Looking at the view from our hotel room window it is easy to
see why Swaziland has this name. A small
land-locked nation is nestled in between SA and Mozambique, Swaziland has been
completely independent and ruled by a King since 1968. Crossing in and out of the country was the
only time I’ve had to walk across a border.
No pix of course. The last place I
want incur any angst is at a border crossing.
Swaziland is a generally poor and rural country with many
orphaned children.
Even in the capital
city of Mbabane it is easy to see this country of haves and have-nots. Our “learning and discovery” trips brought us
to a glass blowing factory and a candle making shop each accompanied by the
requisite ‘hand crafts. I’m happy to
report that we did our part in supporting the local economy.’
Grand Circle Travel Foundation has a policy of supporting
local organizations and I have visited 2 in both China and New Zealand but
neither of these experience prepared us for this experience. Fonteyn PreSchool is so much more. Set in a rural area just on the outskirts of
the capitol, this facility is more of a community center filling in for absent
families. Many of the children may have
lost one or both parents or have parents very ill…AIDS… and unable to care for
them. Never the less, the children
remain in their home, frequently looked after by older siblings or extended
families. Care is haphazard and many of
the children are starved for affection as well of food.
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In the schoolyard, the children
sand several songs, including the Swazi national anthem and danced to drumming
by one of the older boys. We returned the favor by singing the Star Spangled
Bannerand did surprisingly well. Many of
us pondered whether the next generation of Americans will be able to do this.
After the singing GCT travelers
went off to the kitchen to cut fruit, which we had stopped at a local street
market to buy along with other staples like potatoes and onions. These children do not get fruit often and may
live on rice and pop (corn). I even saw
one child peeling bananas for others at they had no idea what they were and were
trying to eat it out of the peel. The
GCT visitors were very generous filling their larder with fruit to last them
several days.
As we prepared for dishing out
food the children ‘queued’ for hand washing, plate and spoon distribution and
then into the food line…a spoonful of rice and a thickish brown mixture of
beans, corn and onions. No one
complained and everyone finished their bowl before they lined up for fruit… ½
banana, ½ orange and ½ pear. And yes
seconds were available for those that requested them.
We left the school saddened by
what we saw but also happy that we were able to bring some treat to these
children. GCT has only been supporting
this organization for 18 months b8t we were told that tremendous improvement
has been made in that short time. There
are now chairs in the classroom, picnic tables for eating and an enclosed,
under roof kitchen with hot water for cooking and cleaning. We were told that the general health of the
children has also improved though some were still very small and
underweight. Their clothing for the most
part was a cacophony of color from cartoon character t-shirts to seersucker
jackets. Some of the children had just
received clothes this week from a local charity. The children did not look the
least bit phased to be wearing sweaters with holes, sweat pants and PJ bottoms
held up with pins ar shoes that were sizes too large if they even matched.
Very touching post. I'm sure it was rewarding to shop and share your food with these kids.
ReplyDeleteIt does look like a beautiful countryside.