On Tuesday 9th of February we arrived to Kgautswane which is a rural village in the Mpumalanga province. The beautiful village is one of the almost 20 villages located in a valley which is surrounded by huge and green mountains. We were introduced to Clara Masinga, a sweet elderly lady who owns a Community Center and the Bama Lodges where we spent nine days. We also met the village’s two infopreneurs Simon and Ishmael. Simon took us to a sightseeing to the village and we were surrounded by almost 40 children. We discovered that despite that there were tabs and showers in the bathrooms there wasn’t any running water. We had to wash our self’s every morning with one bucket of hot water. We ate breakfast at 8 am and supper at 8 pm with Clara and possible visitors.
On Wednesday Simon took us to meet the chief of the village. We were told that we should give about 100 Rand in an envelope to the chief in a spirit of a good gesture. After the meeting we went to see the local tile factory and how they manufactures tiles from slate stones. When we arrived back we visited a computer class in the Community Center where Ishmael teaches to the local people basic computer skills. In the evening Clara wanted to show us how to eat traditional African meal on the ground next to an open fire.
We went hiking to the mountains with Simon on Thursday to see how the local people are building a dam and pipeline down from the mountain to the village so that there would be running water in every household. The whole trip lasted about six hours and we were exhausted afterwards. On Friday morning Clara wanted us to meet a group of local police officers before the breakfast. There were about 20 police officers because of some meeting concerning a national police day. After the breakfast we went to one of the local secondary schools and visited all of the classes. The purpose of this visit was to tell the students how important math and physic are concerning their future. We also encouraged the girls to finish their studies before they even think about having any children.
We woke up on Saturday at 5 am to participate in two funerals. The first funeral lasted only 5 minutes after we got there. At the second funeral we saw almost everything that usually happens in a traditional African funeral. First there was lots of cheery singing and dancing. After that we headed to the cemetery where the men of the village buried the deceased and almost every man including our boys filled up the grave. After the long lasting funeral we went to see a sport competition between the local secondary schools to the sand field next to the Community Center.
On Sunday we took a part to two separate service in two different churches. In the second church the people wanted to give all the contribution money to us which is a normal policy on their church when they have visitors. After this Clara wanted us to spend one night in two different families so that we could see how the rural household runs itself. The next morning we visited again one of the secondary schools. In that same day we also visited a day care center and in the evening we saw some traditional dancing and singing.
On Tuesday morning we visited in a primary school and saw a little bit of their normal school day. In the evening we went again to visit the second church where we had already been to speak about wisdom. One off us read couple parts from the bible and after that another one of us tried to explain it in own words. On Wednesday we visited another primary school and in the evening two local girls taught to our girls how they wash clothes with hands.
On Thursday we left Kgautswane behind and headed to Kruger Park with our contact person. On the way to Kruger we saw amazing views example the Blyden River Canyon which is the world’s second biggest alive canyon. Early morning on Saturday we went to the Kruger Park and during ten hours we saw many wild animals except the leopard. This amazing trip lasted four days and a big thank you belongs to Rensie without whom it wouldn’t have been so great.
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