Life in Amangwe Village

*This blog update was written by students.

Sanibonani from Amangwe!

So much has been going on in and out of the Amangwe Village. From homestays at Lindiwe’s family home to pulling together our independent projects, we are always busy. The weather has been wonderful, which has helped our progress even more. On Friday July 10th, most of the kids worked together to spackle and paint several interior rooms in the crèche. When some were accidentally held prisoner in an office with a faulty door, others attempted to spring them loose from the freshly-painted room while simultaneously painting multiple walls in the next room. Still others worked on a banner for the beauty pageant.

On Saturday morning, we all took a trip to the St. Lucia beaches. Besides our SANDwiches (literally), we had a great time playing in the water. Dan was able to show off his bright neon pink tank top, one of the many that he collects. From the beach, we split up into two groups. Half of us went to Richards Bay and the other half went to Lindiwe’s family home. The group that went to Richards Bay went to a mall, got to send a few emails, ate more food at Wimpy’s, and had a magnificent view from a cliff that looked over the bay. They even got to see monkeys! Then they came back to Amangwe and had a movie night.

The other group had an amazing experience at Lindiwe’s. When they got there they went straight to church where they sat in on a traditional service. After that, they got to play games with the kids for several hours, while others helped prepare dinner. They also walked down to the river where they got water for the village. They found it incredible that the women in Lindiwe’s family carried pounds of water on top of their heads up the hill for so long.

On Sunday, the group that went to Lindiwe’s took a majestic hike through the vertical mountains and eventually passed out on top with a marvelous view. Afterwards several people from her home danced for us with music ranging from Halo by Beyonce to their customary house music. If you want to learn some traditional South African moves, we’ll make sure to hook you guys up at Yale.

The other group spent most of the day doing finishing touches in the crèche for it's re-opening the next day. On Monday morning, we split up again: some of us working in the garden and others working in the crèche. For the rest of the day, everyone started to get their projects together. We talked to people around Amangwe, did some research, and pulled together more ideas. We ended the day with playing volleyball and later on a few other indoor games.

On Tuesday, four people began Home-Based Care (HBC) visits. They traveled around in a van with Amose (a medical social worker) and Linda (a Peace Corps volunteer) visiting HIV-infected patients. They said it was very interesting and sometimes difficult to see the patients’ circumstances and what they have to go through in order to manage on a day-to-day basis. One patient who was very sick and could barely move last year is now full of energy and even scared us by hopping in front of our van to greet us! Unfortunately, they did see many ill patients as well, some with manageable conditions and some that were critically ill. The group also visited a traditional healer, heard about how he cures ailments and discovered that he could tell the future as well! Some students were very scared by what he said, but others were quite pleased.

On Wednesday, people continued their HBC visits and independent projects, while two Putney social emissaries visited the Sokhulu high school. Their objective was to empower the students their while bringing up topics such as future aspirations. Then the boys left and the girls discussed issues including HIV, safe sex, confidentiality, relationships, rape, and much more. Students throughout the rest of the week will continue HBC visits, while others will carry on independent projects and work on daily chores throughout Amangwe. Students have been gardening, cooking, and playing with kids at the crèche and the toy library.

We are looking forward to our last few days in Amangwe and continuing our travels in Swaziland next week.


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Leaders' Update: We’ve finished the second round of homestays, and many students have finished their independent projects. We have projects ranging from a children’s book about the importance of education, to get-well cards from children in the Amangwe crèche to patients at the Ethembeni Care Center to some new HIV and health-awareness brochures and initiatives to increase community involvement and HIV-awareness through soccer. You’ll certainly find out more about these projects when we post project summaries at the end of the trip.

We’re looking forward to helping out at the creche’s Beauty Pagaent/Muscle Man Competition fundraiser tomorrow, putting the final touches on our individual and group projects, celebrating a few birthdays and saying our goodbyes to our new friends at Amangwe.

Thinking of you all!
Anna and Dan