30.07.2013
Rathfarnham Parish Team Gets to Work in Swaziland – The Rector Reports
BY Ted Woods
Rathfarnham Parish (Dublin) continued its active overseas involvement in practical mission projects by sending a parish team to Swaziland from July 6 to 19. The team of 22 was led by Rathfarnham clergy, the Revds Ted Woods and Anne Taylor, and the team of volunteers ranged in age from 16 to 70.
There were three aims in the project. The first was the repair and redecoration of as many classrooms as possible in Usuthu Mission School, Luyengo. And by the end of the period seven refurbished classrooms were handed back to the teachers and pupils to their delight and absolute amazement. By coincidence, one of the colours chosen for the classrooms was ‘Irish Spring’.
The other two aims of the project were to interact and share of skills with teachers and pupils, and to sponsor the building of a new kitchen for the school.
Members of the team worked alongside class teachers each morning and brought new ideas to the classes, particularly in the area of arts and crafts and games. Swazi children were fascinated to hear about Ireland and its way of life as were the Irish about Swazi customs.
The pupils in Usuthu Mission School number nearly 600 and are given a mid–day dish of mealy. This is cooked in three cauldrons under a wood fire. The pots are inside the building while the fire is lit under them from the outside. The heat generated cracks the bricks and plaster in time and kitchen walls separating the fire outside from the kitchen inside can disintegrate, as they had done in Usuthu.
Rathfarnham Parish were pleased to be able to sponsor the building of a new kitchen and even help in the mixing of cement and the carrying of blocks.
The team stayed in the Thokoza Anglican Centre in Mbabane, and had hired a mininbus and driver to take them on the 45 minute journey to and from the school each day, as well as an outing to Hlane Safari Park.
For the Rathfarnham team it was a particular joy to be working in one of the schools in the parish of the Ven Bheki Magongo who visited Ireland in 2011 and preached in Rathfarnham Church.
On the final day the new kitchen was blessed by the Bishop of Swaziland, the Rt Revd Ellinah Wamukoya, and the whole school put on a superb and colourful farewell ceremony of music and dance to say farewell to their new friends from Ireland.
The project was undertaken in conjunction with Us Ireland (formerly USPG) who arranged flights, accommodation and transport for the team. Us also organised the building of the new kitchen. Extra baggage allowance was also negotiated so that the team could bring out bags of children’s clothes to be distributed at feeding stations and a pencil case for every child from the school.
It was a memorable visit to a very beautiful country. In Debra Daly’s book, ‘The kingdom of Roses and Thorns’ a portrayal of the lives of five women in Swaziland, she says, “You will travel to Africa somehow believing that you will change it. But Africa will change you. It will capture your heart and keep a piece of your soul. You will always be drawn back to the beauty and mystique that is Africa.”
And that is certainly the experience of the Rathfarnham Parish team.
Photo captions:
Top – Rathfarnham Parish Swaziland Team.
Second – The team interacts with pupils.
Third – Building the kitchen.
Bottom – The Bishop of Swaziland at the closing ceremony.