It's true. I can't believe it. Even if it doesn't rain, it is cloudy, which is a first. There are rarely clouds anywhere here, as it is the dry season. This, of course is what we hear about too from the Swazis. Their gardens fail due to extreme drought. But, I've noted that already, so I won't go into it here.
This is going to be a shorter post, as we ended up having today off!! It is 11:45 a.m. as I type this, and I don't have anything to do. We were supposed to go speak to a group of businessmen this morning about counseling fundamentals and stress management. Phil and I actually volunteered ourselves for this, sort of taking one for the team, since we decided that it would not require the presence of our entire team to pull off a bush-league presentation to a group of educated business people. Anyway, it fell through. Awesome. It's not as though we missed the opportunity to counsel or educate a community in need, so I have a clear conscience.
Yesterday was our best day so far. We returned to Mafutseni, where we had gone this past Saturday, to speak to the community as a whole. The trick was that this time, we had to use a translator. We had this amazing local named Issac. Issac was only 19, but he had a natural ability to take what we said, translate, and throw in some idiosyncratic examples to hammer home the point; he could really galvanize the crowd. This was good, since Phil and I had the largest group to contend with by far, at about 60 strong. We gave a solid presentation, gave them some ideas about how to handle the poverty and strife that they faced, and it worked. They literally applauded some of our efforts mid presentation, and we successfully (with our friend Innocent Mzizi's help, too) conveyed to them that our mission was multifold. By the end, they understood that Seeds of Hope Outreach had already worked hard to build their community, and that we were there to educate them, to give them the tools necessary to wipe out substance abuse, and control the spread of AIDS/HIV.
That pretty much did it for yesterday. Like I said, highly successful for Phil and I, as well as all other groups. At the end of the day, we also fed them. This is always important, and it truly makes evident the epidemic of famine that is omnipresent.
OK, that's it for today. I will be posting maybe ONE more time tomorrow, since we're leaving and COMING HOME in just two days (three if you count the day of travel). We all cannot wait to get home and see everyone. I hope that this blog has raised a little awareness in everyone's minds, and there's so much more to tell when we get back. See everyone soon!
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2 comments:
How much has going to africa changed you as a person? I've never known someone who went there and came back the same person.
I hope that you will be able to reserve some time to go more in depth about your experiences. It must be hard to help people cope and give them hope when they are starving. Continue this blog for a few more days to fill us in. I'll be looking for the pictures. I don't think I can work through 600+ so do some editing!
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