There are children everywhere in Swaziland. They are like children through out the world and love to have their picture taken and then be shown the results. Mothers and Gogos take good care of them and you can tell they are well loved.  Walking is about the only way most people have of getting anywhere, so children are taught at a very young age to walk long distances by themselves. Therefore it is not unusal to see children that look very young walking along a dirt road by themselves or in small groups in what seems like the middle of nothing.

Just to keep things honest, these are pictures of the grounds of the restaurant we went to on Saturday night. It is in the middle of a botanical gardens and there is water everywhere. Also there are statues of animals around the water. Since we have had not yet had an opportunity to go through a nature preserve, this is about as close to African animals as we have gotten so far. We also had a very nice dinner.

Saturday morning Bill went out with the elders to a service project for a member. We cut back some of the jungle of grass that surrounded her homestead. The bush knife I am using is not the right instrument for this. Elder Eddy is using what is known here as a slasher. It is basically a thin strap of steel that is bent about 7 inches from the end. When sharp – and they hardly ever are and used properly – something I am still trying to learn – they cut the tough grasses fairly well. However a basic manual weedwhip with serrated edges would cut much faster. Of course the best thing is a powerful gas operated whip with metal cutters would be even better. Both are much too expensive for most people here so it is a slasher and a lot of muscles that gets grass cut.

At the same homestead we found a large metal grain grinder that has been in use since it was bolted to a metal post in they yard some 33 years ago. Elder Eddy volunteered to grind a hopper of sorghum for the sister. We all thought this would be an easy task for us three elders. How wrong we were about that. It took a good 15-20 minutes with us working in shifts to get it ground.

It was great to be able to serve in a different way. I am going to suggest they teach basic slashing techniques to all missionaries – including senior couples – who are going to South Africa.