My First Week in Swaziland - Chris Kavcsak

Being in Swaziland has been great so far. Here are a few things that I believe may surprise you:

1. It is much colder than I thought it would be, and there is no heat in the buildings that I am staying in. At night the temperature drops to the thirties, so I coverup with my sleeping bag and at least 4 blankets. One night I even wore a wool hat. I pretty much wear long sleeve shirts and often a jacket during the day. On a positive note, the showers are hot.

2. Almost everyone that I am around speaks English so communicating is not an issue. Apparently when we visit some of the poorer communities, they speak Siswati, so there must be a translator.

3. There are actually two different churches that I attend on Sundays. One is called Potter's wheel and is located in the capital city of Mbabane. This church starts at 8:30 on Sundays and is attended by middle/upper class families (Worship is a little more contemporary). The other church (CLC Church- Christian Life Community Church) is located on one of the orphanage properties about thirty minutes away and it starts at 10:30. This is located in a much more rural setting and is attended by all of the orphans and some members of the community.

4. There are two properties that are about 1 km apart where I spend most of my days (they are both 30 minutes from the capital city). The older property is called Hawane Farm and contains about 6 orphan homes (3-8 orphans per home), and has around 15 TCMI (Teen Challenge Ministries International) students. This is where the homeschool is (6 or 7 students), clinic, and a few other buildings. The other property (Timbutini) is where I stay (in 1 of 6 small cabins), and the church and preschool are located. There are also a small number of orphans and students that live here as well.

5. Everyone drives on the left side of the road.

6. Swazis drink hot coffee and tea almost all the time.

7. Swazis have the gift of patience.

8. There are actually some white people who are Swazi residents and they live mostly in Mbabane.

9. I watched the USA vs Brazil soccer game live in one of the homes in Timbutini. I was admittedly a little disappointed. The word on the street is that next year for the World Cup, prostitution is going to be legalized in South Africa. There are also talks of bringing in 150,000 prostitues from other countries. What a sad, corrupt world we live in!