24 October 2007

24 October 2007
Swaziland, here I come.
I just received the final packet from Heart For Africa telling participants what to expect on our “mission”. We are going to be working at the New Hope Center located at Bethany,, Swaziland, located in the mountains of Piggs Peak, Swaziland. The center is currently the home for 36 children with a purpose “…to provide for multiple needs of children within the Swazi Nation. Children from pre-school to high school are provided and education and a “Biblical Foundation. The director’s aim is to make these children the “Godly leaders of African Nations in the years to come.
The length of stay has been changed so that now I will be leaving San Francisco on a red-eye (midnight) on October 30, flying from Dulles to Johannesburg (fifteen hours +) on the 31st, and arriving on November 1. We will be bussed four hours to our hotel, Lugo Sun, in Swaziland; telephone 011 268 416 4000, or if you are in the neighborhood, 268-416-4000.
The first four days we will be at the New Hope Center with the suggestions that we wear long sleeved shirts that will keep us cool. It sounds as though the work will be agricultural, like in the dirt and all. On the fifth day in Swaziland, we will visit the Hlane Game Park experiencing a “game drive” and a visit to a cultural village. The next two days we will back at the New Hope Center. On Friday November 9 we will catch an evening plane back to Dulles. My current plans will have me back at San Francisco sometime around 8:00 PM.
Our orientation, so far, has included a lot of don’ts and very little by way of dos. We did receive a 17 word vocabulary list in seSwati, just in case we become disconnected from our group, that we are never supposed to dod.
I now know that Swaziland has a population of 950,000 souls and dropping rapidly. The population growth rate is -4.5% with an average life expectancy of 27 years. The Swazilanders are 40% Zionist, 20% Roman Catholic, 10% Muslim and 30% other, which doesn’t leave very many Methodists.
Swaziland is almost surrounded by South Africa with a small border with Mozambique to the East. We are going to be visiting during the annual rainy season which runs from October through May, not unlike California. The country is totally land locked and about the size of New Jersey.
HIV/AIDS is rampant in the country. 42.6% of all adults have HIV/AIDS. There are 120,000 orphans due to AIDS with a new 8,000 children orphaned every month. Incidentally, one of our don’ts is to not use the word “orphan” because the English speakers use the word to denote incorrigible rascals.
The country has a king, King Mswati III. 69% of the population lives below the poverty line defined as less than $1.00 a day. The unemployment rate is 40%. Footnote: During the Great Depression in the US, unemployment peaked at 23%. Swaziland exports soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp and cotton yarn.
Despite some of the comments I have made about this trip, I am really looking forward to experiencing Swaziland, really!
Love to all future travelers.
Sala Kahle (Siswati for Good Bye and StayWell)
Grandpa Dad