I have been trying to keep an attitude of being flexible and listening for the Lord’s leading as I go about my day. Tuesday morning I arrived at the farm and checked in with Peter. My original plan for the day was to work on laundry and do some reading and writing. Peter said he was heading into town to get some things done and I was welcome to tag along. I felt I should go so I decided to postpone laundry to Wednesday, hoping the sun would still be out to dry my clothes on the line. (As a side note, it is now Wednesday and it actually feels like a Washington Fall day. It is cloudy, cool and seems like it is about to rain but it hasn’t all day. We even had a sun break or two. My clothes are still hanging outside on the line but I’m keeping eye on the weather.)
We dropped off the car at a panel beater, which is the official term for a body shop here and probably a more accurate description. It is a RAV4 that has been in a couple accidents and the front hood no longer latched correctly due to a loose cross member at the radiator. They were able to add some additional support, weld together and do some basic paint, all for about 50 US dollars. I don’t think you could get a body shop to walk out and look at your car for that little.
While the panel beaters beat away, we headed into the city center to mail some items, do some banking and grab some lunch. Mail isn’t very expensive so I may have to send a letter or two to the States. Though I am sure I will beat anything back by at least a few weeks. We had lunch at a restaurant named Pablo’s. They have chicken burgers along with beef burgers with potato chips (fries back home.) The man that runs the restaurant along with the attached hotel/conference center is a Christian and turns out to be the head of the board for Worldvision Swaziland. I talked with him for a little while about options to help here and he had some great ideas. He, like me and most others I’ve run into, wants to see fewer handouts and more chances to make something sustainable for the Swazis here. We talked about helping form co-ops within the rural communities and teaching them about growing agriculture that could be sold. He is especially fond of trying to export agriculture to the US. I need to research the idea more so let me know if you have any expertise. Here on the farm, they have started growing Maringa (sp?), harvesting the leaves, drying them and grinding it into a powder. They sell the powder at the farm and through a couple retail locations in the city. It is highly nutritious and has had amazing positive results especially for folks that are HIV positive. I need to do more research once I am home since I hadn’t heard anything about it before. Does anyone reading this already know anything? Or do you know someone in the commercial supplement business? Pass along any information you might have! J
On the way back to the farm, we picked up a friend of Peter’s and gave him a ride to a remote school. He works as a consultant but does a lot of work with self help groups. They are groups of 15-20 people that partner together with their resources to help each other by loaning each other money from their combined pool. They work on ideas together and have to vote on the idea before any money is loaned. It allows them to learn about the power of investments but also allows them access to more capital. It was great to hear how well it is working and the success stories. I am hoping to be able to spend more time with him before I leave to hear even more of his ideas and see what can be done to help him. He does a great job empowering people in the rural areas and it seems to be working very well. He and I just touched on politics and his thoughts but he is excited to talk with me more. He has done quite a bit in the government and also holds a few different masters degrees.
In addition to the conversation, the views on the drive were incredible since we drove over one of the tall hills. The sky was fairly clear and you could see for miles and miles. It really is a beautiful country side.
I am currently listening to:
Chris Tomlin’s Arriving
No comments:
Post a Comment