September 3rd, 2010

A Secret Garden to Create, Counseling to begin, students to tutor… It’s turning into a very busy month! Oh yeah… We bought a car too!

A few weeks ago, we heard about a secret garden that had been left many years ago to become the wild once more. Due to many things on our plate, extra travelling, and the “secret” nature of the garden we had yet to find it until three days ago. Brad and I had a bit of extra time so we decided to find this garden though we had only a vague direction to follow… on a 2500-acre farm; this is much easier said than done! Well after a bit of time and a lot of bushwhacking we finally stumbled upon an area that looked to be something of an overgrown garden scape. After twenty minutes of envisioning and “mental mapping” of the location, we decide to leave by a slightly different direction. After another couple minutes we stumbled upon a large rock with a small plaque on it. Long story short, we were in the totally wrong area and then had to start our envisioning once more.

Yesterday, Brad and I were sitting by the Pons’ pool when Jono Pons came out with Coca-Cola in hand and decided to have a bit of a chat. We excitedly discussed our findings and envisioning experience with Jono who excitedly replied that our discovery was most fortuitous. He has wanted to do something with that location for years, but just hasn’t had the time or the vision to make the old garden a reality again. Jono told us that he would give us a team of workers with all the tools one would need, his connection to the countries indigenous horticulturist (with whom he is friends) and his account to the local indigenous nursery if we would provide some oversight of the project and our ‘landscaper’s eye’. For someone who loves nature and creating in nature, how can you turn that offer down?! Needless to say, I’ll have something to occupy my time for a while.

On the counseling front, Grace and I found out that many of the government agencies have been without telephone and computer access for the same amount of time we have been without, about 1 ½ weeks; so our paperwork is still waiting to be finalized, but we have been assured that our skills and time will be needed. So we wait! I think God wanted to teach me some more patience, so that’s why He sent me to Swaziland!

To keep you up to date with Brad and Grace’s work with some of the students at the school; Grace has taken on two teenagers to tutor in English while Brad still has the class of 7^th graders (which ranges from ages 12 to 21… yeah, weird I know) that he will continue to teach math and science to into the school season.

At the last, we bought a Volkswagen Golf Wagon on Tuesday and should be receiving that on Tuesday the 7^th around 3pm. That will be really handy as we have been walking about 10km (6.6 miles) roundtrip each day to go to the school, internet, and grocery store and back to the B&B.

We hope you are all well as we have been feeling the pangs of not hearing your voices and seeing your faces for nearly 1 ½ months now, but we are healthy, happy, and full of purpose during these days.

Ben