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Swaziland – Day 14 – 15

The last few days have been a lot slower pace. Jayme and Heather left back for South Africa. Jayme and her husband Lynn were our contacts to get here and Heather works for Global and is up here on a 6 month leave doing some video work for Hands at Work. We drove in off the mountain and into the nearest town called Manzini. We ate in a restaurant and all agreed that Nomsa and her grandchildren cook way better. We didn’t spend long in Manzini I think we were all frustrated when we all of sudden could walk through malls and advertising coming from where we were staying. So we grabbed some groceries and headed back.

Nomsa and her grandchildren have been cooking masterpiece meals for us three times a day. It has made me realize how bad I am of a host. Not only are they taking care of all the food for all the volunteers when they are at work, the children at the camp they are running they are also bringing us these meals every day. They are brilliant cooks and there is always something new to try; especially because almost all the ingredients are grown or raised right here where we live. We eat the chicken and cows that wander around our room, eat their eggs, eat the fruit and vegetables growing all around us and the only things they buy are small necessities for their meals like rice and bread. On Saturday night we made them the only dish I am proud to make, a massive batch of spaghetti sauce complete with three different kinds of meat. It was a small repayment of everything they have been doing for us here.

Samuel is Nomsa’s husband and I think he is the cutest old man around. The first day we asked him what he did and he replied saying he “just loafed all day.” Loafing is now a new term in my vocabulary. He is full of questions like how did the Australians get on that island, to wondering things about Canadian culture to wondering how in the world you spin spaghetti onto your fork using a spoon (he looked like me with chop sticks.) They really are a beautiful family here.

Sunday morning was church. They start late, like we do. Yet it was a surreal experience. We all went to church with Lindiwe and were driving down the road and she told us to take a turn, so we did and then she told us we were here. The church consisted of about 20 tree trunks that made the frame of a small 15×20 foot shack. That was it. There was about 15 adults and 35 kids all huddled under pieces of wood with no roof and no walls. They were all singing, all facing a direction but no one was at the front. When we showed up since we were guests they gave us the cinderblocks to sit on. So picture 55 people crowded under some sticks singing their hearts out. Then all of sudden Lindiwe got up to speak, and then thanks to her, she called us up to speak. So I threw a quick thing together and stumbled through it. I get all on the spot prayers/sharing from the Bible situations, seems that is my major contribution to the trip.

I totally forgot the memory card in my camera for Sunday morning, so we tried to get some pictures on Charity’s disposable camera, and I’ll go back and take pictures of just the sticks. It was a moving morning to see a church function the way they did. A church the size of theStory, about 20 dollars or so in the offering, no building and yet still extremely passionate for God.

For the rest of the day we all loafed. Charity and Shane went for a walk and I laid in my bed and didn’t move.

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