Not much has happened, while much has happened. I have been avoiding updating you on Tenele because I didn’t feel like there was much to write about. There’s seemingly no progress, and sometimes I feel like my energy in this is worthless. Sometimes I feel like I should be doing so much more, but I […]
Let me share a few facts with you:1) Traveling is always an adventure2) Don’t fly with Delta3) Tears make others soften up, though they don’t really accomplish anything4) The Atlanta airport hates me5) God can make good come out of any bad situation So, if you read my previous post, you know that I came […]
At 2:30 in the morning last Friday, I received a surprise phone call from home…it was my mom delivering terrible news: my grandpa had passed away. We had known that he was sick and struggling for awhile; in fact, the doctors did not think he would last much longer after I left for Swazi. But […]
After teaching yesterday, one of my students came to me at break time and said her friend was sick. So I went back to the classroom to find Fungile lying on her desk, with her head buried in the crease of her elbow. “Unani sisi?” I asked. (What’s wrong?)She didn’t respond.“Uyagula yini?” (Are you sick?)She […]
When I stand in front of my classroom, I seethirty-one pairs of hungry eyes looking to me.They come to class with a yearning mind and soul,wondering if they can really be made whole.Their stories are beyond my understanding of pain;yet, they don’t show sorrow; they know to play the game.Sometimes they don’t listen to what […]
It’s not about me. This phrase is much easier to say than to actually put into practice. I had a good lesson in humility this week. For some reason, I had a particularly difficult time keeping my students’ attention in the classroom. They were a little more noisy and disrespectful than usual, and yesterday I […]
A poem I wrote the other day about Tenele… With a hat tilted sideways,She struts the streets of Manzini,A see-through white topBarley meets the top of her jeans,Exposing her butterfly belt buckle. Men call to her;Women stare at her;The wrong people know her. She has few friends, too many “lovers.”She lies about them to cover […]
These are a few funny things to give you a better picture of my life in Swazi… 🙂 Being called “fat” is a compliment. Your nickname becomes “Blue Eyes” because blue eyes are so rare. “Ngisha dile” (I am married) becomes a regular part of speech so guys will stop proposing. A wild cat in […]
When people ask me how school/teaching is going, I sometimes don’t know what to say…I find myself at with a lack for words, not because there’s nothing to tell but because there is so much to say. It is a challenge, but one I enjoy immensely. It has been very, very difficult to go from […]
I traveled to South Africa this past weekend to join my Swazi friends at a wedding. It was quite the wonderful experience! I learned a few good lessons though… 1) Never travel alone with a bus full of Swazis if you want to be on time. Again…I am learning patience. It was such a loooong […]
© Copyright 2024 – Hosea’s Heart, Inc.
Photography by Anthony Butz Photography
Hosea’s Heart is a registered 501(c)-3 Organization
