A Day in the Life of a Swazi

A few days ago I realized that you have not  seen how a Swazi really lives.  The pictures I have sent have been of our beautiful home, the chapels that our saints attend and the sweet, wonderful people that surround us.  But what I see everyday is much different.  I have mentioned how humble these people are.  They truly are and I want you to get a feel for what their day is like – every day.  But a day does not go by that we do not get a wave, a smile, a friendly greeting.  When we try (and I mean try because I am crucifying their language) to speak to them in their language, they grin and giggle and are so pleased we are trying.  They wave as we drive down the street; they pull over in their cars if they are going slower than the traffic; the ladies at the cash registers talk and laugh with us; the young men that pump our gas are smiling; the children stop and smile and are so willing to talk to us.  It is a whole different world Den and I are living in.  We have never felt threatened, just welcomed warmly.   It is a much slower paced lifestyle.  They don’t have much but they are grateful for what they have!  There will be more to come in the future.  I want you to know these amazing people!

You can’t see it, but there were children running around playing by their homes

Doing her daily wash

We see this daily on rural or city roads – women, men and children

We were trying to locate a eye doctor in a hospital and we couldn’t believe the conditions

This was the entrance to the emergency part of the hospital – Koy how would you like to work here?

A Swazi car wash – Swaziland has red dirt all over and most roads are dirt roads,

Anybody for a haircut?

On the corners, they grill their maize – our corn on the cob, kind of – their fast food

More people walk than drive – walking home at the end of a day’s work. Look at both sides of the street.

A Primary School – young children.  They go from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00; play for an hour then walk home. EVERY school has uniforms.

The University dorm

The country is full of these footbridges – they provide a path over rivers for the locals to get around.  They are missing boards and very scary!

This is our friend John carving our name on this tray.  He sits in the heat all day at the Manzini Market

Weaving baskets at a store called Gone Rule

Our friendly gas attendants

A kombi – their taxi and bus system.  They pack these vans with locals!

Kingdom of Swaziland Airport