Tuesday, September 24th-taking food to Swazi orphanage-visiting cultural center-PA dinner

Tuesday was another really busy day. We started off by going to the grocery store to buy food for the LaBomba care center (Where I got my Swazi name, Nomvula, in May of this year). We were so impressed with the improvements of the center. We heard that the US Embassy had put doors on the bathrooms and are building a kitchen for the center. No one knows how the US Embassy even knew about this center, as there are so many that also need help. Could it have been because of my blog? I would like to think so. They still feed the children from donations, so the Lombardi's, Murdock's and we bought frozen chicken, oil, rice, beans, maize, sugar, salt and apples. There are 72 children, so lots of food was purchased for immediate use and future use. They have no refrigerator. I was taking photos of the food in the basket as we went along and a store employee walked up to us and told us that was not allowed. I guess 6 missionaries from the US looked threatening....strange.


We then went over to the centre to give them the food. The head matriarch, or 'go go' as she is known in Africa,  was there and it was nice to see her again. Needless to say, she was thrilled with the donation of food. The children were thrilled we were there as well. They were all smiles as they anticipated what the 'white' people were bringing them this time; Elder and Sister Lombardi visit them often with treats. You could feel their excitement as they surrounded our cars and then us as we exited.







The children were just finishing up their lunch and I saw they were eating 'pap' which as I stated previously is just a filler if they have no other food. The children feel full, but it is very low in nutrients. At least now, they were going to be fed some nutrients. Sister Murdock gave them the treats she had bought and the cook immediately took the chicken we bought and began to hack it with a knife and put it into the pot to cook. They cook outside over a fire in a large kettle. But, even though they are cooking while standing on dirt and using an old wooden table, they have made an effort to keep everything clean.

The kitchen is not yet built and perhaps they will still cook over the open fire when it is, as it requires no electricity or gas which they don't have the ability to support, but it will give them an indoor place to keep and prepare food, plus store the utensils and bowls. Workers were there and the building was being done right. It will be the best building they have when it is finished. Everyone seemed so very happy for all their good fortune at this care center that started with just a piece of land with broken down buildings on it that was given for the care of these children by the government. All improvements have been made by individual donations and the wonderful people who volunteer to work there.

Inside the classrooms had improved a lot as well. The walls are painted inside and out and a map of the world has been added to one of the buildings that is at an angle to the new building above. Currently, with the new building, there are four buildings on the property. One of the buildings houses the teacher and her children. There are two classrooms and the new kitchen.






The teacher is an attractive young woman who was wearing a nice outfit with a pink hat. When I took her picture, we told her she looked like a model and let her see the photo. She looked at it and then smiled a knowing smile, as if to say, "I do look good." It was really cute. She seems a lot more happy than the last time we saw her at the center. I hope life is good for her and her children now. She does a great job with the 70 or so children in her care. They mind her very well. I still haven't figured out her secret, except she does not accept misbehaviour.









The children's activities are in the middle of these buildings that surround the play area. The teacher called them all to participate in an outdoor activity. They formed this huge circle and all held hands. Sister Murdock, me and Elder and Sister Lombardi joined them by holding hands with them in the circle. We then played games where the children would sing and dance in the middle of the circle and then choose another to take their place (Those holding hands would repeat what the leader in the circle would sing out). The first time they did this in English, but the others were doing it their Swahili language. The children had such fun with this and did some pretty interesting dance moves that only could have been taught by the older children in their villages.

When all the games were over, the teacher had them call out the months and days of the week in English. They knew this very well. Then she had them line up in two lines where she washed off the apples we brought and handed them out to the children. Those little green apples were very much appreciated by each child...their treat for the day.

I had been taking their photos and letting them see the pictures. This became a very popular thing as the children were all trying to grab the camera so they could see their photos.

Then they started doing funny things like putting the apples on their heads or wanting me to take a photo of the bite they took out of the apple. They were pushing and nudging their way in front of the camera with their apples and then laughing when they saw their photo, which brought other children over to get pictures of their apples. It was pretty funny. I was impressed by how well dressed and clean they are this time, as compared to last time. Seeing progress like this is so satisfying. It shows that it can be done if enough people care and then act upon it.


As we said good bye to the children, they formed their little fingers into a sign and then all said, "I love you." How can you not love these little guys who have so little but love so much. We are so blessed for these wonderful experiences, for seeing what can be done when the community cares. In this case the improvements to this facility have been an inspiration to us all.

We left the care center with the children still showing their 'love' sign and saying good bye. It was time for them to go back in the classroom and finish their learning for the day. Chicken was cooking in a pot for later, so hopefully they got some chicken soup before they left.

 Lombardi's told us about a cultural center and Sister Murdock wanted to take her son there. We had not been there, so we tagged along for a cultural experience. There is a place not too far from the care center where Swaziland has a park that allows people to come and see native dances and songs, plus traditional crafts and native culture. We got there just in time for their 11:30 show. We were all seated waiting, when the singing started and they began to file into the stadium provided for the show. The women and the men were in traditional native clothing and their voices were sweet and pure.


The women started the show by singing several songs in their native language. We've noticed that their singing always has a lot of repetition, where there is a lead singer who sings a phrase and the other singers answer back and they repeat this over and over. The repetition is soothing, instead of irritating and they take turns being the caller, so it is fun to hear the different tones of their voices.

Of course, the really exciting part was when the men took over and did their dances and beat the drums and looked fierce.

Their costumes were pretty fun and one of the guys had the most beautiful voice. I could have listened to him some more, but several got a chance to sing. Their dancing was pretty energetic. They could only do it for so long before they had to stop. They must be in phenomenal shape to do that daily. They would sort of run in place only bring their knees way up. Wow.


All of the men were in great shape, but some of the women looked like normal middle-aged women and even a couple of the younger ones were a little stocky, but one of them did some pretty impressive dancing herself.  It was fun seeing a bit of their traditions. They are really quite graceful and fluid and all of their voices were amazing. I video taped a few numbers that the family can watch when we get home. You had to be there to get the full effect.

When we were finished with the show, we headed over to the Silversmiths because Sister Murdock's son was visiting them and he wanted to get some gifts for his wife and daughters. It was the store's lucky day, as he bought all kinds of gifts and spent lots of money. I bought a couple of pairs of earrings for  gifts. We parted ways with the Murdocks and went back to the hotel to get cleaned up for even more events that night.



This was the dinner we had planned with the Murdocks and Jerome. Jerome had asked an Angelican Priest and some other religious leaders to attend, and the Lombardi's asked someone from immigration, but we were not sure who all was going to be there; in Africa, you never know. We had originally planned on 14, but to be safe, we asked the hotel restaurant upstairs to prepare the room for 18 for dinner,by adding four more chairs. We had them set it up in a u-shape facing the screen, so we could show a film or two about the Church. Elder Murdock brought a projector and the videos they use in the Area office and was prepared to show them to the attendees. Elder Kyle asked them to set up a screen at the restaurant and a table to put the projector on. We've been trying to get into the Council of Churches and we have some immigrations problems, so we were hoping the people invited could help us with these issues. Elder Lombardi speaks to one of our guests from the religious community.




When everything was set up, we all went downstairs out front of the restaurant to wait for our guests to show up. I was worried that most would not show up, because that is a common problem in Africa. By the time 6:00 had rolled around, we only had two people besides us six missionaries and Jerome and his wife. By 6:30, we still had only a few people, but about 6:45 quite a few started to arrive.

Elder Kyle spent some time talking to Sister Murdock's son, Brad while we were waiting for people to show up. The main guest of honor had not arrived yet, but had called to say he was lost and needed directions, so we knew he was coming, but not how many people he was bringing with him. Turns out that when he did arrive, we then had 24 people! We had to ask the restaurant to set up six more chairs. Somehow they were able to fit everyone in, even though several had their backs to the screen and would have to turn around for the presentation.


One of the couples who came were members of the ward we attended on Sunday and we also attended her baptism. He helps the Church with their Missionary Visas and is a very important part of that whole plan running smoothly. He invited the person from the governmental department that he deals with on these issues. He and his wife are such a cute couple and seemed to be enjoying being there with all of us older folk. I sat next to them when we went inside for the dinner. Also attending was a member of the District Presidency and his wife. They were happy for a night out.

Seated on my left was a woman named Lindiwe, who used to be the principal of Big Bend High School in Swaziland, but is now the head of a large women's organization. She was very surprised to see the wives of two religious men there who used to be her school teachers. It was a nice reunion for her, as she obviously respected them a lot and they her. Everyone ordered their food and that took quite awhile. We knew it would take even more time for everyone to get their food, so Elder Murdock went ahead and started his presentation. He told some corny jokes, as he always does to get everyone in a good mood. He thanked everyone for coming and then showed a film on missionary work. It was a good film that showed an Elder getting his mission call to go to Hong Kong and then he and his Chinese companion teaching people, with him speaking in Chinese. It talked about the MTC training and showed sisters from Africa, Europe and South America, all showing the joy they have in Missionary work. It also showed them doing service with Helping Hands vests in devastated areas and in regular neighborhoods. It is a great video for showing the good that missionaries do and effectively shows their sweet spirits and desire to help people. The lady on my left commented that she had seen the missionaries around and was surprised to see what they do on the film. Elder Murdock did a great job talking about the church and the good we do. We still had some time left so Elder Murdock showed the Helping Hands Video with Alex Boye, "Have I Done Any Good." That was a big hit and the people clapped when it was over.

We finally got our meals and everyone was busy eating their dinners. Elder Murdock then played the film about the Church and what they do, which included humanitarian services, families, FHE, church buildings, temples, Book of Mormon, etc. It was quite informative. After it was over, Elder Murdock talked about the Book of Mormon and how it was a history of the people on the American continent and is used with the Bible to testify of Jesus Christ. This got the woman next to me going. First, she said, "I didn't know that." I thought Mormon was who you worshipped." She then said that she thought we used it in place of the Bible. She wanted to know where she could get one. I told her there was one on the table up front and I would give it to her after the presentation.

Elder Murdock asked Elder Kyle to tell about the humanitarian projects going on in Swaziland right now and he got up and told about water and sanitation projects for a total of 1,126 homesteads in rural communities of Swaziland - 12 new hand pump boreholes in the area and 259 new ventilated improved pit latrines. The 12 new hand pumps will ensure the provision of potable water and replace the use of open streams water and the Great Usutu River, which is not suitable for human consumption. I was then asked to speak about the wheelchair events and told them about the 80 people and organizations that had benefitted from our last wheelchair distribution and that there were those in Swaziland that will benefit from future wheelchair distribution. We talked about partnering with NGOs (non-government organizations) for these humanitarian projects to make sure whatever water source we put in will be well maintained. When we sat down, this same lady told me that we needed to tell everyone that our Church provided the services. She was worried that the NGO would get the credit and insisted that let everyone know we are the ones doing it.

About this time, I had given my 2nd piece of chicken to the guy on my right, who ate his dinner, but welcomed half of mine. There were some pretty tasteless vegetables on my plate. I ate some of the zucchini, but had no intention of eating the rest of vegetables. The waitress came by to take my plate and the lady on my left put out her hand and said, "No, don't take that. She is not finished with her vegetables." I told her that I had no intention of eating the cauliflower. She said, "That's okay, I love cauliflower and I will eat that, but you have to eat the rest. She then stuck her fork in the cauliflower and began to eat from my plate. I was so astonished, that I picked up my fork and ate some broccoli. By the time we were done, all the vegetables were gone. It was pretty funny.

She continued to tell me over and over again that we needed to let everyone know the good we had done in Swaziland. She kept saying that no one knows. I kept trying to assure her that is what we do, but apparently she didn't think we were doing a very good job. Then she invited us to have our missionaries come to the high school that she used to be principal of and conduct the prayer hour once a week for 8 weeks. She assured me that she still had a lot of clout at the school and could get us in.

Elder Kyle sat next to an older lady (former teacher of my eating buddy) and they talked a lot too. He kept trying to turn her chair around when it was time to watch the film and she kept chuckling at his attempts. Everyone seemed very impressed by the films and explanations. The main guest, Father Dlamini, was very complimentary. The lights suddenly went out and we sat in darkness for about five minutes. Father D. played a hymn on his phone until the lights came back on. Elder Murdock recited a long poem that was actually a joke that everyone thought was pretty funny, about a guy who died and went to heaven, but was really surprised to find all these people that he knew did bad things were there. No one was talking with him, just looking at him. When he asked the Lord why these bad people were there and acting so funny, the Lord explained that all of them were kind of surprised that he was there. There was a lesson in there somewhere.

Then on a more serious note, Elder Murdock talked about all the good that Father Dlamini has done for the community and presented him with a special medallion that says, "Put on the Whole Armor of God." He then asked him if he would say a few words. The man was so touched that he could hardly speak. He started by saying the he did not deserve this award, but the people there (most of which he invited) were the ones who deserved the award. He was very complimentary about the Church and said how important it was for us all to work together and he was going to do whatever he could to make sure the Council of Churches recognized us as a legitimate church in Swaziland.

The main thing is that it was a big success. Everyone had a great time and a good meal. The videos were well received and everyone left there with smiles on their faces and a positive attitude about the Church, and some even wanting to know more. The member of the District Presidency that was there said he was very impressed with Public Affairs and now is quite a supporter of their efforts. The immigration lady was very impressed and left with a smile on her face. It was an unexpected pleasure for me, just like the hundreds of unexpected pleasures we have received since coming here. T.I.A.