Blog 9

Dear Readers,

Will I dare to start with the Permit story?

The surprise is I don’t have it yet. . . . .

I moved much of my gear into Mbabane on Wednesday. A friend who has contacts in high places, made a phone call and it started an avalanche of events,  the first was a visit to immigration where I was told by the person I was to report to, that there was a document required and I was given a name of the document.  It didn’t make sense to me  - the uninitiated!!  -  I was aware of the documents that were gathered by the AVI coordinator and all was present – I thought.  The immigration officer became very agro and I think she was in training for a job at the border control.

She wrote vigorously on a piece of paper what was required and then stamped it with the official immigration date stamp with the force of an iron monger that made paper the shudder.  I grabbed the paper and high tailed it out of there before I was next with the date stamp.

I called the coordinator and imparted some of the story and handed it back to her.   Many phone calls later, including to the employers who are now in the US having a holiday.  We needed to prove to immigration that KuDvumisa is a registered business in Swaziland.  For this they wanted to sight the original document and have a certified copy of same. Word got back to me that it was on the desk in the house.   FOUND and taken by the coordinator to where it had to go and she was told that it (my permit) will now be ready on Monday.  From the start of the day 10.30, first phone call, this ended at 4.45pm

Next blog should have  . . . . . . .  I’m not putting it in print – just in case.

Last week was affected by lack of energy from whatever bug I had ingested and resulted in a trip to the clinic at Simunye, where once again a nurse did all the prescribing and would refer me to a GP if the conditions were unchanged in 2 days.  Well in 2 days I was moving to Mbabane and I can report that there is significant change to prevent me from returning for medical treatment at this stage.  The nurses appear to be highly trained and the one I saw on Monday was in the process of applying for a scholarship to do her masters in Australia.  We discussed some aspects of Australia and it was revealed that she does not like the cold, because she had not yet clicked on send to for application, she was going to have a look at Perth and Brisbane for other options.

I returned to the sewing group after the clinic and shortly afterwards, Teresa and Daran arrived to talk to them.   It was all very friendly and positive and they were told of their need to take notice of the teacher and to continue to do a high quality of work as they have shown they can do it!!   Teresa was good with them and they showed a good response. Even though we are never sure that the interpreter is telling it as it is or putting their slant on things.  They do not like to check on each other and I notice they rarely comment in a –ve or +ve manner to each other.  Let me explain a little further on that point.  Because they do not criticize - they cannot let another know that she has made a mistake.  So in terms of the new person who cannot sew a straight line to save herself, they won’t comment or assist her, because that would also be seen as criticism.  This goes for me also.  One of the biggest issues I have is to tell them when they have done something wrong and to unpick (goop goop – that is their word for unpick). It can take some time for them to recover, no matter how delicate I put it.  I must admit I have changed a bit on this note and they understand and joke about the previous teacher who used the word rubbish if their work was not up their own standard, so I have started to use the same word when things get too bad!

I will return to them this week coming and that will be it for a few weeks.

On Monday last week I had a call from the AVI coordinator, to say that our country manager is visiting Swaziland and he will be coming to Section 19 on Tuesday

There was clear evidence that it was going to be a very humid day, I arrived at S19 to find no body there yet and so the workplace was a mess.  Jane was not ready yet and so sent her daughter to help me to clean up.  (this is another change scheduled for 2014 – a roster for preparing the workplace)

I had stopped to talk to another of the ladies who lives in one of the stick, stone and mud buildings, actually hers is the one with the bright orange door.  Her son about 16 months is the cutest little cheeky monkey on the planet and she has now taught him to say Georgina.  He talks so clearly and it sounded so funny to hear my name from one so little. I need to get a photo of him to show you and then I need to get onto flickr with my photos. That is a Dec/Jan plan.

We commenced the day with 2 catastrophe’s  -   1. Janes machine would not work and 2. Khunyisile’s husband had locked the door and gone off somewhere, so she could not get in to clean up after working in the field and her machine was locked in there as well.

I decided to ignore these issues as I wanted to get on with showing them this new bag. My intention is to perfect it early next year and make it from their traditional fabric.

I tried to start everyone off at the same time having cut our about 6 bags ready to go.  This plan got way out of whack very quickly, there were bobbins being threaded, needles being replaced, people sharing machines, a bit of goop goop happening as well and they were only on the hem of one of the inside pockets. !!!   what chance did I have for the rest of the bag????   Sometimes I want to sit down and cry and other times like this one I just want to burst out laughing as it really is a comedy.

This little bag takes me 30 minutes to construct and that includes cutting out.   –Yeah – I know - I’m just a smarty pants.

By lunch time we had almost 3 bags completed having started at 10am. 

Then the AVI pair arrived. Firstly the Swazi coordinator talked to the women in Swazi and introduced herself and Thomas, who is from Botswana originally, has lived in NZ for many years before coming back to Africa 2 years ago with this AVI contract.  So he didn’t understand the Swazi conversation and we chatted quietly.    I could see that there was a lot of encouragement happening in the conversation as Lusanda had met with Teresa and Daran the night before and had been briefed on what was said to them.  There was a bag for sale that I had hung especially for Lusanda, knowing that she admired the fabric.  And of course the pressure was on to buy.   Which she eventually did.    

I was taken to the Tambankulu club for a drink!!   Soft or course. However I thought this was a bit strange as it was lunch time.  They just wanted to have time with me so they could tick off that box.

It was all very cordial, pleasant and encouraging.  When we returned, my car had been washed by some of the women.  It was caked with mud and our water at Mananga had been off for days – outside taps only that is!!!

Thomas was very interested in the small bags and was keen to purchase.  I talked him out of it at this stage and suggested he wait until next year when they are sewing them really well and we are using shwaeshwae.    He agreed.   Here is the link, there are some lovely new colours and designs.  I am so looking forward to playing with this fabric rather than what we currently use. 

 http://www.dagama.co.za/

I think I mentioned in the blog 8 about the storm on Saturday night (30^th Nov) and the roar of the wind.  It reminded me a bit of cyclone wind sound, but I didn’t take much notice until we went to Tambankulu club.  In the vast grounds there are many very large old trees and it is such a beautiful oasis, so lush, green and cool.   I had been told that Tamb had taken a big hit from the storm.  As we drove in and through the grounds I could now see what they were saying.  Many of these large trees had lost many big branches, some split in 2, and then just before we got to the club 4 very large trees were totally over.  The root ball still intact as they were lying in a row.  They were very old trees sadly with mostly surface root systems.   The root ball of the biggest had a diameter of approx. 5 meters.   Thomas took a few photos with his phone and I am waiting for him to send me a copy.

Meanwhile back at S19, 3 of the ladies cut out another 2 bags each to sew the next day.   When it was time to leave, Rose was missing…   I usually give a lift to Rose and Khumbuz.  It was eventually revealed that she had gone to collect her phone from a man who was charging it for her.  He has solar panels and charges phones for a price.  I was wondering how they managed to use their phones without power ?????

My new abode, 

I moved in with a car full of my things.  I am now rattling around a huge 5 bedroom house and have 2 guard dogs, secure gates and razor wire for protection.   The dogs have become my friends already as I am getting rid of some stale bread that has been in the fridge for who knows how long.  I also have discovered that is the best way to give Bear his daily pill, in his daily bread.  These 2 lovely creatures who are supposed to be very scary!!!   They are outside dogs and spend most of it reclining, resting, eating and pooing.  One of their staple foods is avocados.  The neighbours have a huge tree and they get all the fallen fruit on our side of the fence.  They eat at least one a day.  And none is saved for human consumption.  I would have to be there and catch it as it falls, because once it is on the ground it belongs to the dogs.  I and won’t argue with them over an avocado.

It is very quiet where I live, and no rooster at 5.00am.   From the front of the house all I can see is the houses on the other side of the street, but from the back of the house, quite elevated, I can see across the gully and up the hill in the distance.  It is dotted with houses and trees and sometimes I can see them.  At night it looks lovely with the lights.  Today it is reasonable clear now, it was in cloud earlier and I could only see white fluff. As the cloud lifts the view changes to just out of focus.

I was out driving yesterday and not being in the mindset of getting back to Mananga, it was a pleasant journey and I enjoyed taking in the scenery as much as I could while driving.  I was impressed with how green everything is at the moment and that is the entire country.  This is the rainy season and it sure has rained.   It all looks so clean until you get into some of the town areas and that is where you see how people live.  Litter is a huge problem here.   

I wanted to find a store in Manzini called Standard Traders, I had been given directions, but not really looked until this trip.   I was told it is the best place to get sewing requirements.   FOUND IT.

Maybe not such a good thing!!!!   It is so clean and tidy and it has so much fabric!  Their range of shwaeshwae if fantastic and zips equally fantastic and prices also fantastic.  It will be the place I go to now for all our supplies,  that is until I can get to South Africa, Nelspruit, where there is a store called Valencia.   I had parked my car around the corner, in most areas of Manzini there is a parking attendant assigned to an area of each street and he comes to you when you park to collect E2.50 and give you a ticket to display.  On my way back to the car I walked into another shop out of curiosity – remember that I have been out in the bush for almost 3 months and have only seen the shops in Simunye and Tshaneni – pretty basic.  I now discovered there are shops!!!!   I bought a handbag, fabulous, medium size, black and bright orange in leather for E170, less than $20.    I then headed for the car and quickly left before I was overtaken by the shopping bug.  I could feel it chasing me down the street.

Because I now have unlimited internet while house sitting I did some internet searches yesterday and I have found the choir and the band who entertain guests at Malealea Lodge.  Here are the UTube  links for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGNFoK7IYac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1_pFp8SgR4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4bH7WFaQCo

OK, with promises of pictures and more visual content, here is a little sample for you.

It’s now time to get this published and I have got some prep work for tomorrow with the ladies as I will not see them after this week until January.

So I best get on with it and not disappoint my students.

Love to you all,

Georgie.  xxxx