Days in Ekwendeni

After returning from a leisurely 1 mile walk back from the Library at the College of Health Sciences where we did our internet work today, we had our lunch and started working on our evaluation project for the College. 

Since yesterday’s meeting with the Acting Principal we have been zeroing in on a vision for this report and today we set up a format and some tables corresponding with their 17 Strategic Objectives so we have a way to report status on each.  We took our computers out onto the khonde(cement porch) at our guest house and as we worked we could hear a cow or 2 bellowing nearby and children playing down the hill.  For a time, there was some kind of musical group practicing close by – the music was loud, but they had wonderful voices. 

The seats on the khonde are a little hard, and it does get hard on the back to sit with your computer on your lap – but it was worth it for the ambiance. We can’t see a lot of our neighbors because our guesthouse has about an 8 foot high brick fence around it, but we can see the hazy hills in the background. 

I have missed the sights and sounds of Africa.  In addition to the cows today there were children laughing and playing all afternoon within earshot. Right now I can hear what sounds like a soccer game somewhere down the hill from us – lots of voices, yelling and cheering.  Maybe it is because there is no airplane and little vehicle noise that the people noises become so prominent here, but I know I love it.  There are almost always the sounds of talking and laughing in the air.

The air is very hazy this time of year.  It is the end of their winter and dry season.  The rains will start in another month or 2 and until then there is dust everywhere.  Plus, the practice here is to burn off the fields before planting begins so there is extra smoke beyond the usual cooking fires since almost no one has electricity.

Here is the view from our Khonde