A Reminder of How Much We’ve Learned

Greetings from the Kingdom of Swaziland! As we glide towards the end of a calendar year, we are reminded about how much we have learned since coming here in March. We are also reminded of how much we have yet to learn, like more of the siSwati language!

Greetings from the Kingdom of Swaziland! As we glide towards the end of a calendar year, we are reminded about how much we have learned since coming here in March. We are also reminded of how much we have yet to learn, like more of the siSwati language! We have learned much about how Zion churches in Africa operate, as well as the challenges faced by a country that has recently surpassed South Africa in AIDS population. We have seen the work being done to provide water wells, food, education, and medical services for vulnerable children.  Although the challenges within a continent like Africa are large, it is encouraging to see people from around the world working hand in hand with Africans, to find answers for these challenges.

We are experiencing summer here in the Southern Hemisphere. Swaziland seems to have lots of summer storms. We heard about their lightning storms from the local folks, but now we have experienced many. About every 3 days, a rain storm with lightening causes the electricity to go out for a few hours or even a whole day. The rain is so frequent that rural roads become nearly impassable. This complicates the lives of many who depend on the buses to run so they can make it to work. As in America, rural folks cannot always sustain themselves with what they grow, so they get jobs in the towns. However, both for the employers and the employees, transportation (or the lack of it) can create big headaches. We feel very fortunate to have a vehicle for getting us around.    

Since our daughter, Victoria, just turned 6 we are getting first-hand experience of year round schooling. Here there are three terms somewhat like our semesters, and during the Christmas season they take their longest break of one month. From mid-December to mid-January, school kids get vacation. As a high school teacher, Diana has felt for years that year round schooling would be more beneficial than the way the U.S. schedules breaks now.  In addition, since students go to school year round, their school day is a bit shorter, so they have more daylight hours for after school activities, like sports. Both public and private schools require students to wear uniforms. This does seem to help avoid the stress caused by some kids having the popular brands of clothing and others not having them.

We send blessings for a wonderful beginning to 2014 to everyone reading this.

Terry and Diana Hutter, with their daughter Victoria, serve as Long-term Volunteers with the Khukhan’Okusha Zion Church in Swaziland. They serve as coordinators of the development programs.