Eswatini
(Formally known as Swaziland)
We were requested by a number of our church members, who are so generously supporting the building of the two classrooms at Kaphunga Elementary School located in the city of Manzini, Eswatini, to post our building progress on-line. None of the participants have blogged before, we are all new to this, but we will attempt to provide you with daily progress of our work. (This of course, is going to be dependent on the availability of internet connection at our residence in Manzini.)
This is the country side we are looking forward to experiencing.
Our trip begins Sunday, August 18, 2019 at 9:05 p.m. at the Calgary International Airport. (Acually, the planning started long before this. Terry made the first announcement at Calgary Central in January, and planning and fundraising has been going on since then.)
We will have a 9 hour and 45 minute flight to Zurich, Switzerland. There, we have almost 8 hour layover, which will give us about 5 1/2 hours to explore Zurich. Then, into the plane we go again, for another 10 1/2 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.
After the two long flights, we still have a 425 kilometer drive do Manzini, Eswatini.
We are thankful that the Lord has allowed us to go on this trip, where we can be of service to some of His children.
We ask that you pray for us, for safe travels, for wisdom, strength and skill, that we will be able to complete our task on time, so that the children at Kaphunga Elementary School will be able to have a place where they can receive education that will prepare them not only for this life, but also for eternity.
On August 18, 2019, 13 individuals, 11 members of Calgary Central SDA Church, and 2 from Edmonton, are leaving Canada to build two classrooms at the Kaphunga Elementary School located in the city of Manzini, Eswatini.
Eswatini was called Swaziland, but on April 19, 2018, King Mswati III announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini, reflecting the extant Swazi name for the state eSwatini, to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence.
The building projecte has been set up by Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), and they are directing and organizing this project.
Planning our trip
Last meeting at Dave and Stella’s house on August 10, 2019.
Going over last minute details, this trip is only 8 sleeps away.
Some of our group today at our church, with Pastor Felix. We are leaving tomorrow evening.
Unfortunately the internet connection in Swaziland was too slow, and I was not able to even log into the website.
I did purchase a sim card with 8 GB of data on Swazi Mobile, but there was a dead spot at our residence, hence I was unable to post. My internet did work at the school we were building, but I did not have time to post things to the internet, there was work to be done.
Now, our work on the school is completed, two classrooms will be ready for the next school year, children in the community will have an opportunity for an education to prepare for their future here and also to prepare themselves for eternity.
I am in Johannesburg, South Africa, the rest of the group is safely home in Canada. I will post a few pictures from our work in Manzini now, Terry will have a full report for the Calgary Central Church in the near future.
Awaiting our departure at YYC, most of us not really knowing how things would turn out, just trusting that God will keep us throughout this adventure and make us useful in helping others.
After a welcome and introductions at the ADRA Swaziland office, we had a picture taken with the ADRA Director and his nephew, who wore the traditional Eswatini clothing.
Vanessi was in an animated discussion with him as she discovered that he spoke Portuguese, as well as English, French, and some of the local langusges.
Our first day at the job site.
The local construction crew hired by ADRA Swaziland had already been working there for 2 weeks, they cleared and leveled the site, poured the foundations and started laying blocks.
All work was done by hand.
And, we had a lot of block layers.
I would like to know where to donate to help with costs.
Welcome to the Kingdom of ESWATINI. I am Caroline’s brother living in Mbabane. I would like to meet you before you return to Canada. Are you coming to watch the reed dance? My mobile number is 76084550. Regards Walter Mhlanga