Sanibonani! Greetings from Swaziland, Africa. The first thing you are probably thinking is where the heck is Swaziland? Did I mean Switzerland? Are lions and giraffes roaming the area? Well, Swaziland is in fact a real place. It is a landlocked country, which is the size of New Jersey with a little over a 1 million population and is within the borders of Mozambique and South Africa. It is also one of the last standing absolute monarchies of the world. In addition, I do not have any lions or giraffes of any kind roaming around my homestead. However, I do have tons of pigs, goats, chickens, roosters, and dogs.
My “tippy tap”
As an American living in rural Swaziland, it is hard to summarize my last nine months in 300 words. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer has redefined my lifestyle . I don’t have running water for showers or washing my hands. Instead I pour water into a solar shower and let the sun heat up the water until the desired temperature is achieved. I use a “tippy tap” to wash my hands after using the latrine. The Latrine is a plastic toilet connected to a ten foot hole….
Hitch hiking a ride, Aaron in the front left
The library project
Don’t get me started on having no electricity in my house and embracing the 110 degree days and 80 degree nights without a fan.
Life goes on with or without the luxuries of living in America. Now you are probably wondering what in the world do I do all the way out here? I am a youth development volunteer, thus my projects are focused around the schools in my community. My biggest project is starting a library at the primary school. We are waiting for the arrival of 1000 donated books from Books for Africa and preparing the room to be a fully operational library by May 2016. This job is more than the projects and luxuries not available to a volunteer on a day to day basis. It is about growing faster as a person than I ever would have in two years in the States. It is about watching a group of kids playing with a deflated ball for hours instead of an Xbox. It is about enjoying time with my new family every night even if we both don’t speak each other’s language fluently. It is about making this two year commitment that challenges me and has made me grow in ways I never thought possible.
Wishing everyone the best at the SDSU School of Social Work!