A good day

Today was a very productive day. First thing this morning Bethuel and I drove to Matshapa to pick up the health inspector and take him up to Lomngeletjane so we could be sure we build the pit latrines and the teacher's house in the correct location. We're trying real hard to work with the government so we don't run into more problems down the road. John the builder was there with us. We spent about 2 hours walking around the site, looking at the site plans the Ministry of Education drew up, measuring, looking at the plans for the toilets and houses, etc. I kept thinking who would have ever thought I would be in the middle of a building campaign? The scary part is I am actually starting to understand a lot of the stuff they talk about. The great part is we all came to an agreement of where things should be. The other thing is that Mr. Simelane (the inspector) didn't like the plans the Ministry of Education drew up. We didn't either but felt we were somewhat stuck. With Mr. Simelane's help and advice we came up with a new plan which is actually what we originally wanted. So it was a big YEABO! John is organizing a grader to grade where the toilets need to go and for the teacher's house at the same time. We want to get going on these items as we have 3 or possibly 4 teams coming to help build Lomngeletjane this summer. We need to be ready.

A side note, I peaked into the classrooms and all of the children seemed to be engaged in learning activities. John had built two more long desks for Grade one. It's not enough but it helps.

After Lomngeletjane, I met Thoko and Mthokoisiwe in down town Manzini and we shopped all afternoon to get everything Mthokoisiwe needs to complete his school uniform and a couple of books he needs to take to class. One is a dictionary and the other is a book on English grammar. It was tiring but Mthokoisiwe was so thrilled. I can see his confidence growing bit by bit each time we see him. Next Thursday the Manyano will be taking him to South Africa for the annual district convention. We had to get him a passport. This will be quite an experience for him as he has never been out of Swaziland. He will have so many mother's fussing over him that he won't know what to do! I'm very excited for him. Thoko and I are working to make sure he has everything he needs and that he looks very sharp. Thoko is even teaching him that he can't use a slang form of yes which is not much more than a grunt when he answers people. It's cute to watch. I kept thinking how different it was taking this young man school clothes shopping than it was to take my own boys school clothes shopping. It was night and day difference...Thank God.

Mthokoisiwe in his new school uniform: