Swaziland

Swaziland

Swaziland is officially the Kingdom of Swaziland and is one of the smallest countries in Africa.  It is only 200 kilometers north to south and 130 kilometers east to west. 

Where did I live?

I lived in the mountains of Ekufikeni, Swaziland near the town of Piggs Peak. I truly lived on top of a mountain peak. The view from my window every morning was truly breath taking.  The place I was staying was about an hour away from the town; therefore I stayed on the mountain for most of the month.

The view from my bedroom window.

I lived in a dorm like building where I shared a room with two other girls.  There was electricity and we had bathrooms and hot showers, which was a huge blessing.  Also, my team and I had our own kitchen, so we were able to cook our own meals everyday, meaning we got to eat a lot of things we would regularly get at home.

This was my bedroom. 

The building on the left is were we slept and the building on the right was our kitchen and dinning room.

The weather was all over the place.  It was cold, hot, cool, rainy, cloudy, sunny, stormy, and windy.  There was a big lightning storm at the beginning of our third week and it caused us to lose power for four days.  We were also very lucky that we did not get stuck up on top of the mountain, as the rain held out on the days when we were able to go into town.

What did I do this month?

This month I volunteered and lived at the El Shaddai Children’s Home.  This is a place for children who have been neglected, abused, and abandoned.

In the mornings I would work with the pre-school kids.  There could be as many as 40 kids from the children’s home and the surrounding village in attendance.  We worked on learning the alphabet, counting to ten, shapes, and colors all in English.  This was difficult because many of them did not speak English; they spoke their native language of SiSwati. 

Also, in the morning I would go and hang out in the baby house.  This is the house where all the kids who are under the age of five lived.  We would read books, watch movies, and play together.

  

In the afternoon, I would go and help the older kids with their homework.  I mainly worked with two boys who were in grade 6 with their math homework.  We studied multiplication and division, shapes, angles, telling time, solving word problems, multiplying and simplifying fractions, and finding the circumference, diameter, and radius of a circle.

I don't have many picture of homework time, because we were doing homework.

Some of the boys doing their laundry.

The boys are trying to push the tractor out of the mud. They were able to get it out!

We also just got to hang out and play. We went on hikes and found a little swimming hole that the kids were able to play in. 

Money

Here the currency is called Lilageni (SZL).  Right now the exchange rate is about 10 SZL = $1.00.  So, even though the money is different it is the same value of the South Africa rand, making it very easy to transition this month to a different currency.  It was even nicer because they also accept the South Africa rand.

It was another exciting month and I had so much fun with all the kids I met.  I am now in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.  It is very cold...which was a big change from my last seven months.  I can't wait to share with all of you about my time here in just a few weeks.

Also, I'm sending many good thoughts your way as I know it is iLeap and Leap time. Take your time and do the best you can do, ROCK the TEST!