Shamelessly Requesting...

Sanibonani bekunene!

So, we all knew this day was coming. It was just a matter of time. Now that my projects are finally coming together, I’m shamelessly asking and begging you to take out your wallets and donate! And yes, I know that this recession and put us all in a tight spot, but ANY contribution can and will help. There are 2 projects I am working on and BOTH will need all of the help and support it can get!

The first is: BOOKS FOR SWAZILAND! Books for Swaziland is a project designed to establish new libraries or enhance existing school library facilities in rural Swazi communities. Each location will receive roughly 1,000 books, donated by Books for Africa, a US- based organization. Around 45 schools have applied to participate in this year’s project, but ultimately only 30 schools could be selected. My primary school has been chosen! Both my school and community are working hard to build shelves and raise the money needed on their end, to help transport the books to Swaziland. What we need is help raising money to ship the books from America to Africa. There will also be a chance for you to send any library materials (i.e. construction paper, scissors, markers, pens, pencils, paint, crayons, beads, etc.) to the Books for Africa warehouse in America, which will then be included in the cargo ship and given directly to my primary school. So start collecting all those art and craft supplies around the house- unused, collecting dust, and taking up space- and send them to Swaziland where you will make hundreds upon hundreds of children in my community happy. More information on mailing supplies will be posted shortly.

Go To: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-090

The second project I’m working on is called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). GLOW is a project run by Peace Corps Volunteers throughout the world. It’s targeting girls and young women in rural villages educating, empowering, and offering support and guidance to their lives. Peace Corps Swaziland has never held a Camp GLOW before and with the highest rate of HIV infections in the world, this small African kingdom has never needed this successful international project more.

Over 5 days our leadership and health camp will encourage and inspire gender equality and empowerment at the community level by bringing young Swazi women together to access education, share ideas and develop skills in a safe environment. This is a chance for the girls to not only meet other young women around Swaziland (whom have probably never left their communities before), but to also gain the contacts of various NGOs, learn who they can contact for information and help, and most importantly- pass that information on to other young women back in their communities. My charter club consists of a small but passionate group of young, motivated, and wonderful girls who would love nothing more than to have this once in a lifetime experience.

Go To: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-091

This Christmas, give the gift of education. Help start libraries and support the growth of education and gender empowerment for the hope of a brighter future in Swaziland. So get into the generous, tax-deductible, Christmas spirit and send your hard-earned dollar dollar bills our way. Siyabonga! (Thank you!)

Painting Projects and Poetry

There’s a popular project many PCVs in Swaziland have been working on the past year. It’s a health awareness campaign which paints bus stops in PCVs communities with health tips and messages made public and available for those who might not be able to afford a visit to the clinic. At the time of each painting there’s a chance for dialogue and information to be distributed concerning the chosen topic.

I loved this idea and I’ve had the opportunity to assist other volunteers paint in their communities but had trouble finding a way to bring this project into my community. My village is fairly far out, bordering South Africa, and nowhere near a main road. Trees and rocks are my “truck stops” (instead of bus shelters). After talking with some of my community members, the PC office, and writing out a VAST proposal, we have tailored the painting project to the needs of my community. We decided to paint 2 pre-schools and 2 Neighborhood Care Points (NCPs). I then approached the schools, 2 primary schools and 1 high school, and held a drawing and poetry contest. The winner’s artwork or poetry would be painted onto the walls. The only requirement was that it had to be related to HIV/AIDS.

I returned to the schools last week to collect participants’ entries and was surprised at the turnout and the quality of the work. These children have experienced more pain and loss than most of us have or ever will experience. They have had family, friends, and/or loved ones who have passed due to HIV. In some cases they too have had to live with the virus either from Mother to Child transmission, from being raped, or from having unprotected sex. These kids know what it’s like to be stigmatized and they have personally felt the effects of the devastation from this terrible disease. Below are 3 poems that touched me. I hope you enjoy them and as you read it, think about what a BLESSED life you live.

Just Because I’m HIV Positive…
By: S. Matsenjwa
High School

Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean I am dying tomorrow
It does not mean I am no longer human
I may even live longer and longer.

Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean you must set aside
Spoons, toilets, dishes for me to use.
You can’t get HIV from those things.

Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean I have no right
To work as a professional for government
I also like managing even though I am positive.

The right thing for you to do is get tested for the virus.
Stop stigmatizing me,
you might also have it right there in your blood
of which you do not know about.

What I may tell you is that I did not get it in a bad way.
It was just an accident.
I was only trying to help a person, just helping
I never knew she was HIV positive.


The Deadly HIV/AIDS
By: N. Sibmbo
Grade 6

Be careful! Beware! Be clever and alert
All you generations of tomorrow
AIDS kills and leaves no stone unturned

Therefore watch your steps
And straighten your paths
This is not a joke but millions of souls
Are under the grave you know!

Protect yourselves with everyway you can.
O’ even abstain from this monster disease
If it requires.

To you who are in relationships of any kind
Your spear should be faithfulness and also
Having protection when having intercourse.

To the youth and those innocent from love affairs,
I repeat to say abstinence
Is the only key to your survival.

All because AIDS kills without a limit.


AIDS Why?
By: N. Bhiya
Grade 5

AIDS! AIDS! Who are you?
You are an incurable disease
You kill our brothers and sisters.
You kill both old and young ones
Why HIV & AIDS?

You killed our mothers and fathers
They left us as orphans
We were having better dreams
About our futures but now
They’ve vanished in the air.
But why HIV & AIDS?

AIDS! You do not care about
The economy melt down.
Instead you are making it worse than before
As the number of orphans increases every year
Therefore increase government spending on orphans.
I do not understand! Why AIDS?!

Our future is doomed
When there is no food we are tempted
To be in love with sugar daddies because
They have ample money.
However, they are the ones who spread you HIV & AIDS
I am asking why HIV?

Young vibrant stars
Stand up and fight HIV & AIDS
So that we can make it possible
And achieve our goals in life.
Maybe we can get the reason why.

"The Girl who swims in the cold"

It’s December already?! I can’t believe how fast time is flying by. I’ve only got 7 more months left in Swaziland and I’m not sure if I’ll be ready to leave yet.

So once again, we had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving at the U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Earl Irving’s house. My family has never been one to fully celebrate Thanksgiving with the intensity that most mainlanders do. This was never a problem since I didn’t know what I was missing out on, but the ambassador has outright SPOILED me. Multiple tables filled with the largest array of dishes with as much as you could possibly eat. Out on the patio there was a drink station with tubs filled to the brim containing juice, bottled water and alcoholic beverages- as much as you could drink. Held up in the Peace Corps (or perhaps it’s just my personal) tradition, was swimming in the pool. A friend and I were the only ones crazy enough to jump into the water in the cold rain. After swimming we joined the rest of the group for the President’s Thanksgiving speech, prayer, and the ambassador’s speech. After changing out of my bathing suit, I briefly talked to Mr. Irving and he not only knew my name but called me the “girl who swims in the cold”. Obviously, I felt pretty special. Following the feast there was a large amount of food and drinks leftover. It is in the Swazi culture to bring plastic bags or containers to any event and take away anything remaining. Let me say, we have very successfully integrated. PCVs began pulling out Tupperware, Ziploc bags, and plastic bags and began raiding the kitchen. People watched amusingly as we filled our pockets, bags, and clothing with food and beer and unabashedly left the ambassador’s house.

I will never forget these past 2 years and the kindness Mr. Irving has shown to us poor, semi-disgusting PCVs. He has opened his house, let us use his pool and showers, and offered us endless amounts of food and drinks. No Thanksgiving will ever come close to the time I’ve spent here. Thank you!

A typical "mouse"

This poor sucker fell off of my roof and into my water container. Beautiful, huh?! (If these are my mice, just imagine the size of my rats)

Birthdays, Camping and Hiking

Calling all October birthdays to the floor. Whatup?! This month marked the 2nd birthday I’ve spent in Swaziland and it was absolutely perfect. There’s a surprising amount of volunteers who were born in October and because we were on lockdown last year- a.k.a. integration and couldn’t leave our huts for more than 1 night a month leaving most of us to spend our birthdays alone or with limited company- we decided to do something fun this time around! The plan: a camping adventure at the Ngwempisi Gorge.

Our original group of 14 people quickly reduced in half following an incident concerning the PC office. So our small but amazing group of PCVs met in the tiny “town” of Luyengo. All necessities were picked up: toilet paper, bread, peanut butter, eggs, water, and alcohol. From there we hired a khumbi to drive us out to the Ngwempisi Gorge. Unfortunately the khumbi driver had absolutely no idea how far out this place was and in turn, ran out of gas. Having no other choice we hopped out and contemplated our next move. Luckily we weren’t stranded for long. A U.S. AID car picked us up and gave us a lift to the drop off point. From this homestead, which was perched on a mountainside, we hiked in for a little less than ½ km until we arrived at the Ngwempisi Gorge Rock lodge.

First off, let me explain this magical place. The community surrounding the Ngwempisi Gorge built a Rock Lodge on the mountain side. Yes, I said a ROCK Lodge. They used the pre-existing boulders and trees to shape a three story lodge creating what best could be described as a “tree house for adults”. And it is not to be taken lightly. This place is indeed for adults. The steep stairs carved into the rocks without guardrails, the outside toilet and shower situated on the side of a cliff, the boulders you can dangle your legs off of, and the one bunk-bed leaning against an “open window” - a few planks nailed in to stop someone from rolling out (This was my bed!), all of which made this the most unique and lovely place I’ve ever stayed in. These contributing factors along with the non-stop rain and lightning persuaded us to stay at the lodge for 2 nights so we wouldn’t have to carry our tents, sleeping bags, and belongings on the probable muddy 8 km hike we were doing the next day. Instead we chose to visit the hot springs in a day, hiking 16km.

The next morning we set off with our newly made friend and hiking guide at 9am. Energized and excited we stopped at 3 different viewpoints taking in the splendor and beauty of this country. Our guide pointed out anything and everything we asked about including porcupine poop, birds, trees, and even enlightened us on his community and the life he’s lived. Whoever took lead behind him learned and talked A LOT! We reached the Ngwempisi River around 11:30am. The next part of the journey was to cross the river and reach the hot springs which were “just around the corner”. My pride and Hawaiian roots emerged and I became confident I could walk the next part barefoot. Stupid, ignorant pride always gets in the way. After forging the river we hoped that the “15 minute walk” was indeed 15 minutes because the ground was COVERED in thorns, sticks, stones, and pine cone stickers. Due to this unexpected obstacle it was taking us a lot longer and so our wonderful guide gave us directions to the hot springs and went back to watch our belongings at the river. Cursing and swearing to ourselves every other step then pausing every couple of meters to clear our feet of thorns we eventually made it to the "HOT SPRINGS" about 45 minutes- 1 hour later. The hot spring was about a 4x4 ft. wide and 1 ft. deep pool. Laughing at how sad, disappointing, and not worth the pain the last section was, we soaked our feet and prepared ourselves for the walk back. Three of my friends decided to make native shoes out of leaves. As I have attempted and failed at doing this on many hikes in Hawaii, I decided to not even bother. I powered through and made it back in 30 minutes! We crossed back across the river and hung out until everyone made it. As my punishment for hanging out in the river, I was bit by some mysterious creature. A very sharp, stinging sensation and a welt soon appeared on my butt. A few weeks later this bump is still there. So, we rested up on the river bank for another ½ hour and then proceeded up the mountain. The first third of the hike was absolute torture. The men were running up the mountain and I, in turn, was gasping for air and longing for water. We hit the 1st resting point, a small stream, and bathed/drank in its glory! After regaining our strength we proceeded back to camp. Hiking at a slightly slower pace we made it back without as many stops. The entire time we were talking about how wonderful a shower was going to feel and calling DIBS on it. Lo and behold, there was NO water when we returned. It’s a good thing we are all Peace Corps Volunteers and used to not bathing and smelling acceptable! At the end of the day I climbed onto the boulders, watched the sun set behind the mountains and marveled at the splendor and beauty of this marvelous place. This trip restored my love in Swaziland. With so much corruption, problems, and issues that we face daily, it’s easy to become spiteful. This getaway wiped the slate clean and I found joy and peace within my soul. I am looking forward to the day I’ll return to this oasis!

I've got my mind on vacation and vacation on my mind!

For the past year I have been planning two big trips. The first was to J-bay for the Billabong Pro surf competition and the second was to see my family. As PCVs we are allowed 2 vacation days per month, we cannot travel our first or last 3 months of service and under our old CD, we could use up all of our vacation days (if we so choose) after our first year. Aware of these conditions early on, I carefully planned out my vacations. I took a week for Christmas 2010 in Mozambique and then gave myself a week for J-bay and a little under a month with my parents leaving me with about 8 days to take the GRE and maybe one last surf trip in S.A. I had asked my parents to plan a trip roughly past my 1 year mark- which would give me something to work towards and my only requirement was that we had to be near the ocean for part of it. In the end, the winning destination was Italy! I decided that I would meet them there and I’d stop in Germany before hand. It worked out perfectly. I did 6 days in Berlin then met my parents, aunty and uncle in Florence where we took a train down to Cinque Terre, the 5 breath-taking towns on the Oceanside. I spent 6 days there where we hiked, played in the ocean, ate amazing seafood and even attempted to surf (but sadly all the surfboards were rented out). While my family stayed there, I went to Rome to see the jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring architecture and artifacts that I grew up studying about. It was mind blowing. I stayed for 3 days then met my family up in Venice for 4 days. From Venice we went to Florence for another 4 days and I went back to Berlin for a day then Paris for another day, and finally ended the trip in Jo’burg. It was an absolutely incredible, breath-takingly beautiful and wonderfully rejuvenating trip. The best part (well besides the amazing seafood) was getting to see my family again. Perhaps next year they will come to Africa? ;)

J-Bay

Growing up with a dad constantly watching surf movies and documentaries and who subscribed to Surfers Journal and Longboarding magazines, I quickly became familiar with surfers, surf styles, and most importantly- surf spots. My love for traveling started as a child and grew with age. As a kid I’d start packing months before our annual outer island trip to Oahu to visit family. I’d look forward to boarding the plane, sitting by a window and getting that delicious POG juice served on Aloha Airlines. In the 9th grade I was fortunate enough to go on a surf trip to Indo and my love for exploring exotic places sprung. I was hooked. But it wasn’t until college where I studied abroad twice that I realized travelling is easy and affordable, if done right. While studying abroad in Spain, some friends and I made it out to the Billabong Pro Mundaka 08’. The day before we got there Kelly Slater won his 10th world title. As upsetting as it was to miss him surf, we were able to catch CJ Hobgood win the tournament. It was a memorable trip and the following semester back in L.A., I found myself buying Surfer magazines, National Geographics, and travel magazines to plan out my next adventure, which to be sure always involved surfing.

So, coming to Africa I knew I had to go down to the famous world class waves that I’ve seen time and time again featured in documentaries and magazines; the ever inspiring Jeffrey’s Bay . Thus in my first 3 months at site I began planning my trip to watch the Billabong Pro J-Bay 11’. The competition was planned from July 16-26 and I decided to go down for the first week. But, as fate would have it, I got incredibly sick 3 days before my trip. I couldn’t keep anything in my system and my body was in shock. I stayed in the hospital until the day I left for S.A. Though I really was in no condition to be traveling, I couldn’t bear to lose money on the pre-purchased tickets. So on July 15th my friend and I went to Jo’burg then to Port Elizabeth and ended in J-bay. It was exactly what I needed and within the first day of arriving there, I started feeling better. The ocean was my remedy. It was absolutely amazing. We stayed at Island Vibe Backpackers located right on the ocean front. The hostel and staff was everything I could’ve asked for and more. The waves were small but I got in almost every day and we ate sushi daily! Unfortunately, the first night there my friend was mugged. Luckily they just stole her stuff and didn’t harm her. On our return to Swaziland, our Safety and Security Officer (nicknamed the Ninja) had been following the criminal activity at J-bay following our incident. He notified us that a business man was murdered there a couple weeks after we returned. This is just another realization and lesson to us all that even in the” safest places” we deem perfectly fine, we always need to stay cautious and take precautions in everything. In the words of the ninja, “Stay Vigilent!”

Kelly Slater, who was supposed to be the main event and attraction at the Quiksilver signing, was a NO SHOW to the competition. This makes the 4th-5th competition that I have missed him at. Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to witness him surf? Ha! Yeah right. I have the worst luck. Regardless, I will be at the tournament next year ready to cheer them on, and ready to brave the cold water without a wetsuit. Here’s to the Billabong Pro J-bay 2012!