Umsebenti (Work)

I have some good news- they found a real teacher for the 4th grade! That takes so much stress off of me- and what's best is that I'll still be teaching religious education- my favorite subject! So I don't have to leave my kids completely, but I have a lot less work to do. The rest of the time I'll be doing reception in the office. I'm very happy with this arrangement - I'll have a lot more time to focus on Baha'i activities like my junior youth group.

I really love it here! The people are great, expecially my fellow volunteers. I've become very close to them. Emmanuel, Thobile, Nomsa and Margaret have become my adopted family - I don't know if I could survive without them!

People here are incredibly hospitable and polite. In fact, there are a lot of things I have had to learn in order to be socially acceptable. When shaking hands, you have to offer your right hand and grab your right elbow with your left hand. When offering something, you have to do the same, and it's better to use both hands than just your right hand alone. It's very rude to eat in front of someone else, but before you give food to others, you have to taste it yourself. There are a lot of little rituals like that, but I'm catching on. My SiSwati is also slowly coming along. Very slowly. I can catch a few words here and there and sometimes I can vaguely understand a conversation between my limited vocabulary and their scattered English phrases. It's always interesting when someone calls the reception desk and speaks SiSwati and I have to kind of guess what they need. If I'm really lost then I can always ask for English.

The Baha'i community is relatively big (1000 Baha'is out of 1 million people) but most are scattered throughout the countryside and don't have transport for feast, Sunday school, Ruhi study circles, etc. It's unfortunate because it makes community-building difficult, but despite this the Baha'is have a visible effect on the country. Thanks to the schools and individual Baha'is who help the country, most people at least know the name "Baha'i" even if they know nothing else.

My primary activities here deal with junior youth and youth. I'm helping a junior youth group in my cluster to get going, but it's a bit difficult. The group of 6 is very quiet and shy to put forward ideas for service and activities. I think this might be a result of the Swazi culture which constantly tells children to be "seen and not heard." My roommate Thobile and I have had some ideas to get the youth in our cluster excited about service, but we have to present them to the Youth Committee before we can pursue any action. We're hoping to have a weekend retreat to study the Writings and start some service projects which can then be sustained by a weekly youth group. There are a lot of Baha'i youth and youth who are friends of the Faith, but it seems like their activities have fallen off recently, so Thobile and I are excited to get them started again.

The fast started 2 March, like it does every year for Baha'is. Until 20 March, all Baha'is who are over 15, under 70, healthy, not pregnant or nursing, not traveling or doing heavy labor are supposed to fast from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset each day. I really enjoy fasting because it's a time of spiritual renewal, when I can remind myself that I am dependent on none other but God. Because I'm abstaining from bodily desires I'm able to concentrate on my spiritual needs, like prayer. In the Baha'i Writings it is said that while fasting, one's prayers are endowed with a special potency. Every morning I pray with my roommates, every day at break time I pray with my co-workers, and every evening I pray with all of the volunteers. We cook together and eat together before sunrise and after sunset. I feel like having that support system makes fasting much easier and intensifies the spiritual atmosphere.

Here is part of a beautiful prayer which I love:

O Lord, brighten Thou my face with the lights of Thy bestowals, light Thou mine eyes with beholding the signs of Thine all-subduing might; delight my heart with the glory of Thy knowledge that encompasseth all things, gladden Thou my soul with Thy soul-reviving tidings of great joy, O Thou King of this world and the Kingdom above, O Thou Lord of dominion and might, that I may spread abroad Thy signs and tokens, and proclaim Thy Cause, and promote Thy Teachings, and serve Thy Law, and exalt Thy Word.
-`Abdu'l-Baha`