed in the US took about 3 hours to complete. But you know, this is far more interesting. No Crossing HereThis (Sunday) morning, we headed out for church on foot. When we reached the river, we knew we would not be walking to Eluhheneni today. The river we cross is as full as I've ever seen it. Ruth usually wades across it, and it doesn't quite reach her knees. Two paces from the bank today (and it's ten strides to mid-river), the river was at her knees and the river bottom was sharply sloping downward. Okay, plan B. Rudy saw some rocks we might be able to use, if he went ahead of Ruth and she passed the kids to him. A flat "No" from Ruth, since even that first crossing would have to be followed by the crossing of another (mighty full) tributary. Ruth suggested I go alone to church, and she take the kids home. I thought we might as well try walking down the road a while and see if we catch a lift, as we had left with plenty of time to spare and you really only need one lift to get to the church. Sure enough, the same kombi I had taken the day before came zipping along. 15 minutes and 9 Emalangeni later we disembarked. The extra time allowed for the slashing of grass inside the garden and the replanting of some bean plants. Church was great, though it was only one other man and our family. Some event was taking place at Hhukwini, and everybody else had gone there. After church we returned to the road, and a guy with a nice pickup truck gave us a lift to the school. Sometimes, young people ask us why we don't buy a car. We say the only place we go is Mbabane, and there is lots of transport now. We tell them there are astronomical expenses associated with a car, and we'd rather not incur them. But you know, we wouldn't have the fun described above if we had a car. Maybe we can put it like this: Used pickup truck: E10,000gallon of gas: E28Insurance: OptionalNot knowing how or when you'll get to town, or back home: Priceless. FACESI got my own facebook page, for the purpose of looking one person up. I found that person without using the facebook page. I don't remember any of the details of my facebook page, or how to use it, so you can "add me to your list of friends" but I don't promise to access my account. Using plain old e-mail is better. But that's not what this section is about! One of the fun things about living in a small country and frequenting a small town is you get to know people and see them as time goes by. On one of my visits to Ministry of Education (Department of Education) to get my contract signed, one of the office workers turned out to be a student from the first time I was here! It was funny to have her tell me I needed to return to a different office across town to get a particular form stamped. The form had been signed by the relevant officer, but as it had not been stamped (and nobody told me it needed to be stamped), the form could not be submitted. I begged that the form had been signed, so isn't that enough? My former student was adamant, and I had to hoof back to get the stamp. Now I know what it's like to be on the other side of the teacher's desk. But I'm glad she's gainfully employed. While I sat in the bank waiting to submit my direct deposit forms, a young man whom we met years ago working as a security guard at a small department store came in. I was sitting down and he was standing, and he is really tall, so it took me a minute to clue in as to who he was. But then it clicked. He has moved from being a security guard-which is generally a low-paying, boring, and occasionally dangerous line of work-to becoming a full-fledged police officer (which also has its health hazards, but the pay and benefits are far better). I never taught him, but we did chat every time we saw each other and he had explained how his parents were financially strapped and had other siblings they needed to attend to. He really wanted to get into a better line of work, but didn't know how. I said I'd pray for him, and have since. He did apply to the police force, made it through the academy, and is stationed in Manzini (the largest city in Swaziland). It is so good to meet folks doing well like these two, when so many people have so many problems these days. TWO HEALTHY TEACHERSLast year one teacher was out for about half the year; we assumed he had the dreaded AIDS, and we would never see him again. Another teacher has made it public that he is HIV+; we feared he would not see Christmas 2008. Happily, both teachers are back this year. The first guy was not, we suspect, HIV+; he just had some nasty something that wiped him out for a LONG time. The other guy's status hasn't changed, but at least he's still around. So-some silver linings. SIPHIWE (not her real name) Rudy has a former student whom Ruth sees fairly regularly. Siphiwe is HIV positive and on anti retroviral drugs. She is caring for the children of her two dead sisters, and she provides home-based care for other people suffering from AIDS and TB. Ruth hadn't seen her in a few weeks and was wondering what was happening in her life. We set aside some money each month for her family and she pulls on it for emergencies and large annual expenses. School fees were due and we figured she would need as much cash as she could get. Ruth sent her a message telling her how much was available. She came by the next morning. She said that she has been sewing and selling clothing (she used to work for a textile company). She had earned enough to pay the E1200 for the high school student in her family. She needed E400 for the elementary students and only had E250 and couldn't figure out a way to get the rest. She had forgotten about the money from us and was very glad to be able to use it to get the rest of the kids enrolled in school. It was raining all week, so she had to walk for another hour to get to the bus, but fees were paid and the kids were in school the next day. She says she used to do clothes washing for people but found that it taxed her strength too much, and she must conserve her strength as the HIV/AIDS will work on her faster if she gets worn out. Siphiwe has a hard life, but she keeps her head up and she is doing all she can for the people in her sphere of influence. She sets a good example for us, seeing as whether we die young or old, we still die; we might as well do all the good we can for the people we can in the meantime."This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Gospel of John, Chapter 15, verses 12-13 *************January 20, 2009LOSS OF A FRIENDWe have devoured each monthly issue of First Things magazine since 2000. First Things discusses the interactions of religous and public life, broadly speaking. We have read the magazine to each other during dishwashing sessions in the evening and on bus rides to and from Mbabane. The magazine's editor in chief, Father Richard John Neuhaus, died Jan. 8. In response to an article on poverty in mid-2007, Ruth e-mailed Father Neuhaus some information on the subject. Father Neuhaus e-mailed her back and asked her to write something for the magazine. Though her submission was never printed (it's gotta be pretty good to make it into First Things), just to have that contact with someone whose writing we respected and enjoyed was a real thrill. We feel like we have lost a friend.Read more about Father Richard John Neuhaus at:http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Jan09/nv010809part3.html Father Neuhaus was very pro-life. Read his speech to the National Right to Life Convention in 2008 athttp://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Jan09/nv010909part3.html And visit the magazine's website www.firstthings.com for a first-hand taste of the journal. HAVE MERCY-I'VE BEEN WAITIN' ON THE BUS ALL DAYRudy and Cub boarded the 7AM Shining Star bus to town on Saturday, Jan. 17. We accomplished everything we hoped to and were back on Shining Star at 11:45, anticipating a noon departure with the January issue of First Things in hand. Ahhh, running smoothly. At 12:14PM the driver started the engine. Anticipation of a nice ride ahead. Ten minutes later, he turned it off. Probable cause: not enough passengers. Ah well, we moved over to where the minibuses pull in. They're not as comfortable, and they're usually uncomfortably fast, but catch as catch can. After the next minibus pulled in and unloaded, it informed the next batch of hopeful passengers that it would not make the next run. Probable cause: maybe a mechanical problem, but no obvious answer was forthcoming. The driver told us to board Shining Star (hmmm...already tried that). Since Shining would run at 4PM, and I didn't know of any other minibuses on the road, and I would rather do something than sit and wait for something to happen, it was time for plan C. Cubby and I boarded a bus for Mbuluzi school, and planned to walk and hitchhike the rest of the way. Mbuluzi school is the end of the paved road through Pine Valley. It is always a little bit special going through Pine Valley, since our Peace Corps group did its 10 weeks of training at a small residential complex there. After nearly a week of rainy and overcast skies, the valley was a vibrant green under full sun and blue sky. The short trip to the end of the asphalt was uneventful, and we set off on foot. Three hitches and only short stretches of walking got us within 4 kilometers (about 2 1/2 miles) of the school. We hoofed it from there, and Cubby walked about half that distance on her own feet. After the double frustration of getting let down by the buses, it was actually a good journey. The chance to see lots of fields with healthy corn, to feel the sun and breeze, and the never-dull views of rocks and hills and rivers and homesteads and clouds and sky while sweating out the walk reminded me of one reason we like it so much here. But boy howdy, with Cubby and some groceries on my back, I was mighty glad to reach home! Cubby even gave me a respite on the final stretch; about 3/4 of the way up the last hill, she realized I was really tired. She said I could put her down and let her walk the last bit, even though we had agreed I would carry her inside the school gate and then she'd walk to the house from there. I couldn't ask for a better travelling partner on an unexpected, but enjoyable, trip back home. RAINSRudy lived in Portland, Oregon from 1978 to 1981. The last two weeks, he feels like he's moved back there! We have had almost unbroken medium rains and overcast skies for about two weeks; the only real break was Saturday (described above), and early Sunday morning the weather reverted to heavy mist. Though this weather can impede travel plans, I can never be resentful of it. Since everyone within eyeshot in this area raises corn and other vegetables for eating and selling, I know the rains are critical to life. Happily, almost every field we see has lots of healthy, growing corn. Our hard-working neighbor Stan Mamba has a large portion of the school agriculture area under cultivation; he plans to take some fraction of the harvest to his family in a more drought-affected area in the south. Plus, the avocado trees we planted last year (which will hopefully provide food and a windbreak as years go by) are thriving. In a time and place where much of the news is negative, these rains have been great.***********January 3, 2009NSUKUMHILLBILLYSomtimes I affectionately refer to our school, Nsukumbili, as Nsukumhillbilly, given it's rural setting. Recently, though, I've been thinking this tongue-in-cheek term of endearment may be a fair description of our life here. How do you know if you are an Nsukumhillbilly? Consider: One of your childrens' favorite activity in town is riding up and down on the escalator near the post office.Hillbilly. On summer evenings, your daughters are delighted when flying termites enter the house drawn by the lights. The girls catch the bugs, put them in jars, and ask the neighbors to fry them the next day. After they are cooked, your daughters and their friends accuse each other of selfishly shoving 2 or 3 bugs in their mouth at a time and not sharing.Hillbilly. Your wife goes into a shoe store and says "I'm looking for shoes that I can hike in for 3 hours (without socks), easily remove while standing on one foot with a baby on my back at river crossings, and will look good with a dress." She is delighted to get a pair of Adidas "aqua socks" which allow her to wade across a small river with her shoes on and are decorated with a handy topographical map. So they don't look stylin' with a dress-everything else is great.Hillbilly. Going to, attending service, and returning from church is a 7-hour affair which includes a river crossing, occasionally carrying a grass slasher and a hoe to clear the path on the way there, and some farming next to the church. Hillbilly. The parking lot at church only needs space for 2 cars. Having both spots full occurs only once a month.Hillbilly. You use a flexible rubber sink trap and some PVC from a blown-down gutter downpipe to redirect your kitchen sink and bathtub water onto the backlawn-because your septic tank is overflowing (and has been for months) and you can't find anyone able to properly empty it.Hillbilly. Your oven is full of drying shoes after a rainy day hike to church.Hillbilly. Your neighbor's pickup truck bed is full of ripe tomatoes that have to be sold quick before they spoil. You buy a bucketful. Hillbilly. Your neighbors keep chickens. They leave the school for the Christmas break and make no arrangements for feeding their fowl. The feathered friends are set loose in the housing area to fend for themselves, and you find yourself frequently chasing chickens out of your house when they come scrounging for food scraps.Hillbilly. You occasionally see a half-dozen men in the back of a pickup truck, bouncing up and down as though they were in the mosh pit at a rock concert. Why are they doing this? It gives the truck more traction as the driver tries to get up a slippery hill on a muddy dirt road.Hillbilly. You know it is a good day when you get rain and still have electricity and running water.Hillbilly. Your daughters love to jump out of bed and run outside in their jammies to check if the mousetrap caught anything overnight (see attached image).Hillbilly. Your eldest daughter talks for months about the time she and her friend and her friend's dad drove one mile down the road to where the dad washed his pickup truck in the river and the girls went skinny dipping. Hillbilly. A bright flash, a crashing noise, and a temporary interruption of power indicates that another bird has spread its wings too far while sitting near the transformer and has flash-fried itself. The bird will hang upside down by its feet until the next big windstorm blows it down.Hillbilly. Due to high trans-Atlantic postal rates and despite helpful family and friends in the United States, Amazon.com book orders take 3 months to arrive.Hillbilly. Your daughters are delighted at the opportunity to jump into a wheelbarrow and have you take them to help you pickax rocks out of the (dirt) service road leading from the main (dirt) road to the school. They do somersaults and roll down a gentle hill while you work; the girls tell you to whistle when you want them to come and remove the rocks you've picked out.Hillbilly. You get nervous when you see your neighbor's for-hire 15 passenger van parked with its headlights pointing down the hill towards your dining room table while the neighbor is in town getting parts for repairs. You've seen this arrangement before, and the results weren't pleasant (see attached image).Hillbilly. I suspect some more thought would yield more anecdotes, but I'll stop for now. I need to go check on my older two daughters, who are pretending that the house is the bus station and the garden their destination. Mzwandile Nkambule (see attached image) is pretending to be the bus driver, and he ferries them in the wheelbarrow he's using to move cut grass into the garden with (hillbilly). I've said it before, I'll say it again: if you find your life is just a little too smooth and predictable for comfort, consider 2 years in the Peace Corps or with a mission group. It might prove one of the most rewarding, frustrating, boring, humbling, glorious, and hilarious times of your life. **************December 20, 2008TREE PLANTINGLast week the "neighborhood kids" (Yenzile, Kayise, Ntsiki, Lungisiwe, Kwakhe, Grace, Faith,Swakhile, and Sakhiwo) and Ruth planted banana plants next to each child's home. The kids are all very enthusiastic when the community guavas fruit and Ruth thought they would enjoy having and learning to care for a tree of their own. Our banana had pups (really that is what you call the new shoots) so we got to thin our banana to make it healthier in the process. The kids were enthusiastic about the work, though you can imagine they had a challenge getting a shovel into unturned earth. We let them have half a dozen tries at jumping on the shovel to drive it into the ground, then Rudy took over for them. Mrs. Buthelezi, Kwakhe's mom and the agriculture teacher, allowed us to take rabbit manure from the school. Organic fertilizer doesn't get much better than rabbit manure; the authority to use this outstanding soil amendment indicated that Mrs. Buthelezi was behind this project. Kwakhe's mom wasn't at home to show us where to put the trees, so his didn't get planted. A couple days after the planting party Kwakhe came to beg to get his trees in. Ruth suggested that he wait until he returned from the Christmas holidays (so the peach could get watered). I said that might be too long and he would lose interest, and that we should do it on Friday. Kwakhe told us he wanted it done now (Wednesday). Strike while the iron is hot, right? Kwakhe and I got his plants in the ground. Kwakhe then told me that the chickens had scratched the ground around one of Ntsiki's banana plants; sure enough, it was tipping over like a felled tree. I pulled the protective "cages" from around the avocado trees on the west side of the school (I figured the avocados are getting big enough to defend themselves, and the chickens never go over there anyway) and put them around Ntsiki's, Lungsiwe's, and Kwakhe's plants. So far, there is no sign of chicken damage to any of them. It's one of those unexpected effects of living overseas; I've developed something of a resentment towards chickens. They've done a job on about half of our maize plot, and they have attempted to fell Ntsiki's banana plant. Good fences make good neighbors, though; between the cages around the trees and cutting up the bird nets from the trees to build an anti-chicken fence around the maize, I hope my warm fuzzy feelings to the chickens will return. CHURCH MAIZE PLOTIn the morning of the Wednesday that Kwakhe and I put his plants in the ground, Cubby and I went to the outstation church to turn the sod in the maize plot there. An area about 5 yards by 15 yards has been planted, but because people can't stay there and work everyday, the entire area (15 by 15) has not yet been planted. Waley Dlamini, Godfrey Mubiru, Musi Kunene, Cubby and I helped change that on Wednesday. With a hoe and a shovel, we chopped the grass from the roots to make more of the fenced-in area ready for planting. We all had fun. Waley had arrived at 6:30AM and left at half past nine to get to Mbabane. Cubby and I showed up at 8:30 and Godfrey came an hour after we did. At one point we had 3 adults and two tools, and Cubby still wanted to work. We had to gently take the hoe from her, and she cried. Mr. Mubiru has a car and lives nearby; so he and Cubby went back to his house to get a second hoe, as well as some tea and bread. Mr. Mubiru and Cub came back with the hoe and the food and the work continued. Godfrey, Musi and I had a good time talking about (of all things) journalistic accuracy and bias; I had some of the biggest laughs I've had in a long time. By 11:30 we had completed as much as we could, and sat in the shade to enjoy the bread and tea. I never drink tea or coffee at home, but it's amazing how 3 hours of work makes anything sweet and drinkable taste delicious. In the hour between Waley's departure and Godfrey's arrival, I thanked God for the day I was having: Bible reading and prayer in the morning, something to eat for breakfast, a great walk with Cub on my shoulders through the forest to the church, then agriculture in the sun at the church. It was an "up" moment. CONDOM MADNESS IIIEvery now and again an anti-AIDS ad campaign comes out in the newspaper and on billboards. Some are really good: a series of posters depicting young people saying things like "Sex can wait until after education" and "I am in control of my body" was good. Another one had an older man (or woman) regaling a high school girl (or boy) with food, clothes, money, etc. In little cartoon-like bubbles above their heads, each couple is thinking "Ngitawutfolani", which means "What will I get?". This campaign did a good job of showing that all too often sex is about getting and not about love, and that such illicit affairs spread AIDS. Another campaign had a father standing with his child at his feet, explaining that he would take care of himself for the sake of his child. Also good. Unfortunately, the latest campaign isn't so edifying. Click on the attachments to view the ad and read the letter to the editor of one disappointed newspaper reader. CHRISTMAS BREAKSchool closed smoothly on Thursday, 11 December. We've packed the days since then with lots of fun, and hope to continue. Right now Ruth is working on the anti-chicken fence; Brittney (the local Peace Corps Volunteer) will be over in an hour to work on an agricultural network newsletter. On Monday Mzwandile and Rudy walked 2 1/2 hours to visit another (much more distant) PCV. Grace, Cubby, and Rudy have already had a swimming party at the river, and plan to repeat today. We've booked a room at the City Inn for Christmas Eve in Mbabane, and hope to see other friends on Christmas day and night. Without television and without nearby malls, we have avoided the Christmas consumer crush; Bible readings for Advent in the evenings with two or three homemade Advent candles have helped us prepare for Christmas. We hope you can have some restorative and reflective time leading up to Christmas, too. *************December 13, 2008ENDURO CUBBYToday, Cub walked all the way from the house to the little outstation church! We are all proud of her. She only asked/whined for a ride on dad's shoulders twice, and after gentle refusals she soldiered on. Three hours with a couple breaks on 4-year old feet is pretty impressive! AGRICULTUREWe're pretty much over the sting of students stealing our peaches and are enjoying putting lots of new plants in the ground. The final row of corn (it's called maize over here) was planted at the church garden this afternoon (7 December). A number of church members were involved; it was very satisfying. Ruth thinned (according to the Farming God's Way technique) some of the maize that had already come up; we replanted the thinned maize in our garden at the house. Mzwandile has helped tremendously in planting out avocado and peach trees (total of about 20) on the teacher-housing side of the campus. We are collecting plum and mango seeds also, in the hopes of getting those trees going. On top of that, the last week has seen a great set of rains; a good volume, but not too strong. The maize in our backyard garden is coming up well. It is fun to get things growing. PCVsThis stands for Peace Corps Volunteers. We have mentioned Brittney Bickferd a couple times. I introduced myself to a white man sitting on a bus in the rank recently (parenthetically, it always strikes me as funny when I see a white person in the rank and think "Whoa, check them out; what are they doing here?" I never think to ask the same question of myself). Turns out Eli is a volunteer in Vusweni, the next area over from Dlangeni. He has been there 16 months. It was great to meet him and plan to visit him at his homestead, but it's a little strange and annoying that the Peace Corps office in Mbabane (which knows we are here) doesn't let us or the PCVs know of each others' existence. A similar event took place a year ago, when Rudy met another white man at the Nsukumbili soccer field. Brett Niebling is a volunteer who took a shot at professional soccer, but decided to employ his marketing/business degree in Swaziland instead. I don't remember the name of his area, but he's relatively close, too. Maybe this school break I'll try to find exactly where he lives also. SOCCER GAMEThree weeks ago Mr. Mavuso, a teacher at the school, asked if I would like to travel to with some other teachers to play a "friendly" match. I have put a moratorium on my soccer involvement: definitely no playing on a competitive team despite the occasional invitation (which may just be a polite comment), because I'm 41 years old and the body doesn't heal like it used to. But this was a friendly, and I was invited, so Ruth and I talked it over and decided to go. I told Mavuso I would do it. In preparation I started running sprints (they must have looked funny to the teens-what's that old guy think he's doing? Sprints?) and kicking a ball around on my own in the mornings. I wanted to 1) do what I could to make sure I didn't injure myself, and 2) do what I could to make sure I didn't embarrass the team. A couple days before the match, I was informed the cost for the trip was E100 per player. Sometimes the information flows like molasses in an Alaskan January around here. I had given my word, and we had the money to spare. I took the E100 and E10 more for incidentals. The game was scheduled to begin at 10AM at a field at least 2 hours from the school. First we were told we'd leave at 8AM, then we were told 7AM, then 7:30AM; the bus did arrive at the school promptly at 8. We travelled through Manzini and picked up a couple of players; we also sat in Manzini for 20 unexplained minutes. Well, at least they were unexplained to me; not knowing the language as well as I should, and not being entirely familiar with the culture, there probably was some reason for the wait. Nevertheless, our driver did his best to make up time once we left Manzini! I was too far back in the van to see the speedometer, but I'm pretty sure we were travelling faster than the 100km/hour recommended speed printed on the back of the vehicle. The vehicle, basically a scaled-up Volkswagen van, and at higher-than-usual speeds on a semi-twisty paved road it demonstrated similar dynamics: the top of the van rocked back and forth like the mast of a sailboat in a mild storm. I had in mind recent stories in the newspaper of kombi crashes, so I prayed that if this was to be it for me, God would direct Ruth to a good Catholic man. Happily, the driver knew his car well enough to know what it could do (or else the guardian angels caught my prayers on the way up and saw to our safe arrival). We left the paved road and travelled another 30 minutes on dirt road, past Ebenezer High School (where a PCV from my group used to teach) and past Hhohho Primary School. Hhohho is the name of the region we live in; this primary school is over 2 hours south of Hhohho in the Shiselweni region. I said "Abati inzawo yabo" out loud, which means "They don't know their area". This elicited laughter from our team, and made me feel accomplished. We arrived at the field, paid our E110 fees (good thing I brought the extra 10, but it meant no gummi bears for me at 7-Eleven on the way back!), pulled on our jerseys and boots, and took to the field. The jersey that fell to me was #6-my Dynamo jersey number from my club soccer days in Columbus, Ohio. Ah, this was turning out to be a nice trip. The field was nice and big but had not one blade of grass. Instead, the surface was covered with pebbles ranging in size from dust to small marbles. The cleats on my borrowed soccer shoes had worn completely down, so that this game resembled something like soccer on ice. I only embarrassed our team twice-and it cost us two goals. Once, I didn't guard my man close enough and the 20-something got a couple of steps ahead of me and I couldn't catch him (despite my sprints-imagine that!). He scored. Later, the other team was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty box. Out of habit I quickly organized a defensive wall; but the other team quickly played the ball to a forward just to my left. I tried to peel off the wall quickly and get in front of the shot, but these 40+ legs and the slick surface didn't cooperate. He struck it well and scored. 2-0. Ouch! We pulled one back before halftime, though; well, I thought, 2-1 is respectable. I played about 10 minutes of the second half and was then replaced by a younger teacher. Another substitution from our team saw our fortunes change. We scored a couple of great goals and another standard goal (but they all count), and the final score was 4-2 in our favor. We left the field and listened to a short talk by the SNAT (Swaziland National Association of Teachers) representatives. Near the end of this trip, I now knew its genesis; it was organized by the SNAT members of each school. Recall the "molasses in January" comment above. The hosts feasted us royally: beef, chicken and bratwurst and two kinds of salads on each plate. The food was delicious but given that I had had only a few swallows of water at halftime and nothing to drink since, the meat was difficult to muscle down. I ate the rest of the meal and shared the meat with others. Most mercifully, we were also given a can of soda. A can of Coke never tasted so good. My legs were tired and the top of my head and back of my legs sunburned (didn't used to have that problem with sunburning my head when I wore #6 for Dynamo!). Still, I reflected how neat it was that I was sitting in the middle of a beautiful African country the size of New Jersey, having just played my favorite sport with a team of my teacher colleagues, and that I would return home this day to a wonderful Christian wife and home surrounded by high hills dotted with fascinating flora and fauna and the homesteads of the delightful Swazi people. I recently read a book review where the reviewer quoted poet Philip Larkin: "I like to read about people who have done nothing spectacular, who aren't beautiful and lucky, who try to behave well in the limited field of activity they command, but who can see, in the little autumnal moments of vison, that the so-called "big" experiences of life are going to miss them; and I like to read about such things presented not with self-pity or despair or romanticism, but with realistic firmness and even humor". Maybe it's because I'm 41 years old and I'm trying to rationalize that, in fact, I haven't missed the "big" experiences; but I don't think that's the case. I can honestly and thankfully state, without "self-pity or despair or romanticism", that I have had had opportunities to do lots of fun and interesting things I never thought I'd do. This was a good day. SCHOOL CLOSES-or, WELCOME BACK TO REALITYStudents have been taking final exams for the past two weeks, and school was scheduled to close on Dec. 12. On Thursday Dec. 4, about 3PM, a nationwide radio announcement stated that schools will close Dec. 5. Sure, no problem: we just have to administer 4 more tests, grade them, total scores for the entire year, put those scores on 500 report cards, have every subject teacher write remarks for every student, fill in attendance records, decide who will move to the next grade and who will repeat, and have the principal or vice-principal sign all 500 reports in 24 hours. This announcement had no real effect on us, though, since we had planned to send the students away for a week while we completed the administrative details. But one does wonder what the Ministry of Education had in mind when they made such a precipitous announcement with no notice. As often happens here, though, things just somehow work out. Hope they work out for you today. *******November 22, 2008GESANGesan was a homestead "brother". He lived at the homestead where fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Marcos Bradley and I spent 10 days in 1990. On November 13 I crossed the street to our new "convenience store" to buy bread. The lady behind the counter told me that Gesan had died Wednesday morning. She said he had been sick quite a while. He was born in 1973, which made him 6 years younger than me. I turned 41 on Nov. 6. Gesan, husband and father of three, was 35 years old. I went to the funeral Sunday morning (Nov. 16) near the homestead. It is an unpleasant sign of the times to see the same white-bearded and balding men (often Zionist pastors) at the funerals of men my age and younger. The most poignant moment came when I saw a pastor scraping a pick on a stone. I thought he was getting the dirt off the pick; turns out he was scraping a cross onto the stone. It became Gesan's headstone. These AIDS deaths get to me. GIRLS CLUB COOKOUTA couple months ago Ruth and three other mothers (Mrs. Mamba, Mrs. Thwala, and Mrs. Dlamini) were at our house for Friday afternoon girls' club. This club brings moms and daughters together for a few hours of song, crafts, and general fun. On this occasion Ruth was feeling a little stranded, as the other moms were talking amongst themselves while Ruth directed the arts activity. At closing time, the other moms explained that they had been planning an end-of-the-year function: a barbeque! (Called by its Africaans name here a "braai"). A total of 200 Emalangeni was gathered; E150 went to meat. Here the rule is, No meat-no party. That day the water happened to go out (and the electricity had gone out the day before-big storm) and Mr. Stan Mamba was on an unavoidable errand for the school in town. So I walked to the source for the water system. Stan and I met along the way. We fixed the problem (a burlap bag loaded with mud which we had used to increase the flow into the system during the dry season had blocked the pipe), and we had a great time talking as we returned his truck. When we got back to the school, I found Mrs. Thwala at our house organizing the preparations. Three varieties of meat as well as some salads and punch were ready to go. We loaded Mr. TJ Mamba's truck (TJ Mamba is Yenzile's dad) with people and food and drove to a rock face overlooking the area. A stiff breeze blew our fire to life quickly, and everyone was feasting in short order. Unfortunately, the stiff breeze prefaced a black-and-green cloud thunderstorm. I am leery of big storms and lightning, so I suggested we pack up quickly and go home. This we did, and 10 minutes after everyone was in their houses, the storm hit. No hail, but everything was dark and loud (hard rain on a tin roof makes indoor conversation quite difficult) for about 25 minutes. The power went out as it had a couple days before, but we were just glad to be inside. We finished off the food, our last guest went home after the storm subsided, and we washed dishes. Later that evening the power came back on. UPS AND DOWNSI've mentioned the roller coaster experience of living in Swaziland before. Here's a snapshot. Thursday, 13 November8AM-learn of Gesan's death; down4PM-visit homestead to confirm news about Gesandown-news is trueup-Babe Abner Dlamini continues his recovery from stroke. He has more use of his right arm, and is a little better at walkingdown-TV inside a homestead building is playing some rap video as Abner and I talk; the video glorifies the worst of American pop culture, and it reaches the backside of a homestead in rural Africaup-one of Abner's two wives is planting green pepper seedlings; in a month she plans to harvest and sell at least a hundred of green peppersdown-7th grade social studies book that I see at the homestead counsels primary school kids on the different options for sexual behavior, including full color photos of male and female condoms and birth control pillsup-just walking to the homestead with Hope on my back Friday, 14 November7AMdown-water and electicity are outup-first and second period class goes pretty well; this is my only teaching responsibility for the daydown-Stan Mamba has to go to town, and can't attend to the water right awayup-vice-principal gives me permission to go try to fix the waterup-walking in beautiful Dlangeni under an increasingly clear sky after last night's rainup-meeting Stan Mamba and fixing the waterup-picnic comes together marvelouslydown-hard-core storm bears down on picnickers; picnickers must quickly break camp and flee for the housesup-beat the storm!down-power goes out againup-nice conversation with teacher in our houseup-power comes back Never a dull moment. *************November 15, 2008VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFEI think an important part of living here is reading the newspaper (the Times of Swaziland) to have a sense of what's going on in the country. This week, reading the paper had a more immediate advantage. I found an article by Yonge Nawe, a conservation group based in Mbabane. It talked about the advantages of recycling instead of burying/burning waste. My youngest class (Form 1) of students had had a unit on conservation, and so this seemed a natural fit. I copied it, made up some questions based on it, and ran it off. I figured I'd give it to the form 2 students also, both as review for them and, well, it made teaching a lot easier ("Read this and find the answers, kids" was the limit of my instruction). It worked like a charm; on Friday Nov. 7, you could hear a pin drop for the entire hour (on Fridays, classes are one hour long; usually they are 80 minutes). Perhaps it worked too well; one student nodded off. I woke him up but he fell asleep again, in the age-old (and never convincing) "head on the desk with pen in hand and eyes pointed at the paper so it looks like I'm working" configuration. I quietly told the other students that I would pick up their papers at the end of the class and that they should then silently go to their next class, so that Mxolisi Maseko (the sleeper) would awake to find only he and I in the room. Unfortunately, Mxolisi woke up with about 10 minutes to go, and then took the "Okay I'm fully awake now and ready to work" configuration-which was, again, utterly unconvincing. I reported his somnolescent behavior to his homeroom teacher; Mxolisi has probably paid for his sleep by now. Anyway, I thought I'd do an experiment and give the same assignment to the form 4 chemistry students. It isn't on their syllabus, but it's still science, and I wanted to see if they would do as well as the other kids had. They did indeed. Right up to and even beyond the final bell of the school day, they worked intensely and silently. I think I was the student today: the lesson I learned is that variety is the spice of life. I never was too interested in laboratory exercises or field trips in school; straight ahead lecture, in high school and college, was fine with me. But maybe it isn't for most people (maybe that's why most people don't like the academics of school), and maybe I should mix things up a bit more in the classroom. PEACH BANDITSA month ago some of those same form 4 students came to me after school, smiling and laughing and expressing interest in our peaches. The peaches were just getting big and red, and were indeed looking delicious. I chased the boys off, but not before one (according to Grace) snatched a peach with a swift hand through the garden fence. The next week Mzwandile Nkhambule (a form 4 student from a different class) and I put bird nets over the trees. With spraying we got the worms under control, and we figured the nets would keep the avian invaders off our fruit. Turns out neither worms nor birds were the real problem this year; it was schoolkids. We went to town for the weekend on the next Saturday, and found one or two trees picked clean within an arm's reach of the ground when we got back. A few days after that Ruth saw 2 or 3 boys in the garden after school plucking the fruit. A loud shout scared them off; but like other garden snatchers, someone came back a few days later and cleaned out a couple more trees. Last Friday, the housekeeper for the house right above ourssaw a handful of students (my very own form 4 students) coming towards the houses and talking about how the next day they would get the remaining peaches. When this news was relayed to us, it was the last straw. Thokozane Khumalo and I took the bird nets off the trees and picked every last peach, even those on the top branches and those too green to eat. I then had one of my students come over and I told him to look at the trees and tell me if he saw any peaches. He looked a little puzzled as he said "No". I then told him to go tell his friends what he had seen. It's mighty annoying to have students say "Mr. Poglitsh, please give us a peach"-and then, over the next 2 weeks, watchthem disappear. The idea was to show the students that it is possible to GROW YOUR OWN-instead, it's theft. I (grudgingly) wrote the thefts off to figuring that we're the outsiders, and the kids think they can get away without being caught (which is pretty accurate, since we are usually clueless about the flow of people and activity). Unfortunately even Mr. Stan Mamba, a very hard working colleague, has the same problem. Young people steal his vegetables and corn. He tells me that even the agriculture students are discouraged from doing good work on their vegetables for class, because if they do grow good produce, others steal it before they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Theft is one aspect of underdevelopment in the third world I'm unfamiliar with. High-level corrpution, sure; neighbors and students stealing your fruits and vegetables? Not too much. It has a discouraging effect-why bother trying to grow blue-ribbon garden and corn plots, if it's just gonna get ripped off with no chance of recovery? It also explains, unfortunately, why the wealthier parts of Mbabane look like medium-security prisons (concrete walls, razor wire across the top, dogs which love to charge at passersby from beind the fence); people don't like their stuff to disappear. So, this is a frustrating thing right now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN DLANGENINovember 6th was my 41st birthday. Ruth and I went for a short walk in the afternoon, and we came across one of my students (Mciniseli Mavuso) walking home. We informed him of the occasion, and a little later he passed us and sang a couple of measures of "Happy Birthday" to me (this same student often leads the class in singing before school; he's a good leader). Mciniseli went ahead of us and out of sight. Ruth and I went up a nearby hill; when we came down from it and out of the trees, a knot of schoolgirls began to sing "Happy Birthday". Mciniseli must have filled them in. After a few rough days in the classroom and a missing few small buckets of peaches, it was nice to feel appreciated. PROLIFEPOGOI received some positive feedback (and one piece of negative feedback-but that's life) about the articles I passed along during the runup to the election. I am thinking of sending out a newsletter just once a month containing two to three pro-life articles. The newsletter would not be connected to Africa Dispatch, and would come from a different e-mail address. I would write very little in the newsletter; it would include one or two short articles, and a link to a longer one. I suspect that many people are ambivalent or uneasy about abortion, but don't have enough information about its deleterious effects on women, children, families, and the wider culture to be solidly pro-life. This newsletter will fill that information gap. Included here are links to the first two articles of this proposed newsletter; one is the first-hand account of former abortion clinic owner Carol Everett: http://www.prolifeaction.org/providers/everett.htm and the second to an article entitled "The Women of Roe v. Wade" by Mary Ann Glendon:http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=505 If you're interested in receiving further such articles, drop me a note at rpoglitsh@live.com. *************October 29, 2008OPERATOR ERRORThe senior high school students (called Form 5) are taking their massive end-of-school-career tests. They take about a dozen tests covering all the subjects they've studied for the past five years of secondary and high school. If they do EXTREMELY well on these tests, they have a free ride to college. If they don't, well, they're on their own. A few of the tests are "practical" tests; the students have to use lab equipment and follow the test paper in carrying out some simple experiments. Biology has one such test, and the students took it last week. Setting up and administering these tests, even though they take a lot of effort from teachers, is one of my favorite things. I say that because it gives me a chance to spend a lot of time with my colleagues. Those of you who are teachers or who know teachers are aware that teaching can be a lonely job because you spend the vast majority of your time working with people (increasingly) younger than yourself. This lab required a sugar/yeast mixture in water to generate carbon dioxide gas. Each student was to receive a test tube with the mixture, and a set of rubber tubing to deliver the gas into a second test tube with an indicator solution. The students were to watch the indicator solution for a change in color. We read the instructions for arranging the sugar/yeast mixture and put the ingredients together; but to our dismay the rate of gas production was dreadfully slow. We wondered if the temperature of the water was right; it was. We wondered if the yeast we had was fresh; the expiration date on the little foil package was long into the future. We hoped to call another school in town to see what was going on with their setup, but the power was out and the cell phone tower was down; we were cut off. The test was supposed to start at 8AM; we were still puzzling about what to do at 11. A science inspector from the department of education was at the school this day; she suggested that we had used the wrong kind of yeast (we were using instant; she suggested we should have used active). This was not a happy prospect, since no nearby stores sold active yeast; this would mean we would have to run to Mbabane for the right stuff. We were close to abandoning this part of the test when we learned that if one went to the school secretary's office, one could get a cell phone call out. We did that, and contacted colleagues in town. They said they were having great results. We went back to the instruction book and re-read the directions. Our youngest colleague, a student who finished here in 2004, noticed that we were supposed to make the sugar/yeast mixture with 3 grams of yeast per 100 milliliters of water, and that we were supposed to make 1000 milliliters of mixture. We had placed 3 grams in the 1000 milliliters. OOPS. NO WONDER IT DIDN'T WORK. Once we got the 30 grams of yeast in 1000 milliliters of water (and issued the standard deprecatory comments about unclear instructions from the Cambridge Examination Syndicate in England), we developed a delightfully frothy ferment. I really enjoyed the smell; it was just like a bakery. The students took the test in two separate groups (due to space and equipment restraints). Students were given one hour to complete the examination. So what should have been done by 11AM finally finished up at 4:45PM. Yikes! The students were exceedingly patient. One senior teacher said "You know, this smells just like umcombodze". Umcombodze (the "c" is a click sound) is traditional Swazi beer. After the last student had finished, my senior colleague poured himself a 25ml beaker of the mixture and downed it. "Yes, this is real umcombodze" he said. "I didn't know it was so easy to make. But I won't have anymore, since I have to drive home". He lives about a 10 minute drive from Nsukumbili, at nearby Esitseni primary school. So, all's well that ends well; and there's still no hurry in Swaziland. CHURCH MAIZE PLOTAlmost all the posts are in the ground at the church maize plot, and the land where we will plant has been cleared (mostly) of grass. The next step is to put mulch on the soil where we will plant. Ruth and I are afraid we're getting into a time crunch, and so we decided I would try to catch a fast combi to the plot on Friday afternoons (school ends at 1:30 on those days) and get a few hours work in each week. Between that and work on Sundays when we are at the outstation church, maybe we can make the deadlines. I walked out of the school gate just before 2PM on October 24th, grass slasher in my hand and backpack loaded with a pair of hand clippers and a metal file. I boarded a waiting combi, but it wasn't going anywhere. A pickup truck pulled out of the school driveway and I jumped out of the combi in the hopes the pickup was going my way. Sure enough it was. It was the photocopier repairman, and he was heading to Mbabane past the church. We had a nice (but short) conversation in the cab; then he picked up a young lady with child, and I felt it only proper to hop in the back. This was better anyway, because it gave me opportunity to sharpen my slasher on the way. I sat with my back to the cab, drawing my metal file across the slasher blade and watching the sky for storms, and thought "Man, this is great; what job could I get back home that would allow me this kind of fun?" I jumped out at my spot, thanked the driver (who wouldn't take any money for the lift), and took the short path to the school. I got to meet a former student from the 1990s on the way; that is always fun. I remember some better than others; this student, Richard Gama, was kind of familiar. I'm just glad he's alive. With AIDS the way it is, that's not always the news I get about past students. He took his turn to a local homestead, and I hotfooted it to the church. The sky was cloudy and spitting rain, and the thunder was rolling frequently-and seemingly, it was getting closer. I figured I'd be safer near the church (where I could run inside if things got really serious) than I would be anywhere else. Got to church, started slashing grass, always keeping an eye on the clouds and where the thunder was and where it seemed to be moving. After an hour it seemed that the storm was moving away from where I was, and I relaxed quite a bit. I slashed as much grass as was close by; a few weeks ago, a local homestead burned a lot of the area to encourage young shoots for their cattle. Still, I found more usable grass than I expected to, and got about 25% of the planting area covered. Having exhausted the slashable grass, I went to pulling out a fern-like plant and putting it on the planting area. This worked pretty well, though my lower back was beginning to feel the stress! By 5PM, just under half of the planting area was covered. I spent a few minutes in prayer in the church; what an experience, with a light rain on the metal roof and breezes through the open door. After that it was back to the road in hopes of a combi. Just as the road came into sight, and too far away to make a run for it, I saw a combi pass. Arrgh. But I did not regret a single moment spent on this project, so I just thanked God for the experience and figured another combi would come by. I got to the road and sat at the right place. It was about 5:30PM. I realized that maybe nothing elso would come tonight, so I better start walking! Not 5 minutes later a sedan passed-and didn't stop. But, I figured, from the driver's point of view, a white man (already not a normal sight in that region) with a backpack and a long, machete-looking thing in his hand walking around the roads at dusk on a Friday might not be the best somebody to pick up with your family inside. 10 more minutes walk found me with another former student (who left school in 2003) and his Mozambican friend. The Mozambican insisted on teaching me some Portuguese-which was great, but another pickup truck was coming, and I had told Ruth I'd be home between 5 and 6, my Portuguese instructor seemed a little tipsy, and I didn't want to miss my chance for a lift. So I edged away from him with a broad smile on my face, trying to say "good morning" in Portuguese. Turned out the pickup was driven by a member of the school board who seems to like me. Into the pickup bed I hopped, and 5 minutes later (which would have been 45 by foot) I was within another 10 minute walk of the school. The school board member even had a few cabbages in the back, and he sold me one for 3 Emalangeni. I walked in the door maybe 10 minutes late; the cabbage took the edge off my tardy arrival (Ruth had planned to get one in town over the weekend, but they are mighty heavy to carry out, so she was glad I got one locally)-as did the prospect of watermelon and cake for dessert, since it was Cubby's fourth birthday. A Peace Corps colleague once said living here is a real roller coaster; high ups, low downs, and they can come so close together. Nearly 6 years into this experience, that's still true. This day was big up. By the time you've read this, we've probably been through a half-dozen more sublime and ridiculous experiences. FOR THE INTERESTEDThe presidential election is just days away. I attach two articles an include one link explaining the gravity of the choice before voters. I urge you to read and consider them, especially the first one by RObert P. George, member of the President's Bioethics Committee.And please choose life on November 4. Edward Cardinal Egan of New York asks us to "Just Look" at this beautiful photograph and consider:http://www.cny.org/archive/eg/eg102308.htm********October 18, 2008TRAPPED OUTSaturday morning was the first morning that our big, bad moustrap showed no signs of activity: untripped trap, no mouse, and the peanut butter was untouched. Rudy did dispatch the rhubarb-dwelling King Mouse with a shovel on Friday; he had become fat and careless after so much healthy eating. We are cautiously optimisitic that we have seriously dented the mouse population. Our next challenge comes in the form of... THE BIRDSThe peaches are coming out on the trees. The birds have figured out when the new fruits are just right for nibbling. The nibbling, unfortunately, ruins the fruit for us. On Saturday Ruth very happily discovered that Carter's Garden Center sells bird netting. We hope to drape the five bird nets over the trees and keep the avian snackers off our fruits. The sweetest combination would be to have the birds approach and stare at the nets "like a cow stares at a new gate", while Rudy picked them off with the wristrocket slingshots that the Bombeck's brought in August. But he doesn't have the time to sit on the back step with a slingshot all day, so we'll just hope the deterrent is enough. ROASTED APRICOTSThe new agriculture teacher, Skhumbuzo Khumalo, wanted to clear some unused school garden area for cultivation. The clearing would involve some burning. He checked with all the teachers who grow inside the garden that the proposed controlled burn wouldn't harm their produce. He successfully avoided all the produce-except our apricot tree. The tree's new growth was burned off, but the overall damage was minimal; in fact, it has already put out some new green shoots. All's well that end's well-but we still can't get our minds around the pyrotechnic emphasis on agriculture. STILL WAITING ON THE MAIZERuth planted maize (corn) in our Farming God's Way plot a couple weeks ago. Nothing has come up yet. We feel like first-time parents with this technique-full of hopeful anticipation, but worried about every little hiccup. We'll keep our eyes on the situation. 6-0OUCH! Swaziland's national soccer team, Sihlangu, scored an unprecedented 2-1 victory over Togo's team in June. That game was the first in Swaziland's bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Swaziland followed that historic victory with a tie and a loss to Zambia-though the team did well for themselves in both matches. On October 11, Sihlangu played their final group game against Togo, in Ghana. A victory would have moved Swaziland into the next qualifying round (you have to play a lot of games to get into the World Cup). Unfortunately, Togo was not prepared to let us minnows advance and hammered Sihlangu 6-0. So, it's back to playing friendlies and charity games against powerhouses like Lesotho and Botswana for another 3 years, when the qualifiers for World Cup begin again. WEEKEND WITH THE ALLENSWe just came back from spending a weekend with Monica and Steve Allen (and their children Lacie and Nathan). These are Baptist missionary friends of ours in Mbabane. The kids had a great time playing together, and the grownups enjoyed the conversation. We also enjoyed a hot shower. Our immersion heater provides hot baths, but there is something so delicious about an endless stream of just-right water running down your back. GAME SHOW HOSTDespite my best efforts, I finished the form 1 (8th grade) science syllabus over a month ahead of time. The administration, fortunately, is happy with the students doing lots of review. So just for something different, I put together a worksheet covering a variety of past topics. I told them that they could use their memory, their notes, their past tests, whatever-and that the first student to submit a 100% perfect paper would receive five pieces of candy. I felt like Monty Hall on "Let's Make a Deal". The plan exceeded all expectations. They sat and worked like hopeful lawyers taking the bar exam. I did it a second time: similarly spectacular results (although with 10 minutes remaining in class, when no one has submitted a perfect paper, they get chatty). I am thinking of setting up a boys versus girls game, with me writing questions on the board and each team submitting their answer on a slip of paper within a set length of time. Each class meeting would count as one "round" and would have prizes for the winning team. I might also make it a "best of 7" series, with a grand prize for the overall winners. Maybe I'll call the contest "Form 1B Family Feud". FREEWEIGHT CUBBYThree mornings a week I like to go for a jog and do some pushups and pullups. For the pushups and pullups I like to add a little weight; so I usually put a medium-sized stone in a small backpack (the kind college students carry their books around in) and put it on my back for added resistance. On Wednesday morning, Ruth and Hope were heading out for the Farming God's Way conference. They had packed the backpack I usually use with things for the 3 day trip, and I didn't want to mess up Ruth's hard work. Hmmm, what to do. Then I noticed that Cubby was awake, and sitting with Ruth in our bed. "Hey Cubby, want to help daddy?" So Cubby got on my back and put her arms around my chest. I got the added resistance for my pushups that I wanted, and Cubby got a "horsey ride". Next, the pullups. I put Cub in the carrier we usually use for Hope and went to the clothesline (the school put in a nice iron-post clothesline in a cement-filled hole; it can handle the pullups) and did the pullups with Cub on my back. The carrier was tipping backwards quite a bit, but not enough to dump her out. I got the extra resistance I wanted, Cub seemed to enjoy both exercises, and we had some fun time together. *************October 11, 2008THE DIRTY DOZEN + 2Our mouse traps continue to haul 'em in. We purchased a second trap-a smaller, more "traditional" one-and it has caught its first. We've snagged 14 mice overall. Unfortunately, the furry visitors still run through the grass. We'll keep after them. The more recent captures seem to be smaller than the earlier ones; maybe we've taken out the top brass and are working our way down the chain of command. Grace's recent comment captured our spirit: on seeing two mice in the big trap (she loves to check them with Rudy each morning), she exclaimed "You're dog food now mice!" WEDNESDAY TALKThe religious sisters at Mater Dolorosa Church invited us to speak to the women at their hostel two weeks ago. They wanted us to talk about how we met each other and how we keep our marriage healthy. We did share those things, and it went over pretty well; one young lady asked to speak with us again. Our girls were very well behaved, and enjoyed spending the night in the visitors' accomodation, partly because the beds were from a hospital; the backs can be adjusted. Ruth liked that too; it gave her a relief from her asthma without propping a mountain of pillows up between her and the bedroom wall. THREE IN A ROWLast weekend again brought light, cold drizzle. To my untrained eye, this seems like a good thing for agriculture. I hope it is. I suspect we do need some larger rainfalls, but we will take what we can get. FENCE BUILDINGMid-week we went to the outstation church to work on the garden there. We met Joseph Kunene at the church; he was just finishing the last fence-post hole. He and Rudy then went about "painting" the bottoms of the poles with used motor oil; Ruth says it keeps the termites from attacking them. We had a great time talking about education: we agreed that Swazi high school students should learn to use computers, but that they should also be given more in the way of practical skills. Almost all high school education is still geared to white collar work, and such jobs are hard to find. The new agriculture books for Forms 1 through 3 (approximately 8th to 10th grades) are promising; they are easy to read, are geared explicitly to Swaziland, and have practical applications to homesteads. I said to Mr. Kunene "So now that you're a pensioner (in retirement), you're not just sitting home, are you?" He very humbly explained that he is not. He had taken his cattle to "the dip" early in the morning; the dip treats the cattle for ticks. After that he walked an hour in his plastic shower sandals to the church, where he had been digging fence post holes for an hour before we arrived. By the time we were done with the fenceposts, Rudy was falling asleep as he, Ruth and Rudy figured out what to do next. Babe Kunene was as chipper as he was when we arrived. After we departed he had another hour's walk ahead of him. I'd like to hope I'll have his endurance in another 20+ years; but I'm not sure I will. Swazis are tough. FOR THE INTERESTEDFor an informative, short interview with Archbishop Chaput on faith in public life, follow this link:http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ZWI0YWMyYTdlNDVkYTMxMWFiYWVlM2U2NTUwNmEzM2I= *******October 4, 2008MOUSE HUNTERSOutside our back door Ruth built a fenced-in garden. She has successfully planted onions, tomatoes, rhubarb, chaya, and peaches there. An attempt at watermelon seems to have failed. We enjoy the home-grown produce. And unfortunately, so do indeterminate (but seemingly large) number of mice. Walking past the garden during the day, we would occasionally catch a glimpse of a mouse from the corner of our eye. Closer inspection of the garden revealed a number of tunnels. So, we purchased and set a trap. Africa, as a long-time expatriate friend of ours says, is not a feminine continent. The trap we set is not some wooden toy; it's 100% steel with teeth on the end where the wire comes crashing down, driven by a frighteningly strong spring. I'm nervous when I set it. But set it we have, and we've caught 7 mice so far. We put peanut butter on the trap in the morning and do not set it; we hope this gets the mice nice and comfortable chowing the peanut butter without fear. Around dusk, we set the spring and gingerly put the trap in their main traffic area. The past three mornings we've found two mice under the wire. It seems the mice like to dine (and die) in pairs. We plan to purchase a second trap; the mice have made a second hideout in a retaining wall a few yards from the garden. I just hope our trapping stays ahead of their fertility; if it does, we'll enjoy more produce, though the dogs will undoubtedly miss the dead mice I throw over the fence in the mornings. RAINS AND TREESLast weekend we enjoyed another drizzly Saturday and Sunday. It seems the long, light drizzles blow in from the east-the direction of Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. The hard thunderstorms come in from the west. I prefer these long, gentle misty rains; I know they don't cause soil erosion, they make the roads dust-free yet still passable, and I like to think the moisture soaks into the soil in a gentle, plant-useful manner. It's a real pleasure to look out the kitchen window through the mist and see the cherry, peach, mulberry, orange, guava trees and banana plants putting out fresh growth. As long as the rains keep coming like this and as long as we keep maintaining the trees, we can look forward to delicious fruit in larger numbers as time goes by. FARMING GOD'S WAY IN SWAZILANDSome of you are familiar with Farming God's Way (FGW), and most of you probably aren't. It's a farming technique that combines Biblical, ecological, and business principles to encourage precise, waste-free, high-quality cultivation. Average maize yields in Southern Africa are 1000 kilograms/hectare. The method's originator has a 20 year average yield of 9000 kg/ha (max 13,000 kg/ha) on large commercial field scale. Not suprisingly, we are interested in this. Ruth learned about it in Florida last Christmas. We have set up our own plot using this technique, and are very curious to see how it goes. FGW will present a seminar in Swaziland October 16 and 17, and we are sending Ruth (and Kit; at this time they're inseparable) and hopefully someone from the outstation church. We haven't quite figured out what to do with Grace and Cub yet; maybe ask Yenzie's mom to do day care for two days while Rudy works. visit www.farming-gods-way.org for more information. DOUBLE DUTYDuring Rudy's Peace Corps experience he inherited a classroom building project. His senior Peace Corps sitemate secured the funding, but the other guy timed out before construction was completed. Rudy was, as you can imagine, thrilled at the prospect of overseeing the construction of four classrooms, since he had vast experience in such endeavors-WRONG! He was utterly mechanically disinclined. Still, there was nothing to do but to do his best. The classrooms were completed and offically opened with a gala affair in 1992. A month after the opening, a thunderstorm (from the west) ripped a fair amount of roofing off and turned the ceiling board to wet white bread. They only went downhill from there. The classrooms were poorly built, as their sandstone-like walls and cracking floors continually testified. The school had another set of classrooms built nearby; since 2005, these have held up. The abondoned (and embarrassing) classroom block has, however, found a second purpose: manual labor for students. Students who skip school or commit other infractions have been given the task of classroom demolition. A professional builder brought down the corrugated iron roof, the walls, and the door and window frames; the useful cinder blocks and frames were kept and (sold? given away? I don't know what). Four poles holding up the eaves were chiseled out of the concrete by a student, and now the floors are going under the pickaxes. Students break the flooring up and then take the chunks outside the gate to be placed in piles. I don't know what will be done with the piles; but I know the 17-year old classrooms have a purpose to serve, even in their passing. BOOKSI had hoped to get new chemistry books for the form 5 students, books in line with the current syllabus. I found a suitable book at the bookstore; it's 200 Emalangeni. Teachers recently got a retroactive pay raise, so we thought we could divert that money into these books. I figured I'd call the publisher and ask them what break they'd give me for 20 books if I paid cash on the barrelhead. I was told they didn't sell to individuals, that I'd have to go through the bookstores. Hmmm. I quickly asked if I could be the "school representative" and buy books on behalf of the school. Nope, need to go through a bookstore. Naturally the bookstores don't want to lose their normal markup to give me a significant discount. Seems a strange way to run a business. Maybe I'm missing something. So, what to do? I visited the daughter of a missionary who attends Waterford, the high-end high school in Mbabane, and got the name of the chemistry teacher at the school. I wondered if maybe they had a back closet of books they don't use or need anymore, and we could take them off their hands. A week later a phone call confirmed that guess. The chemistry teacher said "Come and take what you like!" They didn't charge us for the books, and even offered to give us use of the lab (which we don't need) and the occasional chemical (which will come in handy). For the cost of two taxi rides (about E160 all together), we have a bunch of "new to us" chemistry books, access to more books, and the option of chemicals. I have my mind set on a small can of sodium metal. Been a long time since I've tossed a chunk of sodium in a beaker of water. You science/engineering folks know what can happen. ***************September 27, 2008TEAM EFFORTNOTE--It was not Ruth's idea to share this piece; she hasn't told anyone outside of our family about this. Rudy thought it would be fun to share.***************************************************Ruth is working on the "Farming God's Way" method of growing corn. This method involves planting corn in specially-prepared holes. These holes are dug to a particular depth and given a specific amount of fertilizer. A couple years ago Ruth noticed that the grass on which she dumped the rinse water from the diaper pail turned very green. Hmmm, the urine from the little ones gives the grass a boost. An interesting book from ECHO was called "Future Fertility", it was about recyling human waste for agricultural production. Sitting comfortably in the library in the US, this seemed a little over the top. How much training and effort has gone into containing human waste to sanitation systems, so that they DON'T find their way into agricultural settings? Further inquiry uncovered the fact that urine is usually quite sanitary (after getting filtered through the blood and kidneys--as long as the person doesn't have a kidney infection). A few years ago, Ruth constructed a training potty from a small plastic chair and an empty peanut butter bucket. Grace and Faith have outgrown it, and Hope isn't quite ready for it yet. For two years it has served as a footstool for Hope to reach the sink. But now-Ruth's desire to supercharge the corn planting holes has latched onto underutilized potty training technology to create a nitrogenous waste recovery system! With fertilizer prices sky high and fertilizer usage rates low, a free source of nitrogen fertilizer for maize is pretty appealing. In a country full of HIV/AIDS and strange diseases floating around, this might not have any application. But if it is OK for people to urinate in their maize field, especially if it is mulched, it might help. But we need to do some tests on amounts and strength. As many people with dogs have found, straight urine will burn plant leaves. Since you don't want to be handling someone else's urine here precise application amounts and diluting with water are probably not practical. So our family is quietly making our contribution to the research effort using the underutilized potty chair. When the tub is half full, Rudy takes it to the garden and empties it into a planting hole. He knows which hole has been "supercharged" by placing a red flag by the last hole to have received a donation. This morning Ruth is planting corn seeds in some of the holes. This is very early for planting; she wants to see what effect the roaming chickens might have on corn seedlings, and thus plan accordingly for the main planting season a few weeks from now. The "supercharging" really is a team effort; Grace tells me (Rudy) when the bucket is getting a little full, and encourages me to take it out. If it does promote the corn's growth, we will all be glad to have contributed. PILGRIMMAGESaturday, 20 September marked our second pilgrimmage at the oustation church (St. Alexus) at Luhheneni. A hot wind blew Thursday night, followed by hot and still weather on Friday. As Friday wore on the temperature fell and by Friday night, we had a misty rain. Saturday was (for Swaziland) cold and rainy. This may sound like a strange sequence, but it is common here. We reached the bus station at 8AM, hoping to get to the church by 9. It's a short trip, but since the weather was wet (which means increasingly slick roads) and since it was Saturday morning, we didn't know what transport options we would have. Thankfully, a combi (minibus) with "Survivor" emblazoned across the front came screaming down the road towards us after about 10 minutes. Rudy's comment as the bus approached was "Man, I wish that guy would hurry up". Once we boarded, we wondered if any of us would be a "survivor". The guy drove that combi like he'd stolen it. The bass kicker behind the back seat and the tweeters mounted to the ceiling bounced Swazi gospel music as we careened down the road. I've ridden few roller coasters as exciting as "Survivor" was that day. After 10 heart-pounding minutes (and the question "What do you have in your bag, rocks?" from a passenger holding our backpack; in fact it held baked goods for the pilgrimmage), we arrived at our destination. We walked to the church and made our 9AM arrival time. So far, so good. A few other adults and children had gathered at the church. The two parties we were most concerned about were the Mater Dolorosa Church (MDC from here on) youth group from Mbabane and the priest, Father Maseko. The original plan had Father Maseko arrive at the church at 10 to hear confessions, bless the sashes the Sunday School students had earned, and bless the corn field that's still under development. Father and church members were then to walk out to the main road and meet the MDC youth at noon. At that time the entire party would then carry a large wooden cross back to the church, to the accompaniment of prayer and song. The catches were the road-the rain wasn't heavy, but it was steady-and the fact that Father had a couple other committments right after the pilgrimmage was due to end. Father called and told us he was on his way but to meet him at the road; scratch the confessions and blessing the sashes and field. Well, Africa is like that sometimes. We walked to the road and our thoughts turned to the MDC youth, and the folks with us on the main road. It was now 11AM, and the MDC youth were due at 12. Would we be stuck here an hour before the town kids arrived? Would they arrive at all? What would we do with the folks here in a cold and wet situation? The MDC youth called and told us they'd caught a combi and were on their way. Father Maseko called again (life sure has changed since the advent of cellphones; such communication was impossible 15 years ago) and told us to start without him as the road was now impassible for him and he wouldn't make it. The MDC kids showed up at 11:30 (on the combi "Survivor", no less!) and we began. The rest of the pilgrimmage was magnificent. The weather seemed to dampen no spirits at all. In fact, having cold and wet hands and feet while following the cross (which was always in front of the group) provided a physical reminder that following Christ isn't always blue sky and sunshine. The presentation of the award sashes at the church went very well, as did the litany of the seven sorrows and the veneration of the Cross inside the church. An added treat was the presence of mountains of scrap paper from a print shop covering the church floor. This made it possible to kneel without getting one's pants dirty at the knees. It also made it possible for our family to bury each other, autumn-leaf style or mid-winter snow style, under the papers after everyone else had gone home. After the prayers and songs were completed, small words of thanks from the MDC youth and the St. Alexus parties were exchanged (and the words of thanks were small and brief, a blessing in itself). All retired outside the church and enjoyed the potluck meal. Within an hour the MDC youth were gone back to the road and all the St. Alexus members had dispersed. Our family was left with a decision: do we go to the road and start walking home, hoping for a lift but run the risk of roads so deteriorated that there won't be any cars; or do we take the footpath back to the school that we usually take on our way to church? The footpath option is walking for sure, but it is a shorter walk than the road. Rudy prefers a sure thing to a possible easy thing that might end up taking a long time, so we chose to hoof it. We made it in a record (for the whole family together) of one hour and 45 minutes! No one complained, and there is a certain beauty to watching the mist/clouds blow through the trees, and looking at the water droplets hanging like tiny jewels from all the leaves. Upon arrival the girls' wet clothes were removed and replaced with sleepers; popcorn was popped, tea prepared, brownies set baking, and macaroni and cheese set cooking. The popcorn and tea came first, then Mzwandile Nkambule arrived with the groceries he'd purchased for us. He stayed for dinner. The brownies were the perfect nightcap to a day which turned out much better than early indications warranted. This is the second pilgrimmage we've been involved with at St. Alexus. Rudy was a bit apprehensive, as the first one went so well; he was afraid this one would inevitably get compared to the first, and something (or things) would go wrong to make it a disaster. But God is good, and all went magnificently. If you ever come visit Swaziland, we hope you can join us on a pilgrimmage. **************September 10, 2008AIDSWe have a friend who is wheelchair-ridden due to a bus accident a few decades back. He has a daughter who went off to South Africa some years ago. She is now back in Swaziland and dying of AIDS. She is bedridden and cannot turn herself over. She cannot even drink juice, and it takes her a long time to vocalize an answer to a question. The hospital turned her away because there was nothing they could do for her. The hospital took her off anti-retroviral drugs because they are too strong for her; they would only hasten her end. Instead they gave her a large number of vitamins. Please pray for our friend and for the passing and internment of his daughter. He is taking it quite well, saying he knows she has AIDS (and has known it for quite a while) and has made peace with this fact. His daughter has a daughter who stays with our friend; please pray for her, too, in what must be a very difficult situation. SMOKEOUTThe rains stop in April or May and do not begin again until September or October. On top of this, for some reason, July/August/September can have periods of high winds. Thirdly, the burning of grass on grazing land is common this time of year, because it causes the emergence of tender grass for the cows to eat. Unfortunately, the high winds and the fires came together on Sunday, August 31. Rudy went to the church at Eluheneni (the outstation church) alone because the winds were so high he feared for the safety of the rest of the family. Useful bit of information gatherered: the winds are particularly strong right around the school. Once he was out of the school gate, they weren't nearly as bad. During a post-church meeting, large clouds of white smoke were visible through the church windows. As we left the church, we passed the fires. A homestead was celebrating a wedding and, some way or another, a fire got out of hand. With tinder-dry tall grass and 30-40 mph winds, the flames quickly shot across the ground, spanning a small river and pushing up a nearby hill. Members of the wedding party tried to control the flames, but lacking water and hoses, there is only so much one can do; they focused their efforts on putting out the non-advancing flames. The "front" of the fire continued its wind-driven charge up the hill. In the evening, an eerie red glow could be seen behind Mount Tsina (our major peak) and the hills to the north (in an area called Maphalaleni). We saw almost no flames directly, but by Monday morning the air was filled with haze; even the garden, about 25 yards from the house, was partially occluded. This smoky cloudiness continued all day Monday; the smell and sense of being in a hazy nightclub just before closing time was not pleasant. The absence of any more fires meant that Tuesday dawned much clearer; here on Thursday morning, except for the portions of terrain that look like bread left in the toaster far too long, you would not know about the fires. For folks like us who grew up on Smokey the Bear and "only you can prevent forest fires", it's mighty hard to get used to these annual conflagrations. FENCESOne day during this holiday (the days run together after about 2 weeks) I took the 3 girls out and fixed parts of the school fence. Nsukumbili put a security fence (8-foot concrete posts supporting chain link with razor wire at top and bottom) between Rudy's first and second times here. It does add a the "compound" feel of the place, which isn't so great; but it does keep out the cows and goats, which makes growing trees, and keeping your clothes on your back and out of a ruminant's stomachs, a good possibility. The girls and I tacked the barbed wire onto the wooden posts where it had come off around the agriculture area, and we tied back the razor wire in places where it had come away from the chain link. Man that razor wire is scary! I was glad to have Cubby with me, but I didn't let her near that stuff. On Thursday, 4 September, we had a small work party at the outstation church. The goal was to get posts for a fence to be built around a small corn field. The effort was to begin at 10:30, and we arrived on time; but other church members had been working since 7. We helped finish off the day's work-chopping down trees, taking off the limbs, and stripping them of their bark. The ax Mr. Kunene brought was frighteningly sharp! It lopped off inch-diameter limbs as if nothing were there. Felt sharp enough to shave with. Neither Cubby nor Grace was allowed nearby that ax. Brittney Bickford, Dlangeni's new Peace Corps Volunteer, joined us in the effort. Brittney moved into her homestead (volunteers spend their 2 years in homesteads now, not just 10 days during training like Rudy's did in the early 1990s) on Aug. 29. Like all current PCVs, she will work on HIV/AIDS. To the credit of the program, new volunteers spend their first 3 months just looking around their area and seeing what is going on before starting an activity or getting involved in a particular group. Brittney did some HIV counseling in college, so she comes with some useful experience. She came to our house after the fence-pole project and we talked more about our respective experiences. On Sunday, 7 September, we got her connected with Godfrey Mubiru, our Ugandan friend at nearby Mdzimba High School. We hope Brittney has a nice 2 years and that we get to help guide her through them. PIPESOn Tuesday, 9 September, the water ran out. I wandered next door to Mr. Stan Mamba's house, the resident handyman. He had just fixed the water the day before. He knew it was out (doesn't take long to figure that out, when the sound of a dying vacuum cleaner-and no water-issues from your kitchen faucet), but his truck's brake line had a hole in it and, for that obvious reason, he couldn't go out immediately. Mamba felt he could fix his brake line problem in reasonable time. Cubby and I took his shovel and set out on foot to do what we could do, expecting to meet Mamba on the way. Mamba called us from where our pipe ties into the water system while we were still 10 minutes from there; man, Mamba can fix stuff fast! We caught up with him and two other colleagues on their way to the source. A bag of soil and a couple shovels-full of dirt modified the source to our liking; we then returned to the tie-in point and spent some time doing something (I'm not sure what, now that I think of it; but it was nice just to look around the area from a high vantage point). Back into the bed of Mamba's truck for the return home, a return punctuated by a couple of stops, including one sit-down in the shade with shoes and socks off for me. During my respite Cubby showed me how she could back up and take a run at a rock and scale it, without using her hands. She does have amazing balance. By the time we got home the water was in good supply, and the breakfast dishes could finally be washed. Not having water in the pipes drives me crazy, since it seems a very simple thing to mantain. When it goes out, Mamba and I often suspect some anonymous herd boy with more time and thirst than common sense pulled our pipe out of the supply pipe and was too lazy to replace it. We then dream up punishments for these kids who seem, in our minds, set on annoying us. In fact we don't know who pulls the pipe out, but it often gets pulled out. Nevertheless, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with fixing the water. I don't like it going out, but I almost always enjoy the trip-whether with Mamba and other teachers and I in his car, or as today with Cub, or on my own-of going and fixing it. The time walking and working in beautiful Dlangeni reminds me of one reason we like it here. Then I come home and tell Ruth "If we ever leave here, one thing that is necessary in the new location-reliable water". I don't know what to make of my contradictory sentiments. I do know that I'll have a hot bath tonight-and perhaps on Friday, it'll be another trip to the mountain for a water repair. 40/40The nation concelebrated the 40th anniversary of Swaziland's independence and the king's 40th birthday on Saturday 6 September at Somhlolo, the national stadium. This celebration caused some grumbling in the country, given the lavishness of the preparations (including the purchase of ten new BMWs to ferry VIPs) when the country struggles under poverty and HIV. Wednesday saw a peaceful protest in Manzini; Mbabane's protest the next day became a little ugly, with theft and a couple of explosions. For those who want more current news about goings-on in Swaziland, visit the Times of Swaziland at www.times.co.sz. Having been to a few big functions like this one, we stayed away; it's always a long day, and we're not always sure what's going on, and transport back home is usually packed to the gills. We had a nice day at the house. LATE STARTBetween the annual Reed Dance (wherein eligible girls of the country gather reeds to rehabilitate the Queen Mother's traditional home and the king might pick one of them for a new wife) and the 40/40 celebration, the opening of the third school term has been delayed for a week. Instead of opening on Sept. 8, it's back to school on the 15th. Rudy will enjoy 13 weeks of vacation this year; he is well aware that this is more than 6 times what most folks in the US get. At the same time, we're paid less than $12,000 a year, so maybe it works out. *************August 30, 2008CAREER OPPORTUNITIESThe school is building a duplex on the other side of the red-roofed house we used to live in. It is interesting to visit the site and see how it progresses. With an interest in helping students get gainful work during and after their school careers, it's also interesting to talk to the workers and find out how they got into the construction trades. The latest and most inspiring stories comes from a plumber named Nathi Gama. He attended school here at Nsukumbili in the 1990s, but had to drop out after form 3 (10th grade in the US) because both his parents were dead and he had no money. He went to a construction site and, in his words, "When the workers picked up a shovel and worked, so did I." The job foreman, after a few days, approached him and said "You know, we can't pay you; why are you doing this?" Nathi said he didn't worry about that and just kept working for free. After a while he did get a paid position through the help of a relative, and continued his on-the-job training for 8 years. Then he took a three-month course at SCOT (Swaziland College of Technology) and got his certification in plumbing. He now has all the work he wants and has at least one man working with/under him. He said that all these pieces of paper (education documents) don't add up to a job; he put the effort in and is making his way. Most hopefully, I asked him if I could refer motivated young men to work under him and learn his trade. He said most definitely. So here's another career opportunity for ambitious young men. PROGRESS REPORT I have encouraged students to volunteer at construction sites. The only one (that I know of) who did was Thokozane Khumalo. He volunteered on a school holiday. The builder was impressed and paid Thokozane's final year of school fees. We suggested to Thokozane that he apply for a position with SwaziAID, a non-profit started by a group of UF students who are doing trials of the moringa tree in Swaziland. He was hired. He just spent a day and a half here after his first full week doing site visits for them. It was great to hear his assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of the different groups hosting the trial plots. This was his first chance to see the rest of Swaziland. Ruth helped him prepare his progress and financial reports and coached him through how to send emails to the United States. We also are helping him think through how he will spend his paycheck. He is a nice young man who has worked hard and we are thrilled that he has this opportunity to help a good project. HAMBA KAHLEHamba kahle means "go well" in SiSwati. On Friday, 21 August I took the three girls to the swimming hole they like so much. Grace and Cub splashed and dug moats in the sand, Hope sat in one spot and half-filled one coat pocket with sand, and I climbed the rocks and watched them. About 11:30 I took us all back to the house and handed the daughters over to Ruth (during school breaks one of us takes the girls half the day while the other does projects, then we switch). I changed clothes and got a few things together for errands and an overnight trip to Mbabane. I trotted out to the bus station and found a kombi (minivan) waiting. Taking up a seat in the 1/4 filled van, we set off in 10 minutes. The driver took it easy, not "driving it like he stole it" and we found few people along the way to pick up. The dust was minimal, and the air temperature was delightful. We arrived in Mbabane after 50 pleasant minutes of reading my book. This doesn't happen every day, but such experiences are more common since we arrived in 2003. PHONE SERVICEMzwandile Nkambule is walking out of our house right now. A week and a half ago, he was washing spinach and inadvertently splashed his cell phone with the wash water. The phone was rendered inoperable. Basic cell phones cost around E300 (about $40). He got motivated and asked us if we had work. He worked 4 or 5 days with us, including one day when he worked 6 1/2 hours translating a document. He also brought extra cash (E20 here, E30 there) to us and "banked" it. Just this morning (Wednesday, 27 August) he informed us that his mom gave him E150 since he had worked so hard and earned half of the money. Now he has enough for a new phone and bus money to town! We are pleased (but not as pleased as him!) that he set his goal and worked hard to meet it, and that a little grace via mom saw the mission accomplished. He is off to town to get his new phone. It's been a pleasure knowing him these last few years and watching his Christian faith, personal character, and school performance grow. He seems on his way to a rich and satisfying life. FLASH FRIEDThe teachers were milling around one Friday morning after assembly when our attention was caught by a loud "zapping" noise and white ball of light above the electric transformer near the school gate. The noise and light ended, and revealed a "lisomi" (a local songbird) hanging upside down from the wire he had perched on. He wasn't moving. It appears this bird had tried to "spread his tiny wings and fly away", but touched a second wire with a wingtip and experienced the shocking result. One teacher exclamied "Phetsa liswayi!"-"Bring the salt!" Free fried bird! The bird is still hanging there. Another songbird perched on the wire later in the day and looked at the lisomi; I could imagine the second bird trying to talk to his silent-type friend. Never a dull moment around here. ***********August 15, 2008BOOMBASTICLast week a portion of the Bombeck family visited us. The Bombeck's live in Chugiak, Alaska; Rudy got to know them when he taught at Lumen Christi High School in Anchorage. Tui Bombeck, the one daughter of 8 children, is the godmother of our three daughters; she took time off from work in Washington, DC to hike the hills of Dlangeni. Cindy, the mom, and two sons, Ike and Jens, flew standby through Senegal (24 hour layover there) and arrived by car from Joburg on the 6th of August. They did a great job, getting to know people easily. Ike and Jens fit right in with the boys playing soccer, and Cindy and Tui were great with our girls. Not to mention the goodies they brought with them! Slingshots! Books! Most importantly, news about the folks back home. The slingshots were great; they brought three "wristrockets", the kind with surgical tubing. We have stray dogs wandering through the grounds, and these will prove a useful deterrent. I gave one to Mr. Stan Mamba, the all-around handyman. He was delighted. I've never seen him smile like that. Anyway-you Bombeck's are welcome back anytime. AFTERPARTYYou may remember the birthday party a couple weeks ago, which included singing and preaching and affirmation of the young ones as gems. Earlier this week I heard Grace and Cubby repeating in unison, "Kit, do you know what you are? You are a blessing!" They were flooding their one-year-old sister with affirmation. They must have said it 6 times. It was wonderful. I wish all parties had such good long-lasting effects. GARDENRuth learned about a farming system called "Farming God's Way" when we visited ECHO (www.echonet.org) three years ago. It is developed by a man who was Zimbabwean farmer of the year some time ago; he had tremendous yields on his plots. We decided to try it this year. The emphasis is on doing things on time, to high standards, with no wastage, and with joy. One feature is keeping a layer of mulch on the soil at all times: "God's blanket" it is called. It also involves laying out the planting rows very precisely. We cleared a plot and put mulch on it a few months ago; already, it is interesting to compare bare soil (covered in weeds loaded with 1000's of seeds now) with the mulched plot (which, with at least 4 inches of cut grass on it, has almost no weeds). Earlier this week we laid out half of the planting rows; Ruth and I enjoyed working together on it. We are eager to keep doing this system and to see how it works out. ***************August 9, 2008MEDICAL UPDATEGood news! Babe Abner Dlamini, Rudy's homestead father (and the girls' grandfather) is improving. He had a stroke mid-June, but Rudy visited him Sunday July 27 and he has gained more control over his mouth and right leg. He is walking more, though still with a cane and far slower than he is used to. But, he is improving! He is constantly doing "self-therapy": walking around on a small concrete slab in front of his house, using the rail device I mentioned last week (I infer this from the tracks in the dirt around the rail device). My ankle is also much better. On the 27th I walked with Cub on my shoulders to church, like we usually do two Sundays a month. It's just the slightest bit sore, but nothing to worry about. It is great to to get out in the countryside and walk again. PCV COMINGThis area will have a Peace Corps Volunteer by the beginning of September. Two community members filled me in, and a call to the Peace Corps office confirmed it. We look forward to meeting them, helping them get adjusted, and helping them think through what they hope to accomplish in their 2 years. At the moment the Peace Corps Volunteers are working on HIV/AIDS issues, but the buzz is that they will return to classroom teaching in the relatively near future. DEBT ISSUESLast Tuesday at the "Tuesday Committee" meeting (which is in fact a barbeque), Mr. Lukhele filled us in on financial matters for professional Swazis. It appears that middle- to uppermiddle-class Swazis struggle with consumer debt, just like so many Americans do. I found this interesting. Fortunately, Crown Financial Ministries has also been in Swaziland; I do hope they will continue to visit, as it appears the need for such sound financial stewardship principles may be as needed here as it is back home. BIRTHDAY PARTYChobie (the "C" is a click, the kind you would make tisking a child for a minor infraction), 2 year-old child of Mr. M.Z. Dlamini, had a bithday 2 weeks ago and a birthday party to celebrate it. Grace talked excitedly about the party for two days prior to the event, and she was not disappointed; this was no mere "cake and punch" affair. The three mothers who put it together structured it like a church service, complete with an emcee, hymns, prayers, and preaching. The preaching was encouraging: all the children were told they were special gems and beloved by God. Affirming children in this way is not common here, but all children need and deserve it. The cake was really good, and a good time was had by all. ATCHARAtchar is a blend of coarsely-chopped green beans, onions, cabbage, and carrots livened up with vinegar and hot sauce. Mr. Lukhele's wife makes and sells it in recycled mayonnaise jars. Rudy really enjoys it in spaghetti sauce and chili, because the girls like their sauces as mild as wallpaper paste. I bought two of the five jars she most recently completed; they were still warm from their preparation as I walked home with them. A liberal spoonful of Lukhele's atchar puts a zing in any dish and makes sweat bead up on my increasingly smooth head. One thing Ruth's years at ECHO taught her was that to stay overseas for a long time you need hobbies that you cannot do back home. Hiking is a big one for me; so is atchar. RADIOSwaziland has one radio station, the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Service (SBIS); we can also pick up BBC and South African stations. Like the atchar, though, the local blend is often much more interesting than bigger, more "standardized" broadcasters. In the course of an hour last week, I heard a late 1970s Rod Stewart song, a tune from the O-Jays, a portion of a locally-produced radio drama (Mr. Lukhele joked about who was making the bird sounds in the background), a public service announcement/interview about breastfeeding children for better health, a UB-40 song, and traditional Swazi women singing. Though there are times when I wish things were a little more organized and predictable here, there are other times when I'm glad the "ISO 9001 best practices" standardization mentality hasn't taken root here (yet). Variety is the atchar of life. ********July 26, 2008BUSH MEDICINEOne of Grace's front teeth was very loose this (Friday) afternoon. Cubby had a splinter in her heel. Nsiki, Lungisiwe, and Kwakhe were trying to remove Grace's tooth. Rudy, sitting on the back steps with Hope on his back, was trying to pick the splinter out of a near-hysterical Cubby's foot. Kwakhe finally got a solid grip on the tooth and it was liberated from Grace's gums; Ruth and I gave up on our hot pursuit of Cubby's splinter and let her out of her hammerlock after 20 minutes . Both children seem happy now, though we're not sure we got Cub's splinter. She says she's fine. She may just be avoiding a second attempt at the splinter. We can understand why. HEALTH ISSUESRudy's ankle is almost 100%; he can hike for a couple of hours with Hope on his back and have no problem. No running yet, but a month or so more should do it. He's glad to be able to get real exercise again, and glad that the ankle is ready to go just as a contingent of Bombeck's, some great friends from Anchorage, are about to make a visit to Swaziland. One new project: taking a hammer to the rocks sticking out of the soccer field. We suspect he stumbled on one of those when he twisted his ankle. A pair of safety goggles and a standard hammer will bring the jutting rocks level with the rest of the field and, hopefully, prevent other players from a similar misfortune. Unfortunately, Abner Dlamini, Rudy's homestead father, has suffered a stroke. His right side is not functioning. He was in a wheelchair, but can now move very slowly on his own using a crutch. He is in residential therapy in Matsapha Monday to Friday. The homestead has built a "walker" for him, made of thin tree trunks hammered into the ground and thin trunks for rails. We do hope he recovers. He is a very active man and he runs a great homestead; he must be going crazy, though on a recent visit he was taking it well. Those of you who pray, he (and we, for him) would appreciate prayer requests for a full recovery. AIDS AND THE WAY OUTWe recently heard a report that over the long run the negative "abstain/use a condom so that you can avoid HIV/AIDS" message doesn't work; people need a positive vision of sexuality to make significant behavior changes (see attached article about Uganda, and this week's submission to the Times of Swaziland below it). This was encouraging to me (Ruth). Since we arrived Rudy has been trying to present his students the possibility of a strong, loving relationship between a husband and a wife who abstained before marriage, have been faithful in marriage, and who use their sexuality to build a loving communion between themselves, with that communion enlarged by the children who are the witness and the fruit of that love. BOOK REVIEWThe negative approach to AIDS encourages people to develop an attitude well described in a passage that I recently read about the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son: "Their bitterness toward God's goodness reveals an inward bitterness regarding their own obedience, a bitterness that indicates the limitations of this obedience. In their heart of hearts, they would have gladly journeyed out into that great "freedom" as well. There is an unspoken envy of what others have been able to get away with. They have not gone through the pilgrimage that purified the younger brother and made him realize what it means to be free and what it means to be a son. They actually carry their freedom as if it were slavery and they have not matured to real sonship. They, too, are still in need of a path; they can find it if they simply admit that God is right and accept his feast as their own. In this parable, then, the Father through Christ is addressing us, the ones who never left home, encouraging us too to convert tuly and to find joy in our faith." (p 211) This comes from a good book called "Jesus of Nazareth" by Pope Benedict XVI. I (Ruth) recently finished it and I know that a lot of those reading this newsletter would enjoy it. I will pass on another quote from it (p 268). "The Law has become a person. When we encounter Jesus, we feed on the living God himself, so to speak; we truly eat "bread from heaven." By the same token, Jesus has already made it clear that the only work God demands is the work of believing in him. Jesus' audience had asked him: "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" (Jn 6:28). ... Jesus' listeners are ready to work, to do something, to perform "works," in order to receive this bread. But it cannot be "earned" by human work, by one's own achievement. It can only come to us as a gift from God, as God's work. The whole of Pauline theology is present in this dialogue. The highest things, the things that really matter, we cannot achieve on our own; we have to accept them as gifts and enter into the dynamic of the gift, so to speak. This happens in the context of faith in Jesus, who is dialog--a living relationship with the Father--and who wants to become Word and love in us as well." Another excerpt from page 44: "What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought?...Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love. It is only because of our hardness of heart that we think this is too little." I have really enjoyed reading some of the books by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. He is an astute observer of culture, man, and God and their interactions, and his writings are very accessible. In some of them, like "Salt of the Earth", he charitably addresses the concerns of the sceptic. In "Jesus of Nazareth", he combines devotional meditations, modern scholarship, and ancient Christian writings. He also addresses the issues raised by the "historical critical" school of thought. Those interested in what and how Pope Benedict thinks are encouraged to try "Jesus of Nazareth". ********July 19, 2008AIDSWe spent a portion of the 4th of July weekend with some American doctors working at the Baylor Clinic, a pediatric HIV-AIDS clinic in Mbabane. I learned a few hopeful bits of information. One, high-school age boys and girls are not likely to have the virus; it's after they leave school that they get infected. So there's hope-high school is the last step before the risk gets big. Also, I learned that with early detection, an HIV+ person can live 50 or 60 years if they get on the drugs and are faithful about taking them as they should. The MDs said it's like having high blood pressure; if you treat it, you can be fine. The two critical factors are early detection and faithfulness in taking the meds; getting off the medicine and then getting back on them renders them useless (something about an immunity to them, but I don't remember exactly and don't want to give false information). Still, 50 or 60 years is pretty good. FIRED UPI visited Mzwandile's homestead on Sunday afternoon with Grace and Hope. It was great to walk without a crutch, though I'm walking slower and more carefully than usual. Mzwandile is doing fine, and had some things to burn. We put them in the firepit, set the match to them, and whaddya know-the flames licked the arid, tall grass and caught it on fire! The wind was blowing towards the homestead, so we were worried that the fire might set the thatch roof ablaze. Fortunately it didn't. We beat down the flames where the grass meets the packed-dirt ground in front of the houses. All's well that ends well. Mzwandile spoke my thoughts when he said "Well, I know we will be safe from any fires later in the year". With the grass torched to black stubble, there's no more fuel for burning! In a second incident, a trash fire at the school got out of control on Tuesday July 15 and killed at least one of the new avocado trees. The students and teachers reacted quickly to smother the flames, but with the grass chest-high in some places and extremely dry, fire moves fast and burns hot. In addition to no significant rain for a couple months (this is typical), this is also the windy season. The "Smokey the Bear" warnings my generation grew up on are pretty important around here at this time of year. To pay the balance of his school fees a student is currently slashing the tall grass around the new avocado trees. Usually this grass would have been cut by weedwhacker earlier in the year, but a part is missing from our machine and has been on back-order but hasn't come. Nothing like a small fire to encourage us to get that missing piece and finish the slashing! This fire was, thankfully, on the western edge of the school grounds and moved away from the school. Between cars (which are much more numerous here than they used to be) and clothes hung out to dry (one or two clotheslines are always occupied), had the wind been blowing east towards the school would have had much bigger trouble. VEGETABLE GARDENA couple weeks ago I stepped out of a classroom after preparation for the next day. I smelled smoke, and looking west towards the houses, saw it. This is the driest time of the year and I was annoyed with myself that I had not slashed the grass around the young avocado trees (see above as to why). The fire was put out quickly, however, and I was off the hook. I passed by the burned grass and found Mr. TJ Mamba (Yenzie's dad) going at the scorched ground with a pickax. I asked if he was digging a new trash pit; he said "No, I'm putting in a vegetable garden". He is convinced, 6 months after its installation, that our sliding gate at the school is a reliable barrier to marauding goats and cows. I am glad he has this confidence; this means that the school grounds can come under sustained cultivation, both for decoration and food. SUCCESS STORIESLast Friday we had Open Day, when parents come to meet teachers and hear about their childrens' progress. Everything went well. The best part for me was seeing Lucky Nkambule (a former student who now teaches here) and Nkhosingipile Khumalo (Lucky's classmate, who now drives delivery trucks in South Africa) chatting after Open Day ended. There stood two young people with established careers after finishing school. It is sometimes disheartening to think about students who spend years unemployed after school. Now I can remember these two in those moments. ************June 28, 2008THE WEEKEND THAT ALMOST WASN'TWe had an incredibly great Saturday last week, but we almost didn't make it. Rudy is on crutches from a sprained ankle. On Friday morning Ruth was vomiting and was non-mobile much of the day. Friday evening Rudy felt sick in his stomach and had a fever. With Rudy laid up, I had all the preparations to make for the weekend and I went through "meltdown". When the meager meal I had managed to prepare turned out to be inedible (new spice mix), I threw it all out the back door and went to the bathroom and cried. Fortunately the girls were cooperative and Rudy was able to watch them while I cleaned up things for a couple of hours (we have found this to be my best stress reliever). I was ready to cancel the whole trip. We all went to bed early. Rudy and I got up bright and cheerful at 3:45 am on Saturday. I was able to get the rest of the preparations done so that we could catch the bus at 7:00 am. We were perfectly healthy all day. YOU NEVER KNOWA year or two ago a college student at University of Florida got in contact with ECHO through his friend's parents who are working there. A group of UF students had founded a non-profit called SwaziAID. The Hargrave's at ECHO contacted us; they thought we might be helpful. We had a great time last year hosting one of their members (Brandi) for a couple of days. We met with another (Ed) while we were visiting ECHO in December. We happened to run across him in Mbabane right after he arrived in Swaziland this year. Saturday June 21 Ruth attended a gathering hosted by SwaziAID. They have been working to build a network of groups interested in doing trial plantings of Moringa (an edible tree whose leaves are often used in nutrition programs). The Swazi government wants to verify that the plant is not invasive before they allow widespread distribution. I had a great time that day, meeting some wonderful people with similar interests. It was so fun to learn what others were doing and to get specific questions answered (what do you use for potting soil for your seedlings and how are you fertilizing them?) It was great to see what these three students had managed to accomplish. They have done a great job researching, networking, and lobbying. They presented some information about moringa that I didn't know. They have a clear long-term plan from initial trials to raising awareness/demand to marketing networks (it helps to have an interdisciplinary team--I am so used to focusing on the agricultural end of things, I never would have thought on that scale). At the end of the day, one of the group said that the germ of the idea was spawned during Brandi's visit last year. A group of us who attended the meeting are interested in forming a Swaziland agricultural network. SwaziAID members said they would be willing to provide the technical assistance to set up the communication channels (email, blog, website, database, mail, etc.) I would find this such a blessing. We are really isolated from the work of others. You never know what will come from a little conversation, contact, or deed. It is nice to see a little tangible outcome this once. BIRTHDAY PARTYWhile I was attending the Moringa meeting, Rudy took the older girls to a birthday party. They had such a good time. When I arrived home 7 hours after it ended, they were bursting with excitement and with great wonder showed me the bags of goodies they got when they left--3 sweets, 2 suckers, a fancy pencil, a flashlight, a bag of chips. I love their enthusiasm. We have been reading one of the "Little House" books, "By the Banks of Plum Creek". It does such a good job of capturing that childhood enthusiasm over simple things--a couple of pieces of Christmas candy, a Christmas tree, a new dress, a string of buttons. THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASEA couple of newsletters ago we wrote about MK Dlamini, the former headmaster, and how he has appeared in the newspaper twice with respect to school affairs. The school he was volunteering at had no headmaster assigned to it, and only one volunteer teacher. He took his situation to the newspaper, and they came out and wrote up a couple stories. MK came by recently to see about Rudy's leg, and he informed us that the school now has a headmaster and 6 teachers. The woman assigned to be the school principal read MK's stories in the paper, and a few days later was assigned to the school. Former headmaster Dlamini knows how to make things happen. TESTIMONYRudy became a Christian in Swaziland in 1991. On the 17th anniversary (Monday, June 23) of that happy event, he addressed the students at assembly. He explained the significance of this date to his life, and he thanked the students (though most of them weren't born yet), their siblings, their parents, and other Swazis for their witness. Because Swaziland expresses its Christian faith, Swaziland witnessed to him. He thanked them because they gave him the greatest gift anyone can give to another person: faith in Christ. Though he was prepared for tears on his own part, they didn't come. But he does feel great thankfulness and a sense of obligation to numerous Swazis for the gift of faith. ***************June 21, 2008AIDSThis is a good article and is certainly relevant to this neck of the woods.South African Teachers Union: "We Won't Give Condoms to Kids"African Countries with the highest condom usage have highest HIV infection ratesThaddeus M. Baklinski CAPE TOWN, May 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) The National Professional Teachers' Organization of South Africa announced on Friday that they have no plans to hand out condoms to pupils. Instead, they are encouraging teachers to advocate abstinence. Union spokesman Mogamad Gasant stated, "We will not hand out condoms to learners. We do not support such a move in the Western Cape or in any of the other provinces. According to Gasant, distributing condoms is the work of social services and other organizations dealing with such issues, and affirmed that a teacher's responsibility is only to educate pupils about these issues. "The educational side of HIV and sexual responsibility is covered in the life orientation curriculum. Going beyond that and handing out condoms, the union will not endorse or support. We are rather encouraging our members to teach abstinence as the first line of defense." African Countries with the highest condom usage, often encouraged or coerced by the United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) program, including Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, are the countries with the highest HIV infection rates. Countries with less condom use and organized abstinence programs in their schools, such as Uganda, Senegal, and Kenya, have much lower HIV rates. Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan AIDS activist who has long condemned the United Nation's insistence on promoting condoms over abstinence, said in a previous LifeSiteNews report that, “UNAIDS has no success story. UNAIDS cannot point at any country where they have given advice and that country has brought HIV down." The World Bank also reiterated this observation. Despite the UN having swamped South Africa with condoms, especially during the past decade, AIDS continues to ravage the country. Uganda, however, has had singular success in combating the deadly virus, and has done so with little reliance on condoms. In fact, recent published studies reveal that reliance on condoms can contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS, and these studies offer support to South African teachers. Medical journalist Sue Ellin Browder, who writes for Crisis Magazine, said, “So far, there’s no good evidence that condoms will reverse population-wide epidemics like those in sub-Saharan Africa,” and offered evidence that dramatic increases in condom distribution in African nations paralleled an explosion in HIV/AIDS infection rates within the population. "Promoting abstinence and marital faithfulness has had the only significant measurable impact on reducing HIV infection rates in Africa. The country of Uganda has achieved an unprecedented reduction in HIV transmission rates, up to 18%, with a program known as the ABC approach—‘A’ stands for ‘abstinence’ and ‘B’ for ‘be faithful.’ ‘C’, for ‘condom use’ is suggested only as a last-ditch effort to find some protection from the disease, recommended as a partial safety net for those who insist on engaging in high-risk sexual behaviour," she concluded. ********************June 14, 2008SPORTSThe girls' netball team won their first 3 games; they advance to the knockout round. This is a massive improvement over last year, when they lost all 5 of their games, albeit by smaller and smaller margins (their last loss was by a single point; the school clapped at assembly when it was announced). It is very heartening to see how well they are doing this year. The boys are facing different prospects. They won their first game 3-2, got pummeled 6-2 in their second, and drew their third 1-1. The 6-2 humiliation and the 1-1 draw were on a Wednesday and Friday, respectively, of the same week. They led the Friday game for almost 80 minutes, conceding the one goal with one minute left. This was, of course, heartbreaking; they took the coaching staff's advice to guard their men closely to heart, and played a spirited game. Now they must beat Mater Dolorosa School to hope to advance. MDS is well-known for being a soccer school. This final game of the first round was supposed to be played on the 11th, but with the king calling the nation to the royal residence (and perhaps some other reasons I'm unaware of), the game won't be played until July 2 (talk about pushing things back!). This will give the team time to tune up and get in shape; frankly, the boys are allergic to fitness training. I run the drills with them, and they complain that I run too fast. How can a 40 year old outrun teenagers? It has been an enjoyable soccer season. I like the chance to get out and play and exercise, and the team is showing signs of jelling and pulling for each other. With our backs to the wall in a must-win situation against a tough team, this has the potential of a storybook sports story. We'll see. HOP AROUND TOWNUnfortunately, I won't be training with the team between now and July 2. I was refereeing a scrimmage between the first and second string teams when, less than 5 minutes into the game, I tripped on a rock and twisted my right ankle. It swelled to the size of a small orange in minutes. Strangely, it hurt a lot right after the injury but within 10 minutes didn't hurt at all. Two students traded off carrying me piggy-back to the house. We called Dr. Wasswa, our Ugandan family doctor, and he said to come in and get a note from him to get an X-ray at the Mbabane Clinic (where Cubby and Kit were born). He said to see him before he closed at 4PM. It was after 3 when I spoke with him. Ruth found Mr. Thwala, who was willing to take me in. Minutes before 4 we arrived in town at a red light a few yards from the office. I clambered out of the car, determined to beat the 4PM deadline. Must have been quite a sight: this white guy with shaved head and full beard, jumping out of a pickup truck at a traffic light and hopping on his flip-flop-clad left foot across the intersection and up the street. Act natural, and maybe no one will notice. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed people noticing. Dr. Wasswa gave me the note, and Mr. Thwala carted me to the Clinic. An X-ray revealed NO BROKEN BONES (good), but probing by the orthopedic surgeon revealed a moderate sprain. I'm on crutches, and hope to cast them off in 3 or so weeks, with full recovery in 6. I am disappointed, but it could be a lot worse. I will miss the practices. My colleagues and the students are very supportive and helpful. There are times when I feel like a real outsider here (Which, at a fundamental level, I am); but experiences like this one are happy reminders that we do have some heart ties to the folks here. SIHLANGUThis is the name of Swaziland's national soccer team. You soccer fans will know that the first round of qualifying games for World Cup 2010 have begun. On Sunday, Swaziland played its first game against Togo and won 2-1! It is the first game Sihlangu has won in 5 years, and they blanked Togo until the final 3 minutes. Soccer fans will also remember that Togo was in Germany in 2006. It is a LONG way for Sihlangu to reach South Africa, but "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". And this was one exciting game. Our goalkeeper denied Arsenal-based Emmanuel Odebayor one-on-one. It was a party. NEW FACESWe have three new teachers! This is astonishing; we have gone over a year waiting for teachers in the past. We have a replacement for Mr. Shabangu who died in April. The new teacher (Mr. Khumalo) is a former student of Nsukumbili and did his practice teaching here some while ago. We also have a temporary teacher (Ms. Nhlabatsi) doing history and math, and a third teacher (Mr. Gama) in training doing his practice teaching in the sciences. This third teacher has taken my Form 4 chemistry class (form 4 is roughly junior year in high school). UPS AND DOWNSI saw a former student (Machawe Nsibandze) in town a couple weeks ago; he reports that he's doing telecommunication itstallations in South Africa. Thumbs up! I also met the brother of a student I had in the 1990s; my former student died a couple of years ago. Thumbs down. Amazing how ups and downs can follow right on each others' heels. A Peace Corps colleague of mine years ago said living overseas is a rollercoaster. He was right. DROP ZONEWe attended church in town last Sunday. The girls are good in church, but for 3 kids under 6, church isn't necessarily the most exciting thing. They mill about in the pew and look for things to do. One thing Grace likes to do is hold Hope, which she does pretty well. This time, however, Gracie lost the handle. I watched as Hope (better known by her pre-birth name "Kit") slipped from Grace's hands and fell face-first onto the kneeler. I threw back my head in frustration, Ruth scrambled for the crying baby, and Grace sought solace from Ruth or I (I forget which) because she felt terrible. Kit forgot it in 5 minutes, Grace was over it by the end of Mass, and we had a nice Sunday getting groceries and riding home on a not-so-crowded bus afterward. Life in the slow lane-and we like it. From Ruth--"THE DAYS ARE LONG BUT THE YEARS ARE SHORT"I was talking with another mother recently and she passed on this quote. It seems just right. I've been feeling the long days recently. During this last week a church member has been coming to our house to sew award sashes for the Sunday School at the rural church we attend. I cancelled school for the girls the first day that he came so that I could give the project my full attention. He worked six hours. My "full attention" was about 1 1/2 hours. The rest of the time was taken up with childcare, cooking, and necessary household duties. It was a good reminder why I was not sewing the sashes myself. With Rudy on crutches the days are even longer. There are a lot of household tasks that he normally does that I have to pick up. There are trips over to the school to take things to him. I thought I was handling everything pretty well until this afternoon when Cubby unexpectedly "tossed her cookies" all over her bed. Vomit had to be washed out of three blankets by hand. Kit is getting very mobile and seems to find it difficult to amuse herself with allowable activities. After getting into her parents' books about 30 times and strewing the trash all over the kitchen floor, I put her into lockdown and strapped her on my back so that I could do laundry at the back sink without fear of having the house torn apart. After dinner, Rudy sent all three girls to their room so that we could have a little time together. When I went to check on them, I found all of their clothes pulled off the shelves and scattered on the floor. Apparently Kit did a job on Cubby's shelf, then Cubby got inspired and pulled everything off Grace's shelf. Cubby was curled up in a blanket on Grace's shelf--she wanted to sleep there for the night. I couldn't see Grace. Cubby lifted the blanket and there was Grace, curled up on Cubby's clothing shelf. We put them both in the lower bunk. With their blankets wet on the line, they had to share one of my blankets. So separate shelves were not going to work. I put them on the bottom bunk--if there are more upset stomachs they are closer to the potty or at least to the cement floor. (How many times I have been grateful for our easy-clean concrete floors). Rudy was able to get Kit to fall asleep this evening (a small miracle). The dishes are almost done. It is only 9:20--maybe it won't be such a long day after all. ************June 2, 2008BEANBALLTwo weeks ago at the outstation church the children brought a ball made of bread bags. The kids simply wrap one bag around another and another until they have something in size from a baseball to a soccer ball. This ball was baseball size, and somehow I got involved in their game. I simply chased them and threw the ball as hard as I could at them. The nice thing was that no matter how hard I threw it, it never hurt when it hit them; balled-up bread bags are pretty forgiving. I chased them around and around the (one) car in the (half-full) "parking lot", occasionally jumping up and throwing the ball down at them from above. They were having a great time. So was the guy throwing the ball. SOCCER AND NETBALLWe won our first games in each sport! Soccer I'm sure you're familiar with, netball is a girls sport very much like basketball but without the dribbling. Last year the soccer team only won one game and the netball team lost all of them-though they lost by a smaller and smaller margin each time. If the trend continues, the netball girls should be beating teams by 40 points by the end of the season! NISELANisela Game Preserve was established in the mid 1990s in the lowveld, just south of Big Bend (you Swaziland RPCVs get the idea). The school staff had the idea that we needed a "team building" event, and a trip to Nisela was the destination chosen by vote. We had a great time, leaving the school at 8AM on Friday, May 30 and returning to the school the same evening about 6PM. Interestingly, we didn't go out on a animal-viewing tour; I was a little puzzled by this, but we did go out on foot to where they keep two lions and got to see them from about 10 feet (and two tall fences) away. Lions really do have as deep a growl as you hear on tv. Even without the tour we had a good time eating all the food we brought with us. The "team building" goal was achieved. ROTO-ROOTERWhen I got back to school Friday night, I passed first by the front door. The kids had been "baking", which means innumerable discarded tupperware and other used milk, orange juice, butter cartons etc. rescued from the trash pits were filled with mud and strewn around the front door. The door itself had mud splattered on it. A variation on a coffee ad from the 1970s flashed across my mind: "I love the kids' playing; it's the mess on the house I can do without". I went to the backyard to throw trash into the burn barrel and noticed water seeping from under the drain cover. Hoping for the best, I asked Ruth "Have the kids been playing on top of the drain cover?" An apprehensive "No" was her answer. Looked like the sewer line was blocked again. This has happened before. I was too tired and it was too dark to do anything that night, so I spent the last waking hours thinking about how to fix it the next day. Early Saturday morning I walked out and turned off the water supply to the school; this would allow the drains to clear. About 6AM Ruth and I went out with our black pipe, removed the drain cover, and shoved the pipe into the sewer. The black plastic irrigation pipe, about 20 yards long and 4 inches in diameter, is stiff enough to push straight down a hole but flexible enough to take moderate bends. Seemed like I was wrestling a gargantuan black mamba as I tried to get 20 yards of black pipe (some of which looped over my head at times) at the correct angle into the sewer. Ruth stood over the other drain and waited to see the pipe (and hopefully the obstruction) emerge. It didn't. So I went to where she was and drove the pipe "uphill", from the cover where she stood towards the house. Nothing of note happened, though it was exciting to do this in the half-light of a mid-winter morning with 25 mph wind gusts and trying to get Ruth out of the house to the bus stop by 6:45. Having tried to get at the problem from two directions and running out of time (and remembering that folks want their water on when they get out of bed in the morning), we decided to leave it for a day or two and see what happened. So far, things seem back to normal. I just hope something worse isn't lurking down there, waiting to give me a bigger problem next time. HIGH JUMPLater on that day I took the 3 girls to their swimming hole. A number of other children were there, and they set up a "high jump" apparatus. They stuck two reeds with their leaves at the top still on them into the river sand and put a third reed across the two, resting on the leaves. They then climbed onto a big rock and jumped off it, over the high jump, and landed on the sand. As they cleared the bar, they raised it by moving the "crossbar" onto higher and higher leaves. I gave them a 9.8 for creativity. Next item is on abortion. If you support abortion, you might not want to read on. BUt I hope you will.GRIM STATISTICSI had the opportunity to attend a morning church service a week ago with the nuns at the church in Mbabane. One of the sisters offered a prayer for China. Lacking internet, television, and radio at the house, I didn't know what the issue was. A glance at a Yahoo headline told me that an estimated 60,000 Chinese had died in a massive earthquake. While this tragic reality settled in, a thought crossed my mind; with approximately 4000 abortions daily in the US, how long does it take for the abortion license to take as many lives as the China earthquake? A pocket calculator tells you: 15 days. Abortion creates two China earthquakes worth of death every month. If what is in the womb is a person-and medical technology increasingly confirms that it is-then we face a numbingly large loss of life due to abortion. Unlike earthquakes, this gross loss of life is preventable. I encourage all people of good will concerned about fairness, justice and the protection of innocent life to help mothers (and their unborn babies) in crisis pregnancies get access to choices better than abortion. ***********May 31, 2008FUNERALThe funeral for my Swazi uncle's mother took place Sunday morning. Sunday morning is our major family outing of the week; we take a 2 hour walk to church that day. We also had Yenzile with us this Sunday. I wanted to get to the funeral, so I got Cubby (Faith) up at 3:30AM and walked to the homestead under moonlight (and hand-crank flashlight). Faith was not the least bit scared, and she got up without complaining (maybe her brain just wasn't engaged at that hour). We actually spent an hour in the car of a friend, staying warm (nighttime temps. are "chilly" for this part of the world-quotation marks around chilly for our Alaskan friends) and getting a small nap. We then got out and milled around, shaking hands and making small talk. The casket was carried to the gravesite as dawn approached; amidst more hyms and short passages of scripture and with the sun rising, the casket was lowered into the grave. I was struck at the moment by the juxtaposition of a body going into the dark ground as the sun lit up the earth. As a Christian, this epitomized what I and 2 billion other people on earth hold dear: that as hard and sad as it is to say farewell to loved ones on earth, that moment of closure and darkness is the doorway to a life more glorious and fulfilling than our greatest dreams and desires in this life. As much as I hate death, I can have confidence that death in this world is not death forever; that when "the gray rain curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass...a far green country under a swift sunrise", as Gandalf puts it in Tolkien's "The Return of the King"; or as some Easter liturgies put it, "Christ is risen from the dead; by death He trampled death, and to those in the tomb He granted life"; there is reward and peace and joy for those who have hitched their wagons to the One who accepted undeserved death to defeat death and bring life-a life that cannot be ended-in its place. A bit verbose, perhaps; but the burial of a long-lived Swazi, amidst songs celebrating the Resurrection sung high atop a hill in Dlangeni under a bright sunrise is cause for verbosity. GARDENING AT NIGHTWe have a new gate for the school that is genuinely cow and goat proof; this bodes well for plants on the school grounds. It is also manned 24 hours; this bodes very well for agriculture inside the fence. Thing is, it is hard to stay awake from 5:30PM to 5:30AM; I really do feel for the guy who has that shift. They have built a small guard house, but that's still 12 hours through the dead of night, in the cold and the dark. The past few mornings, we have heard the weedwhacker going. When I say "morning", I mean it. Friday morning, the weedwhacker was going full-tilt before 4AM. How does he know what to aim at? We've had full and nearly-full moons this week. Rural Africa: bird-songs on the cusp of dawn, silver stars under a cool breeze, the hornet's-nest whine of an ECHO grasscutter...but I am sure it keeps Mr. Hlophe awake in that last hour. I don't blame him a bit. I'd do the same in his position. VISITORSA group of 22 Baptist Christians from the USA have been at the school this week. They have spent most of their time visiting local churches and homesteads doing evangelism and preaching. We have very much enjoyed their company. We took them on two hikes, one to the beautiful waterfalls about an hour away and one to the girls' favorite swimming hole. They were much braver than I when it came to getting into the late fall/early winter water-this may be Africa, but that water is cold! They also got an extra suprise (and we did too) when, upon emerging from their swim, they found numerous very small leeches on them. Fortunately they are easy to get off before they do any damage. They left Thursday morning for Kruger National Park; from there it's off to Johannesburg and their return to the US. We pray them Godspeed. ROLL THE PRESSESOur former headmaster, MK Dlamini, is a proactive man. It was upon his invitation that we found ourselves here in 2003. In 2004 made the government move when he barred Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) from registering for classes until the government paid the tuition money they promised (two years before) for these OVCs. The newspaper wrote a story covering that event, including a photo of MK making his point. Government paid up, and the students were allowed in. Since his retirement in 2006, MK has volunteered his time to help start a school in his home area (just over the hills from Nsukumbili). The school has a few buildings, but only he and one other volunteer are the teachers; since January, the department of education hasn't assigned any other instructors. MK and the volunteer were doing their best, but how can two teachers offer a complete instructional course to dozens of students? On Tuesday, the paper printed a batch of short stories about the school MK is trying to help. It once again had his photo and some comments from him and the volunteer teacher about their need for teachers. I saw him the same day (he sometimes comes to see his wife Ruth and his daughter Tenele, both of whom teach here) and I smilingly mentioned that I saw his picture in the paper. He said "Ah, as long as I am alive I will be in the newpaper!" MK is a great guy; I hope the newspaper stories prompts some assigning of teachers to the school. *********May 17, 2008PASSINGSTJ Mamba, Yenzile's dad, appeared briefly at the school last Friday (9 May). while school is out, most teachers are not around; instead they go to their familial homesteads, which might be anywhere in the country. He was having problems getting his car started, for electrical reasons. A roll-start down the hill got him on his way. He needed to be in Mbabane at 8AM (it was 7AM) to make funeral arrangements for his brother. His emphasis seemed to indicate that this was a very close relative; I think he meant a brother of the same parents as his own. We never like to hear such stories. TJ left the following Tuesday night for his homestead to make funeral arrangements. We arranged to keep Yenzile with us, because he will be gone until Sunday, 18 May. The girls-all 4 of them-have enjoyed having Yenzie around. I have enjoyed making Yenzie's breakfast-a piece of bread with toast, a fried egg, and a cup of tea. It's Friday night now, and all 3 girls are in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. Ruth and I expected a late-night slumber party, but the emphasis turns out to be on the slumber; they were silent 5 minutes after putting them in bed. I think all the other nights of giggling wore them out. Also last week we learned that the mother of my Swazi uncle (the brother of my Swazi dad; in Swaziland this man would be called my "small father", or "babe lomncane") died. She was quite old, so this wasn't such a blow. HOMESTEAD VISITCubby and I spent the morning at the homestead (that's when we learned of my uncle's mom's passing). Cubby and I husked corn for a while; Cubby is slow, but thorough! After that she and I watered some planting furrows into which my Swazi dad and his wife put spinach transplants. He told me that in about 1 month they will be eating and selling spinach. I told them that I was glad they work so hard, putting food on their table and money in their pockets. We joked about how in the mid-1990s the schoolteachers went on a strike for higher pay. The government responded by not paying the teachers as long as they weren't teaching. The teachers finally "got hungry" and went back to work. The best part of this conversation with my Swazi dad was that it was almost all in SiSwati. We had lots of laughs about "no work-no pay", and the fact that it was in SiSwati made it all the better. PARATROOPER BROTHERAnother member of the homestead-Bheki Dlamini-is a soldier, and a paratrooper! He said the first time he jumped he was a little scared, but after that he enjoyed it. He showed me some of the "dance moves" he employs on his way down. Looked like something of the Cubby Checker "Twist" era. He is now married. This homestead is a constant encouragement to me. I am very blessed to have been landed in it as a Peace Corps volunteer almost 20 years ago. INYOKA!Our girls and their friends like to play "inyoka", which is SiSwati for "snake". It is basically tag. The girls really like it when dad plays; so today, I played the snake around and around the mud-wall church we attend. The best part was chasing them around a corner and then turning around and running the other way, so that we met head-on at the opposite side of the church. The shrieks and looks of suprise on their faces were priceless. They finally figured out, though, that they just had to look through the windows from the other side and see that I had changed direction. But it was a great time. ALLERGY RELIEFSome folks have e-mailed us concerning Ruth's allergy problem. Our M.D., Doctor Wasswa from Uganda, appears to have cracked the code with a medicine she squirts right into her nose. A couple of times before bed, Ruth has muttered with awed gratefulness, "It's nice to breathe so easily and not cough". Doctor Wasswa sends the bunch of us out of his office without a consultation fee about a third of the time; we can't figure out why (we don't have financial difficulties), but it sure is nice. SCHOOLS OPENSchool opened Tuesday, May 13. This was one of our best school breaks ever. Ruth and I planned what to do early; as a result, we had a great balance of things we did together, things we did on our own, and time in town with friends. We hope your last or next vacation can be as satisfying as ours was.*************May 7, 2008SINGLE ISSUEWe read First Things magazine. The April edition has an article entitled "AIDS and the Churches". The authors have hit the nail on the head. Click here (http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6172) to read it, and pass it to others. *******************May 3, 2008This last week has been a wonderful time to host visitors at our home. That doesn't sound real exciting, but this is quite unusual. We live about an hour's drive from Mbabane and our "town friends" and our "church friends" rarely ever make it out to our place. Feeding groups of people is also more interesting when you usually carry your groceries on your back and there is no way to run out and pick up the few things you forgot. One lovely thing about Mbabane and Swaziland in general is how small it is. I grew up in Orlando and never expected to meet by chance people who I knew. Here, every outing is a social occassion. Tuesday April 22 we were walking by the grocery store in Mbabane and happened to run into Ed Lin, a University of Florida student that we had met in Florida who will be spending several months here. While we were with him, we happened to run into Kimber, a Southern Baptist short term missionary who was planning to come to our school on Thursday to play soccer with a group of girls. By the time we parted, Ed was scheduled to come with Kimber on Thursday to see our place and talk about his work trying to set up Moringa trials (Moringa is a tree with very nutritious edible leaves). When Thursday arrived we were glad to see Kimber, Ed, and they brought along Maggie, a Peace Corps volunteer who Ed happened to meet who is also interested in agriculture. Rudy, our girls, and our visitors all attended the inaugural practice for Nsukumbili Girl's Soccer. The big question was--would anyone come. But there were about 20 girls there and quite a few bystanders. I suspect that the amusement value was high for our rural community where there isn't much going on. Ed and Maggie stayed overnight and enjoyed hiking out to a waterfall the next day. The next Tuesday we had friends from church come over to dine. The Mubiru's are a lovely family we know from our little outstation church. Godfrey teaches science at Mzimba High School, the next one down the road. We just really enjoy their family. They have a small son named Grace (about 3 yrs old) who our Grace just loves. The two are practically inseparable at church. Gracie (ours) wanted a "kid's table" for the four children. Rudy disappeared down the hallway and made a triumphant entry with an old door. Two concrete blocks later, we had four children happily sitting on a "monkey pad" at their kid's table. Thursday was Ascension Day. We planned to go to Mbabane for church. We were waiting at the bus stop and by 7:10 we suspected that there would be no bus since it was a holiday. There was an unfamiliar bus parked across the street so Rudy went to talk to the people near it. It wasn't moving, but the owner of it wanted to go to town, so he called a friend of his who ran a combi (passenger van) to come get us all. The combi came. We got in. We got halfway to town and it overheated. Everyone got out and "mobbed" the next empty pickup that came by. We finished the trip in the back of a pickup. Grace is a real pro. She sat daintily on the wheelwell and you wouldn't have known the vehical was moving from watching her. I was not so dainty. I found it difficult to sit nicely, hold my baby and my hat, and keep my skirt from flying up in embarressing directions. When we got to church, Hope was fussy and required a lot of attention, a diaper change, and a few trips out of the service. I was annoyed. What was the point of making a big effort to get to church only to miss most of it? I was very resentful. Gradually it dawned on me that the service wasn't about what I could get out of it. It was a sacrifice for God's sake. My angry, resentful heart was not exactly a lovely sacrifice. If I choose to love my daughter and care for her inconvenient needs out of love for God, that could be my act of spiritual worship. I am learning that God doesn't just communicate through verbal instruction (preaching)--which I was missing. There is a non-verbal communication that comes when I align my heart with love. I was deeply humbled, very appreciative of God's mercy, and I probably got more out of that service than out of the last 20 that I attended without interruption. After church, we met up with friends who will soon be leaving Swaziland. Peter Aziba is a Nigerian who is a professor at the University of Swaziland. We met him at the cathedral in Manzini. He is a faithful Christian with a heart for reaching others. He has been a real encouragement to our family. He introduced us to the Yoders. Mr. Yoder is an American teaching at the University of Swaziland under the Fulbright program. We drove back here, ate, did the obligatory garden tour (I won't let any visitors leave without showing them my plants), then planned to do a little hiking. A rushing bank of storm clouds spoiled those plans and sent our visitors scurrying back to town before the roads turned to mud. It stormed at night. The power dropped to 110 volts. In the morning we had no electricity, impassable roads, no cell phone signal and guests scheduled to arrive for lunch. We had arranged for the Sunday School teachers at our rural church to come, meet, and dine with us. "This is going to be a truly African day. We will see what happens." The power came back on, the cell phone signal came back, and amazingly all three of our Sunday School teachers made it. There was no transport so they walked--at least 2 hours to get to us. I was elated. I presented an idea of having awards for Sunday School--create a challenge to engage the older kids. They were enthusiastic (many of the older kids come from their families) and we decided to use an award sash so that when people ask "what is this one for" the child has a chance to become a teacher and review what he has learned. Most of the churches here have distinctive uniforms that people wear to church, so this would be something for our church. We wanted the awards to be inexpensive enough that the church could continue doing it without outside financial support if we leave. I will be experimenting with rubber stamps and permanant ink on fabric and see what other ideas I can come up with for a demo. We also talked about having a demonstration garden at church. They will start the process of seeking permission from the local chief to do this. I'd love to see that happen this year. We were reminded of the importance of fences. One of our teachers was away from home and the cows pushed through his fence and ate all of his corn crop. The bishop has arranged to help him with food now. I have been eyeing nasty thorny plants and wondering how effective a hedge outside of the fence would be in keeping cows and goats at bay. These are the kinds of things that make me happy to be here. I am really grateful for the school breaks and for a husband who made it possible for me to do agricultural and community work during this break. ********************April 26, 2008AGRICULTURAL ADVENTURES Today you get to hear from Ruth. I have been alternating between elation and despair recently. Elation that I think I have something worthwhile to pass on. Despair that the problems are deeper and the "answers" I have unworkable. Last year we did forage/green manure trials. Of all the plants that we tried, the two that are are still alive and rather impressive are the lablab (a vining bean) and pigeon pea (a small shrub/tree that lives about 4 years). Both of them are fixing nitrogen and growing prolifically. Both of them had some plants that survived last winter's frost and have thrived with no care through the summer. They both have edible seeds (the lablab seed is resistant to insect damage here). A third plant that is worth further trial is a creeping peanut relative that isn't impressive looking, but has thrived as a low growing ground cover. My elation comes from the fact that it feels like this provides some clear focus to the agriculture that we do. You can't do much agriculturally if you don't have good soil. For the poorer families here, they don't use fertilizer and they don't have animals for manure. If these plants will grow on their poorest soils, there is a good chance that they can make those soils productive. We plan to grow maize this next year using a program developed by one of Zimbabwe's Farmers of the Year. It is called Farming God's Way. It combines agricultural methodology with Biblical lessons and character development. Earlier this year I attended a seminar put on by an older American who grew up in Africa and has spent most of his adult life working here. It was called "God's Answers to Poverty". One of the things he said was "the poor have money." He also talked about how important it was to start looking around and see the resources that you had. Much of the battle against poverty is fought in the mind and in the habits that people develop. A friend of ours has agreed to do a test plot on his land this year. We helped him harvest his maize today. The yield ranged from moderate to awful. Some of the land was planted, weeded, and yielded nothing. We are going to try growing some green manures on the poorest soil and try a mulched/no-till system and see if we can get some decent yields on that poor soil. While harvesting we asked a lot of questions about how he grew his maize. One thing that stood out was his comment that they had not fertilized any of their land. That statement summarizes why I flip between elation and despair. Here is a poor family who hasn't been eating well recently because they don't grow enough maize to last through the year. But as Peter Kopp says "the poor have money." I know this family has a couple of sources of money that would be sufficient to buy fertilizer. We know the young man well enough to have had frank discussions with him about many things including money. We see that people do what is important to them. There is enough money to buy a cell phone and keep it running. There is enough money to buy food from the "canteen" most days rather than eat the school's free food. Yet buying fertilizer is not enough of a priority to make it happen. That is why I appreciate the approaches that both the "Farming God's Way" and the "God's Answers to Poverty" exemplify. They both deal with habits, values, and priorities in a way that is likely to be compelling to those who value the Bible's teaching and who are internally motivated to please God as well as being motivated by the profit potential. One such lesson is "you have to give in order to get." Once people start asking "How can I give to my land? How can I be a good steward of this land that has been entrusted to me? How can I help my land exhibit fruitfulness and prosperity so that it sings the praises of God?" They are likely to start finding answers that will help lift them out of poverty. The other source of despair is seeing the weaknesses in what I have to offer. I was hopeful that we could develop a way of growing green manures during the dry season. The difficulty is that cows and goats roam freely during the dry season and fences are not strong enough to keep them out if your field is a tempting green and everything else around is dead. Here is a situation where the wealthier (who have animals) profit at the expense of the poorer (who could do more agriculture if there were no wandering beasts). I suspect that we could collect seed from wild plants and do a good trial on hedge options that could supplement fences in providing animal protection. But I want to see if our friend is motivated enough to do a collection trip with me. I have learned that you are wasting your time if you put out all of the effort and the recipient of your "generosity" has nothing invested. I am really grateful to my husband who has made my agricultural efforts possible these last few days by taking Hope with him during this school break. We have a rather strange baby--she sleeps great at night and always has, but she won't sleep during the day unless she is in my arms nursing or on our back in a baby carrier. I can't succeed in putting her down and having her go to sleep. Even if I nurse her to sleep, the moment I put her in her bed, she starts screaming bloody murder and will not stop. This makes her very high maintenance during the day and makes it very difficult for me to do anything agriculturally. I am becoming more adept at various tasks with a baby tied to my back, but it isn't something I find pleasant (frankly she is heavy). I also have found that my mood soars when I have a chance to do agricultural things. I think I had a little post-partum depression through January. Since we returned to Swaziland I have had continual and frustrating battles with allergies, asthma, and sinus infections that last for a month at a time. These wear down my spirit and make me wonder how long we can stay here (I don't have these health problems in the US). I am starting to ask "What do I need to do to help my body fight off these infections effectively?" It is the same question that HIV positive people have to ask. Some of the answers are the same including the importance of having a positive attitude. Doing agricultural work that has the potential to improve the lives of the poorer members of our community is probably the best medicine that I can have. A teacher here has given us permission to use half of his field in the school garden to do our trial of the "Farming God's Way" method of maize growing. Our friend is going to do a trial with us on his land. I hope to talk to our rural church and see if we can put in a test plot there. If it is successful, I would love to be able to have our church be a place where people are challenged to apply Biblical principles to their farming and their lives. Years ago at an ECHO conference a missionary made a statement that amazed me. It was something like, "Christian faith should impact how a man plants his corn." I didn't understand it much then, but now I am starting to appreciate the wisdom of that statement. My hope is that I will grow in my ability to live that out and to communicate that message to others. My time at ECHO helped me to appreciate that God has provided us with an abundant creation. Our challenge is to work with it and learn to use it in a way that the poorest can prosper. Brian Oldreive, the founder of "Farming God's Way" believes that Africa will not be renewed until the "least of these", the rural farmer learns to be a good steward of the land. If people can learn to do their farming work "on-time, to high standards, and with joy" there can be a financial, spiritual, and moral renewal here that will work its way up the layers of society. It is a vision of Hope. Hope is sorely needed here. May you live with a joyful hope,***************April 5, 2008PASSINGMr. Shabangu, an agriculture teacher, died on Wednesday. He had been sick for maybe a month, been moved to a good hospital in the Ezulwini Valley (between Mbabane and Manzini), and we all hoped for a recovery. For those who pray, please pray for his family. I liked Mr. Shabangu; his death is a blow. TRASH DAY WITH DADDYI wanted to get rid of an old cardboard box rapidamente last week. I had Kit on my back, and I took the box and a little bit of leftover lacquer thinner with me to the burn barrel. Stuffed the box in the barrel, splashed some thinner on top, and just to be safe, backed up and flicked a match into the barrel. Good thing I did, and glad I could be the heat shield between the fire and Kit! I've rarely seen fire jump up so quickly and so large. It can be fun to be your own trash authority. TAKE A HIKEOn Saturday, 29 March and again on Tuesday, 1 April I went to town. I took a bus into town on Saturday and the back of a pickup truck on Tuesday, but returned to the school on foot both times, by different routes. I know I've said it before, but living in the middle of a hiking trail extravaganza is a real treat. GNB CLUBOn Wednesday Mr. N.M. Dlamini took the chastity club out for a community project. With 2 wheelbarrows, 4 shovels, and one pick, the 21 students filled some growing cracks in our dirt road. The cracks will just grow again with further rains, but the rains will be much attenuated for the next few months, and besides-the road is better now and the students did something good. "Abstinence" is a very good thing, but I think we need to give the young people something positive to do with the time between now and their marriages. The only downer of the undertaking was the demographic mix of club members: 20 girls, 1 boy. We have to reach the boys. MONEY MATTERSI used a spreadsheet to produce a graph on how a simple investment vehicle can make a small amount of money grow to eye-popping size over the long run. I gave it to my students and explained how it worked, and though they were skeptical about being able to save money when needs are forever pressing on them in the present, they were interested. On Tuesday I spoke with a bank officer who volunteered to come out and explain the usefulness of investing for the future. I look forward to arranging a time for her to do it. The students look forward to her visit. Though long-term investing won't solve all of our students' problems, I like to think it will help them think about the future and prepare for it. Some of them said "Mr. Poglitsh, what if I die before 30 years pass?" As I was speaking with students in their late teens and early 20s, you can calculate what they were considering in terms of life span. My hope is that looking at long-term investing will give them incentives to work to live another 40 years, which is about the time that the money in the investment starts to get really big.***************March 29, 2008BABY BHINDIRudy's parents sent Grace, Cub, and Hope a few thousand small stickers last year. They appear on collages by the girls, some of my school textbooks, and most recently on the center of Hope's forehead. She wore a "star bhindi" for two days before it came off (a bhindi is a small dot placed on the forehead of more traditional East Indian women). On Friday, Ruth, Grace, Hope (with a fresh bhindi, this time a smiley face), Cubby, and our dinner guest Yenzile all had stickers. Grace exuberantly exclaimed "We're Indians, we're all Indians!" as she donned her sticker. Never a dull moment around here. AVOCADO ORCHARDThe avocado seedlings, which we hope will become mighty windbreaks and food sources in a few years, are doing well! After getting the rabbit manure from the school to the house with the help of two students, a third student helped me 3 weeks ago to give each avocado tree a load of rabbit manure. With a few days of very good rain, the trees seem to have taken advantage of it. The leaves of most of the trees are a shiny deep green. So far, so good. We have not yet entered winter, when goats and cows find their way into the schoolyard for the grass. I hope that our new school gate and the fencing we've put around the trees keeps them at bay. GUAVA TREEA guava tree grows in the midst of our garden. In fact, the guava tree was there first, and we have cultivated a garden around it. Last year we grew forage plants beneath the tree to feed to the rabbits. We gave those plants fertilizer, and the guava tree seems to have also appreciated it. The tree is so heavy with fruit that the branches are bowed to the ground! We've made some guava popsicles (filled ice trays with guava pulp, inserted short straws for sticks, and put them in the freezer) and guava juice. Dozens of unripe guavas are still on their way to eatability. I think we need to spray for insects, though, to prevent the winged creatures getting to them before us. THE NURSERYWhile we were at ECHO we requested seeds of some useful trees. We had tried to plant them directly in our garden in previous years, but were unsucessful. In 2007 we fenced an area next to the house and this time we started them in germination trays and transplanted them into bread-bag "pots". They are doing well. We are now the proud parents of 10 moringa trees, some starfruit, and atemoya. We also have 5 chaya plants sprouting. The moringa and chaya are perennial sources of green leaves. The starfruit and atemoya are just fruits that I (Ruth) really like. A number of students and community members have been explaining to us that there is very little food at home right now. This seemed strange since it is the tail end of summer. We are used to summer being a time of abundance. But here vegetables are grown in the winter since there are a lot of pests (you should see the grasshopper hoards right now!) and diseases in the summer. I am hopeful that moringa and chaya can help by providing abundant green leaves in the summer with minimal care. ROAD ACCIDENTSOn Wednesday morning two students walking to school were struck by a mini-van as it tried to avoid a larger bus. Both were taken to the hospital; one was discharged the same day on crutches, but the other is expected to be in the hospital for a number of weeks with a broken leg, a head injury, and a pelvic injury. Tragically, the student who was released the same day was to compete in the regional track and field competition today (Friday). Also on Wednesday, a full-size bus lost control and rolled down a hill along the route we take to town. One woman (a pregnant mother) died at the scene of the accident and a number of others were injured. This was not the bus we ride to town, but a pall is cast over the whole idea of transportation at this time. A colleague and I discussed our own previous instances of reckless driving, using more sober tones than men usually do when relating automobile exploits. Ruth and I decided, after the mini-van accident, that we would try to ride full-size buses (Shining Star Bus Service, the one owned by a former student) from now on; they are more comfortable, and (being bigger and moving slower) generally safer. Then came the big bus accident. Yikes! EASTER WEEKENDAs the Easter weekend approached, Ruth and I talked about how Easter and Christmas are, aside from the church attendance, a little anticlimactic. Ruth's holiday celebrations centered around a special family meal. With no extended family and with being in Mbabane away from our house, this isn't possible. We talked about the need to create new traditions that work for our situation. We decided that holiday picnics might be a good solution. We spent most of this Easter weekend at the local Youth With A Mission base, and with a variety of Swazi, Tanzanian, Belgian, and American folks. We had a great time. On Good Friday there is a long afternoon service. We decided that Rudy would attend while Ruth let the girls play outside. While we were out, three young ladies came up (about 16-23 years old). They wanted to hold the baby, and we ended up talking for about 2 hours about relationships with the opposite sex, courtship, marriage, and many other topics. I (Ruth) was astonished how open they were to what I was saying. They had seen our family at church and could see that we had good family relationships. My friend Laura used to quote St. Francis of Assisi: "Witness at all times; use words when necessary." This was one of those moments of encouragement, people do see us (often when we least expect it) and are open if they see us living lives of integrity, truth, and love. On Saturday night a Tanzanian friend took Grace and Cub and put them to bed so Ruth, Hope and I (Rudy) could attend the Saturday night Easter vigil. The next day our family stayed home and enjoyed chocolate, cookies, and an indoor picnic (those wonderful rains I mentioned in regard to the avocado trees prevented a picnic in the park). It was a wonderful few days. Best of all, as Orthodox Christians proclaim at this time: "Christ is risen-He is risen indeed!"********March 22, 2008DOUBLE WHAMMYLast Wednesday night we had a strong storm. As expected, the power went out as the lightning and thunder approached. Unexpectedly, the water went out also. So Thursday morning Mr. Stan Mamba and I set out to try to set things right. It took 4 hours (1 1/2 of which was spent getting the truck out of a ditch), but all turned out fine in the end. The water pipe took one last swipe at me. As soon as we opened a screw-on coupling to let silt out of the pipe, one end whipped around like a stricken snake and whacked me in the shin. I felt like I was playing soccer again, and getting kicked by my opponents! The power took about 24 hours to come back; if Mr. Mamba and I were also electricians, we'd have this place up almost all the time. ATHLETICSWe sent our top track and field athletes to a multi-school competition in town last week. They returned with 21 medals! I didn't attend, but I sure was proud when I learned the news. We send a smaller group of top qualifiers to the regional competition soon after Easter break. Should any competitors survive the regional (Hhohho) competition, it's on to nationals. After that, it's southern Africa region competition in Botswana, and should any pass that muster, it's Poland! I don't hold out great hopes for such advancement, but "litsemba alibulali" ("hope does not kill" in SiSwati). Given our facilities-we run around the dirt soccer field with less than professionally-drawn lines, and many of the athletes run barefoot-I am pleased we did so well. POLICE ESCORTSunday morning (Palm Sunday) we wanted to go to 8AM Mass. We had arranged with a taxi driver the day before that he would be able to pick us up from where we were staying (the Youth With A Mission base house) at 7:30AM and take us to church. We called, and his phone was switched off. Other calls found switched off phones or drivers unavailable. So we just set out on foot for the bus station and hoped for the best. We just missed three vehicles headed into town, and time was getting short. Just as we approached the bus station, a police pickup truck came down the road. There is a police station right next to the church, so I thought "Why not?" Sure enough, he took us. Ruth and Hope sat in the front seat with the officer while Grace and Cubby and I piled onto the benches in the back of the paddy wagon. We shared the space with a 10 liter bucket full of hot tea, which wanted to splash with every bump. The bucket did have a lid, but the lid had a hole. The policeman didn't lock the back door of the truck (must not have wanted us to feel like prisoners), so the door wasn't latched. So I scooted the girls as far towards the cab as possible, held the door shut with my left hand, and kept my eye on the hot tea "Old Faithful" geyser at my feet. And the bench I sat on was not bolted to the bed of the truck. Eeesh! The road leading to the church is paved most of the way to the church. But not all the way. I suspected this might be a problem with "Old Faithful". Sure enough, one good bump doused my left calf with tea. Not wanting to smell like Five Roses or Rooibos brand tea during Mass, I covered the hole with my right hand (my left hand still "securing" the door). My clothes suffered no further tea showers, but my right palm appeared to have spent too long under a hot water faucet; a bit rosy, but not burned. We exited the police truck right in front of the church steps at 7:55AM. Right on time. Total distance-about 4 miles. Total excitement-scores an 8. HOOF ITLast Saturday (March 15) it rained all night-great for the farmers and the reserviors and the grass for grazing, but not so good for buses travelling on steep dirt roads. So after church, we had to decide how to get back to school. Instead of trying to figure out which bus or kombi might be going close to the school, we assumed no buses would move on Sunday and decided to send Rudy on foot and let the others spend the night in town and come out when it was possible. A good Scottish friend welcomed the female Poglitsh's into her home, so I left them at the Kentucky Fried Chicken (sorry if I burst any "roughing it in Africa" bubbles with that comment; Mbabane has a KFC, with satellite radio and an indoor playground) and set off. Three hitches and some amount of walking got me to the trailhead. 2 hours on foot got me to the house. The wind blew and occasional rain showers fell, and it was great. I never tire of the hills and trails between Mbabane and Nsukumbili High School. Ruth says that one thing people living overseas must do in order to stay overseas for a long time is have a hobby they can only do in that place. That way, when work and culture and everything else gets under the skin and leaving seems the best option, one can say "Oh man, but if we leave I won't get to (whatever the hobby is) anymore". The hiking is my hobby. Ruth and the rest came out on Shining Star bus the next day. The driver told her in town that the bus would go all the way to the school. It didn't. I got a call from her on a friend's phone from a crossroads within eyeshot of the school. I set out to meet them on the road. Before I got too far, I met them approaching the school in the pickup of a colleague. So, into the pickup I got and we returned, reunited, to the school. Adventures in transportation. FORGIVENESSJust today I planned to review a test the students took last week. By the time I was ready to do it, I couldn't find my copy of the test or my answer key. I felt pretty sure someone had swiped it, and was working hard not to blow up. Then I checked another folder and found it. I felt really bad, told the students as much, and asked their forgiveness. We proceeded with the test, but I still felt bad, and asked their forgiveness again. One of the students spoke up, seemingly speaking for the class, and said "apology accepted". What a relief. After arriving back at the house on Palm Sunday, I watched Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" on dvd (another apology if I punctured a "roughing it in Africa" bubble). Though I like the whole film, my favorite scene is Mary Magdalene's flashback to her being caught in adultery. Christ powerfully steps between her and a crowd of Pharisees ready to stone her. He draws a line in the sand, and the Pharisees begin dropping their would-be weapons. Mary then enters the scene from the left side of the screen, crawling and in some degree of physical (and probably moral) shock. She reaches for Jesus' foot and lifts her eyes toward Him. The camera angle changes to her perspective; we see Christ look down with resolution and love, a look which seems to say "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more". He extends His hand, their hands clasp, and He lifts her up. This scene is so moving to me because I realize I was her. I need Christ's forgiveness and renewal, and not just once! This weekend is a good time to think about forgiveness. Each of us knows the skeletons in our own closet, and each of us knows the guilt and shame that come from them. This weekend commemorates the death and resurrection of Christ, the death and resurrection which forgives our sins and sets us free for a new life. If you want to be free of those sins and their attached shame and guilt, and haven't made Jesus Christ your Lord, take yourself to the risen Christ in prayer. He lives, and He lives to set you free.********March 6, 2008CHINA SYNDROMEI never saw this 1970s or 1980s movie about a nuclear plant meltdown, but I experience my own "China Syndrome" every time I try to sharpen a Chinese-made pencil of a student. The wood is of poor quality and the pencil lead breaks almost every time. Consequently, the pencil is about half it's original size when I'm done trying to sharpen it; the students give me a shocked look, and I just tell them these pencils are worthless. I continually rail on my students to save up an extra 50 cents and buy a South African or German-made model; yet I'm still sharpening Chinese-made pencils. Drives me crazy. SAFARI JACKLast Sunday on the way to church I carried our grass slasher and a pair of garden shears. Our footpath passes through a heavily-overgrown area, and I went in front of the others and whacked a way through. Felt like either Legolas (the Elf in "Lord of the Rings") or the quintissential pith-helmeted explorer blazing a trail with my red-handled slasher strapped to my back and the shears in an outside pocket of my backpack. Sure is fun when your commute to church contains such excitement. MORE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTSThe school is on a building spree! First a building was tacked onto the kitchen; it acts as a "food court" where the wife of a teacher sells small food items. Also, an extension to the secretary's office was built on; the extension is the headmaster's new office. A duplex containing two one-bedroom units is going up next to the headmaster's house. Our new sliding gate at the school entrance is done. We hope this will be effective in keeping out goats and cows, and allow us to grow trees inside the school gate. Finally, a handyman has been replacing broken windows and repairing broken desks. It is great to see, but I do wonder if we are paying these folks cash or "on credit". Seems like a lot of outlays for a school not known for its enormous cash reserves. NEW DEPUTYWe were hoping a long-serving teacher would be elevated to the position of deputy headmaster (vice-principal). This teacher filled the role all last year as the school waited for the Ministry of Education to give us a deputy. He was not appointed-and we were disappointed. But we have received someone who seems very serious about the job, and for this we are glad. Our faithful colleague doesn't seem too upset by this turn of events; he has always been an easygoing fellow. WATERWORKSThe weather has been great! It has been generally hot, but just when I begin to worry about the lack of water we get a nighttime (or half-day) of rain. A colleague tells me that the end of February without severe weather means we can be reasonably confident of a good harvest. For this we are very thankful! I did get to travel to the Saint Phillips mission recently, in the lowveld near Siphofaneni (Englishes, are you reading? I visited your old school!) We crossed one river that appeared to have a decent amount of water; the other small watercourses had only a thread of running water or pools of water only. The lowveld is a hot, dry place. They have not had the rains we've had up here at 3000 feet elevation. You folks who pray-ask for gentle rains in the lowveld. A big irrigation project-a concrete watercourse intended to bring water to small farmers-is underway in that area; we dodged occasional construction vehicles on our way to the mission. I think it will take water from the one river we saw. TOO MANY FUNERALSI asked a student early last week how the weekend had been. He said "Eesh, we are tired of funerals". When we arrived in 2003, I asked a Swazi Anglican priest what he thought would really change the AIDS situation. He said it will change when enough people start attending the funerals of close relatives. DAY IN THE LIFEOn the same Sunday that I got to hack my way through the brush, Godfrey Mubiru (our Ugandan friend at nearby Mdzimba High School, about 10 miles down the road) offered to take us home in his car after church. After a couple of days on my feet, I was glad for the opportunity to sit and travel. He dropped us off at his house while he ran some other nearby people home. When he came back to his house, he told us his brakes had totally failed. We checked the brake fluid reservoir and it was very low. He found a bottle of fluid, filled the reservoir to the maximum level, and pumped the brakes. I watched the level fall as he pumped the brake pedal, and we found the puddle of brake fluid on the ground. A nearby mechanic came over and looked at the brakes; the brake pads were completely gone, and the drum was also in bad shape. I don't jump immediately to supernatural explanations of things, but all things considered-"miraculous" seems the appropriate word that nothing bad happened to anyone that day. Those of you who have visited Dlangeni know how hilly it is, and how very few "runaway truck ramps" these roads have. So we arranged an impromptu Sunday dinner, complete with sausage and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. All the kids had a great time, and when it came time for the Poglitsh's to leave, we only hitchhiked for 10 minutes before Mr. Stanford Mamba-our next door neighbor-collected us in his light-duty pickup truck. We were at our door in 10 uneventful minutes. I've said it before-if things in your life seem too predictable and mundane, you might consider 2 years in the Peace corps or a mission assignment. Sometimes the most ordinary of activities (like going to church, and returning home) turn into day-long adventures with happy endings. ANTI-AIRCRAFTThis Sunday morning I took a can of "Doom"-the South African equivalent of "Raid"-to church. Last week a nasty clump of wasps was developing on the wall. On this day I took out two clumps of them. This Doom was made for crawling insects, but since it has no warning label screaming about federal incarceration for using the product outside the bounds of its Material Safety Data Sheet, I felt free to apply it. The spray worked great on the wasps. They would fly away as soon as the spray hit them, then fly lower and lower as the poison took effect. Once they hit the ground I stepped on them to finish the job. After choir practice began, Ruth asked me to kill the wasps. I told her I already had-then she pointed out another nest on another wall. I went after that one too, only this time I chased the stragglers around and tried to spray them in mid-flight. Quite a sight-little puffs of aerosol bug-killer appearing and disappearing inside the church while the choir tuned up. I eventually got all but one or two of the wasps-enough for everyone to feel safe. GOOD MORNINGLast week I cooked pancakes for breakfast. During the process, Grace and Cubby woke up and came into the kitchen. For the rest of the cooking time, I got to sit on a blanket on the floor of a warming-up kitchen on a cool morning, reading "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" to two of my three wonderful daughters-on a workday morning. Such is one of the fringe benefits of living here. *************February 16, 2008CONTRACTI signed one the first week of February! This is the earliest ever. A friend who is also a teacher says we might get paid at the end of February. This too would be a new record. Each year, the contract signing and the first paycheck have come earlier and earlier. What a treat. This journey was really fun, because I took Cubby with me. We went on Friday the 8th to town by the 7AM bus. We visited the church, then went to the contract-signing location (which is the school attached to the Catholic church in town). Cubby rode on my shoulders much of the time. Then our friend Godfrey Mobiru, a Ugandan teacher just down the road from us, appeared. He and his wife and one of their children were present, so Cubby sat and played in the car with Mrs. Mobiru and Grace (their younger child). By 11AM I had signed! Cubby and I parted with the Mobirus and had a great rest of the day slowly walking around town doing errands. At 3PM we went to a friend's house; Cubby laid down and eventually slept, and I read for 4 hours. What a delight. She and I spent Friday night at that house, and in the morning met Ruth, Grace, and Hope in town. We returned to the school on the Saturday midday bus. What a wonderfully successful and enjoyable trip. RAINSJust as Mr. Stan Mamba was saying that the crops are beginning to suffer from lack of rain, we had 3 days of excellent precipitation. Wow! I really look forward to hearing about the wonderful harvests here in Dlangeni. I gather that not all parts of the country are doing so well. Mr. Mamba says that he will take some part of the maize he has grown here back to his home area. Still, at least one area has hopes of a good harvest. AVOCADOSOur windbreak avocado grove shows early signs of success! The seedlings we put in the ground toward the end of last year look healthy. The two peach tree seedlings that were put in at the same time last year are completely dead, so their spots were taken by two other healthy avocado seedlings. I put them in right in the middle of the 3 day rainy spell, so they should have a good chance of success. Ruth recommended I get some rabbit manure to make a nice planting hole for the seedlings. She suggested I ask the agriculture teachers if I could take some of the rabbit manure from the school rabbits. They readily agreed, so two senior boys and I took 20 minutes and put a total of 40 gallons of manure in two big trash bags and deposited the bags near our house. Free, high quality fertilizer/soil improver is nice! It wasn't entirely free, I suppose; I gave each of the boys 5 jellybeans for their efforts. They liked them; thanks for the jelly bellies, mom and dad! TRACK AND FIELDThis year the school sport will be track and field. I am on the "lay out the lines" committee, which is pretty dull and doesn't even do anything until the intra-school competition at the end of the month. So, during track practice I just go running with one of the three teams. It is inspiring to see some of the students (not all like running and running and running, as you might expect) concentrating and giving their best. Sports are a great way to give focus and purpose to young people; I know that soccer taught me many important skills, and not only those concerning how to play soccer.******January 25, 2008CHRISTMAS BREAKwe had a wonderful time in the States over Christmas and New Years. Thanks to our parents and in-laws for housing, great conversations, and computer help; thanks to extended family for the use of a car and great conversations; thanks to a great Catholic friend in upstate South Carolina for conversation and a "second Christmas" on the feast day of Saint John the Evangelist; thanks to ECHO for rejuvenated enthusiasm for planting things at Nsukumbili and a seed order; thanks for former high school students-and high school classmates!-for making considerable efforts to get together with us in Orlando; and thanks to numerous Catholic parishes (who don't get this newsletter) who made our Christmas break spiritually refreshing. We hope and plan to do this again in two or three years. GETTING BACK TO SWAZILANDWe had wonderful journeys back to Swaziland. Ruth, Grace, and Hope were on one ticket, Rudy and Cub were on another. Ruth's crew arrived in Johannesburg 5 hours ahead of Rudy and Cub, and had transportation to our overnight accomodation arranged. At 7AM Monday, Jan. 21, we boarded a puddlejumper from Johannesburg to Manzini, Swaziland. We flew into the clouds over "Joburg" looking down on paved streets and tiled roofs and concrete buildings. When we came under the clouds in Swaziland, we saw corn fields and thatched roofs. We were back, and glad for it. Only one snag: 3 of 4 boxes we checked through to Manzini have not arrived. We have visited and called the airport, and we have a reasonable hope those other boxes will make it. Still, we did pack the most essential things in our carry-ons, in case this happened. We'll fill you in when we know how this all played out. Now that we are back, we will be fixing a local bridge and hacking down grass; the 6 weeks had lots of good rains, which is good news. *********November 10, 2007BLOOD DRIVEThe bloodmobile came to Nsukumbili on Tuesday, 6 November and Friday, 9 November. The senior science lab was full of students throughout the blood drive. I (Rudy) also gave a pint, and felt a little weak the rest of the day. Turning 40 can do that to you, I guess! I chatted with one of the workers, a Mr. Ndlovu, as they were closing up. He said that over the course of the two days they gathered about 70 units at Nsukumbili. He said this is much better than in the city schools, where only 20 might be collected from similar-sized schools. He credited our kids as being stronger. He said the city kids tend to be more sexually promiscuous. He did note also that the free offer of a 200 gram bag of cookies and a soda appeals more to country kids than city kids. Still, I am proud of our students, and I plan to tell them as much Monday morning at assembly. RAINWe have had marvelous rains! They have been frequent, of substantial but not soil-eroding volume, and they have often taken place over a couple of days. The rainy periods have been interspersed with partly sunny conditions: Ruth says this is just right for growing. Most of the corn fields we see in the community are plowed now. I went jogging a couple mornings ago and the smell of freshly-turned earth reminded me of spring in the US. We are delighted with the rains this year. CHICKEN MATERNITY WARDOur rabbit house got converted into a chicken maternity ward. It has three tilulu (woven nesting baskets) on top, and the more clever chickens have figured out that the deserted rabbit house is a good place to stay out of the weather. This week two hens hatched chicks; one hatched 5, and the other three. They are not all our chickens, and that's not important. We're just glad that inexpensive (nearly free), local meat is growing in abundance. THANKSGIVINGEach night we have family devotions: we read a story illustrating Biblical teaching, we read a small portion of Scripture, we sing a song, and we each offer an item of thanks for something from the course of the day. Recently Grace and Cubby both gave thanks that the wall had been repaired. I agree with them 100%. In fact, I am extremely grateful that things turned out as well as they did. I cannot even think very long about what could have been the result. All's well that ends well. MANURE TEAI have been collecting the daily deposit of chicken poop from the "maternity ward"; six to eight chickens roosting all night can leave a fair amount of droppings! I plan to throw it into our gray water barrel and use it to water and fertilize at the same time: "fertigation" is a common term for this practice. I previously put a bunch of rabbit manure in the barrel and applied it earlier this week; it was a stinky messy job, but rabbit manure is excellent fertilizer. I look forward to seeing how the plants take to it. WINDBREAK BEGINNINGSCubby and I just finished checking the avocado and peach seedlings we've planted in a small enclosure. I thought a number of the avocado seeds were dead, so I dumped them out-only to find they had started to sprout. Oops! Well, the monetary loss was minimal as these were pits I had found laying around the school and even on the sidewalks in town. Some of the seeds have really taken off and have little trees coming out. I hope to plant the avocado and peach trees, when they are big enough, on the western end of the teacher housing area. Then we will have free avocados and peaches, and we will have something to stop the high winds that blew a few roofs off houses and damaged walkway canopies at the school last year. I know it's a long-term project, but the buzz in development work is always about sustainability and long-range success. I also like the idea of a green, edible wall at the west end of the school. *****************October 20, 2007BUG HUNTWednesday night we turned off the outside lights and plugged a utility light into the wall. We then opened the front door and let the flying tinhlwa (a 1 inch long swarming insect, maybe some kind of termite) enter the house; the girls had a ball catching them as they flew towards the light! Grace and Cub squealed with such enthusiasm mixed with fright that I (Rudy) was afraid the neighbors might think they were in pain; fortunately, no one came. The next morning we fed the 10 or so tinhlwa to the hen who is sitting on her eggs; breakfast in bed for the expectant mother. Amazing what you do for fun in the bundus. Ruth speaking now. We have been trying to process what happened last night (Thursday). Some of you will think our interpretation is crazy, some of you will think that we are thick-headed and ignoring obvious spiritual forces, many of you will be cautiously sympathetic to what I say, in any case, here goes. Over the last few months we have seen a strange combination of events. Some things have been going really well and might show promise for the future--things like intact families joining our little out-station church, getting involved with a former student starting a self-help savings club in our community, news from students that they are getting tested for HIV, the national newspaper is printing every column that Rudy sends in, my friend in a horrific marriage situation says that things have been improving. We have also had a string of unusual and unpleasent events--equipment breaking down suddenly and unexpectedly, our house was broken into (we believe it was neighborhood kids), we have had unusual expenses (and also extra money appear in our paycheck for no reason we can figure out). It has been a real roller coaster. A while back after a long string of health issues (that only occur while we are in Swaziland) Rudy asked me at what point these things would make us leave Swaziland. That made me start thinking about why these things were occuring, could there be a spiritual force behind some of these illnesses? I started praying a daily prayer of protection against satanic forces. Our health improved. A few weeks ago, someone in Swaziland found the bodies of 71 illegally aborted babies. This has caused a nation-wide uproar and some groups are using it to campaign to make abortion legal. Rudy has been very active in writing letters to the most popular Swazi paper trying to help Swazi's understand the effects that legal abortions have on women's physical and emotional health. The editor of the Sunday paper said that he was fighting with the editor of the weekday paper over who would get to print Rudy's letters. In the middle of this campaign to prevent the death of Swazi babies, we had the following incident occur. We have been asking ourself, is this a Satanic attack directed at our babies? We are living in the middle of a place with strange spiritual forces. We don't know what they are able to do or influence, but enough strange things have been happening, that we are asking if there are spriritual forces influencing some of these events. Please pray for our protection and for discernment/wisdom to understand the role of evil forces as they fit into the mystery of suffering and living in a fallen world. Here is Rudy's account of what happened Thursday night: DLANGENI'S FIRST DRIVE-INOn Thursday night (Oct 18) Yenzile Mamba came to spend the night with Grace so we shuffled the kids around and moved Cubbie (Faith) and Kit (Hope) to a new sleeping location in the guest room. Ruth and I had just settled the kids and were finishing our prayers before bed when what sounded like a strong, sudden wind ended with a mighty "whump" and the sound of broken glass. Cubby started crying, so Rudy went to get her and find the damage. Imagine our suprise upon seeing a neighbor's pickup truck putting its nose into the guest room-through the wall! The car was parked on the slope, nose pointing down. The parking brake was set but a brake cable or clutch failed, and the thing rolled, driverless, down the hill, over a 3 foot embankment, and right into the wall. The bed is always pushed right against the wall, and Cubby's head was right where the pickup impacted the wall. A chunk of wall was pushed about 3 feet, as was the bed. Much to our great relief, neither Cubby nor Kit were hurt in any way-even though there was broken glass on their blankets and pillow. We thank God for a number of mercies: that no one was hurt--only a cinderblock wall separated the girls from a free-rolling light duty pickup; that the truck belonged to MK Dlamini's family, with whom we have a very good relationship-at 10PM they started contacting people about getting the truck pulled out and the wall repaired; that MK brought a tarp with which we could quickly cover the hole to keep out the rain, which began to fall about an hour later; and amazingly, when we cleaned up we found that not one bit of our personal property was damaged. Ruth and I decided not to make a big deal of it when Yenzie and Grace woke up on Friday morning (I'm writing this on Friday morning). They looked out the bedroom window, though, and saw the aftermath. Yenzile and Grace came into Ruth and Rudy's room and Yenzile said "Daddy, ngibonile imoto iwilie etulu"; which means, "I saw the car which fell from above". They both took it well; Grace took me to the front door and "showed" me the car that crashed into the house. We then opened the door of the guestroom and looked in. Grace asked if there was broken glass; I said yes. She asked why; I said "Why is there broken glass?". Sometimes gently rephrasing her questions about really obvious stuff helps her see the answer herself. After a moment she said very seriously to Yenzile "I think the car did it". I had to quickly walk into our bedroom and bury my face in a pillow so I didn't laugh out loud and hurt her feelings. Ruth was also stifling laughter. Yenzie and Grace are, as I write, playing "Christmas"; Cubby is sitting here on my lap; she tells me she's still a little scared. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL This is Ruth again--we entrusted the situation to God and asked for his assistance to deal with the wreckage. We had just had the frustrating situation a week or two ago of having seven different people scheduled to do various kinds of work for us and none of them showing up to work. After having a break-in a few weeks before, we were not excited to have a wall missing from our house for several weeks while waiting for the job to get done. We called a friend who called a friend who called a contractor. By 8:00 in the morning he was at the school surveying the scene--he thought they'd come on Monday. True to his word, by 10:00 MK Dlamini scared up not just a tractor, but a big 'ol Caterpillar bulldozer. It pulled the pickup out of our guest room and over a 3 foot dropoff with no problem. One hurdle cleared. We called the contractor back to tell him that the truck was no longer in our house. He said he would call his partner and they would try to get someone out today. By 2:00 we had three guys here smashing out and rebuilding the wall. By 5:00 pm all of the wall was rebuilt. They will return on Monday to replaster. We had a great time talking to and helping the builders. In the middle of the hub-bub a student came; he had managed to get my tape recorder back from the child who had stolen it and was returning it to us. So much to be thankful for. So here you have this mix--so often found in life--of damage/loss and abundant provision. It is a mystery. ********October 13, 2007RAINWe have experienced rain for almost a week! We are delighted. It looks like the Pacific Northwest, with its 9 month mist and precipitation. I am not complaining! The students are beginning to gripe, but I tell them that I don't want to hear them crying later that "Ah, we have no food"; this rain is what we need for a much-improved corn crop. Last year's lack of rain translated into a 60% smaller corn harvest this year. Ouch. This rain is a Godsend; I'll take the overcast if it means maize in the maize crib later. RABBIT HOUSE, TILULU, AND MANUREWe got rid of our last rabbit about 3 weeks ago. We returned it to the young man who sold us our first one. We plan to get a young rabbit from him in January or February and start raising rabbits again. For a while, we had two hens sitting on their eggs in one silulu (plural is tilulu; woven baskets for hens to lay and hatch eggs in) on top of the rabbit house. Two hens were sitting simultaneously on eggs. This led, we suspect, to some confusion between them, and a number of eggs did not hatch. We bought two more tilulu and put them on the rabbit house roof. This week we found eggs in two of the three tilulu; we are glad! Only one chicken belongs to us, but we don't care; if we can increase the numberof chickens available for food, we are happy. Also, the chickens were roosting on the rabbit house overnight. This left a large amount of chicken manure in the morning. At first I saw this as a problem; how am I going to clean this, and how can I prevent it from happening again? Then it came to me that chicken manure is turbo-charged organic fertilizer; you actually have to dilute it before putting it around your plants, or it will "burn" them. So I gladly colleced 4 or 5 cups of it with rubber gloves and put it in a bucket for for further use. The next night the chickens had changed their roosting pattern, and I had no chicken fertilizer payoff in the morning; I was disappointed. One man's eyesore is another man's vegetable supercharger. BURGLAR BARSThe welder came and put them in. He is a Mozambican who learned his trade while in West Germany (a better place to be than Mozambique between about 1975 and 1992; Mozambique had a terrible civil war during that time). When the Germanys reunited, he found the new Germany had enough development and retraining to do with their reunification, so he returned to Africa. Though he came from Mozambique, his parents had homesteaded in Swaziland, and this is home. He speaks Makua (language of his home area in Mozambique), SiSwati, Portuguese, a little German, and a little French. He also did a good job with the bars. It's good to see someone come out of a tough situation and be able to make a living for himself. 2 BOOKS AND SAMUELA member of last year's graduating class came by selling books last week. Samuel Matsebula seems to have found work as a colporteur. We bought one book about how to start and run your own business, and another about the importance of taking initiative and getting things done. Both are written by Swazis who practice what they preach. This is encouraging to us in many respects: Samuel is taking initiative and making some money for himself, and the authors of the books are promoting getting out and making something happen. So many students are chasing a white-collar dream, hoping to land a government job when they finish school. There are few of those available, and the city kids are much more likely to qualify for them. These authors encourage young people to try something different to make a living, and they are living proof that it can be done. I hope more young people take them up on this idea. ELECTRIC BILLLast Saturday I got our electric bill from the post office box. I walked with it unopened to the office to pay it. I was excited to see how much it would be, because we have done a few things to reduce our electric bill: installed fluorescent lights in many rooms, purchased and used an immersion heater for tubs (instead of heating up 25 gallons at a pop), and started using ceramic filters instead of boiling 6 liters of water at a time. Our bills were running at E80 a month. Our new figure, after installing these electric-saving devices? E44,600. Hmmm. I showed the bill to the next guy in line; he said he doesn't think the fruit-processing plants in Matsapha use that much electricity. I said to him, "Let's see what the lady behind the counter says". I slid it to her and she had quite the poker face. She tapped a few keys on her computer, pushed the bill back to me, and said "Wait for the next bill". We'll see if they cut us off for gross negligence pay. PRAYER REQUESTSA friend of ours said he prays for Africa in a sort of abstract way, because he doesn't know what the needs are. Ruth and I do not dare to presume to know all the needs of the continent or even Swaziland, but we offer here prayer suggestions from what we see. Children-To be conceived and born to married parents who have a lifetime committment to the good of each other and their children.-To be brought up in loving homes by parents who teach them to know, love, and obey God through their words and example. Youth-To see clearly the destructive power of sin and flee from it.-To love and pursue chastity.-To develop their God-given potentials.-To have a vision for the good works God is calling them to do.-To see and capitalize on the opportunities that God places around them.-To develop the traits of honesty, hard work, perserverance, forgiveness. Married people-That husbands and wives would live together with love.-That husbands would provide sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:25-29) and spiritual leadership for their families.-That wives would respect and honor their husbands.-That families would be able to earn their income without being separated by time and distance. Thank you for your concern for Swaziland; the more hands and hearts we have pulling together for the country, the sooner Swaziland can realize its potential and really thrive. ************September 29, 2007RAIN!Swaziland had a below-average rainfall last summer, and news was we were shaping up for a similar year this time around. So for a couple weeks I had been praying for a long, steady, reasonable-volume rain to change things. It started on Monday, 24 September around sunset and didn't let up until late Thursday night! The hills look happier and greener already. It was just perfect, because it was enough rain to make a difference but not enough to cause erosion. Usually after a summer rain the river runs red with topsoil; the rivers were clear on Thursday. Our deputy headmaster said "This is the Swaziland I know!" What a blessing. We are hoping and praying for more such rains. SAVINGS CLUBRudy recently attended a conference on poverty and how to beat it. One "instrument" for beating it is savings clubs. Members pitch in a set amount of money every month or week (anywhere from 10 to 100 Emalangeni, $1-15). At the meetings (monthly or weekly), members can take out loans for their business ventures. MK Dlamini, our former headmaster, knows well about these instruments and a former student, Happy Gama, arranged to have him come and explain the procedure to a group of interested people. We attended the meeting, and MK gave a great talk. The folks organized themselves, set an amount to get started, and set another meeting. We hope this takes off; it seems like a good way to build money, have capital for small business ventures, and avoid the long lines and endless charges at the banks in town. COMPUTEROur computer showed all the signs of a crash last week. Ruth spent a lot of hours thinking and trying things; that, and some otherwise inexplicable ideas about what to do (she is convinced they were little God-nudges) saw our computer working again about 2 days later. Whew! BREAK INTwo weeks ago we returned from a Thursday night stay in Mbabane and noticed, over the course of the day, various items hard to find: chocolate powder, laundry soap, bags of powdered milk, my 2002 World Cup replica mini soccer ball (the cruelest cut for Rudy) and Ruth's recorder that she uses to make siSwati language tapes (the cruelest cut for her). We also found E200 missing, and the container it was kept in on top of a closet space. We concluded small-time (and probably small-stature; they would have to slip through some burglar bars) thiefs visited us during our time away during the school holidays. We did our best to secure the windows, tightening a sliding bracket to make it difficult to get in. Later I went to further lengths to secure the windows, including bits of old asbestos roofing material and bungee cords (only the construction workers out there would be interested; I'll spare the rest of you). We also started leaving the outside "security" lights on, which I don't like; I suppose they discourage thieves, but I don't like breaking up the quiet country darkness. But I prefer puncturing the darkness to thievery. A builder friend tells us vehemently that he is coming to install more burglar bars, but he hasn't yet. We'll all feel better once we are behind (more) bars. PLUMBERWe went to town Thursday, 27 September for errands and visiting a friend. Everything went swimmingly. After returning home and flushing the toilet, the lack of the normal sound of a refilling tank got my attention. I checked the sink tap-water pressure was falling fast. Grrrrrrr. Would seem to be a simple thing, to make sure water is always in the pipes. I know I grew up with that. Sure was nice. It was too dark to go out that night, so I told Stanford Mamba (a SiSwati teacher who quadruples as the school's dreadfully overworked volunteer handiman/gardner/car mechanic/water engineer) that I would go out first thing Friday morning and see what I could see. Our last fix was very easy; if we had a similar problem, I figured I could fix it myself. I had no classes until 11:50AM on Friday morning, so I knew I had lots of time. I got to the source and, with much fear and trembling, opened a connector in our pipe. I checked the place where the water enters this pipe, and found a rat's nest of leaves had blocked it. I removed the nest, replaced our pipe into the source pipe, arranged our pipe so that water got into it and flowed consistently downhill, then went back and checked the place where I opened the connector. The flow was great! I closed the connector and sent Stanford a text message on our cellphone (communication sure have changed out here since the early 1990s) telling him what I did. I went and checked the main source for water, and it looked good. And I was so close to the top of Sibebe (a large granite rock/mountain), I thought I'd "check" that-but really, what problem did I expect to find, and what could I have done about any imaginable problem anyway? It was just that I had 3 1/2 hours until I had to be in class, and...who can resist a walk in the newly-verdant country? I enjoyed that, and then found a a new (to me) path down to the Pine Valley road, a main road leading from our school into Mbabane. This path meets a terminus of a semi-complete hiking trail leading from our school to Pine Valley. I had never taken it, and wanted to see what I thought of it. Besides, I still had plenty of time, right? Lost the trail once, and got to the terminus at the bottom of the hill at 10AM. Was getting short on time! What happened to "No hurry in Swaziland"? Walked as fast as I could up the hill, and when I reached the top, started "Kuhlehletela" (move at a walk/jog) on the level and downhill parts. Travelling mercies were with me; I got down to the road leading from the local shop to the school at 11:15 and a good-hearted neighbor picked me up in his bakkie (light pickup truck). I got to school with 30 minutes to spare! Changed clothes and the house and walked into class right on time. The students said I looked exhausted. I was, but I felt great. I told Stanford he could feel like a proud father; I fixed the thing without any help, thanks to the long learning I gained as his spare set of hands. I must admit, I felt like a REAL SON (Steve Wood, does that phrase sound familiar?). Another teacher with us said in SiSwati "Today the son has grown up". And I'm gonna take a hot bath tonight! LITSEMBA ALIBULALIThis means "Hope does not kill" in SiSwati. It is often spoken at the outset of a major undertaking, meaning to say "This is a daunting challenge, but we'll give it our best; and after all, why can't we succeed?" A student recently told me about his father. His father has been diagnosed with HIV. Instead of curling up and dying in the homestead, he has become very active looking after his own and his neighbors' animals (goats and cows), has become a better man around the house, has given his life to Christ and become a regular church member, and goes around encouraging (and sometimes chiding) others in his situation to be regular about taking their Anti-Retroviral Drugs. The student says it is clear that his father is different, and a major reason for that is that he knows where he is going when his life here ends. I certainly don't want people getting HIV, but it is nice that in this case, something very good-a new man-has come out of it. *************September 13, 2007WEDDING SEASONThis is the time of year when a lot of weddings occur. A Swazi wedding is a multi-day, multi-stage event with the separate components separated by days, weeks, or years. Weddings in Swaziland can be three different types governed by three different sets of laws. A Swazi traditional wedding takes place at the homestead. The key component is called kuteka--when the girlfriend who is spending the night at her boyfriend's parental home is woken up early in the morning and informed that she is going to be married that day. She is taken to the cattle kraal, smeared with a red mud, insulted until she cries (I don't know if these are ceremonial tears or actual ones) and she officially is married. Her family is informed of her marriage when a young man (the husband) shows up at their home, throws down a piece of goat meat, and high tails it out of there in case the new in-laws aren't pleased with the news. A civil wedding takes place in a government office. A Christian wedding takes place in a church or public hall.In a traditional marriage, the man can take additional wives later, but can't easily divorce. Civil marriages are monagamous, but can be ended by divorce. Christian marriages are monagamous and include protection from divorce. Any of these three wedding types can also have these two other traditional ceremonies. Lobola is the time when the bride's family is given the cattle from the groom's family which seals the marriage and gives the groom's family legal rights and responsibilities for the children. Two animals are slaughtered and there is a lot of feasting. Girls from the bride groom's family do traditional dancing. Mdzimba is a gift-giving ceremony. The bride and bride's family give gifts ranging from traditional ones such as blankets and straw brooms to non-traditional ones such as bedroom suites. Last Saturday we attended a Christian wedding for a relative of one of our church leaders. The announced time was 10:00. We felt bad because we weren't able to arrive until 10:40 due to the mini-van transport being full. When we got there, the band was playing, but the wedding party didn't show up until noon, so we were there in good time. "There is no hurry in Swaziland" That certainly applies to Swazi weddings. At this wedding the announced time was 10:00, the starting time was 12:00, the finishing time for the actual ceremony was 4:00. Food was served at the hall until 6 or 7:00 pm, then entertainment started at the homestead. I can't imagine when they finally ended. Christian weddings are an interesting mix of European and African cultures. Some things are similar. The wedding begins by bridesmaids and groomsmen processing down the aisle. But here they dance down the aisle, slowly advancing and retreating, turning in circles, taking 15-20 minutes to get the party to the front. It is fun to watch the different couples. Some of the party are having obvious fun. Others (generally male) are stiff and look like they would much rather be doing something else. Some things are welcome innovations--like placing chairs up front for the wedding party so that they don't have to stand for the four hour ceremony. This wedding featured a band, and a men's choir, several pastors, decorations down the aisle which included bowls of fruit, a sound system so loud that our girls were covering their ears in pain, an object lesson that had the couple trying to eat a dangling pear, local women selling sweets and fruits, and lots of feasting afterwards. The next day we went to a lobola ceremony for a relative of another church leader. We got there truly late this time. Activities start on Friday night and it was Sunday afternoon when we came. One of the relatives rounded up the remaining guests and everyone entertained each other with traditional dancing. Rudy even joined in the fun, doing a men's dance and throwing in a few fumbling errors to add to the general merriment. This weekend we are going to the mzimba ceremony for Rudy's homestead father, Abner Dlamini. This will be a bit of a bittersweet occassion. A couple of years ago we attended the mzimba ceremony for Abner and Make Malinga (Rudy's homestead mother from his first stay in Swaziland). This was held 20 years after their wedding. Make Malinga died a couple of years ago to our great sorrow. Abner has remarried so we get to join the family to celebrate. As in the US, having a good marriage can be a real challenge. I have shared with some of you the intense pain I have felt over the bizarre marriage troubles of one of my friends here. I had a rare chance to talk frankly with her recently, she said things have been getting better since January (when the marriage almost dissolved). She is understanding her husbands concerns and habits better and learning to live with them. I know a few of you have been praying regularly for her and her husband. Thank you. I wanted to pass on the encouraging word. May you be blessed in your relationships and rejoice well with those who rejoice. ******************September 5, 2007PARTYOn Wednesday, August 29th Ruth received a baby shower at a friend's house in Mbabane. A number of American moms enjoyed the get-together, which included a birthday cake (made of new diapers) almost as tall as Grace! One thing we enjoy about Swaziland is getting to know other expatriates. Many of the folks at this party have helped us over and over during our time here. TRANSPORTATIONMini-vans are now running to Nsukumbili. They leave town as soon as they are full, and they turn around right in front of the school or a short distance beyond. End result: travel to town is now much easier. Just wait for the combi! The bus services (Shining Star and Thula) are naturally unhappy; competition isn't a pleasant thing, when you've been the only show in town for years. We will see what will happen. Other bus services have come and gone while Shining and Thula have remained. To my way of thinking, it will be hard to keep the combis away. One possible ramification of this will be the growing "nearness" of town. I don't know if I am entirely thrilled by the idea; time will tell. WATERWORKSOn Friday morning, August 31, the water went out. Nothing like opening the cold water tap and seeing a few pathetic drips fall and hear the last gasp of air in the line! I must admit, the older I get the less patience I have with the water system. But this time I reflected that God is more interested in my growth than He is in my comfort, and that growth often comes through problems. So I thanked Him for the problem, and after breakfast set out on foot to see what I could see. Mr. Mamba, the expert, had gone to his distant homestead, and the tools were locked in his house (way to think ahead, Mr. Poglitsh!) I took Cubby, and we visited the source. I opened the pipe at the first available connector, and found a wad of grass and sticks! Bingo! I pulled it out and reconnected the pipe. It had worked! We had water at the school. Fully aware I had no skill at fixing the system (with Mr. Mamba, I lug tools and provide a second set of hands), I had very low expectations for this excursion. Having (at least temporarily) fixed the problem, I felt like a basketball player at the end of the half or the end of the game who finds himself with the ball in his own end with 2 seconds on the clock and just chucks it towards the other hoop-to watch the ball swish through the net as the buzzer sounds. I got such a surge of confidence I suggested to Ruth later that maybe I should go and walk the line each Thursday with tools and try to fix problems. What a thrill! ENCLOSUREWe purchased a bunch of chain-link fence and fenceposts and have built a 6 by 9 foot enclosure in the backyard. We plan to use it as a propagation area, where we will start avocado trees from seed (takes a while, but the price is right) and try growing cold-sensitive plants like papaya and mango. A neighbor has a big papaya plant living right next to his north-facing wall, where the wall provides lots of re-radiated heat. We are excited about this. We had a cold winter which tested out our plantings. The mango in the garden and 1/2 of the papayas died, but we noticed that the frost never appeared within 10 feet of the house. WHAT'S FOR DINNER?Rabbit! Today (Monday, Sept. 3) Mzwandile and Makahonkhe (who will join us for dinner tonight) slaughtered two of our rabbits. We have two left: one we will return to the man we bought it from (in the hope of getting another one from him in the future) and the other will be a wedding gift this Saturday. We were a little worried about how Grace would take the slaughtering, even though she had spoken exitedly about it on numerous occasions. She took it very well: she didn't faint, freak out, or cry. In fact, she was quite interested, and watched the whole thing. Just like her dad-well, not exactly like him. Ask him about the time he passed out at the Dlamini homestead when they slaughtered a goat for New Year's Eve. I've never lived it down. SCHOOL BREAKI have not visited the office since Thursday, August 23. I'm writing at 3:30PM on a Monday, in the house. I checked the water system today (the level is down) on foot with Cubby; that required 4 hours of walking in 75 degree, sunny weather on peaceful footpaths surrounded by mountains. I'm going to go water the garden with Grace when I'm done here. Today the girls gave Ruth and I a picnic in their room, complete with play-dough food and after-meal books to read. Last week was equally packed with pressing deadlines and hurried meals with little more than a "hello" to family members between bites and hypertension-inducing highway traffic on the way to and from work. Seriously, we always appreciate the comments on how we are making a sacrifice to be here, but really, in so many ways we couldn't ask for a better arrangement. *********August 11, 2007FAREWELL MK DLAMINIMK Dlamini retired as headmaster from the school last December. He had been headmaster of the school from its founding here in the mid-1980s. Friday, July 27th saw his going-away party. Education officials, colleagues, and of course teachers attended. The event was complicated, however, by high winds beginning early in the morning. Having had some roofs and houses damaged last August by high winds, the school community was understandably skittish. The students assembled in the largest room in the school as they would have done outside, if the winds weren't so high. Assembly preceeded as normal, including singing. Perhaps it was the acoustics of the large bare room filled with students, perhaps it was nervous energy, perhaps it was simply God's grace, or maybe it was a combination of these and other things; whatever the cause, the singing was some of the most beautiful I have ever heard here, and the students almost always sing beautifully. After assembly the students seemed more peaceful and energized to get the farewell function moving forward. Providentially, the winds got weaker (though they still blew) as the day went on. By mid-morning, the students were setting up a large tent-which I decided to keep my mouth shut about, since I figured it would pick up and carry away any students trying to set it up! No one, as far as I know, got blown to Oz. I had written a speech and a colleague had translated it into SiSwati. I had been practicing for about a week, just getting familiar with the words (I wasn't going to try to memorize it). About 9AM, Mr. Stan Mamba told me we had a water problem. This might be serious, because the cooks had prepared food for hundreds of people-and the cooking pots, utensils, and plates the people would eat from would have to be washed up later. So we grabbed some loitering boys and drove towards the mountains. The water entering our source pipe falls over a waterfall before reaching the pipe. Mamba figured that the high winds had interrupted this waterfall and thus reduced the amount of water entering the system. He had a plan, though: get 50 yards of irrigation pipe and tie into the still-under-construction community water system. We got the pipe by getting 25 yards from atop the red-tile house we used to live in (our passive water heater; ah well, rob Peter to pay Paul) and another 25 yards from the school. The new water system ties into a river coming down from atop Sibebe Mountain (Sibebe is reputed to be the first or second largest single chunk of granite in the world). Even in the driest of times, there is water in the river. The water is currently piped to a water purification battery of tanks, but as there are still some tasks to complete, the water isn't entering the system just yet. Until Friday the 27th, that is. We took our 50 yard splice and bypassed the tanks, sending the water directly into the pipe system. We then took the pipe connected to our midway tank from the tank and connected it into the new water system. It worked; we had water in abundance, and we even "tested" the plumbing from the tanks to our own midway tank for free! Mr. Mamba wisely stopped by and picked up a community member who is highly involved with the new system, so that our activity would be free of accusations of unauthorized tampering. The problem was, it was about 1PM by the time we had finished, and I knew the function wouldn't stop and wait for me to come back and give my speech. So as soon as we were done we hustled back to the school where I changed clothes and went to the Master of Ceremonies. I had been on the program, but the MC had just moved me back so that I could still get in. I was pretty nervous, having not practiced it but once that day. But, thanks be to God, my delivery was as good as it had been during any practice. I suspect I got the emphasis wrong on a number of words, but I also suspect the ideas got across. I was very glad to publicly thank MK for all he had done for me (when I was single here in the 1990s) and my family (since 2003). MK said he came away feeling even happier than he expected to; he deserved all the warm fuzzies he could get. Another teacher later said that he learned that day to be more aware of the good things a person does; he had not known, until that day, of all the good efforts MK had undertaken both in the school and the community during his two-decade tenure at Nsukumbili. After the speeches and entertainment, all attendees enjoyed a feast; even the students' plates had respectable amounts of meat on them. And so, another day in Africa which seemed doomed to disappointment at the early stages came off great. As many bad things that happen here, it seems that Swaziland still manages to hang in there. FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINWinters here are dry and cold, and sometimes windy. Winter is often the time when Swazis light the countryside on fire. Commonly, one sees fires soon after the sun sets. Ruth says that this practice does help bring softer grass for the cattle in the spring, but it sure is hard for someone like me who grew up hearing Smokey the Bear saying "Only you can prevent forest fires" to watch wholesale, all-nighter brush fires for two months. Swaziland experienced intense fires this winter. A large amount of timber forest burned this year, as did a number of homes, in the Pigg's Peak area (northern Swaziland). We very providentially had a good, gentle rain Saturday night (4 August) which, I hope, fell all over the country. But these fires are going to set the country back a little economically, not to mention lives and homes lost. If you would like more direct access to life in Swaziland, click on www.times.co.sz. This is the website of The Times of Swaziland, the major national newspaper. A DAY AT THE FAIRSaturday, 4 August saw a major fundraising event at a high school in Mbabane. With Ruth recovering with Hope in the hotel room, Rudy took the other two girls to the fundraiser. A good time was had by all. Grace and Cub got their faces painted (Grace as a princess, Cub as a kitty cat), they jumped on the jumping castle, ate cotton candy, bought two lemons for mom (Grace wanted to get her a flower arrangement, but we didn't have enough money; lemons struck me as an odd gift, but it's the thought that counts), ate some chicken, cruised the used book table (that was for dad), and met lots of nice people. As much fun as the kids had, I think I (Rudy) had more. I think I begin to understand why parents take their kids to such events: it is great fun to see your kids having fun. BACK TO SCHOOLAfter Kit's birth, we are finally back at Nsukumbili for the forseeable future; we don't have to keep the "hospital bag" (full of essentials for a baby's delivery) on hand, and we don't have to keep looking around the teachers' housing to figure out who could take us to town in a pinch. The expectation that Kit was going to be born, and not having it happen day after day, was getting tedious. We're glad to be back. HAPPY ANNIVERSARYToday is August 5th, our 7th wedding anniversary. If I wax clicheish, my apologies: perhaps cliches are so commonplace because they express commonplace truths. I really can say that the time has gone fast; it's funny to think that we have spent most of our married life right here at Nsukumbili High School. And I can also honestly say that I married up. Ruth is a tremendously loving, commonsensical, thoughtful, fun woman. I am reminded of Jimmy Stewart playing George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life". In one scene, George enters his bedroom after turning down an offer from the city's aspiring slumlord which, though it would solve his financial problems forever, would cost George his integrity and the well-being of the working class citizens as well. In the dark, a dejected George says something like "Why'd you want to marry a two-bit smalltown banker like me?" I don't remember his wife's reply, but I do remember that she cared nothing about the deal he passed up and loved him anyway-then informed him that their first child was on the way. Ruth is very patient with me and my foibles; patient in a way that makes me realize my own gaffs and insensitivies, and helps me (try) to learn from them and change them. And she suffuses that patience with strong, steady love. It's almost embarrassing. I don't deserve someone as good as her. Gotta run; Kit is screaming. **************July 21, 2007WASHED, FED, AND RESTEDFriday, July 13 was the day for traditional Swazi dance competitions at the national level. Ruth and I had puzzled all week about what to do. I wanted to go to the competition, but with Ruth so pregnant, being out of touch with her (and her being alone at the school) wasn't appetizing. Then Friday dawned cloudy and looked like rain; we really didn't know what to do. Ruth suggested taking the 8:45AM Ingabisa bus to Mbabane as a family, and playing it by ear after that. It worked great. We got a hotel room in the middle of Mbabane. We were worried about the bar next door and clubs nearby keeping us up all night; but employees of the hotel assured us that, if we got the right room (which they got for us), we'd experience no noise. All 4 of us then boarded a combi for the stadium, and we had a great time. The weather at Somhlolo stadium was great; warm and sunny with a light breeze. We missed the girls' dancing and the sizingili of the boys, but we did see the boys dance sibhaca. We left the stadium about 3PM, caught another combi back to Mbabane, and went to our room. The girls had a great time splashing in the bathtub while Ruth and I read. On Saturday morning we learned that the room was a "bread and breakfast" affair. I had in mind a "continental breakfast", which in my limited experience has consisted of a small piece of coffee cake and a cup of coffee or tea. I don't like coffee or tea, and cake without frosting...what's the point? But this was different! Ruth and I visited Cape Town, South Africa in December 2000 with my brother Chris, and we stayed at a wonderful hotel. The breakfast was one of the best parts of the Cape Town stay. They had numerous juices, fresh fruit, cereals, and other (hot) food. Well, the City Inn of Mbabane was just as good as the Cape Town Marriot! I couldn't believe it. The very same delicious stuff, though on a smaller scale. But they brought out ham, eggs, and real meat sausage to boot! Oh man, what a delight. After the sumptuous breakfast, Ruth kept the kids for a couple of hours while I sent e-mails and visited church. Then I came back and took the kids, and Ruth had time for herself (doing computer stuff and reading). Everyone had a ball. Dinner together at Kowloon's and watching Uruguay lose to Brazil on penalty kicks in the Copa America soccer tournament (unfortunate that Brazil won, but the US men's soccer beat Brazil earlier in the week in the Under-20 World Cup) started the evening, and then we returned to the room for more family fun. Cubby (Faith) was tired and went to sleep pretty early, but Grace and I stayed up and almost finished The Hobbit. This is our second time through Tolkien's children's classic; after finishing it the first time we started another children's story, but Grace liked The Hobbit so much that we abandoned the other book and started off with Bilbo again. After the Battle of the Five Armies, the rest of us went to sleep. Gracie had an unfortunate vomiting spell in the middle of the night, but she took it very well and made it to the potty every time. Sunday morning included another feast, then off to church. We went to the 10:30AM Mass, which is in SiSwati. What a way to end the weekend, in a packed church singing full-throated the high praises of God! After church we got groceries, boarded a bus, and arrived back at the school at 5PM. It was a great weekend. I know this missive doesn't have much of what you'd normally expect in a story from Africa, but this is one aspect of life in Swaziland also. It doesn't happen too often for us, and I'm sure we won't make a habit of it. But it sure was nice. JOHN PAUL II QUOTEWe are "John Paul II Catholics", and I am working through, very slowly, a collection of his writings. Here's a quote from a sermon he gave in Sweden in 1989: Dear brothers and sisters: we must never allow material things to take precedence over God or other human beings. No human theory, project or purpose can ever be pursued at the cost of the loving obedience we owe to God and the loving respect we owe to others. No economic or technological consideration should be the decisive norm for the way that we treat others. This applies to every human person: to the unborn child, to the elderly, to the sick and dying, to the poor, to those who are different from us because of race or culture. Those of you who have come to Sweden from other countries may have experienced material poverty before settling here. The abundance of goods in your new homeland may dazzle you. Always remember that these things are valuable only to the extent that they serve the true good of the human person, both spiritually and materially. Once they become an end in themselves, or their true worth is lost sight of, you can easily be tempted to act as though people were only "things." Keep Christ's words before you always: "What will it profit a man; if he gain the whole world and then lose his own life?" (Mt 16:26). ***********July 14, 2007WE ADVANCE!The boy's sibhaca and sizingili dance teams advanced to the national level, as did one of the girls dance teams (I forget which one). The boys sizingili team was second in the region by just a hair, and there was some concern about the final score; apparently, one judge moved Nsukumbili's score down two points, and that put us in second place. Still, we're going to nationals on Friday, July 13! FOUR UP, FOUR DOWNwhen I was a Peace Corps Volunteer at Nsukumbili in the 1990s, another volunteer (Jim) at this school got money to build four classrooms. Great! Then, before purchasing and construction began, Jim's time ran out. He calmly handed me the paperwork. Thanks! Having just finished a biology degree and fixing one electrical switch in my life, I was fully prepared to build a classroom block. I did my best, and although the project was done on time and on budget, it was not done very well. Just a few months after completion, a big storm ripped part of the roof off. Rain poured in and turned the ceiling board to mush, which collapsed in chunks. The floor was uneven in places, and the cinder blocks used to make the walls were poorly made; they were very sandy, and "eroded" easily. The classroom block was abandoned soon after Ruth, Grace and I arrived, and a second block of four classrooms was completed a couple years ago. Right now, workers are demolishing the old classroom block. It's a constant embarrassment to me, but that's how it goes. MORE AIDS DEATHSI hate to keep mentioning this, but it is a major part of what is happening here these days. A young man who used to work for us (but, happily, has gone onto bigger work) lost his mother last week. His mom was HIV+ but didn't follow the doctor's orders; she said she just wanted to die. She left 9 kids behind. Dad is home on the weekends, sometimes. There is an older, married brother who is married. Looks like he'll have to carry the load for a while. I learned that a student had a son ( 1 1/2 years old) die last week; the student has a sister; the sister's child died the week before that. Grace and her friends and I were playing around the local corn mill Wednesday. The girls spotted something they didn't recognize in the trees, and they wanted me to come look. It was two graves, and one of them is of the father of two of our students (who happen to be brothers). A pastor friend of ours is going to do some teaching in Mozambique this weekend. He'll be speaking with a non-governmental organization (NGO, in the development lexicon) which is working with AIDS orphans. Their program places these orphans in local homesteads. I said "Wow, that's much better than orphanages!" Our friend agreed, but added that soon they will have to have an orphanage, because the number of AIDS orphans keeps climbing, and there aren't enough spaces in homesteads around to absorb all the kids. AIDS is like a runaway ocean tanker; it may be slow, but it is so massive that, should it enter the harbor the wrong way, it will plow inexorably right into and pulverize its intended mooring. Thing is, you can see it coming; we are trying to encourage the young people to get out of the way of this thing, and be safe. **********June 9, 2007TOWERING INFERNO 2The "burn barrel" continues to incinerate our trash quickly, cleanly, and throughly. It is a delight. The girls like to come and "help", too. When the can barrel is hot standing a yard away, though, I tell them to back off. Last week we got a REAL bang out of it. An old aerosol can had been sitting in the trash pit for months. I guess the barrel got placed over it, and the fire finally got hot enough to set it off. We heard a tremendous boom and a flaming something shot out the top and caught the dry winter grass on fire. Fortunately we had the watering can nearby for such an occasion. The grassfire was quickly quenched, and one half of the aerosol can was found the next day, displaying ragged edges where it exploded. Now I really believe those labels about "Do not dispose of in fire". Another aerosol can sitting nearby the trash pit got unceremonially chucked into a non-burning trash pit. BUS TRIPLast Saturday morning we boarded Shining Star Bus for town. It came about 30 minutes late, and then it ran out of fuel. We sat for another 1 1/2 hours while the bus owner came with extra diesel (glad we have cell phones now!). Our half day in town was cut to about a 1/4 day, but something very good came out of it. While we sat fuelless, Rudy got to talk to a former student. He asked the young man what he was doing, and he gave the dreaded answer of "Nothing-sitting at home". He has a driver's license and was driving a combi for hire, but had to stop because he didn't have a commercial license and didn't have the money (300 Emalangeni) for it. So we gave him the E300; he should have his license by this time next week. We are convinced that teachers make too much money, so we feel good about giving some away hoping that it will help folks get a little ahead. SOCCERBoys soccer is underway! We had a game on Wed., June 6 and Friday, June 8. I (Rudy) am a sort of assistant coach. I go to the practices and participate, and add a comment here and there that I think might help the team. On Wed. we played in the nearby Ezulwini valley. We arrived at the field about 12:30 under cloudy, drizzly skies. The field, however, looked great: the whole field had grass, it was level, and it was a pretty good size. It sits behind a local hotel, and I suppose is used by the visitors. In a few minutes, however, someone from the opposing school (Somjalose High School) came and told us we were going to play on the other field. No problem, I thought, this is great: they have two good fields here! No chance; the second field was two-thirds grassless dirt and had only the faintest hints of lines. I picked up 10 stryrofoam clamshell fast food containers and kicked a line of soda and beer cans off the field. Turns out the hotel visitors complained about the noise of the students and the trash they left behind at the nice field, so high school teams will never again play there. At the "grassless field", students from Somjalose took pieces of cardboard and bailed the muddy water out from in front of the goals. The rain came and went during the course of the game; at times the players got to hydroplane across the hot-chocolate colored, drenched pitch. We scored the first goal; the ball came to a dead stop in the big puddle in front of the other team's goal, allowing our forward catch up to and toe-bash it in. But, the other team scored two goals (due, in large measure, to poor marking; as a former defender, that drives me nuts) and we left wet and defeated. The game on the 8th (yesterday) was to be played in Mbabane, at a field called Msunduza. We have played there before, as has probably every soccer team in Mbabane and half of Swaziland. Such a high volume of play means this field is completely hard-packed dirt; any blade of grass could be listed as an endangered species. At the last minute, however, the field was changed to Eveni. I knew the area and had a dim idea of where the field was. The bus was to pick us up at 11AM for a 2PM game. Two small buses came at 1PM (yes, 2 hours late-but at least they came). I boarded the less-modern one, because it had lots of space. Turns out I chose the wrong horse. The bus I boarded took the girls netball team (netball is a lot like basketball, but slower) to a different place in town. I asked a teacher if this bus was going on to Eveni; he said no, and that Eveni was too far away, and so I'd be watching netball today. Thanks for the hint on which bus to board, guys! Welcome to life in a low-information society. No, I thought, I have not run around and around the soccer field and kicked these boys at practice and hobbled around on sore, 39 year old feet in the morning to sit and watch a sport I don't understand. So I started off at a trot in the direction of Eveni, trying to flag lifts along the way. Interesting thing, trying to catch lifts in town. Most of the big, new, shiny Landrovers, Beemers, and Mercedes in town have only one or two people in them, and yet it is much harder to find lifts in town than in the bundus where the 1980-vintage light-duty pickups have 9 people in the bed and readily stop to collect me and the girls. No lifts appeared this time, but I did manage to get to the field before kickoff. The boys played valiantly to a 0-0 tie. If we get our forwards working together more and taking the chances to score when they come, I think we can do well this season. RAINSAs I mentioned in the soccer news, Tuesday was rainy. We had a couple of rainy nights this week, and that was very good. They were steady, strong rains, but not so strong to cause washouts of fields and roads. We are delighted. It knocks down the dust on the roads for a few days, waters the gardens of those growing veggies during the winter, and restocks our water supply. Thanks be to God. CROCODILEYenzile, Nsiki, Lungsile, Grace and Cubby were playing "crocodile" this week. Nsiki was apparently the best crocodile of the bunch; she would crawl around on her belly and growl while trying to grab the ankles of her friends. The friends would laugh and scream; ever heard 5 girls under 10 years old screaming in a room with the acoustics of a racketball court? Makes you reach for the nerve tonic. Rudy came into this in the afternoon and asked what was going on. Grace explained that Nsiki was the crocodile, but Grace was somewhere between side-splitting laughter and tears. Rudy and the other girls looked at Grace to try to figure out what was going on with her; Ruth said "She's getting hysterical". End of crocodile for that day. The friends went happily home with an apple each. **********May 18, 2007JOEI stood at the bus rank, wondering where the 4PM bus was and contemplating the consequence of its non-arrival: namely, the other bus would be packed with the passengers for both buses, onto one bus. Sardines again! Not for dinner, though; "The Bus-where YOU are the sardines". A white man in overalls with a red beard as long as the hair on top of his head came up to the bus also. He lives along the Thula bus route, and was weighing his transportation options. He could take a combination of small combis and walking, but today he took the bus. We struck up a conversation as we stood outside the bus. He's an Australian who learned the sheet-metal trade from his father. He bounces back and forth between "Oz" and "Swaz", piling up money "Down Under" (80,000 Australian dollars a year) and returning to SWD until it runs out. Here in Swaziland he is developing a craft village outside Siteki (eastern side of the country) so that artisans and would-be artisans can practice their trade and make a living at it. He and I shared similar thoughts about SWD and development; that the classroom education route isn't going to work for everyone, that learning a trade can be very useful, and that Swaziland's land tenure system provides a great social safety net. It was good to meet him; I invited him (by shouting over the heads of 5 rows of bus passengers) to come visit us sometime by riding Thula out to Nsukumbili. AVOCADOSAfter last August's windstorm, I thought building some sort of windbreak on the west side of campus would be wise. So, I took 10 avocado pits and a shovel and put the pits in the ground. I did nothing but dig up a shovel-full of dirt, put the pit in the hole, and replace the dirt on top. Since then I have done no watering, no fertilizing, no noting. Two of the pits put up plants! I took a cast-off desk from our "desk graveyard", pounded it into the ground, and attached fencing to the desk. I am excited about planting more avocado pits and giving them better holes and treatment. Two other pits planted in the garden last May also put up plants; Ruth says to wait until the spring to transplant them to the nascent windbreak area. In some number of years, hopefully, we will have an avocado forest, providing food and windbreak protection for the teacher housing. MISTY BThat's the rabbit we have now. We bred her in April, and recently built a nesting box for her babies. She has become cranky. We hope it's because she's pregnant; we need to put her with the male again. If she refuses his advances, we'll know she is. We've been trying to feed her with bean leaves and pods from the garden; autumn has come, things are setting seed, and our supply is running low, so we've started supplementing with commercial feed. Ruth painstakingly planted wheat, vetch, several different kinds of clovers, and alfalfa early in May; they are coming up, and we hope the rabbit will eat them. The big plan is to be able to feed rabbits on home-grown food only. This might be a source of meat for homesteads. CHICKENWe put a "silulu" (chicken basket) on the rabbit house roof, and built a ladder up to the roof. The rungs of the ladder wobble a little bit, so it has been interesting to see our neighbors' hens climb up. Hasn't fallen yet! One started sitting on 14 eggs in the silulu; we found one broken on the ground this morning. Well, 13 is still a good number! We hope that they hatch. When they do, we hope to get permission to put some of the chicks in with the rabbit until they can fend off the dogs and eagles themselves. Swazis lose a ton of chicks to such predators. Another hen had 10 chicks in two 3 weeks ago; she's down to one now. Just protecting the chicks in that way might vastly increase the amount of consumable/sellable meat on homesteads. NM Dlamini, a math/science/geography teacher, put his chicks in dog-proof, eagle-proof cages. He has lost only one so far, perhaps to sickness or attack from the other chicks. This "keep 'em safe until they're big enough" might be a better idea than the rabbit. We'll continue with both. School opens Monday, 14 May. **********March 31, 2007FRIDAY AT CRECHELast week Ruth took the Friday morning bus to town to run errands. I (Rudy) taught only the first two periods of the day, and they are a class of motivated students; so I could take the girls with me, let them play in and near the classroom, and still teach the class (which entailed having the students work on a past paper, in anticipation of their SAT-caliber tests at the end of the school year). So, after knocking off work on a Friday at 9AM (wish you could do that sometimes?), I took the kids back to the house. We talked about what to do, and settled on going to creche. We packed the backpack, took the kids to the bathroom, and headed out. Ruth had told me that usually creche knocks off at 11:30 or so, but with me there it might last longer (I suppose a little parental pressure is the cause). We arrived about 10 and the four other students were huddled around the teacher's desk, doing worksheets. Grace got to do one too. After that, Grace was hungry. So all the kids sat in their chairs and ate their lunches. After that, we milled around. Then the teacher announced a game: "Doggy, doggy, where's your bone?" The chairs are arranged "musical chairs" style in a circle. One child stands up and covers her eyes, while the others sing "doggy, doggy, where's your bone?" The "bone" is a folded piece of paper that one of the students sits on. At the end of the song, the student uncovers her eyes and asks the others, in turn, to stand up--in the hopes of finding the bone. When the bone is found, the one who was sitting on it becomes the "doggy", and the game begins again. Not exactly Super Bowl football excitement, but the girls really like it. Ruth introduced the game a few weeks ago. I started improvising: I'd put the paper under Cubby's bottom, and since she was on my lap, I could stand up and not reveal the bone. Then I'd hide the bone in my shirt pocket; then I'd hang the bone on a wire in the rafters. The teacher was talking to a visitor, so I felt pretty much at liberty to call the shots. We got tired of looking for the bone, so we started a game of "Cubby green mamba". Cubby chases the other girls around as if she is a snake; it's a lot like tag. Whoever gets touched is now the mamba, and the others have to run away. When I became the mamba, the game changed again into a tickle fest; these kids love to be tickled. So we were then running around the grass-floor Zionist church, shouting and laughing, kicking up large clouds of dust, and rolling on the floor. I had 4 kids down at once, and would tickle each of them for a few seconds before moving to the next one; felt like cooking 4 things on the stove at once. As the tickle fest/indoor rodeo continued and the dust began to rise, the teacher complained about the deteriorating air quality inside the church and announced that creche was over; she needed to catch the bus, and before that she needed to go home and wash. It was 11AM. Africa. HIGH SPEED RUNWAY FASHION SHOWFor weeks Grace has been telling us how fun it would be for she, Yenzile, Nsiki, and Lungsile to wear each other's clothes. Then, people would call the children by their wrong names and be confused. This week, Ruth and I were sitting in the living room talking while the 5 girls (Grace, Yenzile, Nsiki, Lungsile, and Cub) were in Grace's room. Things got quiet. Attentive parents and teachers know that when a group of kids gets unusually quiet, something is likely up. Sure enough, seconds later, down the hall come running and shouting and singing the 5 girls wearing each other's clothes. They would change the clothes, then come tearing out in a line into the living room where they would run in a circle for 4 or 5 laps while clapping their hands and singing some song. Then they would fall on the floor, lay there a few seconds, get up and run back into Grace's room for another change of clothes and another run at the living room. It happened about 6 times. As my friend Ken Ozturgut put it, kids are a one-channel television. This day, we had 5 channels, and they were all great! PHYSICAL GRAFFITIWell not quite. School supplies are often in short supply. One item often in short supply is school furniture. For about a year the three of us used a school desk (1 1/2 foot by 4 foot) for our dining room table. The situation is much worse for students; they share (meaning, two sit on at the same time) chairs, and sometimes they share a board resting on a chair frame. And sometimes they have no desk at all, as was the case last week during a test. Two girls were sharing a chair; the girl in front had access to a desk, but her "seatmate" didn't. So, to take her test, the girl in back put her test on her seatmate's back and tried to write on her paper against the semi-squishy, sweater-clad back of her friend. I think we've all had the experience of trying to write on such a surface. After watching this for a couple minutes, I told her she could take out a notebook and use that to write on. Wow, these kids are patient. ICEPACKI was watching soccer one Saturday when a former student went down with a knee injury. For you soccer fans, it was a lot like Michael Owen's knee injury at World Cup 2006; inexplicable, and pretty severe. They lugged him off the field and set him down. I went over and talked to him, and said I'd try to do something. I went to the house and told Ruth the situation; she gave me some ibuprofen. I went to the freezer and found that because the freezer doesn't close quite right, plenty of stalagtite-type ice had built up inside. I pried it off with a butter knife and put it in a bread bag, then carted the ice and the painkillers to Bongani. He and his friends clapped when I arrived. It is astonishing how stuff we would take completely for granted in the US can mean so much in a less-wealthy country. A week later he was walking, though slowly. I hope he recovers faster than Michael Owen. MISCELLANEOUSI was in the computer room yesterday, letting students get familiar with them. The govt. of SWD must have scored a huge donation of computers; our school (and the Ministry of Education, I noticed) all have nice new Compaq's with cd burners and dvd drives, with Windows XP. Very nice. Anyway, students like to play their music on them. One student had a Dolly Parton song he played over and over. Dolly Parton in Swaziland. You former PCVs understand. We'll be home for Christmas! Ruth's trip to town Friday included finalizing some tickets. Thanks, Dad, for the help! We will be flying into Orlando Tuesday Dec 11 and leaving on Saturday January 19. If you want to see us, put in your requests now before we put together an itinerary. Ruth recently had an ultrasound and is starting the regular doctor visits for the baby (Kit). There is one (hopefully small) complication. The baby implanted low in the uterus. If the placenta grows down it could cover the cervix (placenta previa) and might require a c-section for delivery. If it grows up, everything would go much smoother. Estimated due date is end of July/early August. We've had rain the last 3 days! It's later than usual, but we're all glad for it. It might be a little late for the corn, but other crops, and livestock, and the school's water source, will benefit. The land looks happier after a good drink. *****March 17, 2007THOKOZANE KHUMALOThokozane is a form 5 (senior) student whose home life lacks parental support. He has 4 or 5 younger siblings at home; mom left home after dad took a second wife (mom, living in Matsapha, doesn't give any support), step-mom consistently encourages dad not to support his children, and elder siblings aren't much help either. Last year We had Thokozane over for dinner once a week for about 3 months to give him a chance to talk through his problems and make some plans. We suggested he try construction work, and we gave him some beans for planting as a cash crop to help his siblings. He took us up on the idea of construction work; he volunteered much of the Christmas school break working for Paulos Dlamini (former Nsukumbili student, owns his own company). Paulos tells us he did well at it, and Thokozane spoke of the various parts of the job in a way that made it clear he knew what he was doing. We were very glad. When the issue of school fees came up, Thokozane knew he was in trouble; he didn't think his dad would produce the money. But Paulos told him that the company would pay his fees! This is extraordinarily good news. Paulos also told him that Thokozane can work for the company during school breaks and after he finishes school. For any student at Nsukumbili, and probably anywhere in Swaziland, to know they have a job when they leave school is rare. We're glad Thokozane is in that small club. Also, the beans are growing. 18 out of 20 planted seeds produced plants. This will, hopefully, ease the hunger problem at his homestead. We just bought and gave him a 10kg bag of beans from the supermarket, and they had a 90% germination rate! His neighbors have been so impressed with the vigor of the plants they want to know where he got the seed. The rains have not been good since January. In many areas of Swaziland there is near total crop failure. Here you see some good looking maize and some really poor maize. Rain would still be helpful, if you pray, please pray for this. BRIDGE REINFORCEMENTDuring the last school holiday we replaced the washed-away bridge. This week I went by to see how it was; I was a little fearful that it would be gone, because it would make a nice ladder. I was delighted to see that it was still in place, and had even been improved on! Knowing almost nothing about footbridges, I put the long pieces down in such a way that the bridge bounces a little if you walk fast across it; I should have nailed two boards together (with the longer faces touching each other) to form each side, then put the cross-pieces on. This would have stopped the "resonant frequency bounce" problem. No matter; someone put two fencepost-size logs underneath the bridge, so that it doesn't have the range for bounce that it would otherwise. That was great to see. People seemed to have rallied around this bridge, by helping to put it in and by improving it. It feels like a real community development success. BUS TRIP III told you about the bus trip home after running around getting my contract signed; no Shining Star bus, and Thula was packed to the gills. A couple Saturdays ago Grace and I went to town, and we rode the 11AM Thula back to the school. The bus was as packed this time as it was that weekday! Fortunately the temperature was cooler, but even so, Grace was getting distressed, getting mushed around. I finally eyed a mother (make in SiSwati, pronounced "MAH-gay") sitting by herself. I smilingly lifted Grace up and put her on the lady's lap, asking her to take care of the child as I handed Gracie over. The make didn't look thrilled, but I suspect some common-courtesy law was in effect. Grace was very well-behaved, and much happier. For another 20 minutes I danced up and down the aisle as people got on and off. Bags of animal feed were laid on the aisle, and at one point I sat on the back of a seat, facing backward. One lady gave me a look of wonder, and I gave her the shrug of the shoulders and upturned palms to say "Where else should I go?" Still, given the complications of a car out here, it's better to spend 1 1/2 hours like this than trying to keep a car up. And it makes for good stories. Fortunately not all trips are like this. We had one on Thursday where all the passengers were sitting comfortably for the whole ride. SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUSSunday March 4 was a Sunday at Eluheneni, the outstation church. The celebration went fine, and we began our trek back. We stopped at the river for 2 hours, the girls had a ball, and Ruth and I got to have a long and enjoyable conversation. Basking in the afternoon glow of sunshine and warm fuzzy feelings, we arrived at the school and found our warm fuzzy feelings quickly vanished. The goats had entered the garden (for the second time), and the water in the houses was going, going, gone! The goats had chewed up our banana plants and some of our peach trees. In the gathering dusk, Grace helped me put up a Fort Knox/Alcatraz-quality improvement on the gate (the goats were squeezing through the rusting fence; we reinforced it with new square mesh). Monday morning Mr. Mamba and I went looking for breaks in the water line. Turns out a homestead tried to install a T-junction from the main line and failed; we were hemoraging badly right in the middle of a cornfield. Two pressure connectors and 90 minutes later, things were fine. Things sure can change fast. One Peace Corps Volunteer told me years ago that overseas life is a rollercoaster; those words are so true. *********March 3, 2007FROM THE FRONTLINESAIDS is the seven-headed hydra currently ripping Africa to pieces. Here's a pertinent article I got off the internet recently; I found it harrowing and hopeful. It was published by a group called Aid to the Church in Need. www.churchinneed.org is their home address. Condoms ineffective in the battle against AIDS in Zambia available athttp://www.aidtothechurchinneed.org/home.cfm?id=106&p=8&CFID=1994949&CFTOKEN=93147885 Sister Crucis (Feb 13, 2007) Preaching chastity and fidelity are "the only way" to tackle an AIDS pandemic sweeping Zambia according to a nun who has set up a hospice for people infected by HIV. Sister Maria Crucis Beards spelled out the ineffectiveness of condoms and how they encouraged promiscuity. She said most Zambians wrongly believed that condoms provided a guarantee against the spread of HIV. "I believe telling people about the importance of chastity and fidelity is the only way to tackle this crisis," she said. "Condoms have been freely available for 10 years or more and yet there's been no obvious change in HIV levels. Clearly condoms don't work." In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Sr. Crucis stressed the need for action against HIV, saying that up to one in three people in Zambia had the virus. Church and Government reports estimate that up to 200,000 Zambians are in urgent need of HIV treatment anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and that about half of all general hospital admissions involve people infected with the illness. By 2004 the epidemic had created 700,000 orphans across the country. Sr. Crucis gave a moving account of how she responded to the crisis by setting up Our Lady's Hospice, a center for HIV care in the east of the Zambian capital, Lusaka. The sister, who gave an interview while on leave in England, explained how, of the 25,000 people who came to Our Lady's Hospice to be tested for HIV, only 2,000 were diagnosed as HIV negative. She went on to explain how thousands of people benefited from the hospice, which provides hospital care as well as an out-patients service, a walk-in clinic and training courses. Sr. Crucis said the hospice was providing ART to more than 3,000 people and that the numbers had soared after May 2004 when Zambia was among 17 African countries to receive US funding for anti-retroviral drugs. The Church's emphasis on chastity and fidelity has proved very effective in Uganda, where a Government-led Catholic initiative resulted in a massive decline in cases of HIV. Sr. Crucis went on to describe the inspiration behind Our Lady's Hospice, which became fully operational in 2003. She said, "I came to see the great devastation caused by HIV AIDS. I saw sick children lying on the floor because there was nowhere else for them to go. People died on the floor before they were able to receive any medical care....I thought to myself, 'I wonder if any of them have been able to see a priest before coming to us for help.' This concerned me a great deal - I thought this is an inhuman way to die." Continuing her explanation, Sr. Crucis said, "For centuries, there was a culture in Zambia of families looking after the sick at home....Now that culture has been annihilated because this dreadful disease has wiped out so many people - especially parents. In many cases, the only ones left are the elderly and the young people." Critical to her mission, she said, was breaking down "myths" among Zambians about how HIV spread. She stressed "the stigma" attached to the illness whereby people diagnosed HIV positive were cut off from their relatives and were accused of disgracing the family. She said a taboo surrounding HIV explained why the vast majority of people coming to Our Lady's Hospice only sought help at the last minute when the illness was untreatable. "A lot of people are in denial about HIV," said Sr. Crucis. "When people are diagnosed as HIV positive, they don't want to believe the results so they keep going to other clinics to get the test results they want." Sr. Crucis called on the Church to tackle Zambia's HIV crisis by stepping up evangelization programs in which the importance of chastity and fidelity are stressed as key to the Christian faith. Reflecting back on nearly 40 years in Zambia, the sister said, "The Church is growing rapidly but the Faith is still a little superficial. What is really important is for people to learn their faith - catechesis is essential." On her return to Zambia from England, Sr. Crucis said she plans to take up a new role setting up a training and educational center focusing on AIDS and the Church's teachings. She added that the center should spell out the Church's opposition to abortion. "The abortion rate is very high in Zambia," she said, "and priests are sometimes afraid to speak out, because they don't feel very qualified in this area. But we should be prepared to challenge people." Sr. Crucis said she wanted the center to concentrate on helping children, providing physiotherapy and coping with pain, training and catechesis saying that the effects of HIV were "most tragic" for young people. Aid to the Church in Need, which supports Christians in 150 countries, gave over $220,000 for the Church in Zambia during 2005, mainly for the training of clergy and sisters and providing Mass stipends for priests. Plans are being developed for the opening of the John Paul II Institute for the Family, in Lusaka, providing training in family issues for clergy, sisters and lay people. ACN expects to help with scholarships for students at the institute. THINGS FALL APARTThis is the title of a classic African novel written by Chinua Achebe. The form 5 students are currently studying it. I walked past their class just as Mr. TJ Mamba, literature teacher and Yenzile's dad, told the class "With the arrival of the white man..." Such opportunities are rare; I jumped at this one. In fact I jumped into the classroom with a big grin. Mr. Mamba and the class were understandably startled, and then TJ got the joke. The students followed soon after. I turned and left the room without a word, as the second wave of laughter spread through the dozen or so students. **********February 10, 2007HABEMUS CAPITAM-we have a headmaster!The week before school opened we were imagining disaster scenarios. How could students register with no headmaster? How long might we wait? The former head teacher and the head of the school committee were not hopeful that the ministry would get anyone appointed in a timely manner. But then a teacher said he had seen the new headmaster. Sure enough, on Wed. 31 January, we met Mr. Magagula, our new headteacher. He has been in education for over 20 years, though he looks considerably younger than MK Dlamini. He has been a headmaster (or a deputy headmaster) in Manzini for 10 years, so he does have experience. He hasn't been around much for the past two weeks (he said he had a number of details to take care of), but we are just glad we officially have a head and that he has been here. The worst hitch in the transition so far is that the students didn't get fed for a couple of weeks since no one was able to sign checks or purchase food. I think that has been fixed. Supplies have been short. The school ran out of paper and ink for the copying machines. Hopefully that will get resolved soon. Teaching without handouts is possible, but unpleasant. Giving tests without handouts is quite a challenge. We still lack a deputy headmaster. It would be nice if they appointed one of the existing teachers, but we will see. EXTRA TIME REPORTThe extra holiday time did get well-spent. Rudy did a lot of hiking, even finding another footpath to town. It is a much more level path, so maybe the whole family can make it sometime. He also got to spend a half-day at the homestead. The homestead father, Abner Dlamini, has been under the weather for months, due to aftereffects of a surgery a few years ago. He was more active this day than he had been on many previous visits. BANANA BOATLast weekend Ruth asked me to purchase a box of either peaches or nectarines. I found a box of peaches for E50 at the old market. I had the big backpack and Grace with me, and time was running out (I thought) to catch the Saturday noon bus back to the school. We had to hurry! So, Grace went on my shoulders. Then, the box of peaches went on Grace's lap. Grace insisted it wasn't too heavy, so off we went. It must have been quite a spectacle; lots of people looked up at Grace and broke into broad smiles. We got to the bus stop on time, and even managed to buy a small bag of popcorn on the way. Well, noon came and went, and 12:30 approached, and no Shining Star bus came. A guy in a pickup truck offered us a lift into Pine Valley, so we took it. It is a nice thing to get as far ahead of the bus as possible, as the bus starts out extremely full in town but gets emptier and emptier the farther from town it travels. A bus ride (Hamba Ubuye bus service) from Pine Valley to Mbuluzi bridge, another pickup truck hitch from near the bridge to the crossroads leading either to Maphalaleni or Dlangeni, a short walk to the shade under a tree, and eventually Shining Star bus (which left town an hour and a half late) got us home. I was just glad we didn't miss the bus in town; as long as you're ahead of the bus, it will eventually reach you. If the bus is ahead of you, arrival home at a decent hour (and in decent physical shape; carrying Grace and 20 kilograms of peaches was fun in town, but looked mighty unappealing for miles in the country) isn't so sure. Ruth was glad for the peaches. A bunch are in the freezer, some are slated for cobbler, and we always have a fresh, healthy snack around the house. ANGEL WINGSDuring the break Rudy took the kids from 7AM to noon, and Ruth took them from noon to 5. Each parent got a bunch of free time, and the kids, with the uninterrupted attention of a parent, had fun too. One day Rudy took the kids to the nearby swimming hole. The girls love to play in the water. I (Rudy) put sunscreen on their faces and arms, but neglected much of Grace's back; we were only out for an hour, I figured, and how much sun could a kid get on her back in that time? Boy did I (and Grace) learn. Grace's swimsuit has a T-back, which leaves her shoulderblade areas exposed. After returning home, the exposed parts were beet red. We called them her "ouchy angel wings". The skin peeled and doesn't hurt anymore; but she does have something like a permanent tan there now. I make sure now to sunscreen her back carefully when she's out in her swimsuit. ********January 9, 2007"NOBODY TOSSES A DWARF!"I took Grace to town a week ago. As we like to do, we hiked from the school to the main road (about 2 hours) then caught a lift from the main road into town. Early in the hike we had to cross a stream. I could easily jump it, but Grace isn't big enough to do that yet. The other way across the stream was climing some rocks, but negotiating both of us over them seemed to me too risky. I explained things to Grace, and offered to toss her across the stream. She agreed. I thought "Hey, I've seen them do this in the movies, surely we can do it too!" So I hefted Grace across the stream. It didn't work like it does in the movies. Grace ended up horizontal in midair, landing on her side, half in the water and half on the sand. At least I had the sense to toss her onto the sandy bank, and not towards the rocky part of the bank. She was wet and sandy, but otherwise unhurt. I felt terrible for an hour, and was very grateful she wasn't injured. A short while later she said "Climbing the rocks was better". On 4 January Grace and I went on another hike, this one just to see what we could see. We came to a stream which was just a foot wide, but too far for Grace to cross by herself. I had the previous week's experience in mind, but just told Grace to take my hands. I swung her without incident across the stream. Without another word from me, Grace said "I didn't land on my side". HOME IMPROVEMENTA short while after moving into this house in April 2006, we realized mold was growing in the clothes closets. The clothes were suffering, and the mold was aggravating Ruth's allergies. So we just took the doors off. One problem solved. We like to read, and the books need to go somewhere. I built a couple of bookcases, but it takes at least a week to complete a bookcase, plus a trip to town and the expense of buying the wood. Instead of building free-standing cases, we began to buy brackets and wall anchor kits and build narrower shelves that attach right to the wall. This was faster, cheaper, and looked okay too, though we still needed to buy wood and varnish, and the varnishing and drying takes time. We were generously given 2 or 3 bags of books last year. I had the anchor kits, I had the brackets, but I didn't have the wood for shelves. Then those doors standing against the wall in the girls' room came to mind. Hmmm...nice wood...already finished...never gonna be used as doors again...table saw, bandsaw, wood files over at the school..."Hey Ruth, how long and wide do you want those bookshelves?" So far 6 shelves have been installed at the Poglitsh home. We figure the next occupants wouldn't want moldy clothes either, and they can put whatever they want on the shelves. VICTORYOne recent Sunday found us at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church in Mbabane. I was standing at the top of the stairs leading to the front door with the kids when an elderly man began ascending the stairs. He used a cane, since one leg seemed locked at the knee and completely nonfunctional. His Chinese-made shoes bore the name "Victory". His face bore the expression "determination". He clearly struggled with each step, but he was driven to meet and worship God. This seems like a small thing, but it was very moving. Would that we all would put such effort into the most important things in life. WUB-CHUBFaith has a number of nicknames. "Cub" was her pre-natal name. That name stuck, and became "Cubby" with use. Cubby became "Khabish" in Yenzile's usage, and we translated Khabish back to the English "Cabbage". Chubby (which describes her belly) and Wubby somehow found their ways into her appelations. Then Grace invented "Wub-Chub" during the week at the orphanage. I've heard of this "Wi-Fi" internet connection stuff in the US; we have a Wub-Chub connection at Nsukumbili. PAYCHECK PACHINKO-THE WHITE HOLEWe have previously described the random assignment of Rudy's salary. One pay scale was too low for us to meet expenses; a couple of iterations (without explanation) has put us at a level which is more than we feel we deserve. You astronomy buffs are familiar with the "black hole"; once something crosses the event horizon, it is sucked into an infinitesimally small, infinitesimally dense "singularity" where all the known laws of physics break down. Star stuff checks in, but it doesn't check out. The mirror image of the black hole is the white hole; stuff just comes streaming out of this point in space. Our December paycheck fits the description of a white hole. It was almost 2 1/2 times a "normal" paycheck. (Granted "normal" is hard to define here; we received 9 paychecks during 2006, only 5 of them were the "normal" amount). When I got my paystub, it had two extra descriptions. One was for a "salary readjustment", which was meant to regularize teacher salaries countrywide. Apparently some classroom teachers were receiving more money than their principals (I wasn't, but maybe that doesn't matter). Periodically they declare retroactive pay raises, and this may be the retroactive portion. The other was a "Teaching Service Commission bonus" which I had heard nothing about in the national newspaper or by word of mouth. We asked another teacher and they didn't seem to get this. We just hope the government doesn't say "Oops, how did you get paid so much money? Send it back". We also got a large chunk of money returned that we didn't expect to see, so we were able to plow some Emalangeni into Paulos Dlamini's hands, for him to help the orphans through his church. We are glad that we can be a conduit of tax money from govt. to those who genuinely need it. *********November 29, 2007PLENTIFUL PRECIPITATIONWe are in the midst of magnificent rains! We have had day after day of substantial but not destructive-volume rains and no hail. Many days have been overcast, allowing the moisture to really soak in. A student named Mciniseli and I planted more avocado and peach trees (if I've already written this, sorry) last Friday. Also, the school is remodeling the front gate; it will have a gate on a track and someone will be at the gate around the clock, so cows and goats inside the school grounds should be largely a thing of the past. We maintain a guarded optimism that we can plant lots of nice trees and shrubs and perhaps even vegetables near the house and not get them chowed by animals. A SLOW DAY AT WORK IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAY ON VACATIONWe are in the midst of final exams; as long as a teacher has all his tests set, the only jobs are grading his own and proctoring other teachers' tests. Today I had only one test to proctor, in cooperation with another teacher. He said he'd proctor for the first hour, and then I could come take his place. When I came at the end of the hour, he said he was enjoying himself so much (reading the newspaper in the complete silence of the examination room) that he told me not to worry; he'd finish the job. This was good, because Ruth told me in the morning that the water was out. Mr. Mamba was up to his ears in grading and proctoring duties, so he couldn't go out to check the system. I knew I had nothing on my plate, so I set off on foot and followed the pipeline to see what I could see. I think I wrote a while ago that we are back on the new water system and off our own source. I got to the point where our pipes connect to the new water system and found plenty of water at the connection point, but none in our pipe. I did what I have seen Mamba do so many times: I put my mouth on the pipe and sucked, in the hopes that I would dislodge some small blockage and get the water flowing again. No luck. I figured I would pull two large sections of pipe apart and see if something (leaves and sticks maybe) got stuck between the end of the big pipe (4 inch diameter) and the small pipe (about 2 inch diameter). Sure enough, after I pulled the big pipes apart and swung the disconnected piece around, water-and a dead frog-plopped out of the pipe. The problem was found and fixed! I reconnected the pipes, sent Mamba a cell phone text message about what had been done, and enjoyed the walk back home. I got home and told Ruth what had transpired, and that a dead frog had stopped the water. She said "I'm sure glad we boil our water". Then I remembered I had put my mouth on the pipe, in the hopes of dislodging the blockage. A little bit of water had been getting past the frog. The dead frog. Hmmmm. Without telling Ruth what I had done at first, I walked quickly to the bathroom to wash my mouth. The water wasn't flowing into the pipes yet, but I really wanted to wash my mouth. I found the instant anti-bacterial hand gel; washes hands and kills germs without soap! Sounded great. I rubbed some on my CHAPPED LIPS and suppressed the screams. Alcohol on dozens of little paper cuts on my lips; what a sensation! But I'm okay now. On my way to the pipe I got to enjoy, for the umpteenth time, the simple and staggering beauty of this area. I realized that many people work for years to accumulate the money and vacation time to spend 2 weeks doing what I get to do all year, every year; and I get paid for it. I have a blessed life. THE ODDS GET EVENAfter relating to Ruth the water situation and getting over the sting of my post-frog hygiene treatment, I went back outside and got in on a pickup soccer game with some schoolboys. I saw some schoolgirls playing a game of their own, something between hopscotch and jump rope. A generous soul we met a couple years ago donated us some soccer balls. I asked the girls: If you had a soccer ball, would you kick it? They said yes. I went home and returned with a ball and threw it to the girls. The boys immediately wanted in on the action, and it became a girls versus boys game of keep-away. The boys played soccer-style, and the girls played netball-style. Netball is a game very much like basketball, but without the dribbling. The emphasis is on getting in good positions and passing. The game was very even, because both teams were good at their respective skills. The boys are a little more coordinated and faster; but the girls are about 15 pounds heavier and 2 inches taller on average-and they used it. In one-on-one situations, the girls would consistently use their bodies to get the ball from the boys. Sometimes they would simply push the boys over; it was hilarious! The boys would get upset and look like they expected the girls to stop and confess their foul and give the boys the ball; the girls just laughed and kept playing. One riotious mismatch involved a girl who must have had 40 pounds and 4 inches on her counterpart. She easily knocked him down again and again. One time he jumped with both feet at the ball, which was at the feet of his much-larger female opponent; she simply stepped a little bit to one side, grabbed his school sweater as he flew at her, and facilitated his forward trajectory past her and onto the ground. Both laughed the entire time. A good time was had by all. Note-we will be in the US for Christmas; we leave Swaziland Dec. 10 and get back about Jan. 20. We don't expect to write any newsletters during that time. We hope to start sending out Africa Dispatches again when we get back. Have a Merry Christmas. *****************March 10, 2007CRECHEThe local pre-school is called "creche". Grace's friends started attending last year. Two of them are enrolled again this year and we decided to arrange for Grace, Faith, and I to go to the creche two mornings a week to help Grace learn more siSwati and to have some shared experiences with her friends. It has been an interesting experience with a few inter-cultural collisions along the way. Rudy and I joke that in the evenings after a day at creche, there is a common discussion in both the teacher's household and in ours. "You wouldn't believe what happened at creche today!" On the first day that we attended, at least an hour was spent trying to figure out how to handle several nests of wasps which had taken up residence in the church where the creche meets. Finally the teacher pursuaded some young men standing around to come and help. They lit branches on fire and after a lot of noise and several wasps flying out the window, the problem was declared fixed. We started the lesson time outside. Things went fine until I realized that several of the children were standing on glass from a broken window. We got to "Count to 20" where all of the children jump up and down as they shout out the numbers. Glass is cracking and breaking under the jumping feet. No one else seemed to be aware that this could be a problem. Fortunately it wasn't. We moved inside. Another woman stayed around for another 45 minutes. She took a leafy branch and would beat the wasps that were returning. She was very talented. She would beat them when they were near a wall, then step on them. There they would lay on the grass covered floor. I started imagining how many dead and dying wasps must be lying on that floor. It wasn't a comforting thought when the children took off their shoes to play legos on a mat. When our talented wasp killer left, it was just the teacher and I. Neither of us like wasps one bit. I was sensitive to stings as a child. I don't know if my children are allergic and since we are so far from medical care I don't care to take unnecessary chances. Since it was her class, I decided my job was to scoop up my children and take them outside if things seemed particularly threatening. And they did seem threatening because the teacher didn't have the "touch" with the leafy branch. She would swat at them as they were flying through the air and just make them mad. If she did suceed at knocking one down, she didn't step on it, so we were left with an injured angry wasp on the floor. Gracie loved it though. She would yell "Buka, manyovu!" (Look, a wasp!) and point everytime she saw a wasp. So she was learning and using more siSwati. Play on the mat time passed. Break time passed. The chairs were lined up. The children were sitting down. The teacher was starting to do something with the kids when a parent walked in to enroll their child. All of the Swazi kids were sitting patiently and quietly in their chairs as the conversation progressed. 5 minutes passed. 10 minutes passed. Grace couldn't handle it any longer. She was out of her chair. I watched to see what would happen. The teacher kept talking, but didn't tell her to sit back down. 20 minutes passed. Grace by this time has convinced some of her other friends to join her. 30 minutes passed. There are a few hold outs when the teacher looks up and snaps at the kids who are still quietly sitting and tells them to join the kids who are by this time playing, singing loudly, and jumping off of the stage. All told it takes 45 minutes to talk to the parent. If we hadn't been there, I am pretty certain that the children would have sat quietly on their chairs the whole time. Then creche was dismissed. The teacher has an opening routine which has been helpful to me. It is done mostly in English and is designed to regularly review important things for the children to memorize. I will give you one snippet: Teacher: "There are 4 basic colors, name them"Everyone: "My name is water. I have no color. If you color me blue, I be blue. If you color me yellow, I be yellow. If you color me green, I be green. But DON'T color me red, because I be BLACK."I'm not sure exactly how our family is to recite the last line, so we just recite it like everyone else and I smile. The reason I have found this helpful is that it has made me aware of how much children can learn from repetition and memorization. The ideas are easier to fill in later if the vocabulary and basic facts are in place. I saw this same process at work at a Swazi run Sunday School. We are going to try to add some of this to our Sunday School program so that every kid that is there regularly knows the basic facts --Who God is, what He did in Christ, what he wants to do for us now in our life in the Church, what he expects, and how to pray. Faith is in potty training at this point. During our first day at creche I asked where I should take her when she needed to use the potty. I was told to use the latrine for the attached homestead. Each visit to the latrine is a different experience. The first time we went, it smelled of kerosene which I thought was a bit unusual. The second time we went the kerosene smell was gone and I think I know why it was there before. Zooming all over the floor and the concrete sitting box were dozens of high speed ants. They were large and seemed to think they were competing at the Indianapolis 500. I am trying to manipulate Cubby so that she is squatting over a large rectangular hole without falling in. I am trying to accurately position her so that whatever comes out of her bottem goes directly into the hole and not on the seat or on the sides. While I am doing this I am trying to also keep a grip on the diaper I have removed (the floor is dirty so I don't want to put it down). Suddenly she starts squirming and squealing. The ants are racing up and down her legs. They have also covered my shoes and are doing extensive exploratory forays on my anatomy as well. I quickly decide that this is not going to work and decide that finding a relatively ant free place in the grass is a better idea. A day later the teacher announces a potty break to the children. I followed the children out, wondering what would happen. All of the children crossed the little dirt road, went into a wooded area and dropped their pants. Gracie quickly joined her friends. She is very good at this because of our hiking. She has even perfected this little butt wiggle when she is done to shake herself dry. So creche goes. The teacher and I puzzle over each other. She doesn't understand why I speak to Grace to direct her (when I assume she thinks this child has crossed way over the line and needs to be yelled at, threatened, or spanked). She doesn't understand why I spank when I do, especially in public. I don't understand why she verbally berates the kids who don't understand how to do the worksheets (she says it is to save them a beating when they go to elementary school). I am trying to work with the kids who need concepts explained more clearly. She is trying to keep the kids until noon and let them play when friends come to visit her. It will be interesting to see how the year progresses. Hopefully we will each learn some helpful things in the process. So those are our little local adventures. Overall things are going well here. Our current challenge is health related. Rudy has had a cough for two months (unprecedented for him). We have been treating for bronchitis, but one doctor is suggesting asthma (which doesn't seem quite right, but is sounding more likely). We have been living in a 3 foot high sea of flowering grass broken only by flowering maize fields. It might be related. Faith has had a runny nose for a month and I suspect allergies and don't really want her to be on medication at such a young age. I am pregnant. My allergies can be controlled by antihistimines and an inhaler, but I am trying to balance enough control to keep my sanity with not wanting to take medicine since I am pregnant. Usually I am allergic to being indoors and the key is to keep the windows open and the bedroom free of dust mites. But if open windows are showering us in pollen and if washing the blankets only means that they get loaded up on another allergen while they are drying... you see the problem. What I would really like is a mask we could wear while sleeping that filters out all of the allergens--surely someone has invented one of those--no chemicals, no electricity. They are cutting the grass around the school and the maize has about finished flowering, so we will probably just wait another month and see if our symptoms disappear with the pollen sources before we decide what to do. If you pray or if you have some wisdom to share, we would appreciate it. The great news is that we just found out that a friend of ours decided to get an HIV test. He was taking a sick relative to the hospital and decided to get tested while his relative was getting tested. We were recently walking down the road and met one of Rudy's students. His brother was sick, he told us it was AIDS. It was the first time we have ever had a Swazi tell us that someone who was sick knew that it was AIDS. It is a small glimmer of hope that just maybe there is the beginning of a change. Hope all is well with you and yours. ************February 24, 2007JUST SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINEIt should be that easy to sign a teaching contract, but most years it's been much more adventurous than that. Several years they have lost my transcripts and identity documents and these have had to be resubmitted. The first year my entire file was lost. Contracts don't get signed until after teaching at least a month. The first paycheck arrives anytime between the end of April (last year, payment for Jan - March arrived in August) and the end of July (my first year because they wouldn't accept my passport as proof of my birthdate and I had to get my birth certificate from the US). This year was less exciting than the first time, but still had its moments. One Friday during the first week of school I had only 2 periods to teach; since enrollment was still "loose" (new students trickling in each day, so that I was hesitant to launch into teaching), I asked the acting headmaster for permission to go to town and try to get things rolling. He said it was a good idea, so off I went. It just happened to be the day that "posting letters" were being distributed; a posting letter is a key document in getting a contract signed. They were available at the Mater Dolorosa High School auditorium. I went there and surveyed the scene; looked like the end of a high school dance, people standing in large and small knots and no one too clear on what they need to do next. I spoke for a while with the first guy I found, trying to figure out what's going on. He told me nothing was going on, but that I might try "that corner over there". In "that corner over there" stood, it so happened, the guy whom I work with to get a contract (Mr. Nxumalo). We made eye contact, he turned around and then turned back to me with my posting letter. That was it! I asked when I should come back and sign the contract; he said "Listen to the radio for an announcement, then come back on the assigned date". Five minutes, and I was back on the sidewalk! Astonishing! I did feel sorry for the other folks, though. Who knows how long they had been there and would continue to be there. I forgot, however, to ask my colleagues who listen to the radio to kindly inform me when we should return to town to sign contracts. My first mistake. A week and a half later I finally did ask some teacher friends when the signing date would be. They told me it was the previous Friday. So, the next day (Wednesday) I took off to town to sign. I arrived at the office, met Mr. Nxumalo. He found a blank contract sheet, put my name on the top, looked at my posting letters, and asked "Where are your Resumption of Duty forms?" "Not in my file?", I asked. "Nope, they're not". Shot down. Had to return to school, get the Resumption of Duty forms, get the headmaster to sign them, then try again. On Monday, 19 February I returned to the Ministry with both my posting letter and three copies of the resumption of duty forms, all signed and stamped by the school. I am glad to say that I only was scheduled to teach two periods on Monday, so I could teach one of them and then catch the mid-morning bus to town. I found Nxumalo again, gave him the forms, and he said "Hey, the Resumption of Duty form isn't signed by the Regional Education Officer; I can't do anything until she signs them". Shot down again, but there was hope; the REO's office is in town. So I jogged across town and went to her office. Her secretary said she was in Pigg's Peak at a meeting, and would be back at 2PM, no matter what. Just to try to triangulate an answer, I asked another person when she'd be back;opinion #2 was 4PM. A third person, when asked "Do you know when the REO will be back?", offered the consoling "I don't know". One question, about one person, with three possible answers; "round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows!" Like being at a carnival, where the grand prize is a signature instead of a huge stuffed animal. Well, I had other errands to run, so off at a jog I went. One them was delivering an invitation to the Peace Corps office for volunteers to come visit us. We have hot water, electricity, outstanding hiking and vistas, easy access to Mbabane, and we have all three extended versions of "The Lord of the Rings" movies-I hope this last item brings some guys out here (sometimes I feel like I'm in a sorority house here, with a wife and two daughters). I went to the office, and learned it was closed-US President's Day. US workers here get off the Swazi holidays and the US holidays. Ah well, so it goes. Back to the street to catch a combi into town center. I boarded a combi, and there in a car ahead of us was the Peace Corps country director! Ah, if I had only been more alert I could have seen her and gotten a lift with her into town-thus saving myself two bucks and delivering the invitation at the same time! But wait, I thought; she's driving into town in mid-afternoon on a day off. Maybe she's going to get groceries. I bet if I cruise the aisles at Spar (grocery store) I have a decent chance of meeting her. I jumped ship ("combi" is siSwati for "ship") at the bus station and beelined to Spar. On the pretense of getting something to eat, up and down the aisles I went. And there was the director! I handed her the invitation, paid for my emahewu (a cornmeal-based drink; cheaper and more nutritious than Gatorade), and took off. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I went back to the REO's office. It was now 3:30; The last buses home for the day were due to leave at 4:00 and 4:30. Sure enough, the REO was at her desk. She graciously and quickly signed my forms. I took them next door to the registry to get them stamped. The lady took my forms and stamped them. She also indicated her two friends sitting in the office with her and said "Hawu, (a term either expressing suprise, or intended to elicit some sort of sympathetic response) my friends are hungry. Please give them something." I was thinking "Hmmm, I don't know them; they are YOUR friends; I haven't been paid this year, and probably won't be until April; you're probably a permanent staff member, which means you never have a break in paychecks; I've been running around town since 10:30AM and you've been in this chair since I first visited this office 5 hours ago; and you want ME to give them something?" Did I say that? Nah, just something like "They're your friends; maybe you could give them something." Got my forms back, and began what I hoped would be my last run of the day. A few minutes before closing, Nxumalo was in the office; he told me to sit down for a moment. Not wanting to inebriate his foam office chair with sweat, I opted to pace around and wipe the sweat from my head and neck with my hat. It was a few minutes after 4. Shining Star bus hadn't come to the school in the morning, so I wondered if it was going to run in the afternoon. At 10 past 4 Nxumalo returned with a blank contract, we filled it out, and he stapled it to my file. Mission accomplished; now to get home. I ran (again) to the bus rank (station), weaving through knots of schoolkids. I saw Thula bus beginning to move from its space, and it was absolutely packed; people were hanging out the door, and it seemed that the bus operators were haggling with bus rank officials about the number of people. The driver waved me around to his door (which is separate than the passenger's door; he has a well-deserved space of his own, enclosed by a wire mesh cage). He told me to go meet the bus at the Shell gas station across town, the last bus stop on the way out of town. One more run got me there, at about 4:30. The bus came, and it didn't stop. It went up a slight hill to a traffic light. All of us hoping to catch the bus ran up the hill. I got there second out of the bunch of runners; I was just glad my second liter of emahewu hadn't made an untimely reappearance. My legs were tired of running, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it either. After about 20 minutes of jigsawing people onto the bus, we were off. The bus was packed nose to nose for about 45 minutes, after which time people were standing more comfortably in the aisle for another 40 minutes until about 3 miles from the school. For those first 45 minutes it was quite a feat to be able to find space for both my feet on the floor of the bus. Fortunately for the folks packed in a standing position, all the windows were open. Perhaps the folks sitting down realized the standers' unfortunate lot and didn't worry about the dust blowing in, or maybe the standers made it clear that the windows would be open, period. Whatever the reason, folks actually seemed pretty happy once we got underway. Students would occasionally write out bus tickets, and 10kg bags of rice (seemed to be a bunch of those) made their way, hand by hand, to the front and got offloaded with their owners. I got home and greeted Ruth with "mission accomplished". Then I asked to take a hot bath. Wow. I must say, all's well that ends well, and (with the hope that the contract would get signed), it was pretty fun. The bus fare was E15 round trip, about $2. I did wonder if it's possible to have that much "fun" and excercise in the US for $2. *******October 28, 2006A FLOCK OF SEAGULLSYou Gen-Xers, remember that group? Vintage 1982 as I recall. On Monday, October 23, about a half dozen seagulls were perched on a classroom roof. The nearest open body of water is about 4 miles from here, but I've never heard of them being there. We've had a couple of rainy days, but that's the only explanation I have for the seagulls. The headmaster saw them and asked me "What are those called in English?" I told him. He explained "There's no Swazi word for that, because they're not usually here". Go figure. TWO IN ONEThis is the name given to the double-thick, Chinese-made blankets which keep us warm in the Swaziland winters. In September I took one of the girls to the local shop. The shopkeeper, Mrs. Mamba, who has been here since before my arrival in 1990, said "Ha, S'coko (my nickname; means hat; more some other time), I saw your photo in the paper!" Later that day another neighbor stopped me on the road and asked if I'd seen the photo. I told him no, and he said he'd send the newspaper over in the afternoon for us to look at. He did, and sure enough there I am with Grace and Faith on my shoulders. The caption read "Two In One" (I'll try to attach the photo to this e-mail). A couple weeks later a friend in Mbabane asked me if I had seen the photo, and I told him I had. He said "You've started a trend; I see many men now carrying their sons and daughters on their shoulders. It's a good thing, because it helps develop a bond between father and child". If that is the legacy we leave in Swaziland, we've done a good thing. You fathers with young children (Grace is 4 1/2 years, and I can still carry her), give it a try sometime. You can actually move faster with them on your shoulders, you'll build up your leg muscles and your cardiovascular endurance, and you get lots of enjoyment from the banter between you and your young ones. Try one at a time to start; I can do two for a short time because our backpack has support in just the right places. MORNING JOGI try to jog every other morning or so. For variety I changed my route recently, and now I pass a knot of students (elementary and high school) on their way to school. A few of the elementary school boys run with me for a couple of minutes, bare-footed and smiling wide. We all have a good time, and I'm very aware that it won't be long before they can far outdistance me. BLESSING ON STUDENTSYou may have seen the documentary on Mother Teresa named (coincidentally) Mother Teresa. If you haven't, give it a try at www.MotherTeresaFilm.com. In one scene, Mother Teresa arrives at one of the worksites and the sisters come out to meet her. As she passes through their midst she briefly lays her hands on each to bless them. I found it simple and moving. Here are women who deal with the poorest of the poor day in and day out for years, and here they come smiling and giggling to receive prayer from their spiritual mother. Tuesday, October 17 was the first day of the external exams for the Form 3B students. These external exams are something like the SATs or ACTs, and they arguably carry more weight than their US equivalents. The results can determine whether a form 3 (US sophmore) gets to go on to form 4 (US junior) or not. I am the class teacher for the 3Bs, something like a homeroom teacher (if they still have those) in the US. A few days before the 17th one of the students asked me to conduct a small worship service before the exams (what's that saying, as long as there are tests there will be prayer in school?). I said okay but forgot about it until the morning of the 17th. On that morning, the students gathered according to class on the assembly ground as they always do. They sang, there was a prayer, and then announcements. I remembered the young man's request and said "All 3Bs report to me, right here, after assembly". Such an announcement usually means something went wrong the previous day, and now fault and punishment must be administered. But it was not this day. I told them "Well, this is the beginning of the end. This is the first day of examinations. I would like to pray for you now, and I want to pray for each one of you, munye nga munye ("one by one"). What I would like to do is lay my hands on each of your heads and pray silently and briefly for you. After I pray for you, you may go to the classroom. If you do not want this, it's okay; feel free to walk away anytime." I put both my hands on the head of the nearest student and offered a brief, mental prayer. I moved to the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Every one of the students came forward for prayer. The entire event took probably two minutes, but it was a very significant event for me. Some of these students will not go farther than form three (money, low achievement on these exams, or both will prevent them). At least one had a sister die, and I suspect others have lost relatives in the three years I've known them (I taught them science as form ones, and have been their class teacher through forms 2 and 3.) I have watched them grow from boys and girls to young men and women. They are entering adulthood at a hard time in Swaziland; lots of traps await to trip, wound, and destroy them. I prayed that they would go strong with Jesus, and naturally I prayed that they would do well on these exams. But I also prayed that if this is the end of their educational careers, that they would do good things with their lives from this point forward. I was stirred more and more as the prayer service continued. One student, when he didn't hear me say anything, said "Please pray sir"; I assured him that I was, and I knew that I was praying much more fervently than I expected to. The last student was prayed for and dispersed to her class for her exam. This day was different for me because of that experience; I hoped it was different for the students too. That evening a group of teachers had our Tuesday prayer and Bible meeting. One part of the meeting includes items for thanks, praise, and prayer. I mentioned the morning time with the students and that it had been really meaningful to me, and that we should pray for the students at this time. Another teacher added that "Yes, I want to agree with S'coko. You know, that class of students is very naughty (Ed. note: guess that doesn't reflect too well on me, the leader), but they were a different class after that prayer time. That was a good thing." I'm glad to know God touched them as well as He touched me. I know this isn't the experience of everyone who has done volunteer, overseas, or mission work, but I have certainly found that as much as you try to give and help others, you end up receiving a lot more back. It's mighty humbling and uplifting at the same time. Nkhosi sikelel' iAfrica-God bless Africa. ************August 26, 2006END OF TERMI'm writing on the last day of school for this term. Today we do the final signing of report cards, then hand them out to the students. I use our laptop for calculating grades, but much of the job is still done by hand on paper with carbon copies. And it's frustrating to think that many of the kids will ditch these report cards just after they exit the school gate (after all, who would want to show a mom or dad an awful report card?). But, that's life. ELECTRICITYThe big windstorm was Wednesday night, August 2nd. Much to our happy suprise, we had power back fairly steadily by Monday, August 7. We tip our hats to SEB (Swaziland Electricity Board) for their quick return of service. A power pole had been pushed into a leaning position and the wires were laying in the trees, but they fixed the whole thing up and we've got juice again. We are really impressed. WATERWater has been steady for the past few months; but this last week we have been running short. It is the dry season and there is less water from the source. Overall we've been fine. The struggle recently has been managing the water between us and the primary school down the road. A single valve decides how much water goes to each school; this, of course, is the bone of contention. We have some ideas as to what to do, but it takes lots of negotiation. Some technical issues also stand in our way; the primary school water tank has metal pipes and fittings, and Mr. Mamba and I only know how to work with plastic. But overall, neither school goes without water for very long. A three week school break is starting now, so that should drop the demand. PLUMBINGThe last week of school, water was seeping out of the sewer cover again. Knowing that the plumber just rammed a piece of 40mm plastic pipe down the system and cleared the line, we repeated his action. The difference was, we used a longer piece; we rammed it down until we could see it in the next opening in the system. A bunch of roots came out, as did a tin can! We still don't know how that got in, but we suspect the kids somehow dropped it in through an open drain beneath an outside sink. Rudy took Grace and Cub to town on Tuesday, 22 August. This left Ruth at the house to catch up on paperwork. At one point, Rudy was in the internet cafe and Grace needed to go to the bathroom. Grace said she could go by herself, so Rudy gladly let her. Then he had second thoughts about letting her go unchaperoned in "the big city". Rudy went after her; she had found the bathroom okay, and had used it, but was locked in! How this happened, I don't know. The door only locks with a key, but locked it was. Grace was very patient while the proper key was sought and found; she didn't freak out at all. When the key came (about 10 minutes later), Grace showed no sign of emotional scarring. During the episode, I couldn't help but think back to when the same thing happened to me in Mbabane in 1991 (got locked in the Peace Corps bathroom by the country director. Long story). And sure enough, Grace (from inside the bathroom) said "Dad, this is just like what happened to you!" Ruth and I must have talked about this at some point. Parents, if you don't know it by now, be advised: kids remember what you do and say. PERSONNELI believe we told you Mr. MK Dlamini, the headmaster, will retire at the end of the year. I learned yesterday that our deputy headmaster, Mr. Mcanyana (the c in Mcanyana is a click) will retire at the end of this term. The ministry of education said he requested information on retirement in December 2003; Mr. Mcanyana insists he did no such thing, but to no avail. Mr. MK Dlamini, with over 20 years of experience in education, has been moved to a contract position (like Rudy's) and has not been paid for 2 months. Maybe the Ministry of Education has figured out how to save a little money. KIDSGrace came home from playing yesterday with a mud-streaked face, indicative of tears. She told us that Yenzile has gone away. We figured that her dad and she left a little early for the school break. We were very happy to see Yenzile Friday morning so that she and Grace could have one more day together before they are separated for three weeks. It's good to see that Grace has friends. That is one real bonus of living here. Grace also made us very happy this week. Rudy came down Wed. night with a nasty stomach flu; he went to bed at 4PM. After dinner Wed. night, Grace asked Ruth to read to her. Ruth explained that she had to take care of Daddy and do the jobs that Daddy normally does as well as her own work so there wouldn't be time for a story. Grace thought and said "Mommy, I'll meet your needs" and volunteered to do the dishes (which is usually Rudy's job). Ruth very wisely let her do the dishes. Sure, Ruth had to come back and redo a number of them, but Grace's eagerness to help was the important thing. What a great kid and what a wise mom. Rudy was moving again on Thurs. morning, with a dose of children's ipepac syrup at 10:30 Wednesday night to expedite the recovery (you parents and medical types know what ipepac is for). Here on Friday morning, Rudy is almost full strength. WIND STORM DAMAGEWe walked to a nearby homestead on Friday, and Ruth got to see the back of one of the houses that had the roof taken off. There were large pieces of roof laying on the ground. The metal was still attached to the wooden beams but the beams had snapped in two like someone had been playing a giant game of "pencil fight". The wooden understructure will have to be replaced on several of the houses before new (corrugated iron) roofing can be put on. The school had put plastic tarps on the houses, but another windy day ripped those. I have heard poverty described as "a lack of options"--that seems very appropriate here. Temporary repairs need to be made so that extensive repairs don't have to be done to correct rain damage, but there is no money even for temporary repairs. It is frustrating. A few people have asked how they can help--if you want to help financially, write a check (not tax deductible) to Rudy Poglitsh, email us and tell us the amount (so we can get it to the school immediately we will pull it from our savings and not wait for all of the checks to get cleared before passing on the gift). Mail the check to: Rudy Poglitsh 431 Van Buren St D5, Fort Myers FL 33916. Rudy's dad (also Rudy) will deposit the checks; you can contact him at poglitsh@att.net. The headmaster told us that it would take US$30,000 to completely repair all of the damage. However, much smaller amounts, wisely used, could prevent further damage until permanant repairs are made. LIVING SITUATION (from Ruth)We are getting settled with our new housemates--Ms Khoza, her baby Seluleko, and her teenage daugher (often at boarding school). There have been a few more additions, but they don't sleep here. These include Simelane, Ms Khoza's housekeeper/nanny; Goodness, her neice who lives nearby and uses the refrigerator, and the NM Dlamini's who live next door now and walk in and out a dozen times a day. People start arriving about 6:30 am and finish coming at about 4:00 pm. Ms Khoza and Mrs. Dlamini have some kind of business arrangement making and selling frozen flavored ices. Sometimes they are sold at Mrs. Dlamini's and sometimes they are sold here, so some days there is a constant stream of students at the door to buy ices. The first few days were really difficult--feeling like I was living in the middle of a three ring circus with a contant stream of unknown people coming in (occasionally knocking before walking in) and wandering through my house for no reason known to me. Once we got things rearranged in the house so that Ms Khoza has the space she needs for her things, I started to feel OK. When I got to know the people wandering through and we cut some of that down, I felt even better. Now it is getting comfortable and even enjoyable--we are more connected to things now. I am around more SiSwati speakers, and the kids have more people to play with. Ms. Khoza is a very pleasant person to be around, and her kids are nice. TOP DECKIn 11 years at ECHO, Ruth learned that staying overseas is easier if you find something(s) you can do overseas that you can't do back at home. For us, one of those things is Cadbury chocolate bars, and specifically, Top Deck chocolate bars. It's sections of dark chocolate with smaller pieces of white chocolate on top. No US chocolate comes close. On a recent Saturday morning, Ruth stayed home to do paperwork and Rudy took the girls to their favorite swimming hole. A few Swazi girls were there doing laundry. One of them used her galvanized wash basin to wash the clothes and pour water down the rock face that leads into a pool. This is the rock face that, you may remember, we found students sliding down a year or two ago. This girl was using her laundry soap to make the rock face slippery. I used a word I learned this week to tell her how to go faster. "Kumanya" is the infinitive for "to shine". "Kumanyisa" means "to make shiny". I told her, "Manyisa tibunu takho-utawuhamba kakhulu!", meaning "make shiny your buttocks-you will go fast!" She did, and she went fast! She did it that way one more time, but I think the "turbo" effect was a bit much for her. One time, she took Cubby up the slope with her. This was a precious shot: 8 year old Swazi carrying 1 1/2 year old American, both naked. Cubby and the girl were going to go for a slide, with Cubby on the lap of her host. Cubby, though, seemed pretty terrified, and the slide was jettisoned moments before launch. Still, on their ascent up the rock face and sitting on the top of the slope, they looked like a living version of a Cadbury Top Deck. It was sweet. *********May 27, 2006GREETING WITH GRACEWe went to Mass on Sunday, 14 May in Mbabane. We went to the SiSwati Mass, which is simply magnificent. The singing and participation is astounding; it's a real treat. Before Mass, we had been practicing with Grace how to greet people politely. At times she can be rude to people. We explained that she was to look at people, smile, answer their questions, and shake their hands. We did role playing outside of the church, then she and Mom set out on a practice run. Our first practice targets were a group of four young girls (12-16 years old) at the front of the church wearing white dresses, blue sashes, and what looked like bridal veils. We went up to greet them. We found out that they were part of a youth group called "Daughters of Mary" and that they had taken a vow to maintain their virginity until marriage. A group of Zulu's from South Africa had come to Mbabane to share how they had started this group and give the youth in Mbabane a chance to start their own chapter. It was really encouraging to talk to them. Nothing will change in Swaziland until the young people decide to live differently than their culture and take sexual morality seriously. These girls have decided to do that and are taking a very public stand. Please pray for them and others like them. Grace did so well on the practice run that we prepared to enter the church. Faith was wearing a hat that makes her look like a sunflower with yellow petals all around her face. There was a group of four old grandmothers sitting near the entrance to the church. Grace greeted them all well, then Faith wanted to get in on the fun so she went over, waved Hello and proceeded to give to each Grandmother (and then take back) a stick that she had picked up. Soon everyone was smiling and laughing. We explained to Grace how when she shows love to people, it makes people happy and helps everyone have fun. At the Mass were a group of 12 nursing students from Montana. They were in Swaziland for a short visit, visiting the parish nurse program. Our family was about 3 pews ahead of them. I turned around and asked "Are you the nurses from Montana?", and they were. We made brief, whispered introductions. Ruth asked Grace if she wanted to go greet them; Grace was eager to go visit them, so she crawled under our pew and not only greeted them, but then sat with them throughout the service. Ruth and I occasionally looked back to check on her; she was an angel throughout. During the announcements after Mass, the students were called to the front of the church to be introduced to the congregation. Guess who went with them! There was Grace, the youngest member of the team. Grace wasn't introduced by name, but she looked very happy to be there with the young women (and one male nurse). We will close with a couple of recent Grace quotes: "Daddy, how do the [traffic] lights change?""I think they run on an electric switch.""Maybe there's a little person inside." "Mommy, four year-olds are strong[er] than baby-olds." *******May 20, 2006GRACE FROM GRACEA friend gave us a lift back to the school on Saturday, 6 May. I was helping Grace change clothes for bed, brush her teeth, etc. Grace suddenly said "I want more babies". I quickly responded "So do I, Grace" and began to cry. I just knelt down and held onto Grace while I cried. She gently patted my back for those few moments. What a great kid. When I put her in bed that night (after she had put a pair of Cubby's pants on her head-dark purple long cotton pants with strong elastic; she looked a little like a court jester), I asked "Grace, are you sad about Wallaby?" She cheerfully answered "No, I don't get sad about anything". That's not entirely true, but it was a nice piece of relief. BACK TO SCHOOLThe first day went pretty well. We recieved 10 very nice computers last year, and I am trying to get my Form 4 and Form 5 students into the computer lab once a week so they can learn how to use them. I am told that, as Africa goes, Swaziland's education system isn't too bad, but graduates lack computer skills. Maybe I can help rectify that. The government has yet to pay the schools their OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) allotments; this means the school repaying our loan to help build the house we now live in is delayed. The headmaster came to the house Sunday evening to explain this. He is a very good man. We did get a paycheck at the end of April, for the month of April. An employee we know at the Ministry of Education said he expects the rest of the money (that is, pay for Jan., Feb., and March) to come in the May paycheck. That would be nice; we can only wait and see. Hope you are enjoying spring, as our temperatures fall and the nights get longer here. ************May 13, 2006GRACE FROM GRACEA friend gave us a lift back to the school on Saturday, 6 May. I was helping Grace change clothes for bed, brush her teeth, etc. Grace suddenly said "I want more babies". I quickly responded "So do I, Grace" and began to cry. I just knelt down and held onto Grace while I cried. She gently patted my back for those few moments. What a great kid. When I put her in bed that night (after she had put a pair of Cubby's pants on her head-dark purple long cotton pants with strong elastic; she looked a little like a court jester), I asked "Grace, are you sad about Wallaby? [our first baby lost to miscarriage]" She cheerfully answered "No, I don't get sad about anything". That's not entirely true, but it was a nice piece of relief. BACK TO SCHOOLThe first day went pretty well. We recieved 10 very nice computers last year, and I am trying to get my Form 4 and Form 5 students into the computer lab once a week so they can learn how to use them. I am told that, as Africa goes, Swaziland's education system isn't too bad, but graduates lack computer skills. Maybe I can help rectify that. The government has yet to pay the schools their OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) allotments; this means the school repaying our loan to help build the house we now live in is delayed. The headmaster came to the house Sunday evening to explain this. He is a very good man. We did get a paycheck at the end of April, for the month of April. An employee we know at the Ministry of Education said he expects the rest of the money (that is, pay for Jan., Feb., and March) to come in the May paycheck. That would be nice; we can only wait and see. Hope you are enjoying spring, as our temperatures fall and the nights get longer here. **********April 28, 2006EASTER ANECDOTESWe returned on Easter Sunday to the school. We were staying with friends in Mbabane, and planned to stay a little longer, but their almost-two-year-old couldn't shake a fever, vomiting, and ear infections; so, in the hopes of preventing the spread of whatever she has, we decided to leave a little early. Turned out she had a severe ear infection, but will be okay.. This is a plug to the parents of children in the home: spend time with your kids. On Saturday the 15th, I planned to go into town and do errands. But Grace wanted to go, and it just seemed right to take her. We had a great 4 1/2 hours walking around town together, doing errands here and there. Towards the end of our "walkabout" we ate chicken pastry pies (like pot pies, only without the aluminum pan). After resting at our friends' place a few hours, at 7PM Grace and I got a lift from Steve to the church. Ruth's stomach was a bit upset, and she decided to decline the Easter Vigil Mass. A passle of Swazi kids, Grace and I played tag on the church lawn until about 7:45, and at 8 the Mass began. Three hours and a beautiful liturgy later (including stunning singing-you really have to hear it live to appreciate it), we were back at the Allen's home. To celebrate Easter, Gracie and I had a candy cane, some goldfish snacks, some pepsi, and a tootsie roll. I remember attending an Easter liturgy at St. John's Orthodox Church in Chugiak, Alaska a few years ago; the celebration (and food!) after the liturgy was joyful and luxurious. The nightcap Gracie and I shared took its lead from that wonderful experience in Alaska. After our snack, I packed Gracie off to bed. POINT: As far as children are concerned, love is a four-letter word spelled T-I-M-E. I might have accomplished more on the internet in town, and I wouldn't have had to retrace our steps after Gracie forgot our umbrella at the photocopy store, and my legs wouldn't have been so tired (she was on my shoulders a lot of the time) if I had left her at the house. And, I could have prayed for the hour between arriving at church and the start of the Mass, and I could have paid more attention to everything that happened during the liturgy, if Grace had stayed back and gone to bed on time. But, we have forged more wonderful memories and a deeper trust because of our time together. When she faces harder issues in her life, the trust we build by spending such time together will make it easier for her to breach those issues with me. Everybody wins. BRIDGE BUILDING-Literally! Ruth was sick on Friday, 21 April. She thought it would be good if the rest of us (except Wallaby!) left her alone for a couple hours. Recalling that the day before I had Grace and Faith out for a walk and wanted to take a shortcut home, but declined due to the presence of a rickety bridge, today we fixed the bridge. We took two sheets of scrap metal (used in constructing the house we now live in), a hammer, pliers, and some heavy, U-shaped tacks. Grace carried the aforementioned tools and supplies, and I carried the metal sheets (with heavy gloves) and Cubby. Grace walked all the way down the big hill with all that stuff, and all the way back! I am supremely proud of her, and told her as much. The bridge improvement went fast and well. The bridge consists of two tree trunks, each the size of a man's arm, laid parallel across a small ravine. The ravine isn't wide (maybe 6 feet) or deep (maybe 8 feet); but the bridge is necessary, because the edges of the ravine are sheer. The "two logs" arrangement was okay, if a little challenging; but with a load (like 2 kids) it was too risky. Gracie handed me tacks when I asked her, and I pounded the tacks through the metal into the logs. I left some logs visible at one end of the bridge and in the middle (between the metal sheets) so people can figure out where they should put their feet for the most secure crossing. Of course they can also follow the trail of tacks. It must have been quite a sight: three foreigners, one dad and two daughters, pounding away on a tiny footbridge, with the younger daughter tranquilly strapped to the dad's back (Cubby didn't cry until right at the end of the job). It was great. Mzwandile, a student friend of ours, commented on the bridge when he came by later in the day. He said it would help. During the process, Grace asked if this would help people. I said it would. Then she asked if there were any other bridges that needed repair. What a great kid. SCORPION III went to church without Ruth and the kids on Sunday, April 23. All three are a little under the weather (the flu bugs here are on steriods compared to flu bugs in the US), and with intermittent rain, we decided it would be best for me to go alone. I got to church about 9:45 and began sweeping. I came across a scorpion dangling in a spider's web, and thought "Aha-I've seen this before". I took the broom and entangled the bristle-end of the broom in the web. The scorpion still appeared dead-but I wasn't taking any chances. No "Animal Planet-let's see if I can pick this thing up by a leg and tell all the folks at home about it!" approach for me. By the time I got it to the door (and had picked up a half-size concrete block), it had "woken up". I shook him off my broom and applied the block. The block won. A gogo (grandmother) was sitting nearby; I asked her to come over and tell me the name of this thing in SiSwati. She looked at it and said "Hey, that thing bites you and you fall over dead!" I nodded in agreement, and she told me the name (which I've forgotten). I think it has a click. STORIES FROM THE HOME FRONT -- by Ruth Faith has recently decided that everyone else must be eating much more interesting food than that which is given to her--a curious idea since we all eat the same food. This has been driving her parents crazy as she steadfastly refuses to eat what is in her dish, tries to be generous and feed her food to others, and then cries to get food from our dishes. Grace has been a particularly easy target; she likes to share and she has had a hard time understanding why we aren't allowing her to share with "Cubby". On Saturday afternoon Faith adamantly refused to taste the spaghetti in her dish. I put her dish in the refrigerator. Saturday evening, she again refused it, then she ate a handfull of spaghetti from Grace and scoops of spaghetti sauce from the serving dish. On Sunday the dish came out again, but this time rice and salmon bisque was added to the medley--maybe if it looked different? Again her dish was refused in no uncertain terms. Maybe if she just tasted it? A spoonful went into her mouth and was just as quickly expelled. Mommy and Daddy had tired of the game, so Faith won a ticket on the bedtime express. After we had eaten and were less cranky, we thought we would try again. Dad retrieved the baby, sat her down, unveiled the dish, and again it was met with contempt by a very hungry, fussy, tired baby. Into jammies, brush the teeth, have devotions, pack the baby back into bed. Soon we heard wailing again. We got her up and gave her a glimpse of her dish with its lid. She started to wave her arms and jump enthusiastically. Rudy removed the cover and immediately she pushed it away. Back to bed--poor Grace took her wailing graciously. A few minutes later, we got her up again. Time to present the dreaded dish. She was sitting on my lap and I remembered a story I had read as a child about a vet who couldn't get a baby monkey to eat, so he smeared banana on its paws. The monkey licked its paws to clean them. I carefully placed a grain of rice on her hand. She moved it towards her mouth and licked it off indifferently. I put another one there. She repeated the procedure casually. I took a spaghetti noodle and put it on her palm. She took that to her mouth quicker "Hmm, maybe this stuff isn't poisonous after all". This time the hand came out with the palm up hoping for another load. I did this about three more times until there was some detectable enthusiasm. Then she started eating by the spoonful. She ate almost a whole bowl full and is now in bed with a full belly. Ahh, the small victories of parenthood. JPII on family God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in His own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. Familaris Consortio, 11 **************March 26, 2006POWERWe were without power for 24 hours this week. It was a new and unfamiliar experience at first, but as time went on, it actually became pleasant. We went to bed earlier and slept well, and could hear the birds all the time (fridge wasn't cycling on and off). I don't think I want to never have electricity again, but the change was pleasant. RABBITSA student recently complained that the food at an athletic competition was too little. I asked him what food he liked. He said rice and meat. I told him "Grow your own chickens, and you can eat meat anytime you want." He said it takes too much money-to buy the chickens, and to keep them fed. So, I picked up an agriculture book and looked at meat options. I hit on rabbits. I won't go into details, but we will try to raise a rabbit using food we grow (and maybe a little store-purchased food). If we succeed with one rabbit, we can try to scale it up. The goal is to be able to eat one rabbit a week. I hope to be able to tell the students "Look: a suburban-grown foreigner can do this, at almost no cost. Surely you can do it, too." We'll see how it goes. HIKINGI took Cubby out for a hike yesterday, and it was great. Today is Friday, and school closes at 1PM. When Grace woke up from her nap, I took her hiking, with the hope of reaching the waterfall (what a great place). We didn't make it, but we had a great time in the hills. I also met a student who finished last year; I haven't seen him for a few months, so it was wonderful to share some conversation. I don't know how I got out of the habit of taking these walks; maybe school just got busy. I miss them, and hope to make them a regular feature of life from now on. The people and the countryside are fantastic. JEKE DLAMINIWe received news today that Jeke Dlamini, the patriarch of the Dlamini homestead where Marcos Bradley and I spent 10 days in the early 1990s, is sick, and may be near death. I hope to go over and see him tomorrow (Sat., 25 March). He has done so many good things in his life, and has always had time for us, his "adopted children". NEIGHBORHOOD KIDSYenzile, the Thwala girls, and Kwakhe are all staying at the school these days. We are delighted! Grace and Faith have lots of playmates. Yenzile likes to pick up and carry Cubby, but Cubby doesn't like it too much. We usually let Yenzie carry Cubby for a little bit, because Yenzie really likes to; then, we gently ask her to put Cubby back down. She does-and then picks her up 10 minutes later. NEW HOUSEThe house next door is pretty much finished; it just needs a few items to be completed, including the electric company connecting the house to the nearest power pole. Ruth and the girls sometimes go over there during the day to check it out. Grace loves to do that, because the echoes are tremendous-its like being in a racquetball court. As soon as she enters the house, she starts screaming, just for the noise. You can hear the "racquet" 40 yards away. Ruth is really worried about that, but I'm sure once some objects (chairs, tables, etc.) are inside the echo effect will cease. ***************March 18, 2006From John Paul II's "Familiaris Consortio" ("The Role of The Christian Family in the Modern World") All members of the family, each according to his or her own gift, have the grace and responsibility of building, day by day, the communion of persons, making the family "a school of deeper humanity": this happens where there is care and love for the little ones, the sick, the aged; where there is mutual service every day; when there is a sharing of goods, of joys and of sorrows. A fundamental opportunity for building such a communion is constituted by the educational exchange between parents and children, in which each gives and receives. By means of love, respect and obedience towards their parents, children offer their specific and irreplaceable contribution to the construction of an authentically human and Christian family. They will be aided in this if parents exercise their unrenounceable authority as a true and proper "ministry," that is, as a service to the human and Christian well-being of their children, and in particular as a service aimed at helping them acquire a truly responsible freedom, and if parents maintain a living awareness of the "gift" they continually receive from their children. Also from Familiaris Consortio, especially for us husbands:Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: "You are not her master," writes St. Ambrose, "but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife.... Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love."********************March 11, 2006TRAGEDYOne of our male teachers got married December 2003. His wife and Ruth had a good friendship. She moved back to her parents' homestead soon before the delivery of their first child. Their son was born in January. We learned this week that the child has died. We don't know anything more. Please remember this couple in your prayers and thoughts in a horrifically difficult time. Thank you. THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD AND OF THE CHURCH PASSES THROUGH THE FAMILYThese are the words of the late great Pope John Paul II. Family is in near-meltdown here in Swaziland, and a 50% divorce rate in the US is hardly exemplary either. Ruth and I will celebrate our 6th anniversary this August; in that short time we have seen nearly a dozen marriages of friends and co-workers crumble or go into deep crisis. Many folks have told us how much they appreciate and admire the work we are doing. That really makes us feel good. We do like living here, and we want to help. At the same time, all you married folks can also do a work that is "missionary" and admirable and very important, right in your own home and neighborhood and workplace: Build a strong marriage. If I would add something to John Paul's above comment, it would be "and the future of the family passes through the marriage". The carnage, both personal and societal, that broken marriages wreak is astronomical; conversely, the benefits flowing from strong, healthy marriages have hugely positive effects on spouses, children and the larger society. In the Scripture readings in our wedding ceremony, Ruth and I included portions of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Part of that letter says "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church". I realize some of you aren't Christians, and even fewer of you (including me) can't be called Bible scholars. Still, we can all understand how Christ loved His church when we see a portrayal of Christ on the cross-that is how He loved His church. I am speaking primarily to husbands now. Jesus layed down His life for His bride, the church. That is the extent of His love, and that is the extent to which we men are to love our wives. When we men do that-when we love sacrificially-we open the door to the blossoming of our wives and our children. Everyone-including us men-will benefit from our sacrificial love for our wives. Wherever you are in your marriage, I would ask you to make the effort to improve it. We immensely appreciate your encouraging comments, your prayers, and your financial gifts. Still, if we could ask you to do one thing for us, it would be to put regular time and effort into your marriage; make it a priority, like your work or hobbies or home improvement projects. The work/hobbies/home improvement things won't have anywhere near the effect on the people around you that a healthy marriage will. Fellas, let's do the important things first; and near the top of that importance list, let us put the health of our marriage. In so doing, we can be heroes to our wives and children. I include a few resources here; Ruth and I use them, and I am sure they will help you strengthen your marriage too. *Take 5 minutes a day-just 5 minutes-sometime after work to sit together and talk about your respective days. Clear out all distractions, including children. During our 5 minutes, one or both of the girls want to climb up with us onto the couch. We smilingly but firmly tell them "No, this is mommy and daddy's 5 minutes. When we're done, we'll pick you up." Guys, I suggest you start by asking your wife first how her day was. It's a small but powerful courtesy. *Here's a list copied from a friend's refrigerator years ago.1) Pray for your mate each day.2) Express appreciation for each other.3) Show respect to each other.4) Do small favors.5) Pray together.6) Have fun together.7) Develop mutual interests.8) Forgive each other daily.9) Listen to each other.10) Smile at each other. (I added this one last year.) I read this list each morning, do number one on the list at that time, and then choose another one to do that day. Seems that God picks out the one I need to do for the day as I read through the list. *All the marriage and family resources from the Family Life Center (www.dads.org) is excellent. We personally know the founder and president, Steve Wood; he is a great guy, and he wants to help married people build great marriages. One of his best resources is the two cd set called "Help for Hurting Marriages". It presents tools to help marriages get through rough spots. I have listened to the set a couple of times; it is excellent.*************March 1, 2006WATERTwo weeks ago the water went out. It had rained heavily a few days before, and I figured the pipe had simply been pushed out of the water source again. Mr. Mamba wasn't around, and the other teacher who sometimes helps with the water system was busy. So, I thought, I might be able to fix it by myself. Off I went. I took the mountain bike this time (I bought a Trek 21 speed for $150 used here in 2003; quite a deal!), and it got me to the "trailhead" more easily and quickly than I had hoped. After wandering around trying to find the source (I haven't done it enough times to know the route well), I did finally find it and sure enough, the pipe had simply been pushed out of the water. Try as I might, though, I couldn't get it back in the water in such a way as to make the water flow (doing so involves elevating later portions of the pipe such that the water will flow the whole way). After trying for 30 minutes to make things right, I stood and looked around dejectedly; I knew what needed to be done, but I didn't know how to do it. Perhaps you've had the same sort of home improvement experience. So, I began walking back down the hill (managed to get lost then, too). Much to my suprise, Mr. Mamba and two school students (Hyena and Freeze; great friends to each other) were on their way up! Re-energized, I happily turned around and joined them. Mr. Mamba, who has also been a car mechanic, had the porous metal portions of some car air filters with him; these he modified with pliers and a screwdriver to fit over the end of the pipe to keep leaves out. One hour later, the four of us left the source happily, with water flowing through the pipe again. Mr. Mamba and I made another trip this week; the job was relatively simple, but we were worried about the weather towards the end. The thunder and dark clouds were rolling toward us. We finished the fix (pipe got pushed again), then jogged down the mountain. In the 10 minutes it took us to descend, the water source became covered in clouds. I'm glad Mr. Mamba is efficient. NICKNAMESAs a new Peace Corps Volunteer many years ago, I learned that the Form 1 students (the "freshmen") automatically gain the nickname "bomsila", which means "tails". I also learned that every new teacher gets the same nickname for a short time after their arrival at a school. My "Swazi name", given to me by the family I stayed with for 10 days during my Peace Corps training, is Bongani Dlamini. A radio personality and I share that name, and I have been given his nickname: S'gcoko Siyancinca (the letter c is a click), which means "hat full of fat" (long story). At school, my teacher colleagues call me "S'gcoko", and the students sometimes call me "Babe S'gcoko" ("Father hat"). Each of our children received nicknames before they were born. Grace was Pup, and Faith was Cub. We still call Faith Cub, or Cubby. Grace's friend Yenzile has picked up and modified Cubby's nickname; to Yenzile, Faith is "Cabbish" - the Swazi word for "cabbage". We have a 15 month-old, walking, smiling cabbage in our house! SCORPIONSunday, 26 February, dawned stormy. We considered not making the trek to Eluheneni, fearing muddy roads and storms. But the weather cleared, and we did go. Mr. Kunene led the Sunday School, which the kids love. We are very glad we went. When our family arrived at the church, Mr. Kunene was studying his Bible. We noticed, suspended head-down by a spider web beneath one of the benches, a 3 inch long scorpion. It seemed to be dead (but, then again, so did Frodo in "The Return of the King", after his meeting with the giant spider-this is foreshadowing, you guys). So I got a broom and moved the scorpion, via the spider web, to a table in the back. I set it down on the table and, broom still in hand, began to pick the scorpion up with my other hand, by the spider web. I was wondering how I could get it into a container to take back to school for science class. I noticed, however, that as I picked up and put down the scorpion repeatedly, the legs were quite limber when they touched the table-they weren't stiff, like they would be in a dead animal. Then I saw another limb move all by itself on the table. Ruth was standing next to me watching, and I said "It's not dead; it's not dead". She said "Make it dead!" So I retracted my free hand and employed the broom (still in my other hand); the non-bushy end came down pretty hard a couple of times on Mr. Scorpion. Confident he could no longer move, but not confident he was totally harmless, I told Ruth "give me a brick". She handed me a broken concrete block used to keep the door open, and that spelled the definitive end of the scorpion. I swept him out the door-but not after taking a closer look at his body. They are pretty ferocious-looking in real life, much more than in a book. ATHLETICSThursday, 16 February, was the school track and field competition. Students were put in three teams and competed in all the standard events (no hurdles or steeplechase, or marathons). Everyone had a great time. The best part of the day, I think, was seeing the kids pulling for each other, the teachers encouraging the students, and the competitors giving their all for their team. For all of us, seeing beyond our immediate needs and wants and giving to others-even when it hurts us-is a huge challenge. Yet, we find a richer life in doing so. I'm sure the mothers reading this understand. On this day, Ruth went to town in the hopes of getting our residence papers in order. Grace and Faith were with me, and the three of us had a great time. Faith slept strapped to the headmaster's wife's back for an hour and a half, and Grace played with her friends (children of teachers) the whole day. Our children also stuffed their faces with the kind of food found only at carnivals and field days: boiled corn, cookies, Cheetos, popcorn, and candy. We don't feed them that way every day, but boy did they have fun. And did they sleep when we put them to bed that night.********************January 28, 2006BACK IN THE SADDLE-BARELYOn Friday, Jan. 20, we were at the ticket counter in Orlando at 5AM. Our flight to Atlanta, then onto Johannesburg South Africa, left at 6. The counter attendant gave us the cordial greeting and took our passports and tickets. Things were going swimmingly. Then things turned south. Here's how things work. Anyone can come to Swaziland and get a 60 day visa at the border. That's what we've always done. We enter the country, then get the school contract completed, then Swaziland gives us a work visa through the end of the year. That work visa expires 31 December of the year. So this ticket attendant, to her credit, noticed that our work visa had expired. And sure, we could enter the country for 60 days, but did we have a return ticket to the US? No, of course we didn't have a return ticket to the US. This is Africa, things work a little differently, we knew the program once we got to Swaziland. After about 30 minutes of harrowing discussions and document checking, she politely informed us that Rudy and Faith (because we happened to be carrying some other documents) would be allowed to travel, but Ruth and Grace would not. Our time in the land of the Mouse (Mickey, that is) was nearly extended. After staring at her for about 30 seconds, we began to silently pray and think. In times of difficulty, I ask God to give me patience and wisdom, and I also pray for people who have life a lot harder than me at the moment. Much to my suprise, after a few minutes, I felt a sense of coolness and peace. Nothing had changed in our circumstances, but I just felt that things would be okay. Another ticket counter worker stepped in and said "Well, I've been to South Africa and I know that things work that way." Ruth asked if this second employee could check us in, instead of the first since it came down to a judgement call. The first employee agreed (since that meant her job wouldn't be on the line); the second employee did, and we were on our way. WOW! Another counter worker hustled us through baggage check, and we made our flight. Before we come out of Swaziland the next time, we'll try to get the Swaziland Home Affairs Minstry (the Swazi equivalent of INS) to give us something to say "Let these folks back in; it's okay". BACK TO SCHOOLOur first staff meeting took place Monday, 23 Jan. The headmaster welcomed everyone back to school with the comment "Yes, we are all blacker because we were weeding in the fields". I sat facing him, just a meter or so away. He added "And whiter". MK is a great guy, and it's nice to live in a place where obvious race differences aren't a taboo, sensitive subject. THE 5B WOMEN ARE BACK!Perhaps you remember the trio of 5B girls Ruth was meeting with last year. Rudy met one of them last week and told her Ruth would love to get together again. The sister of another of the trio is now studying at Nsukumbili. Well, all three converged on the house yesterday (Fri., 27 Jan.). A good time was had by all. Plans were made for returning every Friday, and books on courtship and marriage were loaned out. We are all (the women, Ruth, Rudy, Grace, and Faith) excited about this. Helping them develop strong friendships will, we hope, give them confidence to face the future. I wonder if we should put some greek letters above the front door; the place is getting to be like a sorority house on Fridays. Grace regularly says "This is the girls' house". *********************Mid-December, 2005LAST SINGLE SUNDAYYesterday I walked to St. Alexus, the small rural church we attend. The past 3 or 4 weeks, with Ruth and the girls gone, I have been spending weekends with friends in town (Mbabane and Manzini/Matsapha). But this Sunday, the last one before I head for the States, I went to St. Alexus. A moderate crowd of 15 parishoners attended. This was a week when the priest was not present. Just before the opening hymn, Mr. Kunene (a senior member of the congregation) turned to me and said "Could you help me with the service, and do the preaching? You can use English, and I will translate." You deacons/pastors/evangelists can probably relate. Things like this used to irritate and alarm me; I'm still not fond of them, but they don't bother me as much as they used to. The theme of the readings was preparation, including Mark 1:1-8 and Isaiah 40. I started with an anecdote I heard another preacher use. "A pastor once told his congregation that his faith in God was so great he 'prepared' his weekly sermon during the 1 minute walk between his house and the church, trusting God to give him the sermon along the way. The next week, the congregation moved his house two kilometers away from the church". After the translation, I waited for the laughs; none came. Not even a twitch on a single face. I started to laugh myself at the non-reaction (but wisely, I suspect, choked it off). I felt like a stand-up comedian whose first joke bombed. After that, I said that when a husband and wife are expecting a child, they prepare the house for the arrival: they remove dangerous objects and chemicals, and they make everything right for the coming family member. In the same way, I said, we should be preparing our lives for the arrival of Christ. We still have two weeks before Christmas; let us sit down and examine our lives, and see what attitudes and actions should be changed, so that our hearts and lives are good places for Jesus when he comes. I figured keeping it simple and short was the best approach. We got through the rest of the service, with a couple of mistakes and repeats. Overall, it was okay. I took a long time walking back to school in order to enjoy the hills, clouds, sky, rocks and plants. I leave on Friday, and I wanted to soak up as much summer in Swaziland as I could before heading out. I never tire of just walking around and looking at this beautiful area. GRADUATION PARTYThe form 5B students took their final O-level test on Tuesday, Nov. 22. I had been telling them, individually (there are only 10) that after their final exam they should come over to the house. I spoke to most of them before the 22nd, and I began expecting them an hour or so after they finished the test. Two hours went by, and there was no sign of them. I eventually gave up hope, chalking it up to "well, it's Africa". I returned to the staffroom to assemble grades when two 5Bs came in and said, "Mr. Poglitsh, we're waiting for you at your house". Turns out another teacher had them over for tea and conversation. I put down the gradebooks, and had them all in. We watched "Something to Sing About", a music-fueled drama about an ex-con whose life gets turned around. I popped popcorn and dished out kool-aid. It was a far cry from what I remember as a graduation party, but a good time was had by all. The three young women Ruth was meeting with once a week are from this 5B class. We hope we will see them again in the new year. MZWANDILE'S STORYMzwandile is a local boy we've known for a couple of years. He comes over once or twice a week for dinner. Mzwandile has a cousin who lives within walking distance of his home. The cousin, Majahonkhe, is a very quiet and polite young man. He is also pretty thin, and his clothes are pretty ragged most of the time. At one time his mother left the homestead for two years and returned to her family of origin in the lowveld; Majahonkhe was left to himself to find food. He would do work for neighboring homesteads in exchange for money or corn meal. He would cook the cornmeal into liphalishi (like hard grits or mashed potatoes), collect some grasshoppers, and that would be dinner. We occasionally pass an extra shirt or pair of pants to Majahonkhe, either right to him or through Mzwandile. He will then wear those clothes until they are beyond use even as garage rags in the US. Mzwandile, though hardly rich, also shares stuff with Majahonkhe. With his grandmother's approval, Mzwandile passed a blanket to Majahonkhe during the winter. Mzwandile explained "When we die, Jesus is going to ask us 'Why did you not help that poor man?'" I got out a SiSwati Bible and opened it to Matthew 25, where Jesus says "When you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me". Mzwandile read quietly and said "Yep, I know that". I told Mzwandile that the next time he comes for dinner, bring Majahonkhe. The both of them returned a couple days later. We had boervors (like kielbasa) in tomato sauce with beans on rice, and brownies (by Ghiradelli; my parents brought a mix from the US this August) for dessert. I trust Majahonkhe slept well that night. I'm glad for kids like Mzwandile. Rudy leaves for the US on Saturday, 11 December. We will be in Swaziland again in the middle of January. If you don't hear from us, that's why. *********December 3, 2005Here's a good map of SWD; it loads quickly.http://www.go2africa.com/swaziland/map.asp Here's more on stem cells. From the Religious Freedom Coalition, www.rfcnet.org, (I think the website is correct. It might be www.rfc.org) It is important that life be respected from conception to natural death. A civil society is marked by care for the vulnerable; and the unborn are the most vulnerable of all. "In May, the House passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act (the cord blood bill) to help establish a national network of tissue typing and storage banks to make available umbilical cord blood and bone marrow transplants to patients who need them. These are proven life saving therapies for at least 65 diseases including leukemia and other cancers, sickle cell, several types of anemia and immunodeficiency diseases. There is also exciting research showing non-embryonic stem cells can one day regenerate corneas as well as damaged heart muscle and liver tissue. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved the Senate version of the cord blood bill, but now some Senate Democrats are holding the bill hostage even while patients die who could have been helped. These Senators want the bill to be tied to the unacceptable Embryonic Stem Cell Research bill. Not only is it wrong to ask religious Americans to pay for research on embryos which have been deliberately killed, but the large amount of private embryonic stem cell research has so far not found even one disease that is actually helped by embryonic cells. This despite all the hype and exaggerated promises by liberal politicians and Hollywood celebrities." Finally, something from John Paul II, from "The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World". God created man in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1): calling him to existence through love, He called him at the same time for love. God is love (1 John 4:8) and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in His own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion.(cf. Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, n. 12) Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. *************November 27, 2005ZIONIST SUNDAYWhen I (Rudy) was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1990's, one part of our training was spending about 10 days in a rural Swazi home (hey you PCVs; trainees now spend most of their time in homesteads). Our whole group of 20 were placed, in pairs, in homesteads in Dlangeni. One homestead was headed by a Zionist pastor. During our homestead stays we occasionally visited each other, and Marcos Bradley and I did visit Sheila Deevy and (forgot her other person-sorry guys) at this homestead. By the way, "Zionist" is a Protestant Christian denomination, originating from Zion, Illinois, sometime in the past (sorry about not knowing the date). These missionaries planted a number of churches, which are almost entirely (maybe entirely-I'm short on details tonight) by Swazis. Since we returned in 2003 we have met members of this church, who have invited us to visit. It didn't happen until today. With Ruth and the girls in the US, my schedule is a little more open. In fact, sometimes I wonder what to do with this extra time. So today, after getting off the bus from town (spent the weekend with a friend in Manzini), it seemed the right day to make good on a half-promise to visit. The walk was great, and some local kids led me right to the church. The homestead has more houses in it than I remember (one must walk through the homestead to get to the church). I took my shoes off (no one I saw was wearing shoes or socks on the straw-covered floor) and entered. I guess it didn't take long to get spotted; much to my suprise, I heard "umlungu" (white man), and the congregation started clapping! I smiled sheepishly; I've never been applauded for entering a church! I took my place on the side of the church; men sit on benches on one side, women sit on the floor on the other side, and kids sit on the floor in between the men and women. Women vastly outnumbered men, and kids outnumbered them both combined. The pastor ("umfundisi"), Babe Lukhele (Babe means father, but not necessarily priest) stood on a platform at the end of the church opposite the door. The entire floor is covered in straw; I vividly remember, from Peace Corps days, that lighted candles would rest on a table on the platform. I'm no safety nut, but that arrangement always struck me as hazardous. The candles weren't there today. I was quickly directed to join Umfundisi Lukhele on the platform, and a chair was brought for me. I've not visited in 3 years, and I'm sharing the platform with the pastor. I remember hearing one short-term missionary say that no matter how much you try to do and want to help the people you come to work with, they always give you more than you give them. Since I've never attended a Zionist service from beginning to end (they start around 9AM and finish at 4PM), I'm not sure of the entire order of worship. I got there about 2PM and left about 3:30. When I came in, people were giving testimonies (I think; there was no translation into English) as to what God had done for them in the past week (I think). Between each testimony, and sometimes in the middle of one, a song is sung. I was given an opportunity to say something, so I stood up and read (in very halting, broken, and butchered SiSwati) from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25. Today the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of Christ the King, and this was one of the readings. I read the portion which contained the parable of the sheep and the goats. I really like this reading; it presents an opportunity to put one's faith into action, Mother Teresa style (Jesus says "When I was hungry, you fed me, because when you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it to me. Enter into my Father's kingdom"). I also thought it was appropriate at this time in Swaziland, since (guess what four-letter acronym is coming) AIDS is so huge here. We need to be reminded of our responsibility to the unfortunate among us-"Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor", as Mother Teresa put it. After that, I got to participate in the-I don't know what it's called, so I'll call it "circle prayer"-where a number of church members shuffle/step around and around in a circle, while singing "A-men A-men" for a couple of minutes. Then everyone in the circle gets down on hands and knees, and prayers are offered. Babe Lukhele asked me to pray, so I did. I hope the SiSwati wasn't mauled too badly. I suspect it was more intelligible than the reading, since I could choose all the words I wanted to use in the prayer. After the prayers we all got up and returned to our respective locations. Not long after that, the offering was taken. The first "offering" was given to me. Umfundisi Lukhele gave me a 10 Emalangeni note-"for tea", he said. This church hasn't seen me in 3 years, has probably enough money for candles once in a while, and the pastor gives me an amount of money more than half of all the offerings for the day (tithes are placed on a table in plain view). Not long after, someone else walked over and gave me a 5 Emalangeni coin. I now had in my pocket more money than was given to the church this day. See the note above about getting more than you give, and allow me to add "far more".I took the money, since it would have been rude not to. After the tithes were given, Umfundisi Lukhele and a couple of other men started blessing water (brought in 2 liter soda bottles) and praying for people (via the laying on of hands). I figured my time was about up. I shook a couple hands, and Umfundisi told me to come back sometime. I went to the door, pulled my shoes on, and started walking home. I owe Swaziland a special debt. It was here that I turned my life over to Jesus Christ, thanks to the Holy Spirit, a handful of Swazis, and one reticent, thoughtful, polite, kind, balding gentleman from New Jersey (you know who you are-and so do some of the rest of you). God and the Swazis still give me more than I can ever repay. On the way home, one young member of the church said "Mr. Poglitsh, I am hungry". Reminded of the Bible passage I had read, I gave her the E5 coin; it should get her a loaf of bread and maybe a small bag of Cheetos-like snacks (fondly called "emafohlofohlo" here, after the sound they make as you crunch them in your mouth). The E10 bill will go to Paulos Dlamini for the orphans his church cares for. What a place, this Swaziland. What a people. ************November 18, 2005I came across this recently, and couldn't help but pass it along. Here's a second helping of John Paul II, from his 1979 encyclical "Redemptor Hominis". Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer "fully reveals man to himself." If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the redemption man becomes newly "expressed" and, in a way, is newly created. He is newly created! "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly-and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being-he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into Him with all his own self, he must "appropriate" and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself. How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he "gained so great a Redeemer," and if God "gave his only Son" in order that man "should not perish but have eternal life." (paragraph 10)*************************** November 17, 2005HOUSINGThe blocks started arriving yesterday for the new house. About a half dozen high school juniors made 2 or 3 trips, loading and unloading a huge truck full of them. I helped for a little bit, but I had to go to bed. The boys did get paid by the school. We have a good headmaster.************************************November 12, 2005MANZINI AND MALKERNSAfter dropping Ruth and the girls off at Matsapha on Thursday, I (Rudy) went to stay with some friends in nearby Manzini, the largest city in Swaziland. The friends are the Britten's, whom I met during my Peace Corps time. They have been schoolteachers and missionaries in Swaziland for over 30 years. Spending days of conversation and fellowship with them is always a delight. On Friday I travelled to nearby Malkerns, a largely commercial agricultural area. Malkerns is the home of Gone Rural, a company which sells handmade grass baskets, floormats, and other such items. Gone Rural works with Swazi women throughout the country, giving them a fair price for their handiwork. The work is beautiful, and these women gain much benefit from their work with Gone Rural, as they are supporting an average of 8 dependents each (thanks to AIDS and increasingly crippled family life). We visited Gone Rural when Rudy's parents were here, and our visit piqued my interest; women in this area also make and sell such items, and I wondered how I might help these women make more money on the items. Since Gone Rural does just that, making a second, information-gathering trip seemed appropriate. Ms. Zoe Dean-Smith, director of the organization, gave me an hour of her limited time to explain the operation. In addition to a fair price for woven goods, Gone Rural offers other types of social information and support to these heavy-burdened women. Though I don't agree with every aspect of what Gone Rural supports, much of it I do. I learned a lot; I hope I can do something useful with what I learned. To visit Gone Rural's website, visit www.goneruralswazi.com. BACK HOMEI returned to Nsukumbili by bus on Saturday, 5 November. The place looked just like we left it. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up here and there, watering the garden, and enjoying the first peach from our peach trees! In October 2004 I went to the government agricultural station in Malkerns. Each year at that time, the station sells a variety of fruit trees for less than E10 each. At that time we bought 5 peach trees at E7 each. Just one year later, all 5 trees are still alive and one is taller than I am; this is the one which gave me a snack yesterday. One idea we have is to introduce students to this annual event, so that they might purchase some trees for themselves and plant them in their homesteads. With a minimum of work (we dug good holes for the trees, we throw kitchen scraps at the bases of the trees, and prune once a year), homesteads could be producing their own fruit for consumption and sale in just a few years. It's just an idea; we'll introduce it (and demonstate it ourselves), and see if any students are interested. I also washed out the last load of dirty diapers. I don't really mind this job; it gives me time to pray, especially for Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity. I figure they do work like this (but much harder); to work "shoulder-to-shoulder" and pray with them for some of the least and smallest in this world (the recently born) is a priviledge, not a chore. With Faith in the US, this was my last opportunity until mid-January. AIDSIf you've read more than a couple of our newsletters, you understand that AIDS is a huge issue here. I recently came across a newspaper article from Uganda on the issue. The link is here; I think you might enjoy hearing about the issue from a Ugandan. Uganda: Abstinence, not condoms, is the answer to AIDS:The New Vision: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/462312Abstinence, not condom, is the answer to AIDS FLYING NEON TETRASOn Sunday, 6 November I walked to and from church. On the trip home I took a detour, just to see a new place. I ended up at the next high school; it's a lot shorter, taking footpaths than taking the road! Along the way, two birds shot out of nearby trees. I can only describe them as flying neon tetra fish, 20 times the size. Even though the water goes out and the buses can be irregular and sometimes we don't get paid until May, it's things like that experience that make lasting memories. Hope all is well with you. *******************November 5, 2005JOHN PAUL IIWhen Rudy's parents visited this year, bibliophile Rudy Sr. brought and left some books. One of them was "Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way" by the late great John Paul II (available at ). Intended by the Pontiff for his fellow bishops, it also contains great nuggets for the rest of us. For example: "We will certainly encounter trials. There is nothing extraordinary about this, it is part of the life of faith. At times our trials will be light, at times they will be very difficult, or even dramatic. In our trials we may feel alone, but God's grace, the grace of victorious faith, will never abandon us. Therefore we can expect to triumph over every trial, even the hardest. When I spoke about this on June 12, 1987, at Westerplatte in Gdansk to Polish young people, I spoke of that place as an eloquent symbol of fidelity in the face of a dramatic challenge. There it was, in 1939, that a group of young Polish soldiers, fighting against the decidedly superior and better equipped forces of the German invaders, faced grave danger as they bore a victorious witness of courage, perseverance, and fidelity. I referred to that episode, inviting the young people to reflect, above all, on the relation 'between being more and having more,' and I warned them: 'Having more must never be allowed to win. If it did, we would lose the most precious gift of all: our humanity, our conscience, our dignity.' In this vein, I encouraged them: 'You must make demands on yourselves, even if others do not make demands on you.' And I went on to explain: 'Each of you, young people, will experience a "Westerplatte" of your own: responsibilities that you must assume and fulfill, a just cause, for which you must fight, a duty, an obligation, from which there can be no withdrawal, no running away. A system of truths and values which must be "upheld" and "defended": a Westerplatte in you and around you. Yes, defend these things for yourselves and for others.'" I really enjoyed this short book; it felt like a small personal conversation. If you'd like a taste of JPII's thinking, give it a try. TRAVELWe took Ruth and the girls to the airport on 2 Nov.-only to look at the tickets and see that they are for 3 Nov.! Ah well; we came back to school, and we'll take them back on Thursday. Don't know how we got convinced the tickets were for the 2nd; I guess the lesson is "read carefully". WATERMelton Claughton, a water engineer from England working on a major dam in the Lowveld, volunteered to look at our proposed new water source. He and his wife Sally came to Nsukumbili Saturday, 29 October. He, Mr. Stan Mamba (the teacher in charge of the water system) and Rudy went to the source to see what Melton thought. Mr. Claughton has lots of expertise with water systems, having worked on large projects in Lesotho, Sudan, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Iran; our system is small potatoes for him. He asked a few questions, and will get back to us on what size equipment we will need to bring water from the proposed new source to the school. While Mr. Mamba and I were considering a new water source, the Swazi govt. was also preparing a water project for the area. Govt. trucks have delivered approximately 75 pieces of 6 inch water pipe to the school, and local people have begun digging a trench to lay the pipe in. The source they will use is very close to (but would not interfere with) the source we are considering. Nsukumbili is slated to get water from this govt. project. So, it may be that our new source is unneeded. On the other hand, we will have a map and specifications for bringing water to the school if the govt. project fails. Those of you who live/work in developing countries know that backup plans are not as common as they are in the US; I'm glad to say Nsukumbili is planning for contingencies. ************October 29, 2005What a week!!HOUSINGWhile indulging in bowls of breakfast cereal Sunday morning, we espied our school headmaster padding past our back door in his slippers and bathrobe. We greeted him and bid him enter our home. He did, and explained that he was looking at the empty lot next to our house because the school hoped to start building some more housing soon. We were enthusiastic to hear the news, because the school has too few housing units for the teachers. Often, wives and children live at their distant homestead since there is not sufficient space for them to live in the school housing. One three bedroom house here is shared by three unrelated school employees and their three children. When we arrived, a live-in housekeeper was also staying there; currently there is another child of some relation to one of the teachers. Naturally, this doesn't foster healthy family life. We were glad to hear that the situation would soon improve. Our gladness evaporated when we heard the reason for the construction. When we arrived at the school, no school housing was available. Rather than having us share a house with another teacher, we were put in a house on the school property that was owned by the Ministry of Agriculture. It was built for a community development worker, but there was no one in the post, so the school had us stay in that house. We have been rent-free squatters here now for close to three years; but the gravy train has just pulled out and left us at the station. The headmaster was informed that the post has been filled and the new employee would like to occupy their assigned house as soon as possible. That news set off a flurry of meetings, reports, and negotiations. The builder said that he can put up a house in six weeks if he has the money to do it. The cost is about US$20,000. The school hoped to build a duplex. We have enjoyed living in a single family house and not having to worry about our crying children bothering the neighbors or their TV's and radios bothering us. The school planned to build over the course of the coming school year as funds became available. This means that if we are not to be left homeless the school needs to break ground immediately. Starting quickly shows the Ministry of Agriculture that we are working in good faith on getting the project done so that they can have their house as soon as possible. This is the way things go in Africa--3 years of rent-free living in luxury accomodations (this is the nicest house on the school grounds: we have a tile roof, vinyl tiles on our floor, and we are the last house to run out of water when the tanks are empty) abruptly ends in a dash, scramble, negotiations, and concessions from the rightful owners. The end result of the negotiations brings some good news. The school will build a single family house for us to occupy (lower materials costs mean that it can be completed sooner). The new home will be the same square footage as the other teacher's houses. We get to move up from a 500 square foot home to a 630 square foot home. The blueprint for the other teacher houses is missing. A couple of weeks ago Rudy was walking by the school trash pit and picked up a discarded, slated-to-be-burned blueprint. It turned out that that blueprint is for the house we are currently living in, and we really like the design. Ruth madly hand-drew a new blueprint that modifies this house's design to add the extra space and also allows us to add on later if we have more children and need a three bedroom home. The bad news is that we will miss the tile roof; the good news is that by moving out, we can leave behind the wardrobe full of personal items left here by the last occupant (a long story which is well worth an email in itself), and the unusable wood stove filling up the kitchen. Complicating the picture is the financial situation. School fees are due in January, so there should be funds to finish the house, except for the fact that half of our students are orphans or other very poor children who qualify for government scholarship assistance. Those fees might come anytime between February 1 and the end of the school year 2006 (hopefully). WATERWe have spoken regularly about our water situation. It looks like we have weathered another dry season. We have also considered a new source for the school. It turns out that the rural water department of the Swaziland govt. is going to pipe water into the area, and the school is going to be part of the scheme. I (Rudy) don't know how this will affect our new source project; I only learned of this recently. Sources aside, we decided to put our own house in order. The school's water storage tanks used to be fenced and locked, so that only a few people could enter and adjust the tanks. That old chain link fence has been in disarray for years now; the tanks, and the concrete slabs they are built on, became a hangout. Anyone could open or close any valve, wreaking havoc with our water supply. The tanks had also become a smoking lobby, and someone had surreptitiously planted marijuana (which got surreptitiously destroyed by a school staff member). So, Ruth and I decided to use some of our "community project" budget (Ruth built that into our family budget) for fence materials. Yesterday, with the help of two students, the fence was erected. It looks great, and all three of us (two students-Mlungisi Jele, Bhekithemba Dlamini, and Rudy) had a great time doing it. We had the young men over for dinner after the five-hour project, and a good time was had by all. The young men actually took direction of the project after a while; they sent me to get a few more poles to attach the fence to, while they rehabilitated the gate. WATERPARKOn Sunday we made our "church circuit"; 9AM bus to church, leave church at 1PM, walk back to the school. This Sunday, the circuit was an 8 hour affair. Ruth did great; her suspected pleurisy did not reappear. We stopped at the rock water slide, and Grace "took it from the top". On her first slide, I stopped her about 3/4 of the way down. She loved it. On her second try, she started on her backside, according to plan. About 1/4 of the way down, she got onto her back, like a luge competitor in the winter olympics. Then she turned 180 degrees (going headfirst for the water) and simultaneously turned onto her belly. She hit the water at the bottom like Supergirl. This was not, I assure you, her plan. She was crying, but (aside from a couple small scrapes) not hurt. Faith was holding onto my leg at the time and started crying when Grace splashed down. So I had two daughters, one on each leg, crying uncontrollably. The kids played for the rest of the time in the sand. Grace, for the second time, walked the entire distance from church to house without any carrying. We didn't expect her to be able to do this for a year or so more. Her reward was making (and eating!) brownies when we got home. We are very proud of her. Ruth had a good long meeting with a lay leader at Eluheneni (where the church is). They are hopeful that they have a plan for regular religious instruction. If we are able to help get a Sunday school going at church, we will feel we had made a significant contribution to the church in Swaziland. TRAVELRuth and the girls leave for the US on Wed., 2 Nov. I am sure they will enjoy the extra time seeing family and friends. Rudy will arrive right after school closes in early December. It will be strange to be a bachelor again, if only for a month. ********************October 22, 2005MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITYA former Nsukumbili student (who attended when Rudy was a Peace Corps Volunteer) named Paulos Dlamini is now a builder. He has done a handful of jobs at the school, including a set of four classrooms (which, ironically, will replace a set of four classrooms funded by a Peace Corps grant; guess who was the supervisor on that project in the early 1990s). Paulos is also very involved in the African Evangelical Church (AEC), especially with the youth and orphans. I (Rudy) have had conversations with Paulos at the construction site on a number of topics; naturally, many of them centered on faith, chastity and AIDS. Paulos extended Ruth and I a great honor: to speak at an AEC conference for youth conselors. These counselors, two from every AEC congregation in the area, were gaining knowledge and skills on dealing with chastity and HIV/AIDS. Ruth and I gave our "wait on sex until marriage, and here's why" talk. If you would like to know what we said, e-mail us and we'll send you the document we used. Ruth had a ball, using a lot of visual aids and illustrations to make her points. She was making "sweets" out of goat dung and rocks, using strings to tie groups of people together into family bonds, and having the group do hand motions. They laughed a lot and seemed to enjoy it anyway. We got a lot of positive remarks after our talk and there were hints that we might be invited back in January for another session. Swazis don't talk about sex as much as Americans do, so breaching this topic caused some nervous laughter. Still, if the church and society hope to survive this scourge, some level of talk and understanding is going to have to come about. There is still hope. As an AEC pastor (who was a student of mine in 1991 and 1992) told me at lunch, "This AIDS is bringing families, neighbors, and communities together. We must pull together to make it through AIDS". One thing we had hoped to get out of the meeting, but didn't suceed, was some ideas on ways that Christian Swazis can meet, get to know one another, decide if they want to pursue marriage and get married in an honorable way. Relationships are clothed in secrecy and sex here and the young people don't seem to have clear ideas about how they can find a spouse without those problems. Parents don't talk about it. We just found out, for many parents, the first clue they have that their daughter has a boyfriend is when a young man comes up to them and throws a plastic bag full of raw goat meat at them before skedaddling as quick as possible. That means that their daughter has just gotten married in a traditional marriage. Hopefully they recognize the young man, otherwise they have no idea where their daughter is. BOOK REVIEWSI recently finished two books you might find interesting. The Cost of "Choice": Women Evaluate the Impact of AbortionErika Bachiochi, editor. Available at Amazon.com at:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594030510/002-2148698-1625603?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance Women's Health After Abortion: the Medical and Psychological EvidenceElizabeth Ring-Cassidy and Ian Gentles. Available at Amazon.com at:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0920453244/002-2148698-1625603?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance Most of the abortion debate centers on the humanity of the unborn child. These books consider abortion from the standpoint of women. "The Cost of 'Choice'" is a collection of essays surveying the legal, social, and biological impact of abortion since its legalization in 1973. The essays are informed and compelling. "Women's Health After Abortion" draws on nearly 500 medical journal articles to illustrate abortion's effect on women, and how abortion-related health effects are under-reported and diminished in the professional literature and the culture at large. The book concludes that women do not have access to available information on abortion, and so their choice to abort is not fully informed. These books are must-reads for anyone interested in women's well-being with respect to abortion. 5B POW-WOWRuth has been meeting with 3 of the senior girls. They visit Ruth about once a week, share tea and cookies, and talk lots of things over. The 5B boys have figured out where they go once a week, and also want in on the tea and cookies. Both Ruth and Rudy have to tell them "No, this is just for the girls". They acquiesce, but only reluctantly. Yesterday the young ladies were sharing about situations they know of where wives and daughters are being physically and sexually abused. Please pray for Ruth, for the girls, and for the people involved in the abusive situations. ***********August 13, 2005DLANGENI WATERPARKSunday, Aug. 7 found us on our customary and delightful walk from church to home. Part of the journey takes us by a river. The watercourse on this part of the river is largely granite boulders and slabs. This day, a handful of kids had shed their clothes and "built" a waterslide by pouring water down a 25 yard slope of rock, then sliding on their bare butts down the slope into a pool of water. The gears were turning in my head; why did this look familiar? Then it struck me-junior high and high school locker rooms! The guys would turn the showers on to get the tile floor really wet, lather up their backsides, sit next to a wall and press the soles of their feet to the wall, then push hard. They would hydroplane quite a ways across the shower room floor. I told one of the kids to get some soap; they brought a bar, and I told them in excited, broken SiSwati to "fakwa etibunini" ("put it on your buttocks"). This they did, and when they took to the slope, did they go fast! It must have doubled their speed. This looked like immense fun, and Grace wanted in on it too. So, off came the clothes and she joined the fun-although she only slid down twice, and not from the top of the slope. "HEY LOUIE, BETTER BRING THE WINCH!"On Monday, Grace and I took a walk. On the way home, we came upon some folks and their laying-down cow. The cow had laid down in some marshy land, and wouldn't get up. They asked me to come over and help. Given the "help" I provided with last year's runaway cow (I let it out, then helped chase it down), I wondered what I could really do this time. I also considered the horns on this cow, and how I might respond if a bunch of people were gently (and not so gently) trying to get me to stand up when I didn't want to. I could see the Times of Swaziland headlines: "White man gored by cow in marsh". But, if for no other reason than to show that I cared (which I did), Grace and I walked over to try to help. Whacks on the rump didn't do it, nor did mildly threatening words. We tried to lift it up with our hands once, but "old Bossy" was not impressed. Finally, some other folks "took this cow by the horns" (literally) and dragged her a short distance. After the 5 yard drag, she got her feet under her and for some reason decided to try to get up. We quickly capitalized on her effort; we tried to get a grip on her (how do you get a grip on something shaped like a barrel and covered in short, coarse hair? I just put my palms underneath her belly and pushed up), and sure enough, she got up and began to walk. Hooray! I put Grace back on my shoulders, we all exchanged farewells, and off we went. As we left the spot, we came face to face with the cow. I can't read non-verbal signs from the bovine, but the expression seemed to say, "And here I come for my payback, umlungu (white man)"; the horns suddenly took on a new, intimidative look. I quickly backed away, and "Bossy" turned away, and we walked happily back to the school. PS-I usually don't provide links in these newsletters, but this article really helped me understand the stem-cell issue. If you'd like clarity on this topic, click below. "Embryology: Inconvenient Facts" by William L. Saunders, Jr.; First Things magazine, December 2004http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0412/opinion/saunders.htm **************August 6, 2005on Aug. 5, Ruth and I celebrated our 5th anniversary (getting married in 2000 has the advantage of keeping track of how many years it's been; I suspect this will be increasingly handy as the number rises and the cognitive capacity falls). So how did we spend it? We started with one of our favorite readings (we do one a day, soon after Ruth wakes up); this one goes "Treat your love as a precious jewel. Gaze at the sparkling stone but do not smash it to see how it's been created. Leave some room for mystery. Let your love be a constant unraveling of the good things between you." We always chuckle at the thought of "smashing" something beautiful to see how it's put together; the laughs continue with the "unraveling of the good things between you". Maybe "discovering" or "blossoming" would have been a better word; unraveling has that "the company finances are falling apart, and we don't expect to stay solvent through the end of the quarter" sound to it. We do get lots of laughs out of this reading. I (Rudy) went to school and did my obligatory role call and school monitor at assembly, then returned to the house (my apologies to those guys who have monster commutes to work; my travel time is 3 minutes walking, one minute if I run, and I never get stuck in traffic jams) and changed into grubby clothes. The students are taking mid-year exams, and I wasn't proctoring any of them. I didn't want to just sit in the house for the rest of the day, and Ruth wanted some fertilizer for the garden. So off Grace and I went, to collect umcuba (SiSwati for dung; the letter c is a click). The free-range cattle and donkeys leave a lot of the stuff on the school soccer field, and with the clear, dry days and wind, it dries very quickly. Glove-clad Rudy and Grace borrowed a wheelbarrow and collected 5 loads of free fertilizer, depositing it in Ruth's garden. She was thankful. Later on I learned that one of my classes was scheduled to take one of my tests, so I ran between school and home and made sure it was properly delivered. It was, and I've already graded it (there are only 10 students in that class), and our quiet, happy anniversary day rolls on. Later we plan a low-key picnic at the river. So what's my point? I'm not sure; part of me just wanted to mark the date with the outside world. But I also think I wanted to pass on to you married folks, and especially you husbands, that small things can make a big difference. Ruth got a big charge out of the umcuba; her garden is special to her. It didn't "cost" me much to get it; in fact, being outside with Grace was a bonus for me. So, fellas, keep your eyes and ears attuned to the small things your wife likes, and see if you can support or encourage those interests. I suspect that you'll have as much fun giving the support as she will receiving it. Ruth created some occasional verse for today. Here it is: In my fifth year of marriage my true love gave to meFive loads of dungFour new garden bedsThree wood bookcasesTwo baby girlsand a backpack full of groceries every week. ***************************August 3, 2005TRAVELLast week, Ruth went to town and purchased plane tickets! She and the girls will arrive in the US November 4 for the ECHO conference in Fort Myers, Florida. Rudy will arrive Dec. 10, right after school closes. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family. The one new thing about this trip is Ruth and Rudy being apart for so long. We haven't been apart for this long in our nearly 5 years of marriage. It will be a strange 30 days. WATEROur water spring is very low, and the rainy season is at least two months away. We are praying for rain. The headmaster (school principal) and two teachers are keen on tapping into another water source. We have identified one; the next trick is getting the money and pipes to direct the water into our tank. We believe getting water from this new source (a local river) would meet the school's needs for a number of years. PRAYERSome good friends in the US sent us a fantastic box of goodies, including 30 rosaries. For those of you who aren't real familiar with it, the rosary is a way to meditate on the major events in the life of Christ and the church. There are 20 events, 5 of them are meditated on and prayed through typically at one time. By memorizing these 20 "mysteries" a person has a good summary of the entire New Testament. A prayer at the end summarizes the purpose well, "may we learn to imitate what they [the mysteries] contain and obtain what they promise." There is a loose "program" now happening at our church where people are learning the mysteries and the prayers in SiZulu or English; when they know the mysteries and the prayers, the rosary is theirs! It has been great to watch everyone (both teachers and learners) work together to learn the mysteries and prayers and receive the rosaries. We hope it builds the faith and knowledge of the members of St. Alexus parish. TAKHONATakhona is a form 4 student at Nsukumbili, and she also attends St. Alexus. Today, the form 3 and 5 students began to take their mid-year exams; forms 1, 2, and 4 were left to study. Takhona came to our house soon after morning assembly and helped Ruth make a home-made diorama (or appropriate technology flannel-graph set) of the Genesis story. After nearly 3 hours of drawing, coloring, and cutting out figures, Takhona said "It looks beautiful". Swazi youth are not frequently applauded for their efforts, and, not suprisingly, their self-esteem suffers. It was good for her to take pride in her good work. This is a trial run of an idea that has been cooking in our brains for awhile. How can we help people to do Christian Education in their homes? Kids love flannel-graph stories. If you have a Bible, a piece of cardboard to serve as the back drop, and some pictures that you drew and cut out, you are ready to go and tell Bible stories to the children in your homestead. This is something that doesn't require a lot of materials, time, training, or transportation. If Takhona is enthusiastic, we may present the idea to the wider church. Those who wanted to do this could meet with Ruth on Sundays to go over a Bible story and make the flannel-graph figures (which would be a lot of fun). Then during the week they would do the story at their home. Not only would this build Bible knowledge, it would also help build up relationships within the home and neighborhood. PAULOSPaulos Dlamini finished school at Nsukumbili in December 1994, one year after Rudy left Swaziland as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He now owns and operates a construction firm, and leads the youth group at his local church. One youth group activity was weeding and harvesting at homesteads headed by children because the adults died of AIDS. Paulos is convinced that behavior change (not condoms) is going to save Swaziland from AIDS, and is organizing a conference for October based on this theme. He is also convinced TV (much of it from the United States) is planting in Swazi kids' heads all sorts of destructive ideas. Paulos' father is polygamous, and generally, polygamous men are not as involved in their children's lives. Mr. Dlamini, however, is an amazing exception. He made sure all his kids got their education-even when it came to selling cows for school fees. His father would insist that the family occasionally leave a corn field unharvested, so that less fortunate families could harvest the crop and eat. Sometimes he woke up his children to work in the middle of the night, by moonlight, in order to instill a work ethic. And Mr. Dlamini always made a point of having at least a brief conversation with his children when they came home from school or work, even if it was late at night. None of Paulos' brothers has fathered a child out of wedlock (Paulos is still single; he says he has yet to meet a woman who takes marriage seriously). Pray that more Swazis love and look after their families like Mr. Dlamini did; with more Paulos' in Swaziland, this country can pull through this crisis and thrive. *********May 16, 2005Here is a link to Pope Benedict XVI's inaugural homily, with a little sample. Give it a look. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato_en.html At this point, my mind goes back to 22 October 1978, when Pope John Paul II began his ministry here in Saint Peter’s Square. His words on that occasion constantly echo in my ears: "Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!" The Pope was addressing the mighty, the powerful of this world, who feared that Christ might take away something of their power if they were to let him in, if they were to allow the faith to be free. Yes, he would certainly have taken something away from them: the dominion of corruption, the manipulation of law and the freedom to do as they pleased. But he would not have taken away anything that pertains to human freedom or dignity, or to the building of a just society. The Pope was also speaking to everyone, especially the young. Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ-and you will find true life. Amen. ***********May 12, 20052 brief anecdotes: Wednesday Ruth and I were dancing to the Newsboys in the kitchen after dinner. Grace got involved: she worked up her own dance move, where she turned her hands around each other like the paddles on a waterwheel while moving her torso towards the floor. She ended it with dropping to the floor and doing the splits (much to our amazement)! It was a blast. On Monday I went to town to do various errands. About 2PM a huge downpour hit Mbabane; I feared the buses wouldn't run, and I'd have to spend the night in town. They did keep running, though occasional rain continued to fall. I boarded Shining Star Bus Service about 4PM. As we left town, a steady rain began to fall, and the water began dripping through the ceiling; it was raining inside as well as outside. About a 1/2 inch of water sloshed around the floor, as though we were in a boat floating down a river. A bus conductor showed me a seat where the water wasn't dripping down. I sat down, opened a First Things magazine, read a review of the book "Priestly Identity: A Study in the Theology of Priesthood", and thought THIS IS THE LIFE.**************April 15, 2005PAYCHECK PACHINKOI suppose most of you are familiar with the oriental parlor game pachinko. The game is a rectangle with dimensions roughly 2 feet by 1 1/2 feet. It looks something like a pinball machine: a lever is pressed and released which sends a metal ball onto the vertical playing surface. The ball bounces off some of the many steel pegs inside the closed case. The game has a number of holes the ball can enter, each with different point values. The main difference between pachinko and pinball is that pachinko has no flippers to keep the ball in play. Where the ball goes is out of your control. Getting paid by the government of Swaziland feels a little like playing pachinko. In 2003, my first check came in July. Last year it was May. This year it might be April. That first check, since it covers about 6 months of work, is a whopper. But equally whopping is the amount taken from it for taxes. The first year, I was paid 45,000 Emalangeni a year. Last year it was supposed to be 31,000-but a flurry of government circulars announcing pay cuts and tax cuts and salary increases kept it at about the same level as 2003. This week, I signed a contract that is supposed to pay me 85,000 emalangeni this year (a pay increase, plus getting bumped up a pay scale, came into play). Last October my pay scale was offically raised, so we are supposed to get retroactive pay for 2004. The woman we think wrote the note (can't be sure, since the signature is indecipherable and her name was not typed on the page) has been moved to a different government agency and so we can't talk to her about it. Her replacement in the office isn't sure how I can go about getting the back pay (though she is pretty helpful; she helped me get my contract together this week.) I submitted the required papers for a 2005 contract in November 2004; in February of this year, when my headmaster (principal) visited the office, he was told that my file had gone to the dept. of finance and had not returned, so I would need to resubmit the documents. In the words of one of you out there (you know who you are)-"Ya pays ya money, and ya takes ya chances!" In the final analysis, we know that we have never lacked in our time here: God is faithful, so we are grateful and season our grimaces and head-shaking with smiles and chuckles. AIDSThe problem is as bad as you hear. This week I learned of 2 babies that died within about a year of birth. They were both lethargic, which is a sign that they could have died of AIDS. I scanned yesterday's obituaries in the Times of Swaziland, which include photos of the deceased. Of the 33 photos of those who had died, 32 were people approximately our age (Ruth and I are 37 years old). One of my students left school early yesterday to prepare for the funeral of her sister. On the upside, I distributed little bookmarks on Thursday, 7 April (see attached file). The kids all wanted one. It was quite an experience to have a bunch of hands reaching out to me and placing the slips in their hands. One girl taped hers near the hem of her skirt. I'm also showing Dr. Bruce Wilkinson's video series "God's Answer to AIDS". Judging by the expressions on their faces and the conversations that are starting, it seems the message is getting through that this is serious. We are glad for that. As the Swazis say, "Litsemba alibulali" ("Hope does not kill"). And as Ruth reminds me, While there's life, there's hope. Pope John Paul IIRuth and I were fortunate enough to travel to World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Canada with a church group from Fort Myers. I am honored and priviledged to say that I saw and heard the Holy Father in person (though from a distance), and was at a Mass that he celebrated. I am a big soccer fan, and have heard some big crowds at soccer games. Still, I have never heard a crowd explode with support and joy the way WYD 2002 did when JPII greeted us with "Dear young friends!" John Paul was, and is, a hero to millions of youth. May he enjoy his eternal reward. If you would, please pray for the Catholic Church to get a good successor. I leave you with two quotes from him. from World Youth Day 1993 in Denver:"Young people: the challenge is to make the Church's YES to life concrete and effective. The struggle will be long, and it needs each one of you. Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your courage at the service of life. Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for life is already decided, even though the struggle goes on against great odds and with much suffering. Christ has already conquered sin and death." from World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto: "Young people listening to me, answer the Lord with strong and generous hearts! He is counting on you. Never forget: Christ needs you to carry out his plan of salvation! Christ needs your youth and your generous enthusiasm to make his proclamation of joy resound in the new millennium. Answer his call by placing your lives at his service in your brothers and sisters! Trust Christ, because he trusts you." ********April 2, 2005It has been a bit since you have heard from me. Faith is five months old now and I am just starting to feel like I might be able to do a little more than feed the baby, change the baby, wash the baby's diapers, keep us in clean clothes, give Grace a little focused attention, keep boiled water around, and put food on the table. We recently read a book at a friend's house that tried to explain cultural differences between African and European based cultures. One thought in it was that Africans freely share space but are very private about sharing information. Americans love to share information, but don't appreciate you intruding on their space. We asked some Swazi friends if this was true and they agreed that it was. We find that this explains a lot of things here. For example, today is Good Friday, Sunday is Easter. No one we have asked knows what the bus schedule will be this weekend and it certainly has never been posted in the bus. We used to think that we were the only ones in the dark, but gradually we are realizing that the Swazi's often are lacking the same information that we need. A couple of weeks ago the students were asking Rudy why we went to town every weekend. He explained that we were Catholic and we had to go to Mbabane to attend church. They asked him why we didn't attend the church at Eluheneni. We never heard of such a church, so Rudy launched an investigation. One person said that the service was at 4:00 pm every Sunday. We heard from another source that it was at 10:00 am. We asked several people on the bus where the stop for Eluheneni was, and everyone pointed to the same place, so that was encouraging. Rudy asked our priest in Mbabane if he knew anything about the church. He said that he had never heard of it, "but sometimes you find an oasis in a desert." He did know of a church in Dlangeni (the community where we live), but he had told us two years ago that we wouldn't be able to get there without a car. Rudy did try to confirm that it was a Catholic Church and not some splinter group, and something was mentioned about priests coming up from Lobamba. So last Sunday, at 9:00 we were out at the bus stop and hopped on the Sunday Thula bus. We only had about a 15 minute ride (important because we figured there was a good chance that we would have to walk home). When we got off, we just started walking in the direction that passerby's would point out. After a 25 minute walk down a hill, over a river, up the other side, and through a forest we came to a mud and stick building built on a clearning overlooking a lovely view of hills, rocks, and forests. No one was there. We went inside (the door was unlocked and there is no glass in the windows anyway) then walked around the area. A woman saw us, talked to us, then went to a nearby homestead where she knew a church leader lived. He came out and explained that the services do start at 10:00, but 10:00 African time. That meant that at 11:00 people started to gather. Then they practiced all of the songs that would be sung in the service that day. At 11:45 service actually began. Usually there is a priest every third Sunday of the month, but since it was Palm Sunday, he had to stay in Lobamba to do the longer Palm Sunday service there. There are two young men from the community who lead the services on other weeks. The service was all in SiSwati, though they did throw in a little English for us. If you are going to attend church in a language you don't understand, it helps to be Catholic. We had the text of the standard parts of the Mass in SiSwati and I have been going through that trying to learn what the words mean so that I can follow that much. The scripture readings are all printed in our Sunday Missal book, so if we get a siSwati hymnal we should be able to follow at least half of what is going on. Church was over by 1:15. We walked back out with a couple of Rudy's students. We could just see Thula bus returning to town. (My American side really wonders why church services here aren't coordinated with the bus schedules). The day was lovely, we were picked up almost immediately and given lifts almost to our front door after a brief break at the local store sipping sodas. We were home before 3:00 and considered it a very sucessful outing. We won't be going this week (Easter) because the church members are going to Lobamba to join the mother church there. We figured that trying to understand the logistics of transportation, housing, and food on that short of a notice was more than we wanted to attempt. Carole Maddox had asked me if it got to be wearisome to have to pack up and spend every weekend away from home. It has. Especially since we don't have a regular place to stay in Mbabane anymore and are scrambling for housing every week. The timing is good to find this church. I have enough siSwati now that I can start decoding the Mass texts. You wouldn't think that it would be hard to do that, but you have to know quite a bit of grammar before you can look up a word in the dictionary. For example, in the Lord's prayer there is the word njengaseZulwini. To look this word up in the dictionary, you have to look up lizulu (under Z) which means space, sky, or heaven. Ezulwini is the locative form of the noun which means "In the sky, space, or heaven". Nga is a word piece that means many things, but combined with nje, it means "just like". The s is thrown in after the njenga because two vowels can't be next to each other in SiSwati. Sometimes you throw one of them out, sometimes you put an s, y, or w between them. So if you put it all together, that one word means "just like it is in heaven". If things work out, we are thinking of reducing our overnight stays in Mbabane to once a month--often enough to keep up with friendships there and occassionally get a bath in a tub. I get enthusiastic about the opportunity to be a part of a local church again (...now if the service schedule could just fit the bus schedule...). It would also do wonders for my siSwati I am sure. It would be nice to have that connection in the (fairly) local community. We hope all is going well with you and that you are enjoying the 50 days of the Easter season.********************February 12, 2005Jean-we received your Christmas card and note. Thank you for them. It is great to have e-mail and keep in good touch with people in the US, but paper mail is always a special treat. For everyone else, this e-mail was prompted by Jean's request on how our days go. Originally I was going to send it only to her, but then thought others might find it interesting. Here it is. Rudy gets up and has Bible reading and prayer. About 5AM, he gets Faith (3 months old), changes her diaper, and takes her to Ruth (who is in bed) for nursing. Ruth gets up about 6:30, Grace at about 7, and Faith keeps sleeping. We eat breakfast about 7-Ruth, Rudy and Grace. Rudy goes to school. The schoolday is set up very differently here than in the US; Rudy doesn't teach the same classes every day. Also, classes aren't packed back-to-back through the day. So, he teaches, and comes home, and goes back to school and teaches, and does some preparation...it's a nice arrangement. School is offically over at 3PM. Rudy comes home, and he and Ruth sit and talk on the couch for 5 minutes (we try to do this; we want to be 100% consistent with it). Then, the afternoon's activities depend...sometimes an early dinner, sometimes Rudy and Grace play with local kids, sometimes all 4 of us go on a walk...could be any of a number of things. We try to have dinner by 6, and have Grace in bed by about 7 or 7:30. Oh, before we get Grace packed off to bed, we read from "The Children's Story Bible" and sing from the Church of God-Anderson Indiana hymnbook. Grace likes to kiss the babies on the cover of the Story Bible. Then we all pray together, and put Grace in bed. Ruth and Rudy (and Faith, if she wants attention and won't just lay down quietly) will do dishes and general cleanup. Ruth and Rudy get ready for bed (brush teeth, put on pajamas, etc.). We then read from "In Conversation With God", a very good devotional series by Francis Fernandez; it has meditations following the readings of the Mass for every day. We then pray and go to sleep. Ruth gets up at 9 PM and 1AM to nurse Faith; Rudy generally sleeps right through these times. The process begins again the next morning. Saturdays and Sundays are different. On Saturdays, we usually go to Mbabane, the capital city of Swaziland. This means we have to be at the bus stop at about 7AM. So, once we get up (Rudy at the same time as usual, Ruth at 5), we have to pack our bags, get fed, dress ourselves and the kids, and be out the door at about 6:45. Sometimes its a little stressful, but recently we have done better at getting everything together and getting out on time with little tension. After the 1 1/2 hour bus ride, we run errands in town. Most shops close at noon or 1PM on Saturday, so we have to move efficiently around town to pick up durables we want for the next week (grocery stores are open Sunday; more on this later). In midday/afternoon, we send and recieve e-mails, and do other internet things we want to. Our Sri Lankan friend, who owned an internet cafe, sold the business and moved back to Sri Lanka; we miss him. We heard from him lately; he didn't say what, if any, loss he had from the tsunami. We have since found another good internet cafe. Usually, one of us works on the computer and the other takes care of Grace (Faith usually lays on the floor next to the "computer person"). We eat dinner around 3:30 and walk towards church. We stop at the same fruit stand every Saturday and buy from the really nice women there. They know us, our kids, usually give Grace a free piece of fruit, and have even invited us behind the counter for fried eggs! These makes (SiSwati for mothers; pronounced "MAH-gays") are prime examples of Swazi hospitality. We attend 5:30PM Mass, and then get a lift from some South Africans who have been in Swaziland for over 30 years to our place for the night. For the past 2 years, that place was a small house on the grounds of teh Anglican church. Someone is living there all the time now, so we have been fortunate to get in touch with a Nigerian at the University near Manzini and some Americans in Mbabane who are glad to have us on Saturday nights. We have spent the last 2 weeks with the Americans (and will do the same tonight), and hope to spend next week with our Nigerian professor-friend. Not knowing each week where we will be can be a little unsettling, but it is also neat to meet people. Sunday morning we get up and out of the sleeping place by about 9AM. We buy our food for the week at the Shoprite grocery store in Mbabane, and then go out to wait for our bus (Thula Bus Serivce; thula, pronounced "TWO-lah", means "peace" or "quiet"). It pulls into the rank sometime between 10:30 and 11:30, and we have another 1 1/2 hour trip to the school. We get in the door, unload our bags, and have a relaxing Sunday. Meals are lunch and dinner, but the times are pretty flexible. This got longer than I expected! Hope it isn't boring. We really like our lives here.**************February 5, 2005Quick one from Rudy. Ruth was sick Tuesday (and was on Wednesday, too; runny stomach. We expect with a little medicine, she'll be better). She said how her mom used to give her Sprite to drink when she was sick. She sounded like she wanted it, but the weather (looked like it would rain) and the kids (who needed to be watched) made it unlikely for me to get to the shop. But, Grace was asleep, and Ruth was asleep, and Faith wasn't...and I figured if I could take Faith with me, that would be fine...but I had to be quick, so as not to worry Ruth when she awoke, and to beat the weather...hmmm. How about-put Faith in the baby carrier, and go for a bike ride? It worked! Took a little managing (had to cinch up the straps, as Faith was swinging pretty loose around my chest at first), and I had to go slower and more carefully than I am used to, but we enjoyed the incident-free ride. Grace has had a lot of adventures in 2 1/2 years-but she didn't get a bike ride with dad at three months! All of you with kids (and spouses, and friends, and siblings, and parents...)-have fun with them. Don't let "have to's" get in the way of little, memorable excursions.***********May 20, 2005 This morning Rudy is arranging a massive book distribution at the school. Every student will be getting a copy of "Questions Young People Ask" which covers topics about dating, sexuality, marriage, life direction and other topics that young people want to know about. The book was written by Bruce and Carol Britten, missionaries who have served in Swaziland about 30 years. Rudy met them the first time he was here (in the early 1990s). We have really enjoyed their friendship and arrange to get together with them several times per year (we invited ourselves over for Christmas this last year). Rudy has been using their book. He would arrange to take a copy with him on school outings and would read from it. A student would always come up to see what he was reading and Rudy would let them look at the book. It would get eagerly passed from hand to hand until the school function was over. Last week we had two of the young leaders from our local church come to our house. They borrowed some books, and "QYPA" was one of them. At church on Sunday when the young lady returned "Question's Young People Ask" there were two young men who immediately wanted to borrow it. We had 10 copies at the house, but have been giving them to local pastors and church leaders, so our stock was down to one copy. When we talked to Bruce and Carol about distributing the book at the school, they were so interested that they decided to not only sell us the books at cost, but they also decided to pay for half of the cost and make this a joint venture. We hope that this will help to form the attitudes of these young people. We keep finding out more about common Swazi attitudes towards sexuality and most of it is not conducive to a healthy and happy life. One of the teacher's wives was telling me that some parents encourage their school age daughters to have affairs with married men who live in town. The parents hope that the man will take their daughter as a second wife. What actually happens is that the girl gets pregnant and contracts AIDS. I had never thought about how polygamy makes every man a prospective spouse and how that could impact behavior. I think about how I grew up, in a church and a community where I had lots of interactions with men with no question or hint of any kind of a sexual relationship as even a remote possibility. It gave me a lot of freedom. I don't expect that my children will know that kind of freedom, either here or in the United States. It is ironic that the cries for sexual liberation actually lead to less freedom as all relationships become sexualized. We hope that young people's longing for true love, together with books like "QYPA", can allow some of the students to experience more of that freedom.************February 26, 2005More kid stories: for those of you without them, you're missing out. Please be patient while I brag about our great daughters. If/when yours come along, we look forward to hearing your stories. Sunday night, 13 Feb., I put on one of my favorite songs. I took Ruth and we turned our dirt brown tiled floor into a grand ballroom. Grace saw the fun we were having and wanted in. So, we picked her up and she got to cut some rug. Grace said "Cubby wants in", so we picked up Faith and we had two dancing parents holding each other and two daughters. Gracie was gleefully crying out "TWO babies having fun". God gave us some great kids. Earlier in the day, we passed a shop that has a mobile made of circus clowns in the window. Each time we pass it (which is weekly, since it's next to the bank) Grace and I stop to admire it. At least 20 years ago, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder starred in a movie called "Stir Crazy". They were wrongly incarcerated, and their attempt to escape involved a prison rodeo. Pryor was training to be a rodeo clown. His instructor introduced the subject with the statement "Now the clown gets the BEST of the bull". I have frequently used that phrase when walking with Grace through the midst of cattle herds. This day, unprompted, as we looked at the clown-mobile in the window, Grace said "The clown gets the best of the bull". [from Ruth] Tonight Rudy walked in with a twinkle in his eyes and said, "Where's Grace? She's not under the table." We went through the house. "She isn't in the closet." "She isn't in her bed." Soon we heard a little voice enthusiastically piping out "Look in Mommy and Daddy's bed!" Sure enough, we found a little wiggly lump in the bed. And whenever we can't find her, that little voice always seems to know where we should look. ********July 7, 2007TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIESSorry we haven't got an Africa Dispatch out sooner than now. We had a time crunch on June 23rd (when this one was going to be sent) and a technical glitch on June 30th. Finally, here it is. SOCCERNsukumbili's boys soccer team played their third match on Wed., June 13. Most of the team-maybe 14 boys-were in the bed of the pickup. I know this, because I was there with them! Mr. S. Mamba (who should get paid for all his extra effort for the school community and the surrounding community-currently a neighbor's bakkie is in Mamba's yard for repairs) drove us to the match at Mdzimba high school. The school is 15 km away, and the boys sang a song all the way there; one boy was the leader, and the others chimed in for the chorus. I really couldn't figure out the content of the song. The boys underestimated their opponents and played to a 2-2 draw. This spelled the end of their season, even though they have two more games to play. They will not escape the group round. The out-of-bound lines were laid by hand, using corn meal; the field is near a corn mill, and people eat white corn here; so, when life gives you corn meal (and not lime), mark the field with corn meal. I wondered, as the game wore on, why goats kept entering the field. Then I noticed that they stayed right on the white lines. They were, of course, consuming the cornmeal. Never a dull moment. After the second of the two games for the day, the for-hire mini-buses (capacity 15) which carried the city school kids out to the games entered the field. These modern-day cowboys entered the completely-dirt field with their trusty steeds and proceeded to do donuts all over the place. Tires spun, dust flew, backsides of mini-buses swung, and the crowd went wild! Finally a referee came out and tried to shoo them away. They very politely moved off the pitch and got ready to return to town. "LUIZ FIGO"A Brazilian-born missionary named Luiz Maximiliano spent 2 days with us last week. I introduced him to the school at assembly as "Luis Figo", who is a world-renowned Portuguese soccer player. The occasional student asked me, as the days went by, where Luiz Figo was. I gently explained that he wasn't really Luis Figo; but we all had smiles over it. DOLLY PARTON RINGTONESI told you a few newsletters back that a student has a Dolly Parton song on his thumbdrive, and occasionally plays it on the school computers. Last week I heard the same song ("It's too late, you say you love me now it's too late...") issuing from a nearby man's cell phone. It was his ringtone. On Tuesday this week the student who has the song on his thumbdrive played me his "remix" version of the song; he had set Ms. Parton's lyrics against a drum machine disco background. "I'm an artist, Mr. Poglitsh!" he told me, strutting his moves while "Disco Dolly" filled the computer room air. Never a dull moment. ONE UP, ONE DOWNMzwandile and I converted a closet door and old desk frame into a solid desk last Saturday. We are hoping to have a new computer next week, and we needed a solid desk to put it on. The piece of ceilingboard balanced on a school desk frame worked fine for light items, but with a desktop computer coming, it was too risky. So we drilled holes in the closet door and used bolts to attach it to the frame. Works great! Spent 34 Emalangeni in nuts, bolts and washers, and saved hundreds over buying a new desk. Flush with success, Mzwandile and I charged after putting a new lockset on the girls' room door. We got it installed, but it jammed two days later. The door was closed, and the only way in and out of the room was through the window. The girls used to climb in and out that way lots (until we told them to stop), so it worked for a day. I could have easily removed the pins on the hinges and removed the door gently from the inside of the room, but the window has burglar bars on it-so no one larger than an 10-year old can get in. So after school, we enlisted Samkelo (a teacher's son) to go in there and try to do the job. After one hour he had gotten one pin out, but the other pin (the bottom one) was beyond his strength and skill. We even tried using a hand-crank car jack to push a nail up into the hinge and push the pin out-but it didn't work. So, daddy put his German-made hiking boot on his left foot and toe-bashed the stubborn hinge free from the door. We know the door is hollow-core now, because we can see into it. So, the inexpensive door lockset will end up costing us another door, and a better (more expensive) lockset. Ah well, live and learn. THOKOZANE KHUMALOThis is the young man who we've had over for dinner on and off. He has been growing in confidence throughout this year. He speaks up and answers questions in class, and he speaks humorously of himself in the third person ("Ah, the tall man from Vusweni is working on a project in the technical room!") He is probably the only form 5 student who knows he will have paid employment when he leaves school this November. It is great to see his self-esteem increase as he grows in skills, initiative, and vision. This is the best kind development. WE GOT TO MOVE THESE REFRIGERATORS, WE GOT TO MOVE THESE COLOR TVSGrace and I were meandering around Mbabane on Saturday, June 23 when we spotted a still-cold refrigerator/freezer combo and a drop-in freezer sitting near a trash can. A nearby fast food restaurant had put them there. I asked the lady in charge if they were still working, and she said yes; they were getting newer, better equipment and didn't care what happened to these old, usable pieces. I went to the phones and called Ruth to ask if I should try to get them and give them to folks we know (running orphanages/evangelism schools); we mulled it over but came to no firm decision. I hung up and looked for the fridge; it was already gone! I ran back to the freezer and asked the fast food lady not to let anyone take it, because I was going to arrange transportation and take it away. She said she'd watch it for us. I put Grace on my shoulders and jogged towards the industrial area. I figured I'd hire a pickup truck and get it deposited at the evangelism school. Thing was, it was almost 3PM on a Saturday and the local "Home Depot" closed at 3. I was afraid all the pickups would be gone. Crossing through a gas station, Grace and I came near a guy in a pickup just leaving the station. I waved him down and said "Listen, I have a freezer I need delivered near Saint Mark's school. I'll give you 100 Rand." He said "Okay". Grace and I jumped in and we returned to the fast food place. 10 minutes later the Youth With a Mission base had a freezer and the Dlamini guy with the pickup had E100. It was the fastest transaction in Swaziland I've ever seen.**************************Early September 2005Rudy's parents arrived without incident Friday, Aug. 20. As you might imagine, they are almost as happy to see their son and daughter-in-law as they are to see their two granddaughters! They have gotten a real kick out of giving pedestrians and travellers along the road in our area free lifts. They came home this week with stories about two of the people that they picked up who turned out to be former student's of Rudy from the first time he was here (early 1990's). Many folks don't believe that Rudy E. and Rudy C. are father and son; they almost insist that they are brothers (must be the "haircut"-that is, increasingly shiny heads). Last week we visited the national agricultural research station in Malkerns (about halfway between Mbabane and Manzini.) The station sells fruit trees for 7 Emalangeni (just over 1 dollar) each October. Last year we bought and planted 5 peach trees, and they are all doing well. Two of them have set fruit! Rudy is especially excited about this prospect: by investing the cost of 8 ripe peaches and time and a little effort, an individual (or family, or homestead) could have plenty of their own peaches to eat, and some to give or sell. Since peaches aren't the only trees the station sells, the possibilities multiply. But, we must keep in mind what the people here really want; if they don't want peaches but higher corn yields, so be it. Market research is important. While at the research station, we entered a building we had seen on previous visits but whose function we did not know. We entered and learned it is a laboratory, and the primary scientist is a Nepalese agriculturalist working there as a United Nations Volunteer (UNV). He was very glad to explain his research and even give us a sample of his work: a snack made of cracked, roasted mung beans. He hopes to develop dried foodstuffs that can provide nutritious meals for schools and homesteads. In addition to explaining his work, he invited us to visit his family. He, his wife, and a 4 year old son (they also have older children) live on the research station in government-provided housing. He phoned his wife, and 10 minutes later we were sipping Nepali tea and looking through travel brochures for Nepal. His son was sleeping in the living room when we arrived. His eyes were big and his face was horrified to find himself surrounded by strange white faces as he awoke. But soon he was playing happily with Grace and Faith. The adults also had a great time together. We invited Mr. Sitola and his family to come and visit us, and we have a good feeling that they will. Our hills in Dlangeni can't approach the mountainous wonders of Nepal, but perhaps this place will remind them a little bit of home. One enjoyable aspect living overseas offers is getting to know other expatriates. When Rudy came to Swaziland in the Peace Corps, he figured it would be great, but that he wouldn't see any Americans for two years-why would he? He's in Africa. But, much to his suprise, he got to know some great Swazis and some great Americans too. Ruth was quite suprised that she kept meeting Dutch people the summer that she spent in Costa Rica. Ex-pats share a common experience of being out of their native element which forms a common bond. As much as we enjoy our ex-pat friends here, we also enjoy living in an exclusively Swazi community. It is fun to switch between both worlds and we hope that we can serve as a bridge between them. In late August Rudy made a presentation with Mr. Mamba at the local Rotary Club (mainly expats) about Nsukumbili's water system. Mr. Mamba wants to tap into a further, larger, water source to meet the school and community water needs. They got to meet some water system engineers who promised to provide the technical advice that they would need. This was a nice example of a way that we can help a locally generated idea come to fruition through serving as a bridge to the ex-pat community. We hope that things are going well with all of you. If you don't hear from us for a few weeks, it is because we will be cavorting around the country with Rudy's parents. Lots of love,The Poglitsh's (Rudy, Ruth, Grace, Faith, Rudy and Sandy)****************************July 26, 2008BUSH MEDICINEOne of Grace's front teeth was very loose this (Friday) afternoon. Cubby had a splinter in her heel. Nsiki, Lungisiwe, and Kwakhe were trying to remove Grace's tooth. Rudy, sitting on the back steps with Hope on his back, was trying to pick the splinter out of a near-hysterical Cubby's foot. Kwakhe finally got a solid grip on the tooth and it was liberated from Grace's gums; Ruth and I gave up on our hot pursuit of Cubby's splinter and let her out of her hammerlock after 20 minutes . Both children seem happy now, though we're not sure we got Cub's splinter. She says she's fine. She may just be avoiding a second attempt at the splinter. We can understand why. HEALTH ISSUESRudy's ankle is almost 100%; he can hike for a couple of hours with Hope on his back and have no problem. No running yet, but a month or so more should do it. He's glad to be able to get real exercise again, and glad that the ankle is ready to go just as a contingent of Bombeck's, some great friends from Anchorage, are about to make a visit to Swaziland. One new project: taking a hammer to the rocks sticking out of the soccer field. We suspect he stumbled on one of those when he twisted his ankle. A pair of safety goggles and a standard hammer will bring the jutting rocks level with the rest of the field and, hopefully, prevent other players from a similar misfortune. Unfortunately, Abner Dlamini, Rudy's homestead father, has suffered a stroke. His right side is not functioning. He was in a wheelchair, but can now move very slowly on his own using a crutch. He is in residential therapy in Matsapha Monday to Friday. The homestead has built a "walker" for him, made of thin tree trunks hammered into the ground and thin trunks for rails. We do hope he recovers. He is a very active man and he runs a great homestead; he must be going crazy, though on a recent visit he was taking it well. Those of you who pray, he (and we, for him) would appreciate prayer requests for a full recovery. AIDS AND THE WAY OUTWe recently heard a report that over the long run the negative "abstain/use a condom so that you can avoid HIV/AIDS" message doesn't work; people need a positive vision of sexuality to make significant behavior changes (see attached article about Uganda, and this week's submission to the Times of Swaziland below it). This was encouraging to me (Ruth). Since we arrived Rudy has been trying to present his students the possibility of a strong, loving relationship between a husband and a wife who abstained before marriage, have been faithful in marriage, and who use their sexuality to build a loving communion between themselves, with that communion enlarged by the children who are the witness and the fruit of that love. BOOK REVIEWThe negative approach to AIDS encourages people to develop an attitude well described in a passage that I recently read about the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son: "Their bitterness toward God's goodness reveals an inward bitterness regarding their own obedience, a bitterness that indicates the limitations of this obedience. In their heart of hearts, they would have gladly journeyed out into that great "freedom" as well. There is an unspoken envy of what others have been able to get away with. They have not gone through the pilgrimage that purified the younger brother and made him realize what it means to be free and what it means to be a son. They actually carry their freedom as if it were slavery and they have not matured to real sonship. They, too, are still in need of a path; they can find it if they simply admit that God is right and accept his feast as their own. In this parable, then, the Father through Christ is addressing us, the ones who never left home, encouraging us too to convert tuly and to find joy in our faith." (p 211) This comes from a good book called "Jesus of Nazareth" by Pope Benedict XVI. I (Ruth) recently finished it and I know that a lot of those reading this newsletter would enjoy it. I will pass on another quote from it (p 268). "The Law has become a person. When we encounter Jesus, we feed on the living God himself, so to speak; we truly eat "bread from heaven." By the same token, Jesus has already made it clear that the only work God demands is the work of believing in him. Jesus' audience had asked him: "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" (Jn 6:28). ... Jesus' listeners are ready to work, to do something, to perform "works," in order to receive this bread. But it cannot be "earned" by human work, by one's own achievement. It can only come to us as a gift from God, as God's work. The whole of Pauline theology is present in this dialogue. The highest things, the things that really matter, we cannot achieve on our own; we have to accept them as gifts and enter into the dynamic of the gift, so to speak. This happens in the context of faith in Jesus, who is dialog--a living relationship with the Father--and who wants to become Word and love in us as well." Another excerpt from page 44: "What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought?...Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love. It is only because of our hardness of heart that we think this is too little." I have really enjoyed reading some of the books by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. He is an astute observer of culture, man, and God and their interactions, and his writings are very accessible. In some of them, like "Salt of the Earth", he charitably addresses the concerns of the sceptic. In "Jesus of Nazareth", he combines devotional meditations, modern scholarship, and ancient Christian writings. He also addresses the issues raised by the "historical critical" school of thought. Those interestedin what and how Pope Benedict thinks are encouraged to try "Jesus of Nazareth". **********************May 3, 2008This last week has been a wonderful time to host visitors at our home. That doesn't sound real exciting, but this is quite unusual. We live about an hour's drive from Mbabane and our "town friends" and our "church friends" rarely ever make it out to our place. Feeding groups of people is also more interesting when you usually carry your groceries on your back and there is no way to run out and pick up the few things you forgot. One lovely thing about Mbabane and Swaziland in general is how small it is. I grew up in Orlando and never expected to meet by chance people who I knew. Here, every outing is a social occassion. Tuesday April 22 we were walking by the grocery store in Mbabane and happened to run into Ed Lin, a University of Florida student that we had met in Florida who will be spending several months here. While we were with him, we happened to run into Kimber, a Southern Baptist short term missionary who was planning to come to our school on Thursday to play soccer with a group of girls. By the time we parted, Ed was scheduled to come with Kimber on Thursday to see our place and talk about his work trying to set up Moringa trials (Moringa is a tree with very nutritious edible leaves). When Thursday arrived we were glad to see Kimber, Ed, and they brought along Maggie, a Peace Corps volunteer who Ed happened to meet who is also interested in agriculture. Rudy, our girls, and our visitors all attended the inaugural practice for Nsukumbili Girl's Soccer. The big question was--would anyone come. But there were about 20 girls there and quite a few bystanders. I suspect that the amusement value was high for our rural community where there isn't much going on. Ed and Maggie stayed overnight and enjoyed hiking out to a waterfall the next day. The next Tuesday we had friends from church come over to dine. The Mubiru's are a lovely family we know from our little outstation church. Godfrey teaches science at Mzimba High School, the next one down the road. We just really enjoy their family. They have a small son named Grace (about 3 yrs old) who our Grace just loves. The two are practically inseparable at church. Gracie (ours) wanted a "kid's table" for the four children. Rudy disappeared down the hallway and made a triumphant entry with an old door. Two concrete blocks later, we had four children happily sitting on a "monkey pad" at their kid's table. Thursday was Ascension Day. We planned to go to Mbabane for church. We were waiting at the bus stop and by 7:10 we suspected that there would be no bus since it was a holiday. There was an unfamiliar bus parked across the street so Rudy went to talk to the people near it. It wasn't moving, but the owner of it wanted to go to town, so he called a friend of his who ran a combi (passenger van) to come get us all. The combi came. We got in. We got halfway to town and it overheated. Everyone got out and "mobbed" the next empty pickup that came by. We finished the trip in the back of a pickup. Grace is a real pro. She sat daintily on the wheelwell and you wouldn't have known the vehical was moving from watching her. I was not so dainty. I found it difficult to sit nicely, hold my baby and my hat, and keep my skirt from flying up in embarressing directions. When we got to church, Hope was fussy and required a lot of attention, a diaper change, and a few trips out of the service. I was annoyed. What was the point of making a big effort to get to church only to miss most of it? I was very resentful. Gradually it dawned on me that the service wasn't about what I could get out of it. It was a sacrifice for God's sake. My angry, resentful heart was not exactly a lovely sacrifice. If I choose to love my daughter and care for her inconvenient needs out of love for God, that could be my act of spiritual worship. I am learning that God doesn't just communicate through verbal instruction (preaching)--which I was missing. There is a non-verbal communication that comes when I align my heart with love. I was deeply humbled, very appreciative of God's mercy, and I probably got more out of that service than out of the last 20 that I attended without interruption. After church, we met up with friends who will soon be leaving Swaziland. Peter Aziba is a Nigerian who is a professor at the University of Swaziland. We met him at the cathedral in Manzini. He is a faithful Christian with a heart for reaching others. He has been a real encouragement to our family. He introduced us to the Yoders. Mr. Yoder is an American teaching at the University of Swaziland under the Fulbright program. We drove back here, ate, did the obligatory garden tour (I won't let any visitors leave without showing them my plants), then planned to do a little hiking. A rushing bank of storm clouds spoiled those plans and sent our visitors scurrying back to town before the roads turned to mud. It stormed at night. The power dropped to 110 volts. In the morning we had no electricity, impassable roads, no cell phone signal and guests scheduled to arrive for lunch. We had arranged for the Sunday School teachers at our rural church to come, meet, and dine with us. "This is going to be a truly African day. We will see what happens." The power came back on, the cell phone signal came back, and amazingly all three of our Sunday School teachers made it. There was no transport so they walked--at least 2 hours to get to us. I was elated. I presented an idea of having awards for Sunday School--create a challenge to engage the older kids. They were enthusiastic (many of the older kids come from their families) and we decided to use an award sash so that when people ask "what is this one for" the child has a chance to become a teacher and review what he has learned. Most of the churches here have distinctive uniforms that people wear to church, so this would be something for our church. We wanted the awards to be inexpensive enough that the church could continue doing it without outside financial support if we leave. I will be experimenting with rubber stamps and permanant ink on fabric and see what other ideas I can come up with for a demo. We also talked about having a demonstration garden at church. They will start the process of seeking permission from the local chief to do this. I'd love to see that happen this year. We were reminded of the importance of fences. One of our teachers was away from home and the cows pushed through his fence and ate all of his corn crop. The bishop has arranged to help him with food now. I have been eyeing nasty thorny plants and wondering how effective a hedge outside of the fence would be in keeping cows and goats at bay. These are the kinds of things that make me happy to be here. I am really grateful for the school breaks and for a husband who made it possible for me to do agricultural and community work during this break.************************April 26, 2008Today you get to hear from Ruth. I have been alternating between elation and despair recently. Elation that I think I have something worthwhile to pass on. Despair that the problems are deeper and the "answers" I have unworkable. Last year we did forage/green manure trials. Of all the plants that we tried, the two that are are still alive and rather impressive are the lablab (a vining bean) and pigeon pea (a small shrub/tree that lives about 4 years). Both of them are fixing nitrogen and growing prolifically. Both of them had some plants that survived last winter's frost and have thrived with no care through the summer. They both have edible seeds (the lablab seed is resistant to insect damage here). A third plant that is worth further trial is a creeping peanut relative that isn't impressive looking, but has thrived as a low growing ground cover. My elation comes from the fact that it feels like this provides some clear focus to the agriculture that we do. You can't do much agriculturally if you don't have good soil. For the poorer families here, they don't use fertilizer and they don't have animals for manure. If these plants will grow on their poorest soils, there is a good chance that they can make those soils productive. We plan to grow maize this next year using a program developed by one of Zimbabwe's Farmers of the Year. It is called Farming God's Way. It combines agricultural methodology with Biblical lessons and character development. Earlier this year I attended a seminar put on by an older American who grew up in Africa and has spent most of his adult life working here. It was called "God's Answers to Poverty". One of the things he said was "the poor have money." He also talked about how important it was to start looking around and see the resources that you had. Much of the battle against poverty is fought in the mind and in the habits that people develop. A friend of ours has agreed to do a test plot on his land this year. We helped him harvest his maize today. The yield ranged from moderate to awful. Some of the land was planted, weeded, and yielded nothing. We are going to try growing some green manures on the poorest soil and try a mulched/no-till system and see if we can get some decent yields on that poor soil. While harvesting we asked a lot of questions about how he grew his maize. One thing that stood out was his comment that they had not fertilized any of their land. That statement summarizes why I flip between elation and despair. Here is a poor family who hasn't been eating well recently because they don't grow enough maize to last through the year. But as Peter Kopp says "the poor have money." I know this family has a couple of sources of money that would be sufficient to buy fertilizer. We know the young man well enough to have had frank discussions with him about many things including money. We see that people do what is important to them. There is enough money to buy a cell phone and keep it running. There is enough money to buy food from the "canteen" most days rather than eat the school's free food. Yet buying fertilizer is not enough of a priority to make it happen. That is why I appreciate the approaches that both the "Farming God's Way" and the "God's Answers to Poverty" exemplify. They both deal with habits, values, and priorities in a way that is likely to be compelling to those who value the Bible's teaching and who are internally motivated to please God as well as being motivated by the profit potential. One such lesson is "you have to give in order to get." Once people start asking "How can I give to my land? How can I be a good steward of this land that has been entrusted to me? How can I help my land exhibit fruitfulness and prosperity so that it sings the praises of God?" They are likely to start finding answers that will help lift them out of poverty. The other source of despair is seeing the weaknesses in what I have to offer. I was hopeful that we could develop a way of growing green manures during the dry season. The difficulty is that cows and goats roam freely during the dry season and fences are not strong enough to keep them out if your field is a tempting green and everything else around is dead. Here is a situation where the wealthier (who have animals) profit at the expense of the poorer (who could do more agriculture if there were no wandering beasts). I suspect that we could collect seed from wild plants and do a good trial on hedge options that could supplement fences in providing animal protection. But I want to see if our friend is motivated enough to do a collection trip with me. I have learned that you are wasting your time if you put out all of the effort and the recipient of your "generosity" has nothing invested. I am really grateful to my husband who has made my agricultural efforts possible these last few days by taking Hope with him during this school break. We have a rather strange baby--she sleeps great at night and always has, but she won't sleep during the day unless she is in my arms nursing or on our back in a baby carrier. I can't succeed in putting her down and having her go to sleep. Even if I nurse her to sleep, the moment I put her in her bed, she starts screaming bloody murder and will not stop. This makes her very high maintenance during the day and makes it very difficult for me to do anything agriculturally. I am becoming more adept at various tasks with a baby tied to my back, but it isn't something I find pleasant (frankly she is heavy). I also have found that my mood soars when I have a chance to do agricultural things. I think I had a little post-partum depression through January. Since we returned to Swaziland I have had continual and frustrating battles with allergies, asthma, and sinus infections that last for a month at a time. These wear down my spirit and make me wonder how long we can stay here (I don't have these health problems in the US). I am starting to ask "What do I need to do to help my body fight off these infections effectively?" It is the same question that HIV positive people have to ask. Some of the answers are the same including the importance of having a positive attitude. Doing agricultural work that has the potential to improve the lives of the poorer members of our community is probably the best medicine that I can have. A teacher here has given us permission to use half of his field in the school garden to do our trial of the "Farming God's Way" method of maize growing. Our friend is going to do a trial with us on his land. I hope to talk to our rural church and see if we can put in a test plot there. If it is successful, I would love to be able to have our church be a place where people are challenged to apply Biblical principles to their farming and their lives. Years ago at an ECHO conference a missionary made a statement that amazed me. It was something like, "Christian faith should impact how a man plants his corn." I didn't understand it much then, but now I am starting to appreciate the wisdom of that statement. My hope is that I will grow in my ability to live that out and to communicate that message to others. My time at ECHO helped me to appreciate that God has provided us with an abundant creation. Our challenge is to work with it and learn to use it in a way that the poorest can prosper. Brian Oldreive, the founder of "Farming God's Way" believes that Africa will not be renewed until the "least of these", the rural farmer learns to be a good steward of the land. If people can learn to do their farming work "on-time, to high standards, and with joy" there can be a financial, spiritual, and moral renewal here that will work its way up the layers of society. It is a vision of Hope. Hope is sorely needed here. May you live with a joyful hope.*******************November 24, 2007TRAVEL PLANSWe have been lax about notifying people of the details of our trip to the US. Here is our itinerary so far. We haven't planned out much. It seems like many people are planning to come to Florida this year, so we don't have to go traipsing all over the country this time. We might do a little traveling if we have a vehicle. Mon Dec 10 - leave SwazilandTues Dec 11 - arrive in OrlandoRudy and Faith: Delta 1511 from Atlanta arriving 9:44 pmRuth, Grace, and Hope Dec 12-13 Handle legal and financial and transportation stuff.Friday Dec 14 to Thur Dec 20 Go to Fort Myers, FLThur Dec 20-Dec 25 Time in Orlando, host Chris, Carol, and Daniel PoglitshDec 25-Jan 9 available for visiting and traveling Jan 10-17 talks in Orlando with John & Dawn Bartels' church and small groups? Tui--Jan 10-17 might be a good time for you to visit us. Jan 18-19 packing up and saying goodbye Sat Jan 19 Departure from OrlandoRudy and Faith Delta flt 1456 to NYC-Kennedy 3:00 pm Mon Jan 21 Arrival in Swaziland -----Flight details Rudy and Faith Mon10 Dec SA Airways 8015 Leave Matsapha 2:00 pm 10 Dec Air France 997 Leave Joburg 11:40 pm arrive Paris-DeGaul 9:10 AM11 Dec Air France 388 Leave Paris 1:35 pm arrive Atlanta 5:30 pm11 Dec Delta 1129 Leave Atlanta 8:00 pm arrive Orlando 9:28 pm Sat19 Jan Delta 140 Leave Orlando 2:55 pm arrive NYC-Kennedy 5:48 pm19 Jan Air France Leave NYC 7:20 pm arrive Paris 8:45 am20 Jan Air France Leave Paris 10:15 am arrive Jo-burg 9:30 pmSpend night in Jo-burg21 Jan SA Airways 8012 leave Jo-burg 6:50 am PLANTING PARTYMy hope/dream of planting a row of avocado trees along the west end of the teacher housing is taking shape! Last Friday Thokozane Khumalo took a break from building Mr. Mamba's chicken house to plant some trees with me (Rudy). We planted out three avocado seedlings (about 1 foot tall) grown from discarded pits. Some of these pits I found on the sidewalks of Mbabane ("One man's trash...") We used discarded desk frames and fencing to protect these new trees from marauding goats and cows. So far, so good! I have some more seedlings to plant out. Just 7 to 10 more years, and we can start collecting avocados. Plus, we hope the mature trees will slow down the strong August winds. BOOK SUGGESTIONI just finished "Finding God at Harvard: Spiritual Journeys of Thinking Christians" edited by Kelly Monroe. "Finding God" has 3 to 5 page essays by Harvard grads; I confess I assumed this prestigious university was entirely populated by devout secularists. Though these writers do occasionally testify to Harvard's institutional drift away from its early mottoes (In Christi Gloriam, To the Glory of Christ, 1650; Christo et Ecclesiae, For Christ and the Church, 1692), the essays show that Christian life still lives there. Here's something from Phillips Brooks, class of 1855: Sometimes people count up Christ's acts and stand with the little group of jewels in their open hands, looking at them with something like puzzled wonder and saying, "Is this, then, all that he did?" Other people gather Christ's words together and feel, through all their beauty, a bewildering sense that they do not account for the marvelous power of his life. But sometimes there comes a truer apprehension. The things he did, the things he said, were only signs and indications of what he was. He was not primarily the Deed-Doer or the Word-Sayer. He was the Life-Giver. He made men live. Wherever he went, he brought vitality. Both in the days of his incarnation and in the long years of his power which have followed since he vanished from men's sight, his work has been to create the conditions in which all sorts of men should live. He hates death. He hates death everywhere. He took men in Jerusalem and poured in behind their torpid faculties the fiery vitality which stung them all to life. This was his redemption of mankind. Whatever else came from his words and actions, everywhere this was true-men lived by him. "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life," was his cry of keen momentary disappointment. "He that eateth me, the same shall live by me," was his consummate definition of his power. At the head of all life-givers stands the life-giving Son of Man."************August 27, 2007Many of you have asked about the name of our newest one. Her full name is Hope Ntombikayise Poglitsh which is quite a mouthful. I (Ruth) chose Hope because this country in general and we in particular need Hope as we grapple with the distress we daily see as the bill comes due in the HIV/AIDS crisis. We need to have a firmly grounded hope which can be shared or we have nothing of value to contribute to Swaziland. Ntombikayise means "daughter of the father" or "daughter of the father's home" Rudy choose this name. He origionally liked the image of "daughter of the [heavenly] Father" but as we inquired more about the name's meaning it became clear that it's primary reference is to the baby's dad. In a culture where girls are not highly valued (most everyone is expressing their sympathy to us for having a third girl) this expresses that this child is loved and cared for by her father. The connotations include that the child lives with her father (many children here do not live with their dads). There is also the connotation that the husband and wife love each other deeply and the affection that the wife has for her husband is transmitted to the child so that there is a deep love between daughter and father. How do you pronounce it? In-to(long O)m-bee-guy(long I)-YEE-say. At one point Rudy suggested Ntombikayise Maria Poglitsh. I could just imagine people looking at that name and thinking "where in the world did this child come from? She's got an American passport and names from 3 other continents!" It has been funny handling people's responses to our third daughter. Everyone (both Swazi and ex-pat) was quite sure we would have a boy. Rudy says that he sees people struggling with the conflict between traditional Swazi values and modern Swazi values. The traditional value says, "Surely you will try again, maybe you will get a boy the next time." The modern value sees children as a heavy financial liability (which is true because of school fees), so you shouldn't have more than 2. So when confronted with the unfortunate situation of having 3 girls, do you offer hope of a boy the next time or accept the sad situation because surely now the couple should stop having kids? To be fair, a boy is important in this culture since the son is the one who cares for the elderly parents. We try to explain that in America all of the children are expected to help care for their parents so it isn't so important to have a boy. At the same time we want to uphold the value and dignity of women in general and our daughters in particular. We see this as part of being witnesses to a "culture of life". Rudy recently saw an announcement that a mail-order test for a baby's sex is now available in Europe. He figures if that ever became available here thousands of girls would be aborted. When we told our ob/gyn that we didn't want to know the sex of our baby he said "That is goods some couples find out they have a girl and they hate the child before it is born." In Asia, reports suggest that there are already 20 million fewer girls due to sex-selected abortion. All the more reason to have Hope and to have a "Daughter of the Father". I am recovering quickly and am glad that the discomforts are over. This has been a rather painful pregnancy for me. Labor was short and furious. But I had no stitches so recovery has been quick and after a week and a half the frustrations and pains of breastfeeding are subsiding. I've had some good days and frustrating days since returning home and trying to handle two children, the household, and a new baby, but I am learning to accept what is happening at the moment and practicing finding enjoyment in it. Holiness consists of having the right response during each moment of our day. I am desiring holiness and trying to be attentive to whether I am responding to circumstances and people with love and joy and peace. Often I am not and then it is good to ask myself "Why are you choosing anger here?" "Why are you slapping the broken door?" "Why are you yelling at the girls?" "Why are you annoyed with _____?" It helps me stand back and see that I can choose a different response and a different attitude. Those of you who pray, you can pray for me in this area, that I would see areas of sin clearly and that I would grow in my ability to habitually choose the way of love. Thanks for all of the love shown to our family during this happy time. We have enjoyed your notes. POPE BENEDICT XVI“Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourself as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love (Rev 5:13). Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilisations.” Benedict XVI, to the Youth of the World, on the occasion of the 22nd World Youth Day 2007, celebrated in the Dioceses on Palm Sunday*********************June 16, 2007Dear Family and Friends, The big news this week is pregnancy related. Sorry, no funny stories in this email. The first ultrasound that we did indicated that the baby had implanted low in the womb and that I would need another when we were closer to delivery. The concern was that the placenta would grow close to or over the cervix. The danger was that when the cervix opened up close to delivery it would pull the placenta off the wall of the womb and I could hemorrage and bleed to death if I went into labor instead of having a c-section before the cervix started to dilate. Not the kind of possibility you like to hear about when you live 90 minutes from medical care! This Thursday we went in for the follow up scan (ultrasound). The placenta is 9 cm away from the cervix and I should be able to have a normal delivery with no danger. This is a huge relief. Many thanks for those of you who were praying for us. The other good news is that the hospital in Mbabane has cut their standard costs for a baby delivery by about 40% (another private hospital opened up in a nearby town and put downward price pressure on them). For all of you who can't afford the cost of a baby delivery, consider Swaziland. For $1, you can go to the Government hospital (not a nice experience, but safer than delivering at home); for $600 you can get good medical care at a nice hospital. We really do like the Swazi medical system. It's not the best if you have something complicated, but it is very accessible and affordable for normal kinds of things. We have about 6 weeks to go before the baby is due. Kit is expected at the end of July. In the meantime, we have been having a lot of fun hosting visitors. A couple of weeks ago we had a University of Florida student (Ruth's alma mater) who spent a few days with us. A group of students have started a small non-profit focusing on Swaziland and she was scoping out the situation to see how their efforts could be helpful. Right now we are hosting a Brazilian photographer who is working with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) to do an HIV/AIDS presentation. Tomorrow he leaves and we pick up a college student who will be studying land use and tenure systems out here. Meanwhile I am slowing down. I have lots of ligament-softening hormones shooting through my system right now, which means that it is often painful to walk. Rudy gets flack from some of the female teachers that I should be resting more (he tells them that he tries to make me--and I don't cooperate). It is good to know that in a couple of months my body should be getting back to normal. Other than that, the pregnancy is progressing well and with a minimum of difficulties. Speaking of babies, our rabbit babies hopped out of their nest box for the first time today. Our chicken has laid 10 eggs in the silulu, so we hope that she will be sitting on them soon. We could have a whole plethora of young ones shortly. Hope all is well with you,**************************March 24, 2007This newsletter will be a little different; it is geared to all of my friends from ECHO. As one of them announced, "Face it, we are all just botany geeks!" For those of you who don't know ECHO, it is the agricultural organization that I worked at for 11 years and the place where Rudy and I met (www.echonet.org). I have had a very long interest in subsistance farming in tropical areas. One appealing feature of our location is that we are surrounded by subsistance farms where one's diet is largely controlled by what one grows and produces on one's own land. Another appeal is that the situation wasn't desperate here. People are good at growing maize (corn). There is generally enough rain to do this. Anything I might contribute will be a nice extra, not a main staple. When we first visited, my initial impression was that I might bring green manure/cover crops (so you can grow your own fertilizer), and fruit trees (people like fruit but don't grow a lot themselves). The first few years I spent dabbling in vegetable gardening, learning a lot about the soil (acid and very infertile naturally), water (it is OK to use the rinse water from your laundry on your plants), the value of good fences (for protection from marauding goats, cows, and chickens), the difficulty of getting organic matter to add to your soil (I try to pick up cow manure off of a nearby soccer field, collect grass when it is cut on the school grounds once a year, and now we have a rabbit), and the value and proper use of fertilizer. Basically I have learned all of the reasons why it isn't easy to grow things. I have a much better appreciation of the contraints that real people here have to work with. Last year Rudy decided that he wanted to do a rabbit raising demonstration. He was frustrated with a student who wanted meat and who didn't seem to realize that he could do something about that himself. He asked me about this and we decided that forage fed rabbits might be a possible solution. The students are familiar with raising rabbits with pellets at the school, but the pellets are expensive; pellets wouldn't make a lot of sense for a homestead. I thought that this would put my feet to the fire and make me do some variety trials on green manures, cover crops, and especially those that make edible beans. So last fall we put in a forage trial with whatever seeds I could find on hand. I didn't fertilize much because I thought "these are supposed to be nitrogen fixing, let them find their own bacteria and get going." Things grew poorly. I ended up with a lot of weeds and little forage. This turned out to be a mixed blessing because I had to feed a lot of wild plants and discovered that you can do a lot with blackjack/Spanish needles (Bidens alba), amaranths, and some grasses. None of these are considered good feeds, they all have anti-nutritive factors, but grouped together, our rabbit stayed healthy and did grow larger. Of all the things I tried, only Jackbean seemed to find its bacteria, start fixing nitrogen and grow well. It is a tough plant. It made it through the winter. It made it through the summer. I thought the hail storm killed it, but it has come back to life. Unfortunately it isn't a great forage for rabbits. In January I tried a new approach: put in the plants, fertilize heavily, see which plants have potential in this area, then take the effort to track down the nitrogen-fixing bacteria for those worthy of further trials. This is a much more encouraging approach. Three months into the trial I have healthy stands of lablab, cowpeas, pigeon peas, forage peanuts, comfrey, and Clitoria ternetea. The velvet bean I put in for the first trial that hardly grew has perked up dramatically after getting some fertilizer and looks much more promising than it did 6 months ago. I have small leucaena trees and a couple of moringa tree seedlings. The funny thing is that moringa usually is one of the easiest plants to grow. My several attempts have failed. Speaking of failures. Every tomato plant that I have tried to grow here has met a miserable death. I thought maybe the problem was the variety, so I purchased seed for every tomato variety I could find in Swaziland and South Africa. I never did the variety trial because the garden space was all taken up in rabbit forage, but I finally seem to have found something that works: I throw rotten tomatoes out of my back door. Often wild plants will spring up. We have one near the house and one in the back yard that we have put a small fence around. The one near the house is the healthiest looking tomato plant that you could imagine. We water it now and give it fertilizer or rabbit manure if needed. Maybe tomatoes just need some neglect while they are small. The forage plant that looks the most promising so far is a forage cowpea. I can't believe how many leaves and vines it produces in such a short time. For biomass production, it easily outstrips everything else that I have planted. Nevertheless, the prize for most impressive plant actually falls to a local weed: Bidens alba, Spanish needles/Black jack, is a weed you probably know. It produces a white flower with four petals and a yellow center. It produces 1 cm long, thin black seeds that stick to your clothing thanks to small hooks at one end. I knew it as a weed in Florida. Here I found out that the young shoots are commonly eaten as a cooked green. They are good, but they get bitter if you get the older leaves. Last year I gained great respect for this plant. You don't have to plant it. It grows vigorously on even the poorest soils. In my first forage trial, my crop plants were a pale sickly shade; the blackjack growing around them was a deep and healthy green. If you prune off the new growth it returns in amazing profusion. It doesn't need much water. I knew we were in trouble last week when the blackjack started wilting. I had never seen it wilt before. I have been feeding a lot to our rabbit, thinking it might be an ideal forage. I tried to do some research and wasn't able to find hardly any information. Finally I got an oral report from ECHO that it contains mimosine--a lovely little compound that can make animal's hair fall out if eaten in too large a quantity. I've been feeding it to Rudy; maybe that explains his increasingly shiny head (just kidding! editor's note!) I must not have hit that magic point since Misty B (our rabbit) still has a nice coat of hair, but I do try to watch how much I feed her. It also makes its own herbicide. The roots excrete a compound to slow or stop the growth of other plants. If I were going to do research on underexploited crops, I think I would choose this one. People do mainly rainfed agriculture. The current challenge that people are facing is poor maize yields this year. It isn't so bad in our area (the mountains help the rain to fall, but even that has been very sparse since January), but it has been extremely dry in other areas. One teacher's wife recounted the number of crop failures at her homestead in the last few years. I said that other crops should be grown that are more drought resistant. I named a few and her response was, "But we don't eat those." That is the challenge. People like to eat maize and yields are great in good years. But Swaziland now has high population density in areas that were almost uninhabited 50-80 years ago. Those areas should ideally be grazing lands. Since that won't support the population, creative dryland agriculture is necessary for those areas. In our area, we aren't at that point, but growing a wider variety of crops might help even out labor needs and increase food supplies. Right now my biggest agricultural outreach is providing agricultural reference books for students. I have three sitting outside my home right now pouring over ag. books--they have research papers to prepare and no appropriate books at the school other than their text books (although Rudy saw John Jeavon's book "How to Grow More Food Than You Would Have Imagined..." in a classroom today). I try to remember that there are different seasons to life (thank you Kelly Sherman for teaching me that!). This is not a big agricultural season for me. I have two small children and another on the way. So small trials are as much as I can manage. A lot could be done, but now is not a time that I can do it. "Now", however, won't last forever. As the Swazi's say "Litsemba alibulali" -- "Hope does not kill". It never hurts to keep hoping. May you also continue in hope.Ruth Poglitsh****************April 15, 2006In March I am finally read our emails since January. It has been busy. A few updates on old issues that people were asking about. RUTH'S HEALTHThe Bell's Palsy is gone. By the end of December my face was mostly back to normal. By Mid-February the bit of paralysis near my eye was cleared up. The only thing left is blurred vision on my left eye part of the time. I am able to read still, but it can be a bit annoying. I might wait another month to make sure that it has settled and see if new glasses might help. It does seem to be better than a month ago. I haven't had any more pleurisy attacks. I've been battling allergies/asthma since we have been back, but nothing else serious. Maybe moving next door will help? They say you get one allergy-free year when you move :) The rainy season is ending and I am breathing better. THE NEW HOUSE is just about finished. I suspect they will be done within a week. There have been some wonderful surprises. I was expecting a kitchen with nothing except a sink on a concrete stand. I was delighted to find out that they were building three upper cabinets and a bank of three lower cabinets (that they made movable at my request). I am excited to have a guest room available. There will be a lot more storage (especially when we leave behind the wardrobe full of stuff left by the last occupant!). I'm even starting to think about landscaping potential. Does anyone know where you can buy a book on the subject of Goat-Proof Landscaping? When we did Edible Landscaping seminars at ECHO, that wasn't what we had in mind. The big activities in January and February--cleaning, cleaning, and washing in an attempt to get allergies controlled (they were really bad right when we returned). Unpacking. Sorting things out before moving. The garden was a huge weed patch after being neglected for 2 1/2 months of summer, I reclaimed a few beds, but have turned most of it over to Rudy for Rabbit forage production. The biggest change in my schedule has been trying to spend some educational time consistently with Grace each day (30-45 minutes). I also was having 3 high school finishing girls come over once a week to help out for a couple hours and to spend time visiting. These "5B" girls have been a blessing to me and I think I have been one for them. Their names are Khetsiwe, Prudence, and Vuyisile. We have had a good time talking, eating, watching movies, and visiting the "Poglitsh lending library". They got the results of their high school exams in early March and have some serious decisions to make. All of them were disappointed in their results. They needed better results to qualify for training for their chosen occupations. It is so hard to make the transition from high school to work/adulthood here. What a blessing it is to be in the US and have so many opportunities if you are willing to work. Our weekly meetings have petered out as they are moving ahead in their training now. After they got their scores and I talked to a couple about doing some Biology tutoring I realized that I needed to work with the younger students so that they could pass the exam in the first place. So I am meeting with the 4B girls (4 of them, 11th graders) once a week in a Biology study group to help them get what they need to pass this exam. Sad things: my best friend here, Mrs Shandu had been at her Mother's home since before we came back. The move was most likely due to marital problems. Their son was born in January. He died in early March. She is now at Mr. Shandu's homestead with his mother. This is a terribly sad situation that has just gotten unimaginably worse. Please pray for the Shandu's. They are both precious people. They have done so many things right, and now it seems like they are caught in a nightmare. Pray that they would hear God's voice clearly. Pray that Mr. Shandu would have the courage to grieve this loss. RUDY'S NEW KICK Rudy has decided to do a meat production demonstration. We are going to try to do forage fed rabbits (so there is no cash cost involved) and see if that has potential for this area. A local student said that most of the homestead kids here only get to eat meat a few times a year, and they REALLY like it. Forage fed rabbits are a good amount of work, but the payoff would be good (free meat) and if someone wanted to sell some, they would be pure profit since labor has a low economic value here. It also isn't heavy labor, so it could be a viable option for a single mom or widow. It is worth a trial. It also gives me good motivation to get some of my green manure/forage/cover crops planted since I haven't done a trial on them yet. This is a great example of how Rudy and I work together; he decides to do something and I do the planning. I am too much of a planner to accomplish very much. Rudy wants to go do something and not sit around and talk about it. Together we seem to do pretty well.We worked hard the last two days with the help of a couple of students and cleared the jungle and got 10 forage species planted as well as a few atemoyas and carambolas. For those who pray, please remember Carol Poglitsh (my sister in law) who has breast cancer. They tried to start chemo and she had a severe allergic reaction to the first drug. Pray that the next attempt will go better. I think that is enough for now. Sorry for the lack of good stories. I will close with a quote from Gracie this week: "White is not a color. It's when the color falls off, its white." RUDY'S ADDENDUMThe syllabus for the Form 3 students (sophmores, roughly) has been on personal health lately. Naturally, we spoke about AIDS. The AIDS rate for 15-19 year olds in Swaziland is about 30%. To demonstrate what 30% means, I went down a couple of rows and pointed to students saying "Negative, negative, positive; negative, negative, positive". I then told them that I know of students that I taught in the early 1990s here at Nsukumbili who are now dead. Getting on a bit of an emotional roll, I told them that even though they are not parents, as a parent myself I know that you do not want to bury any of your children. My voice got a little choked up as I went on to say "I do not want to go to your funeral; I do NOT want to go to your funeral". They seemed to be paying attention. I asked if there were any questions; there were. This was refreshing, because I don't remember ever hearing a question after opening the floor on any topic. They asked about 6 questions about the disease; some were about methods of infection, and some were about sexual habits. I really like to take this as a sign of hope; there must be some sort of acknowledgement of the disease now, that they would have questions about it (after all, I don't worry about a potential invasion from Mars because I know it will never happen). For you praying types, pray that the kids will take this AIDS threat seriously and change, if necessary, their ways so that they may live long and full lives. Thank you. **************April 14, 2006ANOTHER CASUALTYOn Wednesday April 11, the boys school soccer team had practice. I pulled a thigh muscle a month ago while playing, so I was running laps around the field. I passed a young man in school clothes whom I know is on the team, and asked him why he wasn't practicing. Was he injured? I thought he said "family problems", but as I was running I couldn't be sure. I figured it meant his grades were too low. I stopped when I reached him on the next lap and asked what was going on. He explained that his father died about 2 weeks ago and his family thought it appropriate that he not play soccer until next term. A little more conversation revealed that his mom died in 2004. So he is staying with aunts. In most things in Swaziland, Ruth and I know about 1/50th of what is going on. So if this young man is in this situation, it probably means that Nsukumbili has a heaping basketful of other young men in this situation. At least this young man is a form 5 student, and might be able to support himself at his homestead when he graduates this December; grade school kids with no parents aren't quite so fortunate. Ruth just got a list of 4 pre-school kids with no parents that live near the school and 5 more that have one parent dead already. Sometimes, life in Swaziland is sort of like having a big nasty scrape on your forearm, the kind you get after a hearty bike crash. It bleeds and hurts a while, then forms a big scab. Life goes along fine and you get used to the scab-you forget it's even there-until an edge of it gets caught on something, or you idly pick it, and and it starts to tear off and bleed. In Swaziland, hearing a story like the one above is like getting the scab caught and torn. The pain and the blood return, and it takes a while to get over it. A good friend here said, though, that he's glad that he still feels the pain; if he didn't, if he really got used to the carnage and loss in Swaziland due to HIV/AIDS, then he would be worried about himself. Parts of the rest of this newsletter are angry. I (Rudy) am tired of needless death both in the US and here. If you think that sex outside of marriage is okay, good, or inevitable, what follows will might make you angry. Apologies will not be issued, so continue at your own risk. The emphasis on HIV/AIDS control here is condoms. The message all too often boils down to "Well, Johnny/Suzie, sometime in your teens or early 20s, you will probably be ready for sex. Only you can know when you will be ready (what about parents'/church/culture's input?), so make sure that it's the right time, and use a condom." Use a condom; use a condom; use a condom. It's easier to find free condoms in Mbabane than free toilets; if you don't believe me, come visit. Space restraints prevent me from including how a condom is properly used if you want to prevent HIV transmission (but if you want, tell me and I'll send you the complete instructions); and we are to expect that teenagers who forget to bring their biology book to class are going to remember to follow all the instructions of condom use (which read like the instructions for landing a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier) at a moment like that? We are supposed to tell these young people to put this piece of latex between them and an early and painful death, and devastating impacts on their own families and children? WHY SCHOOLGIRLS HAVE SEX WITH BOYS THEY AREN'T MARRIED TO Thursday morning, April 12, the headmaster addressed the students at morning assembly about "love affairs" between students; naturally, he insisted that they stop. I asked my first-period students why girls have sex with their male schoolmates. One girl student (who isn't falling for male overtures) told me: 1) When a boy says I'm beautiful, my head begins to swim;2) I am hungry for love;3) I want money (sometimes);4) I want to try it out. The boys vociferiously objected to number three, but the girl didn't back down. [The radio this morning reported a brother-in-law who was charged with impregnating his ophaned, under 16, sister-in-law. He was getting sex in exchange for money and household goods.] After the furor settled, I stepped back and looked at the list. I told the students "Now, be serious with me, and listen to what I say. These first three points are needs that can be met by a good father." I told them that I had told Grace across the living room table at dinner recently that she is a pretty little girl. She smiled and hid her face, but she appreciated it. I told these students that if a father will step up and be his daughter's hero in those early years, she will feel good about herself. I told my students that I'm no one special; but to Grace, I'm DAD, and that to her I really am someone important. I told them that if a dad does these three things (1-3 above) for his daughters at an early age, he sets her up well for the rest of her life. If I had known this mini-talk was coming, I would have also said that in doing so, dads can inoculate their daughters from "I'm only in it for the sex" teenage boys and give them a proper standard by which to judge potential suitors. If she is getting genuine love from dad, she'll know true love from false in the future. But even though the speech was impromptu and unpolished, all eyes were focused and all mouths were shut; they really were paying attention. So here's the "better" that young people deserve. They deserve to see adults living chastely-yes, CHASTELY. Unmarried adults should not be having sex, and married men and women should be having sex only with their spouses. It's that simple. Swaziland is paying a huge price in human lives (both in deaths and lack of support for kids) for ignoring this simple, obvious rule. They deserve to be taught that chastity is the way to live (remember, the best teaching is lived out first and then verbally communicated), they deserve to be praised if they are doing so, and they deserve moms and dads who will spend time with them and tell them, with love and genuine concern, to live chastely. Giving them that love and attention and guidance can save them-and you, parents-a lot of trouble down the line. And on top of that, you can have a great relationship with your children. If my position on this condom and lifestyle issue rubs you the wrong way, I'm tempted to say I'm sorry-but I'll resist that temptation and decline the apology, because the results of the condom-driven sexual license is killing the parents of Swazi young people. It is killing the parents of my students. And it will kill my students, too, if they buy into it. I already know of former students (from the first time I was here in the early 1990s) who are dead-and everybody knows why they are dead. And I'm willing to step on toes (if you're still reading), I'm willing to call some ways of life flat-out wrong, if that way of life results in the death of parents and young people. Young people deserve to have their parents around; they deserve to be told that they are worth waiting for, and they deserve to be told their love and life is very valuable-far more valuable than a backwoods "good time", hoping a condom keeps them "safe". And if you still object, if you still think I'm out of line telling people that there are some things they shouldn't be doing and other things they should be, come talk to some of my orphaned students. Come scan the obituary section (2 pages, up to 50 faces sometimes) of the Times of Swaziland, and check the ages of the faces. And come spend weekends in Swaziland at Saturday night funeral vigils, up all night with a burial Sunday morning; these vigils take place every weekend, so come out for 52 sleepless Saturday nights a year. Maybe then you'll have your own set of second thoughts about how condoms are going to end Africa's AIDS crisis, and how simple, common-sense, traditional, tried-and-true parental action and involvement might be worth reconsidering. *********************October 1, 2005sorry we haven't written lately; with Rudy's parents here, we've kept ourselves busy. We have had a lot of fun with them. KRUGER NATIONAL PARKWe spent 3 days at this world-renowned park, and it was great. The park is bigger than Swaziland, and Swaziland is the same size as New Jersey. That's a lot of room for big game. A friend in Mbabane told us to stay in the southern end of the park, and that this is a good season to visit, since the dryness means the animals congregate at water holes and are easier to see though the brush. Rudy really wondered how likely we were to see many animals-it's a big park, he figured, and why would the animals stay close to one measly thread of asphalt? I did learn that the water holes and the roads were built near each other (clever builders). We did see a lot of game: giraffes, water buffalo (watched an entire herd pass us; must have been a hundred of them), impala (so numerous we no longer slowed down to watch them if someone spotted them), warthog, monkeys, crocodile, hippopotammussess (who knows how to really spell that, and I don't feel like getting the dictionary), zebras, and elephants. We got a real "charge" out of that last, long-nosed entry; Sandy (Grandma) Poglitsh was at the wheel when we found ourselves between two small groups of elephants. The specimen behind us and on our left did not like being separated from the rest, and his body language spoke loud and clear: "This is my park and your in my way: move it buddy". Sandy couldn't see him, but could tell by Rudy's suggestion from the back seat ("Mom, get moving!") that something was up. We got away without incident, and looked back to see the elephant join his buddies on the other side of the road. All's well that ends well. The only minor and unavoidable drawback was spending a long time in a car. Grace incorporated our vehicular residence into a playtime at a jungle gym. She and her dad were pretending to be driving when Grace said "Daddy, we're lost". Rudy replied "Oh no, when did we get lost?" Grace answered "Friday" (we were playing on the jungle gym on a Sunday). PEACE CORPSThe first group of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) to deal directly with HIV/AIDS is about to complete their 2 year tour. Those finishing are less than half the number who came; AIDS is a tough issue, and these men and women were at Africa AIDS ground zero. We have a lot of respect for them. Rudy and three other former volunteers were invited to a panel discussion with these PCVs about returning to the United States. All four of them are currently working in Swaziland: one with the US Embassy, one with a health-care group, one with Peace Corps, and Rudy. The concern for these returning volunteers is "reverse culture shock". It may be hard to believe, but many Americans who spend extended time in a developing country find adjusting to life back in America hard. One panelist wisely noted that readjustment from Swaziland to the US isn't as hard as it would have been 20 or more years ago, as modern conveniences have reached the major towns. What is particularly challenging for these volunteers, however, is that they have stared abuse, immorality, and death in the face for 2 years. One question addressed was, "How much contact should be kept with people you know in Swaziland?" The panelists spoke of e-mail, letters, and moving on with one's life. One finishing volunteer commented that many of the people he knows might be dead the day after he leaves, a week after he leaves, or a month after he leaves. The panel suggested that "Whatever you have to say, say it now; you don't know when you'll have another chance". I daresay that is good advice for all of us. BACK TO SCHOOLSchool reopened Tuesday, 13 September. Form 3 and Form 5 students begin writing their "SAT" tests in just one month. This is the time to fire them up and put on the finishing touches. I really want them to do well. BACK TO THE BUSThe departure of Rudy's parents meant the departure of the minivan (khumbi, in local parlance) they had rented for the month. We had a great time picking people up as we went in and out of town. Still, I felt some "warm fuzzies" when the four of us boarded Shining Star bus on Saturday, 24 September. Ruth and Rudy each had a child on their lap, and Rudy read from the "While We're At It" section of First Things magazine (one of our favorite reading materials: www.firstthings.com). I suppose "read from" is euphemistic; more like "shout from", since I had to compete with a diesel engine and associated road noises. The warm fuzzies ended, however, when the bus stopped moving for an extended period of time. A few questions revealed that the clutch had failed. The driver had cell-phoned someone, and another bus was coming. The time-obsessed Americans that we are asked "When will the second bus arrive?" "Now", the conductors informed us. To most of you reading this, "now" would mean that the conductor could point though the windshield and show you the replacement bus coming down the road. In Africa, "now" means almost anything. We had some business we really wanted to complete in town, so we quickly decided that Rudy and Grace would get out and start walking, in the hopes of catching a lift. We decided on a rendevous spot and left Ruth and Faith on the bus. Rudy and Grace got a lift in about 15 minutes, right into the heart of town. God is good. Ruth and Faithie's replacement bus came about 1 1/2 hours later. God has a sense of humor. Upon arrival in town, Ruth espied the afternoon bus back to Dlangeni and realized she must board it immediately in order to get a seat for the return trip (which would depart in one hour). An alternate plan had to be made. We decided to take a taxi back to the school. We have done this before. Some of you might remember our Easter story, when we asked a couple of buses if they would run at the regular time on Easter Sunday. The conductors said they would, but after 2 hours we didn't see a bus. We took a taxi that time. This is the second time we have done this. It is lots more expensive than the bus, but it is direct, pleasant, and cheaper than spending the night at even the most inexpensive lodging in town. This trip had the added treat of travelling with the brother of one of our teachers! I was cruising the bus rank, looking for the man who drove us out on Easter. Having gone the length of the rank I didn't find him. Another driver asked "taxi?". I said yes, how much would it be to Nsukumbili High School in Dlangeni. He asked "Right to the school?" and I said "Yes". His brother in N.M. Dlamini, a math and science teacher here. It was fun to learn a little more about NM's family though his brother. And it felt good to move a little government money (from my paycheck) into the hands of a friend's family. Our trip was incident-free, though there had been an incident before us. Not far from the church at Eluheneni, a small pickup had its brakes fail down a steep hill. The driver was skilled enough to keep it from going into a small river, but he did bend his right front wheel, making his car undrivable. By the time we arrived, a knot of men were trying to straighten the wheel enough to make it possible to roll the car. In the course of the "bush car garage" about 10 guys tipped the car up on its left-side tires, so someone could whack the guilty front wheel with a hammer. This apparently didn't work, so they just towed the wounded bakkie out of the road with another truck. I did feel sorry for the driver; that front wheel turned perpendicular to the road and resisted towing like a recalcitrant mule. I can only imagine what further damage might have been done on this short "drag". I am glad no one was injured, though. SATURDAY FUNToday, Saturday 17 September, Rudy E. (Grandpa) Poglitsh, Ruth, and Faith/Sikholiwe took the morning bus to town. I'm sure Rudy E. will have something to say about his experience! Grandma, Grace, and young(er) Rudy stayed back. We'll meet them for dinner in town with friends after Grace wakes up from her nap. After watering the garden and burning the trash (what a fine burn it was: I had a rectangular cardboard box and stood it on end to make a chimney; it burned fast and furious), Grace and her dad went to the swimming hole with the "Telepizza". The Telepizza is an inflatable swim device, about the same size and shape as those tombstone-shaped foam kickboards many of us used to learn how to swim. We bought it at a second-hand store in Manzini last December, and Grace loves to use it in tubs and rivers. We splashed, floated, made sand castles and "food" out of wet sand, threw stones, and even considered "shooting the rapids" (but dad wasn't sure he could stop Gracie before she hit the big plunge, so we nixed that idea). I had a great time; this, I thought, is what Saturdays and time with the kids is all about. If I may speak to you fathers for a moment: take time like this with your daughters and sons. Someone far more knowledgable than me on child-rearing says that children spell love T-I-M-E. Another bucket of balls at the driving range, one more home improvement project completed, or one more World Cup soccer match on videotape (yours truly) is not bad in itself; but they cannot hold a candle to the reward of a trusting, loving relationship between you and your child. That relationship will pay huge dividends in the long run. Children will seek love, acceptance, and guidance somewhere; it is in all of our interests that they get it FIRST from mom and dad.**************************July 14, 2005We received an e-mail through Rudy's dad from a former colleague. He says he and a few people at his workplace love to hear our "adventure" stories. We had no idea they were so well-received! Glad you like them. Grace has discovered the fun of "manafu". Manafu is an amber-like substance which oozes from a cut or break in a wattle tree. Wattle trees are non-indigenous to Swaziland, but they grow very quickly and are universally used for construction and firewood. My homestead brother introduced me to manafu in the early 1990s; it is chewy like bubble gum, but breaks down much faster. Our walk to church includes passing through a wattle forest; we call it the manafu forest, and Grace is always on the lookout for some. Sometimes we pick it for her, and sometimes we let her get it herself. She has taken to getting the manafu off the tree with her teeth, instead of using her fingers. I think she would eat herself sick on it, if we let her. Occasionally we have to say "No more for a while, Grace". A lay leader at St. Alexus church, Muzi Kunene, is studying tourism. Tourism has potential for Swaziland, owing to the the friendliness of her people and the beauty of her country. Muzi would like to conduct tours of the areas around Dlangeni. He and I have gone out twice on hikes, with him conducting a "tour". I give him tips on what I think tourists would like, what could be skipped, and what works well. If you're the praying type, pray for Muzi and others like him; for Swazis to start up small businesses and make money that will stay in the country would be a great thing for Swaziland. At a recent staff meeting, teachers were encouraged to get involved in the after school activities of the students. For a few weeks I played volleyball with the school team, and then I took the step: back into my soccer shorts and boots to practice with the school team. My dribbling skills are no better than they were 20 years ago (man, is it really that long?), but it has been a great charge to knock the ball around again. I think the kids, out of respect for my ageing bones, take it easy on me. It seems that individual skills are in good supply; what would help is passing, movement off the ball, and switching fields (apologies to those who haven't played much soccer). The team won its first match, lost its second, and tied its third; all three matches were exciting. Our advancement to the knockout round depends on the outcome of a protest we lodged against the team that beat us. We suspect they had a player who 1) wasn't even a student at the school, and 2) had been red-carded in the previous game-which means that, had he been a legitimate player, he should not have played in the next game (the one we played against them). More when we learn the fate of our protest. We found a new way to carry the kids; both of them on my shoulders at once! Mom Poglitsh, thank you for the big black and green backpack 10 years ago; it is our "station wagon" now, hauling most of our groceries each week and carrying the kids. It's a real "Family Truckster". We wanted Ruth to have a child-free time at the internet cafe last week, and as we didn't have much in the bag, I figured I could carry both kids and the bag. Grace is a regular on top, so we just tossed Faith up there, too. Grace kept a protective arm on her little sister, and I held one or both of her feet (Grace doesn't need me to support her up there; the internal frame gives Grace something to lean against, and her balance is good). I used to get smiles and looks with Grace up there; now we get huge smiles and laughs. Everybody, including pedestrians and passing drivers, has a good time. I figure, too, that my legs are staying strong. Have a great day. *********************June 23, 2005The page on our calendar anounces that it is the first day of summer. But here we are in the Southern Hemisphere and we are entering winter. Usually it is clear and sunny in the winter, but the last two days have been overcast and cold. Yesterday I baked a pumpkin in the oven just to have an excuse to have the oven on. We shut up the kitchen and spent the morning in there. Since Rudy doesn't like me to run the stove as a heater, I suspect that I will be doing a good amount of baking this winter and now have muffin tins to help me in that process. Our winter garden looks lovely now and is just beginning to produce. I figured out this planting season that when my vegetable growing book was giving application rates for 2:3:2 fertilizer it meant 2:3:2(22), not 2:3:2(7). For those of you who don't understand fertilizer terminology, what that means is that I needed to apply 3 times as much fertilizer as I had been applying. And amazing thing! When you put on the recommended amount of fertilizer things really grow! I have a lovely bed full of peas which are just starting to be harvestable. It is amazing how different growth rates are for different plants. I planted mustard, kale, beets, and turnips, and carrots about the same time. I have lush beds of turnips and mustard. The kale has finally formed 6 inch tall plants. The beets are paltry, and after almost 40 days I can finally see the carrots (I think the grasshoppers may have been eating off the leaves as fast as they grew). We are settling into our church in the community. You never quite know what to expect when you get there. One week, at 10:00 there was a woman leading a review of the catechism for adults. Another week, at 11:30, no one was there except a child since everyone went to an all night funeral vigil on Saturday night. Other weeks, around 10:30 people arrive, and start choosing songs for the service. Usually before the service begins there is song practice. I really like that. The leader has us sing most of the songs that will be sung during the service and he has us practice them until we get them right--what a wonderful introduction to African hymns! He wasn't there one week, and I discovered what a difference a little practice makes in the quality of the singing. On Sunday mornings we leave the house at 8:45 to catch the bus. By 9:30 we are dropped off the bus at the head of the path to the church. We take a 30 minute walk up the mountain to the church. Things end at church somewhere between 1 and 2. Then we have a choice of walking home on a footpath (about 1 1/2 hours through nice scenery), walking back to the road and along it until we get a lift (maybe--if not we face a 2 hour walk), or staying and catching the evening bus. We tried twice to get the evening bus (at 5:00? 5:30? 6:00?), but both times the sun was setting, it was getting cold, the bus was late, and a passing car took pity on us. It does make a long day, but a pretty pleasant one. The children are growing. Gracie turned 3 in May. She likes to do "school", especially if it involves "counting the monies". She can usually count up to three, sometimes to four. It is hard to know how much she knows since I think she give me the wrong answers sometimes just to be silly. Gracie really likes to help her Daddy do push-ups. She crawls on Rudy's back while he does his exercizes. They did 60 of these last night. Faith now scoots, pulling herself forward on her elbows. She really likes to do "push-ups" also. She gets up on her hands and knees and enthusiatically rocks back and forth. We are hoping to visit the US this winter (summer for us). I hope to come out with the children in November and attend ECHO's ag conference. Rudy would come out once school ends in early December. We would stay until mid-January. We would likely be in Florida, the Carolinas, and probably a trip up to Indiana/Detroit around New Years. We have talked about a jaunt up to Alaska, but don't have plans yet. The children are waking, so I will sign off now.*********************April 25, 2005Thank you to those who expressed sympathy to us on the death of Pope John Paul II. An era is definately over. As a Protestant Christian, I expected to see two contemporaries canonized in my lifetime--Mother Teresa and John Paul II. I suspect that both of them will be canonized within the next 10 years. One of the reasons that Rudy and I took the St. Francis Youth to World Youth Day 2002 was because we suspected that this would be the last World Youth Day for Pope John Paul II. When we were there I found that it was striking to be in the presence of this man that I had always respected, yet actually knew little about. When we returned home Rudy and I got a copy of George Weigal's biography "Witness to Hope" and found deep appreciation for this Godly man who had survived the worst that 20th century man could devise and came out truly a Witness to Hope. Pope John Paul II had the ability to articulate to modern man the beauty of following Christ and the danger of following anything or anyone else. A while back Pope John Paul asked the world's Christian leaders if there were ways to make the papacy be of service to all Christians. I don't know what answers he got, but one way that is already available is for Protestants to take advantage of the writings of this great man. Rudy is right now reading "Evangelium Vitae"/"The gospel of life" (www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/JP2EVANG.HTM). As Terri Schiavo's death has raised many questions about end of life issues, this document helps articulate a clear Christian vision for the dignity of life and the implications of various practices in view of human dignity. This document is very readable. Pope John Paul II was a trained philosopher as well as a theologian. Some of his writings are writen for other philosophers and theologians and aren't designed to meet a "7th grade reading level", but I have found all the ones I have encountered worth the time to wade through them. As for the new pope, we were suprised and delighted at the elevation of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to Pope Benedict XVI. We were delighted because he and Pope John Paul II were the definition of orthodoxy for the Catholic Church. His previous role at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) was to serve as the final authority on doctrinal questions and to correct those whose doctrine was out of line. Those who hoped that the Catholic Church would become more liberal and follow the path of modernism or universalism are mortified I am sure. We were suprised because of his age, his importance to the church at the CDF, and because I heard on the news that he had retired. I was also suprised because I imagine that the cardinals may have choosen him with the mandate to do some "housecleaning". After Vatican II the Catholic Church in the Western world seemed to lose its footing. That was the era for wild theological speculation and people used the "Spirit of the Council" as a justification for any idea or practice that seemed good to them. With so many voices, a generation was brought up without a clear vision of what it meant to follow Christ as a Catholic. Pope John Paul II spent his pontificate calling Catholics to embrace orthodoxy and follow Christ with their whole life. He called for a New Evangelism, starting within the Catholic Church. His writings expounded a clear and compelling vision of what it meant to be a Catholic...University, Family, Priest, etc. He left the unorthodox to die its natural death and spent his time inspiring a new generation and strengthening the parts of the church that were alive and vibrant. I suspect (though I don't know), that one of the reasons that Cardinal Ratzinger was choosen was to do some pruning. The cardinals may think that it is time to say to Catholic Universities like Georgetown, "Pope John Paul II articulated what it means to be a Catholic University in 'From the Heart of the Church', now which side of the line do you want to be on? Do you want to catch that vision and move towards it, or do you want to sever your link with the church and become a secular university?" As an example, as head of the CDF, Cardinal Ratzinger sent the head of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in the US a letter to give them some guidance on how to handle the situation of Catholic politicians who consistantly vote for abortion and also want to take communion in the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the head of the Conference did not release this letter to the other bishops in time for them to take its guidance into account. In this letter Cardinal Ratzinger explained that "his pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church's teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist." Well, this is not a typical letter, but this has not been a typical couple of weeks either. For those of you who prayed for the Catholic Church during this time of transition, thank you.***************************January 26, 2005We went through our first African Christmas. After many Christmas' in Florida, having Christmas in the middle of the summer didn't seem too strange, but being away from family was a new experience for me. At first I envisioned a quiet celebration at our home in the country, but then I realized that both Christmas and New Years are holy days in the Catholic Church, attending services is mandatory, and the buses don't run those days. So then I thought that we would be spending Christmas in the little cottage/storage area where we spend weekends in Mbabane. That wasn't a very cheery thought--I realized that Christmas dinner is closely tied with my conception of Christmas celebrations, and that would not be an option there. A couple of weeks before Christmas, we were told that after having free run of the cottage for the last two years, someone else needed to move into it and it wouldn't be available. We did a bit of inquiring with people we know from Church, but no place to stay turned up. We were scheduled to do some house sitting for a missionary couple in Manzini, the next large town from Mbabane, and decided to call the Britten's up and see if they would like to invite us for Christmas too--which they graciously did. We spent close to three weeks in Manzini house sitting during the school break. It was a different experience than being in the country. It was nice to be able to go to the store every day if you wanted to. On the other hand, ironically, we had to carry our groceries farther.Normally we buy our groceries right at the bus rank and then get dropped off the bus right at the school. The house where we were staying is within eyeshot of the cathedral and we enjoyed daily mass and met a number of nice people there. After being held up in Johanesburg last year, our goal in Manzini was to get through our time without encountering a criminal incident. Manzini has a reputation for having a lot of thieves. Gratefully we had no problems and feel a lot more comfortable getting around Manzini now. But we don't miss the fences, razor wire, locks, and chains that go with living in Manzini. The very best part of being in Manzini though was having access to a phone. It is incredibly expensive to call the US (about $1.50/min) but family members found they could call us for (.13 to .25/min) and we got a lot of phone calls. I will share part of a conversation with my oldest sister Mary. I was lamenting to Mary about the number of couple we knew who were divorcing (8 sets of friends in four years). She said "They are all in their 30's, right?" Most are. She told me that the danger time for most couples is between the 5th and 10th year of marriage. There are several reasons for this. During this time: * All of the differences that attracted you to your spouse become annoying. If a couple works through these issues, they can progress to having a really golden, fulfilling long term relationship. * This is an incredibly stressful life period for most people. During this time couples are usually carrying heavy responsibilities at work. They have young children who need a lot of care and input. They have heavy financial obligations so generally they are both trying to work 40 hours a week. When they get home, they are mentally and physically tired and are faced with an unending burden of caring for children and household living tasks. There is no time for a relationship with each other and there is little patience for anyone or time to deal with any problems that come up. So meltdown occurs. Mary said that she is convinced that the typical American two career lifestyle is toxic to families. And this is spoken by someone who has worked outside the home for nearly all of her married life. She said that there is an incredible difference in the stress level in their family if she is working 20 hours a week instead of 40. A few years ago she told me that she had only two friends who seemed like they could successfully juggle it all--marriage, children, career, and home responsibilities. Both of those women ended up in marital shipwreck, and that was when Mary realized that what our society is expecting from women these days is absolutely impossible. I am sharing this with you for several reasons. 1) A lot of us are in or close to that marriage danger zone. Being aware that these are the common marriage killers can help us make wiser choices. 2) The rest of you know young couples. Maybe they need you to provide some gentle help. * Offer to take their kids for a weekend and do their household chores so that they can go to a Marriage Encounter weekend retreat. * My Mom was involved in teaching a financial management class at her church. She was excited about the way that it helped individuals and families get out of financial bondage. If you want more information about the program she was teaching you can contact her at maysie@beethoven.com. * Many younger people don't know how to live in a way that doesn't require a paycheck for 80 hours of work/week. When you hear someone complaining about not having enough time, if you are close to them and you have the skills, maybe help them look over their finances and see if there are ways to live with more time and less money. Mary once told me that she did the math and found that when she had a baby, between the extra costs of the baby (paper diapers, formula, day care), owning and maintaining a second car (payments, insurance, gas, maintenance), and taxes that took about 90% of her paycheck. Staying home could eliminate those expenses without a dramatic drop in lifestyle. * Encourage engaged couples to live on just the husbands income and put aside the wife's for giving and saving. Rudy and I did that. If we had stayed in the states, the savings from my income before we had children would have enabled us to buy a modest house for cash and eliminate a house payment. I think the thing I personally am trying to apply is to be very careful about how I think about actions or attitudes in Rudy that rub me a bit wrong. I have an incredibly wonderful husband. I know that I am very fortunate, but I can see how I could train my mind to focus on differences, find faults, and be easily offended. I can see how meeting the needs of my two young children can become more of a focus than meeting the needs of my spouse. It is good to be aware that we are entering the danger zone. This has prompted some good talks about what activities we are going to get involved with this next year. We want to keep our marriage strong and do what we can to help others do likewise. To all of you who have been good models and examples for us--an extra thanks!**********************October 9, 2004Spring is here. We keep discussing if the mountains around us are getting greener. We have had an occasional rain, but the rains haven't started in full measure yet. In the garden though, things are clearer. The onions are all blooming. They make large globes of small white flowers. I am cutting them off since I don't want them to set seed. I use them in bouquets. The bees are quite fond of them. This week I tossed some old ones out of the back door so that I could reuse the vase with fresh flowers. The bees found the ones in the yard, then ventured into the house. Rudy was aghast to come home and find a whole flock of bees zooming around our kitchen. We had to take the flowers outside until nightfall. The next day the bees came back for more. I kept the door shut, but a few still snuck in. I regret to say that they didn't have an opportunity to tell their friends about the onion flower delights that they found in our kitchen-they got "Doomed". Early this month I pulled out most of the winter vegetables and replanted the garden. Now every day is a new adventure to see what has come up and how it is doing. Yesterday the beans were just starting to crack the soil. I went out this morning to see a dozen little beans proudly waving their new leaves in the air. The cosmos, zinnia, and African daisies all have buds of promise. There are several wild flowers just starting to come up. I have an amaryllis blossom crowning our table festooned with onion blooms and yellow daisies. Hopefully I learned a few things last year in my little vegetable garden. I am hoping that someday I will know enough to be able to help someone else. But right now, learning has to be the priority. What I think I have learned includes: 1) Grow your vegetables fast. Make sure the pH is reasonable and they aren't lacking nutrients or water. There are enough challenges here with insects, nematodes, and diseases. Every day they are delayed means another day that these things can damage them. I've always had a "survival school" mentality with crops--give them a challenge and see how they respond! My goal this year is to do whatever it takes to grow healthy plants. Later I can start seeing what I can take away and still grow healthy plants. But until I succeed, I can't know what is causing the failure. 2) Shade really does damage crop production. Part of our garden was shaded during the winter. After we trimmed and removed some trees, the plants noticably perked up. 3) It is really challenging to get enough organic nutrients when you have very poor acid soil and limited resources. "Everyone knows" that you just have to add enough organic matter to your soil and all of your problems are solved. Guess what: when you don't have any animals and you don't have a mower, this is a real challenge. I periodically walk around picking up cow patties scattered across the soccer field. We have two chickens now, but they are out of their cage much of the day (it was getting too expensive to feed them), so their collectable manure output is quite low. I was very fortunate: in January the school hired someone with a weed wacker to cut the grass on the school grounds. I was able to rake up quite a bit of cut grass. It is about gone and it is time to remulch my beds, so now I am cutting tall clumps of dead grass in the wild areas around my garden to get at least a thin smattering of mulch on the beds. 4) Everything has a down side. You put mulch on your beds to conserve water and then find that your plants are chowed down by slugs. They really like damp mulch. I picked 40+ slugs off of my onions one morning. I thought that would be a nice treat for our chickens, but they were not impressed. 5) Soapy laundry water doesn't hurt vegetables much (except maybe the tomatoes). Laundry rinse water seems to be safe all around (at least if you are using Sunlight and Blue Storm laundry powder and green bars of laundry soap. This is helpful to know since we have limited water at the school.) 6) Parsley is really easy to grow here and you can use a lot more parsley in your cooking than you would at first think is possible! It was really satisfying to be eating fresh vegetables from the garden this winter. Since vegetables are heavy, bulky and expensive, we have had a limited supply that we have carted out of town on our weekly grocery run. Swazi's also tend to have a limited number of vegetables in their diet--cabbage, beets, "spinach" (a variety of green leafy vegetables), pumpkin, pumpkin vine tips, roasted corn, and a bit of onion and tomato. HIV-positive people are encouraged to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits so a lot of them try to have at least a small vegetable plot. This year I am re-trying all of the things that failed last year--cucumbers, peas, watermelon, and radishes right now--we will see if I actually did learn anything last year. I am 8 months pregnant now; we are expecting to see this baby any time in October. Babies tend to arrive early in my family, so we will see if the trend continues. We are hoping that Cub will wait until my parents arrive October 17. We don't have a real good alternative plan for caring for Grace in Mbabane, but I am sure that if Cub does decide to come, we will figure something out. We are now in the home-stretch. I've felt good enough to go on a manure collecting run this week and visit a nearby homestead--maybe it is the Kellogg's Corn Flakes that I've been eating in the morning these last couple of weeks. Hope all is well with you all. *********************September 11, 2004Sunday we were at the bus stop talking to one of Rudy's former students who now attends a different school. We asked her if she was ready for school to start on Tuesday. She said that she wasn't going back to school for another week. This really surprised us since all of the government schools in the country have the same school schedule, but this is Africa... so we asked another student when school was going to start. She said that she didn't know. School did start on Tuesday; apparently there was some confusion because there are two Reed Dances instead of one. The Reed Dance is a national festival when all of the young girls go to gather reeds and to dance for the King. This takes place at two locations, one in the North and one in the South of the country. The Northern dance had been held. The Southern one is taking place this week, so schools down there were closed since most of the girls would be gone. Most of the students showed up at our school for the first day of classes. But Rudy's classes keep getting smaller because they are chasing away all of the students who haven't paid their last installment of the school fees. For example, there are 35 form 4 students, only 5 were in class today. We enjoyed the rest of the school break. In addition to visiting an orphanage run by one set of Americans, we spent 3 days visiting with seasoned missionaries in Manzini (the largest city in Swaziland). That was very encouraging. He used to teach in the Swazi school system too. They know what it is like to raise a family on a single Swazi salary. They have done a lot of teaching on marriage and family issues. Currently they are working with Zionist church pastors (an indigenous group with marginal theology) to do theological training. We got to visit the hospital in Mbabane where Cub will (hopefully) be delivered. It isn't as friendly as the birthing center where Grace was born, but I am sure Cub will come out just fine there. Gracie made a friend with a little girl there and has gone back to visit her once. We returned home, and were doing some gardening. The digging probably did me in. I ended up either with a baby that was suddenly doing flips for hours or contractions. So we headed back to Mbabane the next day to visit our doctor. He assured us that we did not want to see this baby at 7 months, gave me some pills to stop contractions and told me to take it easier. Cub is definately making his/her presence felt now. There is a lot of movement. I have the official pregnant lady waddle. Leaning over to put on my shoes and socks is becoming a bit of a challenge. I am just starting to get the pregnancy backaches. My parents are recovering from two hurricanes as well as preparing to come to Swaziland. Charley was by far the worst hurricane that has hit Orlando since we moved there in 1977. Our weather here has been good. We have had several good rains (which are early) and heard that it rained down in the lowveld (the areas that have been hard hit by drought for the last few years). It has been nice to not have to water the garden, but we are having a grasshopper bloom. Right now they are only an inch and a half long, but I know that soon there will be 4-5 inch grasshoppers happily munching everything in sight. I talked to one student. He said that people only garden in the winter here because of the insects. Rudy took some excess desks and made two soccer goals. With some scrap string, some new string, and a soccer ball, made a mini soccer set. Picture attached. For you PCVs, I like to call this a secondary project. The kids love it. Hope all is well with you.***************************August 5, 2004 Today is our fourth wedding anniversary! A lot has happened in four years--getting married, moving to Swaziland, two children, and three jobs for Rudy. Today we went over to the school assembly. Rudy announced our wedding anniversary and told the kids. "We are really happy to be married. When you are married, we want you to be happy like we are. If you have questions about what it takes to make a marriage happy, we will be glad to talk to you." On Sunday it was overcast, cold, and miserable. On Tuesday, summer may have begun. Today is Thursday and it is positively hot outside in the sun. Tuesday had a special treat--a hot shower for Ruth. The first in several months. During the winter, our solar water heater might get the water lukewarm, but when the bathroom is 60 and you are surrounded by tile walls radiating coldness at you, lukewarm just wasn't sufficient. Grace and I would go to the kitchen, boil water, and bathe in our wash basin. Grace continues to amuse us. Part of her sleeping outfit is a pair of her Grandfather's white socks. On her they go up to her thighs. She has them on each morning as she makes her first visit to the potty. Recently she has been reaching into them and pulling things out of them. I ask her what she has and she will hand me imaginary chips (french fries), candy, money, oranges, and occasionally an apple. Usually there is enough for both her and I to have some. *******************July 19, 2004We just got word that Mrs. Mamba died. We visited on Friday. She was moaning and didn't seem to be aware of what was happening around her. She hadn't been drinking, so I made some oral rehydration solution, gave her Mother and Mother in law a sippy cup, and told them to make sure she got some every hour. She drank quite a bit and seemed a little better. On Sunday they took her back to the hospital. On Monday, Yenzile (her daughter) got to spend part of the morning with Grace while Mr. Mamba was teaching. Yenzile seems to be fairly unaware of what is happening. She and Grace played happily Sunday night and Monday morning. She has her father's sunny disposition. They left Monday night to go see her. This morning the teachers were informed that Mrs. Mamba had died. Death is much closer to us here in Swaziland. This will be the third funeral that we have made contributions for this month. Rudy and I are very sober today. The winds are starting again. Every winter the winds come howling over the hills. It sounds like you are in a hurricane that can last for days. Last year it really unnerved me--I felt like we should tape the windows or do other hurricane preparation. I expected a tornado to show up at any moment. I kept looking at our house trying to find a safe place to hide if the need should arise. Slowly I am getting used to them. So far this winter we have had one major windstorm. It occured at night. The house next to us had suffered fire damage. The windstorm ripped off part of the roof and broke the main electrical entrance into that half of the house (it is a duplex and people are still living on the other side of it). The live electrical wire put on quite a light show before some circuit tripped or it lost contact with the ground. Yesterday and today the winds were blowing, but milder. When they are strong, you can't use the back door. Once the door is open, you have to pull against the wind with two hands and all of your might to get it to close again. But the advantage is that the clothing dries really quickly on the line. Rudy and I have talked about planting a windbreak near the house. But the goats show up periodically and that could make it extremely difficult to get plants established. My garden is doing well. The cold weather has killed all of the grasshoppers. We are eating broccoli, onion greens, celery leaves and parsley regularly, as well as a little cauliflower, chard and lettuce, and an occasional flower. We hope to put in a few more beds soon. I hope to end up with 12 beds. I figure that is about as much as I can take care of and it should give us something to eat all year round. Last Friday was the last day that the "Dream for Africa" team was here. There was a closing ceremony where students had an opportunity to publically commit themselves to abstain from sexual activity until marriage. I would guess that at least half of the kids went up to sign. It was encouraging. Rudy took Grace up (which caused a little amusement). Rudy just told me that at a world wide AIDS conference the President of Uganda (the only country I know of which has successfully reigned in the virus) told the delegates that condoms weren't the answer to the AIDS crisis. "I look at condoms as an improvisation, not a solution. [We need instead] optimal relationships based on love and trust instead of institutionalized mistrust which is what the condom is all about." After a discussion that the teachers had here last week, I can understand his point. The teachers were divided: some said that if you found out that you were HIV positive, that was information for you alone, and you didn't need to share that with your spouse; others said that marriage can't work if you aren't honest with your spouse. Curiously, Bush is being lambasted at the AIDS conference since he has adopted Uganda's approach as the basis for US funded initiatives. Cub is kicking regularly now. Those who know me would know that I am pregnant. Grace is lively too. Last night she looked like a rodeo rider, one hand up in the air, bucking wildly on Daddy's stomach as he lay on the bed. Grace knows several games now. The one we play every night is "Ngena" [Come In]. She gets on our bed, scurries to the top as fast as she can, and climbs under our wildly colorful super soft and fuzzy Chinese blanket. Then she invites us to join her. We make tents. She likes to fall down on the bed and is very good at that. She can keep her whole body straight as she whoops down. My hip is much better now. It is no longer limiting my activities. Rudy invited me to walk over to the school with him today and I didn't even have to hesitate and think if I could do it or not. This is all for now. Hope that everything is well with you. For those who like to pray for us:-Remember the Mamba family and pray that we will know how to be a good support to them during this difficult time.-Pray for safety for Rudy and the others who are going to try to take the rest of the loose metal roofing sheets off the fire damaged house before the whole roof is lifted off.-Pray that the kids who publicly committed themselves to chastity until marriage last week would have the commitment and skills to avoid temptation and keep that committment. Sincerely, Ruth Poglitsh (for Rudy, Grace, and Cub)**********************July 3, 2004Mr. T. Mamba is one of the teachers. His daughter Yenzile is Grace's best friend. Mr. Mamba's wife has been seriously ill. She has been in and out of the hospital. It has been a trial for all of us. One evening they were considering whether things were serious enough to go to the hospital. We let them know that we would care for Yenzile if needed. Yenzile arrived shortly before Grace's bedtime and was greeted with squeals of delight. She was our first overnight guest. Grace normally goes to bed at 7:00 pm and sleeps by herself. Yenzile normally goes to bed at 10:00 pm and sleeps with her parents. This time, we let Grace stay up and play until about 8:30. We weren't quite sure what to do next, so put both Grace and Yenzile into Grace's crib, left on the light and waited to see what would happen. Would Grace suddenly turn into a territorial wolf if someone dared to invade her crib? Would Yenzie bop Grace over the head when there was no one to help mediate their disputes? Much to our suprise and relief, both girls fell asleep quickly. In Swaziland, medical staff don't generally communicate well with patients and their families. They tend to do things and not explain what the problem is and how the prescribed course of treatment will help. On top of that, there is a wide range of competency. Rudy and I don't have a lot of confidence in the government hospital which is where Mr. Mamba's wife started her treatment. They ended up taking her to a specialist. She has several problems simultaneously. She seems to be recovering now. One difficulty with this illness is that she is doing her last year of school and must take comprehensive exams in October. I think she has missed at least a month of school. Another challenge is that Yenzile has gone to stay with her grandmother so that Mr. Mamba can go back and forth to the hospital and to visit his wife. Grace misses her daily visits with Yenzile terribly. We had our first overseas overnight visitor last week. Martha Clowdsley was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rudy's group in the early 90's. After the Peace Corps she wanted to teach at a community college, returned to school, got her doctorate in Mathmatics, and is now working for NASA doing radiation exposure estimation for space flights. We spent four days together. The week before Martha arrived, my hip was giving me a lot of problems. I would plan my trips to the garden carefully so that I wouldn't have to walk an extra 40 feet needlessly. I had to sit down after morning chores because it was so painful. Rudy wanted us to go hiking when Martha came and I was thinking, "Rudy, there are time I can barely walk three houses down to take Grace to see Yenzile." That Thursday night, we were doing our evening prayers. The verse in James came to mind, "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." I was just pondering what the procedure for requesting that would be at our church here when it seemed that my hip felt different. I didn't know what to think, torn between several conflicting thoughts. 1) Don't be hasty, you don't want to presume anything 2) What if God touched my hip? Maybe if I don't immediately acknowledge it He will take that touch away 3) God's work can be tested, it isn't transient 4) I didn't even obey the verse that came to mind. So the next day with some fear and trepidation I carefully walked around. There was still some soreness, but I didn't have to sit because of the pain. I laid down briefly that evening, and when I got up, my hip was too sore to walk. I was bitterly disappointed. But the following days were good. The evening Martha came we hiked over hills and rivers for a couple of hours. I thought I would likely be unable to walk the rest of the evening, but was able to get around fine. Yesterday I was on the floor of Grace's room waxing and polishing the floor. I can still feel a bit of soreness when I walk, but it is no longer limiting my activities significantly. We had a great time with Martha. We hiked, visited the school where she had taught and were warmly hosted by the current staff there. We talked (a lot). I really enjoyed getting to know her and look forward to seeing her again sometime. When Martha went hiking by our home she was asked, "Where is your baby?" She explained that she didn't have any children. Then the confused Swazi said, "No, no, where is Grace?" We hadn't thought about how similar she and I must look to most Swazis. She spoke to one of Rudy's classes about radiation and upcoming space trips. Rudy spoke to one of his students before class and planted a question for Martha. During the discussion time, with a straight face, the student asked, "When do you think we will plan a journey to the sun?" Martha brought a great care package from several people with her (many thanks to all of you who sent her things--we are still going through it). Included was a Waterford Crystal Vase which was a wedding present. It is sitting on the table now with its first bouquet here--featuring wild yellow composites and carrot leaves. I doubt that too many Waterford vases have showcased carrot leaves, but they actually work quite well in arrangements. Martha left on Saturday. On Tuesday this week the school went to regional dance competitions. There were two boy's traditional dances, two girl's traditional dances, and then drum major and cheerleading/dance squad competitions. Nsukumbili entered teams into the traditional dances. One of the boy's teams and one of the girl's teams did well enough to qualify for the national competitions. It was a long day; we didn't get back until 10:00 at night. Grace had a great time rolling around and playing on a lovely soccer field of grass and no animal droppings. Students from a many different schools gave her candy, and there were lots of lovely candy wrappers and other trash to collect into bags and boxes. For those of you who like to pray for us, here are some ideas:-that Mrs. Mamba would recover and know what to do about missed schooling.-that Yenzile would come back soon.-thank God that my hip is so much better.-that Martha won't be too swamped when she returns to work.-that Swazis will value and preserve all that is good in their traditional culture. Lots of love to all of you, Ruth Poglitsh (for all of us) **********************March 27, 2004It has been a little while since I put together an update for y'all. On March 5 Rudy was reviewing past papers with a class of form 5 students. This led to a discussion of sexual morality. Rudy presented the history of contraception in the Christian community (namely, that every Christian church up until 1930 called artificial contraception a sin), how sex should be saved for marriage, and how easy it is to avoid AIDS through sexual purity. One student asked if sex outside of marriage was a sin. Rudy said that it was. The student asked if Rudy would lead them in a prayer of repentance for past sexual sins. Rudy looked around to see if the student was joking, but he was serious. So he led them in a prayer of repentance, as well as praying to Jesus for the strength to avoid sexual sin in the future. Each student received the booklet "Pure Love", by Jason Evert (thank you, Ken Ozturgut!), on sexual morality from a Christian point of view. That same day, Rudy and Grace took a backpack of food to a homestead headed by a 70-something grandmother. In addition to herself, she has three high-school age children in the home. This grandmother ("gogo" in SiSwati) was delighted, saying something to the effect that God is in the land, that she would receive such a blessing. Though the situation is obviously not ideal at this homestead (both parents are dead), this gogo, many years ago, planted fruit trees. As a result, the homestead enjoys oranges, grapes, mangoes, papayas, guavas, bananas, avocados, and melons, in addition to the staple of corn and the almost incidental pumpkins. It is such an encouragement to see people who planted fruit trees in their younger years now benefiting during a time of great need. If the Swazis can just purify their sexual behaviour, we will have reason to hope for a brighter future. Grace is missing the Twala family. One of the teachers had his wife and two young daughters visiting for a couple of weeks. The first week we would go over and visit for a little bit most days. The second week, every day when I went out to hang up the washing, Grace would walk over by herself to visit and play with the girls until Rudy came home for break at 10:00. It is something to have your not quite two year old able to go visiting on her own. She is growing and developing in new ways. She seems to have potty trained herself this week. We realized that she would get very upset if she wasn't wearing a diaper and she needed to use the toilet. So we just kept her out of her diaper, she started wearing the little pants that go with her dresses, and she rarely has an accident during the day. We realize this is early for a US baby, but she is rather late compared to the Swazi babies. It is interesting how these things are different in different places. We recently received two of the six boxes of our books that we mailed out over Christmas. Grace has been really enjoying looking at the pictures in some of the books. She kisses all of the pictures of children. She can now see a new picture and recognize many of the items in the picture--she will see a cow and go "Moo". This really is an amazing skill--to create a general concept of what a cow looks like and to recognize that this new drawing in front of me is a particular example of that universal concept. Having children does make you appreciate that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." This week was also the first time I have seen her pretend. She will pick fruit out of the pictures and give them to me to eat. She will pick kittys and babies out of the pictures and hold them and pet them. It has been a lot of fun. I was looking forward to having regular siSwati lessons with one of Rudy's former students. Things went real smooth for awhile and I now have some siSwati tapes, but my teacher hasn't come now for awhile. Rudy says "Well, were in Africa." My garden is up to 8 beds now. After we came back I abandoned the idea of raised beds (which is what they teach at the school here). The sides erode. When you are on a slope, you don't need them for drainage. And they require extra water. We pulled everything out, recontoured all of the beds, and replanted. So I am hoping to harvest green onions, celery, spinach (probably actually Swiss Chard), broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots this fall. Previously I tried a lot of different plants in each bed, but have discarded that as well. I found that when you only plant four of something and some die, that pollination becomes a real problem on some crops. There isn't enough of the same thing ready to harvest at the same time for anything other than soup. Also, if you are having troubles, you don't have enough plants to try out a couple of ideas and see which (if any) help. When you have a lot of things in one bed, everything is dying at different times, so replanting is difficult. Plants have different nutrient and water needs at different times, so I found myself watering much more that would be needed if things were seperate. Crop rotation is impossible. And much to my great dismay, when I pulled up the dead tomato plants, I discovered to my horror that in spite of the soil being clay here, the roots were coated in rootknot nematode distortions. I have really been enjoying being out of Florida, away from the heat, able to grow temperate vegetables. I didn't imagine that nematodes, my old arch-enemy, would have followed me here. So crop rotation is important. Having said all of that, it is very hard to focus down to just a few crops. Fortunately we are going into the winter season, so not too many things will grow and I don't have to feel so bad about what I am not able to plant this year. I am finding it a challenge to have to have such modest goals on the agricultural end of things. I want to plant 40 fruit trees and try out 30 different crops, do experiments on ways to use donkey manure (everyone here thinks it is poisonous to plants). But that doesn't fit in with my life, schedule, finances, and resources right now. When I had imagined living in another country, it was always imagining doing agricultural work. As many other young mothers have discovered, when you have small children, life is much more about laundry and much less about hobbies. If you would like to pray for us:Rudy--that as he speaks to the students about sexuality, morality, and AIDS, that they would really listen and consider carefully what he says. Ruth--my brother Steve has gotten himself into some serious trouble. Pray that God would use this time to bring him to a genuine repentance and lasting conversion. Grace--that as she is learning to climb, she wouldn't fall off our new furniture onto the concrete floor and hit her head too hard. All of us--we are trying to learn to give wisely and well here. Swaziland is our first venture into direct financial support for elderly widows. Pray that God will give us clear thinking as we manage God's money and develop relationships in our community with people who have needs. We hope all is well with you. **************************October 11, 2003Rudy and I spent last weekend with the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers. Rudy was asked to make a presentation on his experience in Swaziland. We highlighted some things which would make the new volunteers have a good experience. I feel for the new Volunteers, they are going to be sent out to the communities in the lowveld (that means miserably hot) who are the poorest and have the highest HIV/AIDS rate. This is a new program, so no one knows yet what exactly they will be doing in those communities. They will have to help create a spot for themselves doing something in someway related to HIV/AIDS. It is a tall order for anyone and especially for a 22 year old fresh out of college. To be processing issues of life and death and human sexuality on top of the normal Peace Corps assignment poverty and cross cultural issues is a lot to handle. Rudy invited them to come visit us, take a nice hike to our house and enjoy a break. ***************************May 10, 2003Grace turned one year old this week and gained a Swazi name. Most Swazi first names are siSwati words. The little girl who lives up the hill is named "Humble" and the young man up the hill is named Mandla which means "Strength". We were looking at a list of Swazi names and their meanings and Rudy almost fell over laughing when we came upon "Maqolosha" -- "One who jumps around". [If you wish to pronounce it the q is a click made by the tongue on the gum ridge behind the front teeth.] The next day we went to visit a homestead family and joined their work party harvesting corn. Rudy introduced "Maqolosha" and everyone laughed. Since Grace was excited to be outside in the corn field with lots of people and interesting things happening, she was bouncing up and down. Soon everyone was calling her that. I am sure that she will thank us for this name when she is 14 years old. Rudy had the week off so we had a chance to see some agriculture. We enjoyed joining a traditional corn harvest. The corn stalks were cut with a bent machete. The stalks are then piled. We joined the women picking up the stalks, peeling the shucks off, and breaking off the ear of corn. The corn goes in one pile, the stalks in another. Other women bag the corn, then boys come by with donkeys and take the bags to the structures where they spread out the cobs to dry. It was pleasant work and was a truly typical African agricultural experience. It is labor intensive but no one minded. It seems to be the weeding that people dislike. We also had a lovely 2 1/2 hour walk to another friend's house to see their piggery. It is a very modern operation with pigs kept in individual stalls on concrete floors. 3 families rotate coming twice per day to clean the floors and feed the pigs. The first batch of pigs has been born and is being grown out. The problems they face are common ones. The structure costs a lot of money to build and so requires financing for most people. The piggery requires large amounts of running water, most people don't even have water at their homes. The feed is all purchased and is expensive. The transport of feed and finished pigs requires you to own a vehicle, pay high transport costs, or accept a lower price for your pigs. The government is trying to encourage people to start small business so is providing some training, materials and loans. But some of this hasn't come when needed and so MK has had to fork out his own money. We have been really challenged here to look for ways that limited resource rural people can make money. Having never lived in a farming community it is harder for us to know what makes a vibrant healthy rural economy. We have a lot of assets, people, cheap labor, nice climate, good rainfall, and land for the asking from the cheif. Yet this whole area only has one store (a "convenience" store type) and no other businesses (that I know of) It is the same old story--all of the educated people want to leave for easier work, more money, and more recreational opportunities in town. It is hard to even find teachers who want to stay and teach out here. But there aren't a lot of jobs in town and starting small businesses isn't a strong Swazi cultural trait. I decided today that long term I might like to work with the ag, home ec, business, and shop teachers and start a young entrepreneurs school club where we can help the kids start producing something to sell or trade at a monthly market that we could set up. It would help them to start thinking about opportunities they can have in their local area. So we will see. It is nice to know that we will likely be here long term. That way you don't think that you have to do everything this year. NOW--TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS From Debbie St. Romain, Lauren and Alex Henley. How's the weather? Is it very hot? Right now we are in the winter and it gets chilly on cloudy days. On sunny days it is delightful, cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon. We haven't had any frosts yet, but they are not too uncommon. Since the house has no heat or insulation, it isn't a whole lot warmer inside than out. Fortunately our home is better built than most of the teacher houses so it can be a little warmer inside (we have an attic and a tile roof instead of tin). On cold cloudy days Grace and I spend the morning in the kitchen where I have a large pot of drinking water boiling. I may do more baking this winter, it is a good excuse to have to stove going. In the middle of the summer, we only had one night that was uncomfortably warm for sleeping when the windows were open. Generally it gets warm during the day (not quite as hot or muggy as Florida) and is cool and pleasant at night. The sun is very intense when you are outside, but the temperature isn't bad if you are under shade. Why did you move to Africa? Because the weather was cooler than Florida!************************************
