We want to tell you a little about
where we are living.
We live on what is
known as a rural homestead.
Usually, an
extended family will live on a homestead made up of between 5 and 20
acres.
Historically, the homestead was
the center of Swazi society.
Subsistence
farming and extended family living were central to the worship of ancestors and
governance from the local Chief who reports to the King.
Our homestead would be considered a
more modern one.
The Khumalo’s are
strong church members and have a very committed Christian home.
The father, Steven, is actually from the city
of
Manzini
close by.
He told me that we moved his
family out in the country to have a slower, more safe life.
They have I think 3 kids of their own, but
they have taken in two more orphans.
Their house is modern with electricity, running water, plumbing, and
even hot water.
As you can see they have
a garage and they do own one car.
Mr.
Khumalo works at MacMillian Publishing, which prints educational books for the
schools here in
Swaziland.
The mother also works in town in an office
but I am unsure where that is.
The kids
are all teen aged and all but one in school.
One of the
things that I like about our homestead is the rural feel.
Mr. Khumalo is an industrious planner and
thinker and is developing his property here well.
Pictured is our house (with Josiah in front
of it) and another house on the property where one of our staff members, Dennis
Brock, lives (Dennis and Josiah are in that picture).
These houses were built I think for the
Khumalo kids when they get married, but in the mean time Dennis and another AIM
staff person Katy (we are staying in Katy’s house while she is in Kenya leading
an AIM trip for the summer) rent the houses at a reasonable rate.
I’ll show you pictures of the inside of our
house in another update.
I took a
picture of Hlangiwe who is one of the kids the family has taken in.
He doesn’t do as well in school, so he is
being trained to take care of all the projects here.
Mr. Khumalo plans to put Hlangiwe in a
vocational school where he can learn a trade but for now he is learning a lot
right here at home.
Along with
the houses, there is an organic garden.
This smaller garden is an experiment to see how best to grow the organic
vegetables most healthy for those infected with HIV/AIDS.
I have never seen such huge and healthy big
leafy vegetables – we have gotten a couple of very large heads of lettuce and a
nice bunch of broccoli.
Now that he has
it down, Mr. Khumalo will grow the same vegetables in a large field/garden also
on the property.
The government has told
him they will buy all the organics he can grow to feed the Swazi army.
Additionally,
there is a newly build “piggery.”
This
pig raising facility is part of a government program to address poverty.
It has to be build to strict specifications
which the government has developed.
Once
built and inspected, the agriculture people will bring 6 pregnant sows.
Once these sows give birth, the government
takes the sows away and the pig raising begins.
The government will also buy the market hogs once they are raised.
Mr. Khumalo will be raising 60 pigs at any
given time.
And of
course there are chickens – but they are more for eggs and the occasional
meal.
So, between the garden, the chickens,
and the pigs – you can see why I like it here a lot.
I like to feed our scraps to the chickens –
and I think they like it too.
We have
here 3 dogs.
I have named one Buddy
(he’s in the picture with Josiah), another Momma (she’s expecting) and the
other has no name.
They are supposed to
be watch dogs but I am afraid they aren’t any better than our Carter at home in
this – they bark more at cows passing through than anything else.
They do a nice job of greeting us in the
evenings and make us feel at home.
We rarely
see our homestead family.
They get up at
5, leave for the day before 6, and are in bed by 8.
Marcia and I are keeping a different schedule
as we work out in the community during the day and usually don’t return home
until much later in the evening.
Our
schedule is slowing down a little but next week Marcia will be involved 8-5 in
a clinic outreach in areas around Manzini.
Another doctor from the states is coming along with other medical staff
and they expect to see 400 patients a day!
I am sure there is more update to come on that front some time next
week.
We hope all
is well with whoever reads this – and don’t be shy to write.
It’s always nice to hear from home.
