5/24/08
Today is a day I will never forget. I know people say that a lot, but I really mean this: I will never forget today. My friend Phumlile (pronounced poom-lee-lay) and I took kombis (the public transportation here, they are like little vans that hold about 15 people) into Mbabane, where we met up with a woman named Dolly. Dolly is an incredible Swazi woman of God. She has such a wonderful attitude and personality and is amazingly selfless and humble. Dolly lives in a poor village in the mountains outside of Mbabane. Dolly , Phumlile, and I took another kombi to get near her village and then we walked a ways. She took us to her home, which she said calls "The special," because everyone she brings inside the house is always special. Her house was one small room and it was packed tight with all of her personal belongings. Her bed was in the center and her tattered Bible lay open in the middle of the bed.
Dolly works cleaning houses and has little education, but Dolly is the village teacher. Dolly recently began noticing that the children in her village were not going to school, since they couldn't afford it. She said "I don't know much, but I know how to read and write and I know the alphabet," and so Dolly started a free school in her village. They meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for normal lessons, and they recently have begun meeting on Saturdays as well for Bible lessons. The three of us walked about half a mile down and around the side of the mountain to get to the edge of the village where their school is located. Their school is a large, flat rock underneath the shade of a tree. While we walked there, we rang a bell to tell all the children it was time for their lesson. The view as we walked was absolutely breathtaking. When we got to the rock, Dolly's helper had started the meeting already, and she had the kids singing and dancing. The day's lesson was on Moses, and it was entirely in SiSwati. There were about 30 kids on the rock listening to the lesson. They were all so precious.
After the lesson was over, I used the few SiSwati phrases I know to converse with the kids. These kids were very shy, and one little boy screamed and ran away from me when I tried to talk to him. Dolly's helper told me that "people like me" didn't come there very often, so he was frightened of me. I felt bad that my skin scared him so, and I really hoped the other children weren't frightened. This one little girl probably about 3 years old latched on to me. She walked all the way back up and around the mountain with me. Well, actually I carried her up the mountain in my arms almost the entire way. She was so tiny and so adorable and she laid her head on my shoulder in the most precious way, so I didn't have the heart to put her down. Her name is Thubelihle (Tu-ba-lee-hlay). She was so funny. She did walk beside me a few times and she would do a funny shuffle walk sometimes, so I would copy her. She would just giggle.
I am going back in 2 weeks, since we are doing Cherish leadership training next Saturday. I cannot wait to go back. It was such an incredible experiece relationally, spiritually, and culturally. It was so beautiful to see how God is working in amazing ways in a tiny, poor, mountain village through the kindness of one women with a servant's heart.
In other news, my cell phone was stolen today when we got back to Manzini. Luckily, I had my amazingly cunning friend Phumlile with me. She snatched it back from the thief before I had even realized he had reached into my purse to get it. I just saw her holding my phone and him standing by me going "I was just going to check it for you." Phumlile's my hero
!
Today is a day I will never forget. I know people say that a lot, but I really mean this: I will never forget today. My friend Phumlile (pronounced poom-lee-lay) and I took kombis (the public transportation here, they are like little vans that hold about 15 people) into Mbabane, where we met up with a woman named Dolly. Dolly is an incredible Swazi woman of God. She has such a wonderful attitude and personality and is amazingly selfless and humble. Dolly lives in a poor village in the mountains outside of Mbabane. Dolly , Phumlile, and I took another kombi to get near her village and then we walked a ways. She took us to her home, which she said calls "The special," because everyone she brings inside the house is always special. Her house was one small room and it was packed tight with all of her personal belongings. Her bed was in the center and her tattered Bible lay open in the middle of the bed.
Dolly works cleaning houses and has little education, but Dolly is the village teacher. Dolly recently began noticing that the children in her village were not going to school, since they couldn't afford it. She said "I don't know much, but I know how to read and write and I know the alphabet," and so Dolly started a free school in her village. They meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for normal lessons, and they recently have begun meeting on Saturdays as well for Bible lessons. The three of us walked about half a mile down and around the side of the mountain to get to the edge of the village where their school is located. Their school is a large, flat rock underneath the shade of a tree. While we walked there, we rang a bell to tell all the children it was time for their lesson. The view as we walked was absolutely breathtaking. When we got to the rock, Dolly's helper had started the meeting already, and she had the kids singing and dancing. The day's lesson was on Moses, and it was entirely in SiSwati. There were about 30 kids on the rock listening to the lesson. They were all so precious.
After the lesson was over, I used the few SiSwati phrases I know to converse with the kids. These kids were very shy, and one little boy screamed and ran away from me when I tried to talk to him. Dolly's helper told me that "people like me" didn't come there very often, so he was frightened of me. I felt bad that my skin scared him so, and I really hoped the other children weren't frightened. This one little girl probably about 3 years old latched on to me. She walked all the way back up and around the mountain with me. Well, actually I carried her up the mountain in my arms almost the entire way. She was so tiny and so adorable and she laid her head on my shoulder in the most precious way, so I didn't have the heart to put her down. Her name is Thubelihle (Tu-ba-lee-hlay). She was so funny. She did walk beside me a few times and she would do a funny shuffle walk sometimes, so I would copy her. She would just giggle.
I am going back in 2 weeks, since we are doing Cherish leadership training next Saturday. I cannot wait to go back. It was such an incredible experiece relationally, spiritually, and culturally. It was so beautiful to see how God is working in amazing ways in a tiny, poor, mountain village through the kindness of one women with a servant's heart.
In other news, my cell phone was stolen today when we got back to Manzini. Luckily, I had my amazingly cunning friend Phumlile with me. She snatched it back from the thief before I had even realized he had reached into my purse to get it. I just saw her holding my phone and him standing by me going "I was just going to check it for you." Phumlile's my hero
!
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