Phillip asked us to take Reed and Larene Mellor (from Lehi) to Swaziland on November 17. The Mellors are what is known as "Short Term Specialists," part-time missionaries who go to a country for a few days or few weeks to help implement the Humanitarian large-scale or "Major Initiatives." The Mellors are water specialists and they had been visiting Rwanda in preparation for a large water and latrine project at a huge refugee camp there.
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| Dinner at Summerfield Inn |
While in Africa, Phillip wanted them to see and review a water project that was done in Swaziland
during 2014 and 2015.
Swaziland is a very small country which is still today ruled over by a king, King Mswati III, who owns all the lands in the country. Individuals cannot own land but can "lease."
Swaziland is located on the extreme eastern border of South Africa and in fact, most of Swaziland is completely surrounded by the country of South Africa.
Swaziland also has the highest HIV infection rate in the world, with 26% of adults being infected. The World Health Organization estimates that 64% of all deaths in the country are caused by HIV/Aids.
It's about a 5 hour drive from Johannesburg to Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland. We arrived after dark and found our hotel (resort) called Summerfield Botanical Gardens.
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| Summerfield |
The hotel was gorgeous and each couple had their own little thatched-roof villa
The restaurant was also beautiful in a large thatched-roof building.
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| Bar and Upper Lounges |
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| The food was wonderful also |
The grounds were even prettier than the rooms with lots of beautiful and unusual types of plants and flowers and peacocks running around and up in the trees.
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A Peacock in a Pear Tree |
Too bad it was so expensive (?). The rooms, along with breakfast and dinner, per couple, came to about $140 a day.
We'd certainly go back there again if we got the chance.
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| No, they're not real |
The water project done there was different from most projects that we do. It was administered and managed by a Non-Government Organization (NGO) called Gone Rural BoMake (sounds like Bo-Mocky). Gone Rural was organized to help empower the women of Swaziland, teach them skills, give them an income and generally improve their lives.
The women are organized into different groups, all of which learn skills such as weaving, dying, sewing, etc. They cut dry grasses, bring them to the compound, dye and weave them. On a certain day of the week, a group brings their wares, to be checked and graded, then the women are paid for their work. It's nice, because they have a ready market for the things they make.
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| Dyeing the grass |
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| Today the color was blue |
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| A room full of colorful grass |
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| Ladies coming to make and sell their wares |
The goods are in turn, sold to wholesalers and retailer all around the world (for example Home Goods in the US).
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| Just some of the many things they sell |
The water projects were done in villages that had a high concentration of the BoMake women.
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| A very modest home |
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| A room used for cooking their meals |
Before a village could qualify for a water well (borehole), each family in the village had to build their own pit latrine. These are very simple buildings with basically just a pit, concrete slab, a seat, walls and ceiling. When the pit is full (after about 5 years) they just dis-assemble the block building, dig a new pit and re-build.
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| A latrine built by the family |
This particular water project consisted of 3 boreholes, each with a concrete apron, and a fence to keep animals (cows and goats) away from the water source.
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| A water pump |
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| Reed Mellor visiting with members of the village |
Because the houses of the villages were so spread out, families living further than 500 meters (about 1/4 mile) from the wells were also given a "Hippo Roller."
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| This lady was very grateful for her Hippo-Roller |
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| She wanted to show us where they put the water |
A Hippo Roller is basically a large (about 25 gallon plastic drum onto which a person snaps on a handle and then the water (about 200 lbs.) is just pushed or pulled to the person's home. They are a pretty slick little item and had held up very well after about 6 months of use.
