Last night the girls and I went to the Hypontic music
festival at House on Fire to see our friends Baby T and Sifiso’s dance performance. The dance, of course, was amazing. As was the music and outdoor ambiance in town
away from the struggles of rural life.
It makes you feel guilty – almost as if you should purposefully struggle
more so the kids can struggle less. As I was gazing into the beautiful night
sky thinking about how blessed I am in life I see someone running toward us out
of the corner of my eye. It was Mr.
Swaziland! Hilarious. He
wanted us to know that he was there and asked if we heard the announcer saying
his name. I am certain I have never met
anyone more in love with themselves in my lifetime. But somehow – it suits him and is almost
endearing…almost.
Today we spent the day in eLangeni with our GHFP sponsored children. We brought lunch (polony sandwiches, chips,
oranges, juice, and sweets) and played Swazi games. The girls taught us rope games, songs, dances
– it was perfect. The sun was shining,
the air was warm, the breeze was soft, and the kids were aplenty! For quite a
while Lungelo was the only boy there and he didn’t want to play with the girls
so he asked me to sit and chat with him.
He is SUCH a perfect child. I
cannot sing Lungelo’s praises enough. He
is an only child and lost both of his parents a while ago. Since then he has been bouncing around
between relatives who did not particularly want the added responsibility and he
has bounced entirely without complaint. Additionally,
he always volunteers to help everyone.
He cleans the cow manure out of the Chief’s cattle crawl, herds
neighbors’ cattle to the nearest water source (which is very far up the
mountain), and grows a large garden of vegetables that he shares with neighbors
even though he experiences food scarcity himself. He studies SO HARD! He is by far our top GHFP student and wishes
to go to university next year to study accounting. He was telling us that he wishes to have a
novel to read to “enrich my vocabulary so I can excel on my exams”. He is as adorable as he is eloquent. I am so unbelievably proud of this child and
enjoyed being able to spend so much time with him today without all of the other
children who tend to hide shy and quiet Lungelo in their shadows. I
researched and found that university is only $1,500 per year if the students do
not need boarding. I would LOVE to offer
Lungelo a scholarship to continue his studies.
He would most definitely pay it back hundredfold by continuing to help
the children in his community once he is successful. If anyone would like to donate to Lungelo’s
college, please contribute on our website:http://www.ifightpoverty.org/donate.html
After the party was over, the polony sandwiches were
consumed, and it started to get dark – we packed our Nissan Grand Livina to the
max and started driving the children home.
We had 13 girls (plus Mazwi) in our 8 seater and the kids could not have
cared less. (Don’t worry; we were only
driving a short distance on rural dirt roads with no other cars around.) We
rolled the windows down and turned the Swazi radio station up. I had little Mazwi on my lap in the front
seat and the sound of the young happy girls singing along with the tunes behind
me. There are so many times when I am in
Swaziland and just feel utterly content – to the point where my heart almost
hurts with happiness. This was one of
them. Just as I was about to break Mazwi’s
ribcage with the fierceness of my hug, I glance out the window and see our GHFP
Vulture soccer team playing a game. Kait
started blaring the horn and we all screamed out the window like 12 year olds
at a Justin Bieber concert. The team was
as excited to see us as we were to see them.
With that, another day in Swaziland comes to a close. Tomorrow is Kait & Katy’s last day which
reminds me of the upcoming ending to my own trip – a thought I don’t even want
to entertain right now as I sip my peach Aquelle sparkling water and flip
through my photos from today. This is
life.
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