Today we were supposed to go
the Mchezi village for our home stay.
The bus that came to take us there would not start, so we hung out at
the house for a couple of hours as they tried to fix the bus and get things
ready for us to go. They finally
fixed it and we were on our way.
By the time that we got there, it was already noon.
On
the way there, I asked the students who were sitting next to me what their
greatest fear in life is. This
question sparked some really good conversation, which was really cool and I was
able to gain greater insight into their life and where they come from. This was a really cool conversation for
me, because I appreciate having a real conversation instead of a bunch of small
talk that doesn’t allow anyone to really get to know each other.
Once
we got there, we were introduced to the head of the CBO named Chris. Chris showed us around the CBO and then
we sat in one of the offices of the CBO to begin introducing ourselves to
him. He then began sharing about
the purpose of the CBO as well as some of the programs that they currently have
going on. Chris was a great guy,
but it was kind of hard to understand everything that he was saying, so I
quickly got distracted. Also, the
rain was coming, so we were kind of sitting out in some of the drizzling
rain.
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| Listening to Chris explain the structure and mission of the CBO. Photo by Marie Freeman |
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| Getting inside before the rain. Photo by Marie Freeman |
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| Poultry farm. Photo by Marie Freeman |
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| Lunch! Photo by Marie Freeman |
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| Lunch of Nsima, eggs and greens. Photo by Marie Freeman |
Before
we knew it, the skies opened up and it was pouring down rain and we were
soaking wet. So we quickly ran
inside and worked hard to entertain ourselves while the rain continued. We played a bunch of different games
that some of the girls knew. Most
of the games were old camp games, so they were kind of corny, but we all had a
good time and it was fun to see everyone kind of come out of their shell a
little bit.
Finally,
the rain subsided, so we were able to break into our groups and talk with the
different IGA’s that we were going to be assessing. The IGA that my group was assessing was a youth group. We were tasked with conducting a SWOT
analysis for the group, but first we had to gather some information about
them. We started by asking them
some key questions, such as where they got the inspiration to form the youth
group. We exchanged questions and
answers in broken and hard to understand English for about one hour and then we
had to get ready for our home stay.
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| Interacting with prominent members of the youth group. Photo by Marie Freeman |
Zion
and I were together with Austin’s family for the home stay. He was a middle-aged man who was
married and had two children, a boy and a girl. He walked us back to his house from the CBO and then he
quickly showed us around before it got dark. He showed us the room that we were going to sleep in and
then we sat in the living room for a couple of minutes. Zion asked if he would show us around,
so we left the house and he took us around the village a little bit. We went to the church and got to see
the boys choir perform a couple of songs for us and then on the way home, we
passed by their school. By the
time that we were headed back to the house, it was pitch black. Since we were in the village, there was
no electricity, to it really was pitch black and there was not an easy way to
see. However, since Austin is used
to this, he paid it no mind and we walked home with no help from a light or
anything. Since it had been
raining, it was really muddy and I almost slipped and fell on my butt a couple
of times.
When
we made it back to the house, dinner was ready. We sat down in the living room and washed our hands as Austin
poured hot water over them. Dinner
was very traditional nsigma with some veggies. I have had that before, so although I didn’t love it, I
didn’t mind it either. After
dinner, we chatted a little bit and read the Bible and sang a hymn before we went
to bed. The bed was simply a
plywood platform with a blanket on it, so it was pretty uncomfortable, but at
least we were off of the floor.
From
my experience of the home stay so far, I have gained a new appreciation for the
way that these people live. We ate
dinner in their living room, but the living room has a mud floor with mud walls
and only three chairs and a small table in it. It does not have a light and is only about ten feet
square. Also, dinner was cooked
over a fire on the front porch and the bathroom is a hole in the ground. This was a very eye opening and
humbling experience for me, because Austin’s family is one of the families that
has more than most.
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