Hello all-
We will be working with two of our Primary schools to help them start school libraries. I (Brooke) am writing the project to bring books to 30 locations throughout Swaziland. We need your help in paying for the shipment of the books! Here is the link to the Peace Corps website where you can donate. Also, if you have any questions about what it is like to start a library in a community where reading has not been practiced in the past, please ask. We are currently helping our High school sort through the many books they have had donated and helping them to get their library in order. I never realized how much work libraries can be, and I also will never forget how much I appreciate the opportunities I had for reading as a child. I really hope the children in our community will get these opportunities too!
Here is the link:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-086
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Reid's Article in the Volunteer Newletter
Hello everyone-
Reid recently was asked to write a little article for our Volunteer newletter in Country, and I thought it was tops. It is about Sangomas, or traditional healers in Swaziland. Traditional healers are kind of like what Americans would consider witch doctors, but working usually for the health of someone rather than their demise. Here's the paper:
Our site, Shewula, has no shortage of traditional healers. We meet people in casual attire at soccer pitches and sitolos we later learn to be sangomas. Our family’s favorite babysitter is the chief’s daughter, a graduated sangoma. (Not making this up, as I’m sitting here typing, a trainee is walking by the hardware store where we mooch electricity sporting emajobo and red ochre dreds.) What we didn’t find out until July is that our bhuti in South Africa had also been in training for the last eight months.
It turns out that one night in November when we were at IST in Manzini eating five square meals a day with a nightcap at Rambla’s, our bhuti was in the Congo being met in a vision by his maternal grandmother. He was informed about the training he would undergo and shown the school in the Congo he would enroll in. He spent the next two weeks lying in the cab of his truck experiencing fatigue, vomiting and dehydration trying not to die, while we, similarly, returned to site and recovered from Thanksgiving. Chocolate cheese cake, aaahhggg.
[Time-lapse montage, Wayne’s World-style if you prefer.]
Amid other building projects underway on the homestead, in July it suddenly became imperative that our family build a latrine and one-room square hut down the road on a plot our babe had reserved. It was then that we were told, in the style of an after-school special, that our bhuti was a sangoma-in-training and would be finishing up at home in Shewula. He didn’t dress like the rest of us, what with all of the beads and strips of animal skins he wore all of the time, and his hair was in red mini-dreds, with ornaments woven into it, not the thick, black Rasta dreds that are the hallmark of the Shongwe family. He also had a few special requirements: He could not enter the family’s main homestead until he finished his training. He wanted to look through our sea shells we’d collected on vacation to add a few of them to his bone bag. He wanted us to save and bring banana peels we might have so he could grind them into muti. He wanted us to collect any glass jars for storing his muti, but shirked plastic. On a side note, he did seem to embrace technology- he expressed a desire to have a laptop which could, among other things, be used to store and perfect muti recipes. Having him around has also afforded me a couple of cool side missions. Soon after he arrived, we were scheduled for another short vacation to Maputo, so we asked if he might need anything. Turns out he was short some sea water (imagine), some crabs and a star fish. I was able to retrieve 1.5 liters of the water and a cup of sand with two baby crabs. The star fish was outside of my price range. (To learn the details of the training experience from a relatable American perspective, refer to Sangoma by James Hall. But for now, let’s talk about bones.)
He finished his training the first week of October and I was now ready to do the touristy thing- go to his house with a pad of paper, a camera and see about having my bones read. I went with Brooke and Ozi, who had to be doused with the aforementioned sea water before entering. (Why? Because she’s dirty, that’s why.) He allowed full press and though he could not conduct a proper bone reading without a payment of E100, he did educate me to the extent that I could develop this crash course:
The bones may seem to be a random assortment- several goats’ bones (usually taken from the mid-joints of the limbs), dice, dominoes, a variety of sea shells, segments of the shells of turtles, a coin or two- yet all are significant to the reading, as is the position of each bone concerning how it lays and the position of the bones in relation to each other. The sangoma spends months in training to learn the meanings of a seemingly infinite number of arrangements, but here are a few guidelines if you feel so inspired to start reading your own bones.
First, sit down, remove your bones from your bag and pour them onto the licansi in front of you. Do not scoop your bones like water into the hands of a model in a face soap commercial, rather pick them up in handfuls with the right hand and collect them into the left. Look for your “boss bone,” the larger mouth-shaped sea shell, and bring it in last. Holding the bones, hands in the prayer position, begin rapping them on the ground in front of you, shuffling them, being sure to clearly state the subject of your inquiry. (If your question is clear, the bones’ reply will be likewise.) Next, release your bones on the down-beat, letting the bones scatter. If you want the full guide to reading the results, I suggest you go to school (we have a college down the path across the road from us in Shewula). In the mean time, here are a few things you can look out for:
*Turtle shells: The male turtle shell is facing up, the female down= your man is cheating. The reverse can tell you if your woman is playing you and a similar combo means she’s pregnant and not cheating. Read carefully.
*Dice: ‘1’ stands for your name, and it’s possibly being slandered. ‘4’ may mean that some one is wanting to roll you with their car (as in four wheels on a car). ‘5’ refers to the home, and depending on what the other bones are saying, could be good, bad or benign. ‘6,’ a large number, could mean you’re going on a long journey. ‘2’ or ‘3’? I’m not sure, go to school.
*Dominoes: If you have a couple of them in your bag, it’s best if they both face dots up- good luck, everybody lives, etc. If not it could mean that you’re being conspired against, you’re unable to commit to your work and that your ailing relative is going to die, and soon.
*Shells and Bones: Can warn against a breaking and entering, could mean you’re wife wants to make amends, you are experiencing headaches, and much, much more!
Reid recently was asked to write a little article for our Volunteer newletter in Country, and I thought it was tops. It is about Sangomas, or traditional healers in Swaziland. Traditional healers are kind of like what Americans would consider witch doctors, but working usually for the health of someone rather than their demise. Here's the paper:
Our site, Shewula, has no shortage of traditional healers. We meet people in casual attire at soccer pitches and sitolos we later learn to be sangomas. Our family’s favorite babysitter is the chief’s daughter, a graduated sangoma. (Not making this up, as I’m sitting here typing, a trainee is walking by the hardware store where we mooch electricity sporting emajobo and red ochre dreds.) What we didn’t find out until July is that our bhuti in South Africa had also been in training for the last eight months.
It turns out that one night in November when we were at IST in Manzini eating five square meals a day with a nightcap at Rambla’s, our bhuti was in the Congo being met in a vision by his maternal grandmother. He was informed about the training he would undergo and shown the school in the Congo he would enroll in. He spent the next two weeks lying in the cab of his truck experiencing fatigue, vomiting and dehydration trying not to die, while we, similarly, returned to site and recovered from Thanksgiving. Chocolate cheese cake, aaahhggg.
[Time-lapse montage, Wayne’s World-style if you prefer.]
Amid other building projects underway on the homestead, in July it suddenly became imperative that our family build a latrine and one-room square hut down the road on a plot our babe had reserved. It was then that we were told, in the style of an after-school special, that our bhuti was a sangoma-in-training and would be finishing up at home in Shewula. He didn’t dress like the rest of us, what with all of the beads and strips of animal skins he wore all of the time, and his hair was in red mini-dreds, with ornaments woven into it, not the thick, black Rasta dreds that are the hallmark of the Shongwe family. He also had a few special requirements: He could not enter the family’s main homestead until he finished his training. He wanted to look through our sea shells we’d collected on vacation to add a few of them to his bone bag. He wanted us to save and bring banana peels we might have so he could grind them into muti. He wanted us to collect any glass jars for storing his muti, but shirked plastic. On a side note, he did seem to embrace technology- he expressed a desire to have a laptop which could, among other things, be used to store and perfect muti recipes. Having him around has also afforded me a couple of cool side missions. Soon after he arrived, we were scheduled for another short vacation to Maputo, so we asked if he might need anything. Turns out he was short some sea water (imagine), some crabs and a star fish. I was able to retrieve 1.5 liters of the water and a cup of sand with two baby crabs. The star fish was outside of my price range. (To learn the details of the training experience from a relatable American perspective, refer to Sangoma by James Hall. But for now, let’s talk about bones.)
He finished his training the first week of October and I was now ready to do the touristy thing- go to his house with a pad of paper, a camera and see about having my bones read. I went with Brooke and Ozi, who had to be doused with the aforementioned sea water before entering. (Why? Because she’s dirty, that’s why.) He allowed full press and though he could not conduct a proper bone reading without a payment of E100, he did educate me to the extent that I could develop this crash course:
The bones may seem to be a random assortment- several goats’ bones (usually taken from the mid-joints of the limbs), dice, dominoes, a variety of sea shells, segments of the shells of turtles, a coin or two- yet all are significant to the reading, as is the position of each bone concerning how it lays and the position of the bones in relation to each other. The sangoma spends months in training to learn the meanings of a seemingly infinite number of arrangements, but here are a few guidelines if you feel so inspired to start reading your own bones.
First, sit down, remove your bones from your bag and pour them onto the licansi in front of you. Do not scoop your bones like water into the hands of a model in a face soap commercial, rather pick them up in handfuls with the right hand and collect them into the left. Look for your “boss bone,” the larger mouth-shaped sea shell, and bring it in last. Holding the bones, hands in the prayer position, begin rapping them on the ground in front of you, shuffling them, being sure to clearly state the subject of your inquiry. (If your question is clear, the bones’ reply will be likewise.) Next, release your bones on the down-beat, letting the bones scatter. If you want the full guide to reading the results, I suggest you go to school (we have a college down the path across the road from us in Shewula). In the mean time, here are a few things you can look out for:
*Turtle shells: The male turtle shell is facing up, the female down= your man is cheating. The reverse can tell you if your woman is playing you and a similar combo means she’s pregnant and not cheating. Read carefully.
*Dice: ‘1’ stands for your name, and it’s possibly being slandered. ‘4’ may mean that some one is wanting to roll you with their car (as in four wheels on a car). ‘5’ refers to the home, and depending on what the other bones are saying, could be good, bad or benign. ‘6,’ a large number, could mean you’re going on a long journey. ‘2’ or ‘3’? I’m not sure, go to school.
*Dominoes: If you have a couple of them in your bag, it’s best if they both face dots up- good luck, everybody lives, etc. If not it could mean that you’re being conspired against, you’re unable to commit to your work and that your ailing relative is going to die, and soon.
*Shells and Bones: Can warn against a breaking and entering, could mean you’re wife wants to make amends, you are experiencing headaches, and much, much more!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
PICTURES!
I have been able to upload pictures finally. Check them out at this website:
http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy348/Brooke_golden/Swaziland%20Community%20of%20Shewula/
http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy348/Brooke_golden/Swaziland%20Community%20of%20Shewula/
Friday, August 20, 2010
Health Day with Luke Commission
We just finished a health day in our community. It all started when one of the Rural Health Motivators asked me to call Luke Commission, a non-profit group that is from America. They go to rural communities all over Swaziland and do a mobile clinic complete with doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists, and pharmacists. They even gave out wheelchairs!
We were extremely impressed with their organization. They came and did not leave until the last patient was seen (which was at midnight!) and they didn’t run out of ANYTHING. Also, a family planning organization came out (Family Life Association of Swaziland, or FLAS), and Samaritan’s Purse came and gave gifts to the kids.
We worked with Peace Corps to organize transport for those who could not walk. I haven’t seen the official numbers, but I heard that over 200 people did HIV testing. How did they get these numbers? Well, they have a holistic approach, meaning they don’t separate out HIV testing from eyeglasses or whatnot. And if you want to see the doctor about something, they require that you get blood pressure, blood sugar, HIV and TB testing before the doctor will see you. I mean, that really makes sense, since any of these test results can change a diagnosis, right? It is a novel idea here to treat HIV the same as other sicknesses, but for Luke Commission, it works. And people don’t seem to be as afraid to test. Also, the fact that they stay so late brings in those who would rather not be seen going to the doctor during the day (young adults that are at the highest risk for HIV and are generally more afraid to publicly test).
We also had two of the nurses from our local clinic come out to help. It was really neat to see the community coming together about health issues. And there were lots of people happy with their new glasses!
I am now starting work on organizing the next library project with Books for Africa. It should be taking off soon, and it will be really awesome to be part of starting new school libraries all across the country.
Monday is the Swear-In ceremony of the new group, Group 8. Crazy that we have been here a year, huh? And I can say I have been living without running water or electricity for a year now. I miss everyone dearly.
We were extremely impressed with their organization. They came and did not leave until the last patient was seen (which was at midnight!) and they didn’t run out of ANYTHING. Also, a family planning organization came out (Family Life Association of Swaziland, or FLAS), and Samaritan’s Purse came and gave gifts to the kids.
We worked with Peace Corps to organize transport for those who could not walk. I haven’t seen the official numbers, but I heard that over 200 people did HIV testing. How did they get these numbers? Well, they have a holistic approach, meaning they don’t separate out HIV testing from eyeglasses or whatnot. And if you want to see the doctor about something, they require that you get blood pressure, blood sugar, HIV and TB testing before the doctor will see you. I mean, that really makes sense, since any of these test results can change a diagnosis, right? It is a novel idea here to treat HIV the same as other sicknesses, but for Luke Commission, it works. And people don’t seem to be as afraid to test. Also, the fact that they stay so late brings in those who would rather not be seen going to the doctor during the day (young adults that are at the highest risk for HIV and are generally more afraid to publicly test).
We also had two of the nurses from our local clinic come out to help. It was really neat to see the community coming together about health issues. And there were lots of people happy with their new glasses!
I am now starting work on organizing the next library project with Books for Africa. It should be taking off soon, and it will be really awesome to be part of starting new school libraries all across the country.
Monday is the Swear-In ceremony of the new group, Group 8. Crazy that we have been here a year, huh? And I can say I have been living without running water or electricity for a year now. I miss everyone dearly.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Care Packages
Hey,
So this will be quick. Many people stateside are asking what kind of stuff is good to send in care packages. I am going to speak for the whole Peace Corps group here, because this is stuff that is generally popular. However, keep in mind we can get alot of stuff here, so this is just if you really want to treat us ^_^ We know shipping is expensive, so please know we are not suffering on the food end. Also, please DO NOT SEND PERISHABLES!!!! The mail gets backed up every now and then, and odds are they might not make it here without getting really gross.
-kool-aid packets
-crystal light (usually some people prefer sugar or fake sugar, so it depends)
-popcorn seasoning
-american candy (nerds, laffy taffy, jolly rancher, werthers, etc)
-Starbucks coffee or other nice brand- coffee is here, but expensive. We have found some creative ways to filter our coffee, so it is a nice treat.
-dried fruit other than papaya, guava. There is a very limited selection of dried fruit and it is costly.
- instant oatmeal flavored packets (man these are a nice sweet treat!)
- rice-a-roni (I have found a way to make a rice-a-roni like thing, but it still isn't the same)
-easy mac (Noodles are easy to get here, but the cheese packets are not here, so if you want to save postage, just send the cheese packets)
-new movie DVDs (if a volunteer has electriciy, they will LOVE this, but if they don't, they will still find a way!)
-Magazines (we don't know what is going on...unless we have internet phones)
-new music CDs (we all share music, so anything new would be great!)
- really good sunblock (Peace Corps gives us sunblock, but it is only SPF 30 and it sweats off pretty easy
-nice smelling body spray (nice for girls, we can get deoderant here, but we are out sweating alot
I think that is all I can think of right now...this has been some of the stuff that has been sent to me, and it has been really nice! Thanks everyone!
Love,
Brooke
So this will be quick. Many people stateside are asking what kind of stuff is good to send in care packages. I am going to speak for the whole Peace Corps group here, because this is stuff that is generally popular. However, keep in mind we can get alot of stuff here, so this is just if you really want to treat us ^_^ We know shipping is expensive, so please know we are not suffering on the food end. Also, please DO NOT SEND PERISHABLES!!!! The mail gets backed up every now and then, and odds are they might not make it here without getting really gross.
-kool-aid packets
-crystal light (usually some people prefer sugar or fake sugar, so it depends)
-popcorn seasoning
-american candy (nerds, laffy taffy, jolly rancher, werthers, etc)
-Starbucks coffee or other nice brand- coffee is here, but expensive. We have found some creative ways to filter our coffee, so it is a nice treat.
-dried fruit other than papaya, guava. There is a very limited selection of dried fruit and it is costly.
- instant oatmeal flavored packets (man these are a nice sweet treat!)
- rice-a-roni (I have found a way to make a rice-a-roni like thing, but it still isn't the same)
-easy mac (Noodles are easy to get here, but the cheese packets are not here, so if you want to save postage, just send the cheese packets)
-new movie DVDs (if a volunteer has electriciy, they will LOVE this, but if they don't, they will still find a way!)
-Magazines (we don't know what is going on...unless we have internet phones)
-new music CDs (we all share music, so anything new would be great!)
- really good sunblock (Peace Corps gives us sunblock, but it is only SPF 30 and it sweats off pretty easy
-nice smelling body spray (nice for girls, we can get deoderant here, but we are out sweating alot
I think that is all I can think of right now...this has been some of the stuff that has been sent to me, and it has been really nice! Thanks everyone!
Love,
Brooke
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Some of the Challenges of Adjustment
I was writing a letter to a friend, and these are some of the challenges I tried to describe...I thought it might be interesting.
Peace Corps has been difficult for many reasons. I think the hardest thing by far is that we aren’t allowed to express our thoughts concerning anything political here. Even in this email to you, there are things I can’t talk about politically. Not having that freedom of speech is a real challenge here. I understand that we would not be able to perform our duties here effectively if we were able to speak our mind, but it is really difficult to take the fifth sometimes.
Also, the pace of life and change here is very slow compared to America. Or maybe not slow, just different. We have like a week or so where we are too busy to do anything, and then there could be an entire month where everything you schedule falls through. Generally our priorities don’t always match up with theirs. For instance, right now the World Cup is happening in South Africa. Soccer here is more important than football in the states, so planning anything right now would be futile. Even meeting with teachers has proven difficult. There are stores that just aren’t open, presumably because the owner went to South Africa for the World Cup. Its intense, but problematic for development work.
Until a few months ago, it was general culture shock that was also a big challenge. Not understanding most of what people say, and then still not knowing certain rules until you do the wrong thing has been a challenge. I think just now I am in this phase where I not only miss things in the States, but relishing things that are here which I know I will miss when I get back. One example is bread. I really miss nice wheat bread. The wheat bread here isn’t ground as finely as in America, so you get these random bits of husk that just have a weird texture. They also don’t make those really nice flavors like honey wheat, and rye, and the one with the sunflower seeds in it. I miss those, and I think about them more than I should. However, what they do have here is fresh, HOT bread in pretty much any grocery store. Our host family has a market, and they get bread delivered every day, and sometimes it is still hot. That is wonderful. There is nothing like bread so hot it might burn a hole through the plastic. Anyway, I know I will miss that, so I am relishing it now.
Peace Corps has been difficult for many reasons. I think the hardest thing by far is that we aren’t allowed to express our thoughts concerning anything political here. Even in this email to you, there are things I can’t talk about politically. Not having that freedom of speech is a real challenge here. I understand that we would not be able to perform our duties here effectively if we were able to speak our mind, but it is really difficult to take the fifth sometimes.
Also, the pace of life and change here is very slow compared to America. Or maybe not slow, just different. We have like a week or so where we are too busy to do anything, and then there could be an entire month where everything you schedule falls through. Generally our priorities don’t always match up with theirs. For instance, right now the World Cup is happening in South Africa. Soccer here is more important than football in the states, so planning anything right now would be futile. Even meeting with teachers has proven difficult. There are stores that just aren’t open, presumably because the owner went to South Africa for the World Cup. Its intense, but problematic for development work.
Until a few months ago, it was general culture shock that was also a big challenge. Not understanding most of what people say, and then still not knowing certain rules until you do the wrong thing has been a challenge. I think just now I am in this phase where I not only miss things in the States, but relishing things that are here which I know I will miss when I get back. One example is bread. I really miss nice wheat bread. The wheat bread here isn’t ground as finely as in America, so you get these random bits of husk that just have a weird texture. They also don’t make those really nice flavors like honey wheat, and rye, and the one with the sunflower seeds in it. I miss those, and I think about them more than I should. However, what they do have here is fresh, HOT bread in pretty much any grocery store. Our host family has a market, and they get bread delivered every day, and sometimes it is still hot. That is wonderful. There is nothing like bread so hot it might burn a hole through the plastic. Anyway, I know I will miss that, so I am relishing it now.
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