Orphanage visit, part 1

On Saturday, September 27, I probably should have stuck around on campus to take photos of the king, who as university chancellor would be attending the graduation ceremonies. Instead I opted to get off campus to avoid the traffic and heightened security from that event.

I headed into Mbabane early – about 8:30 – and met Laura for breakfast at the mall. Then we both drove back to her house, where we left her car, and finally set out towards Piggs Peak to visit a children’s home called Al Saddai??? (sounds Muslim; I don’t know why, as it’s an unabashedly Christian establishment). It was my turn to play driver, as Laura had ferried me around for weeks before I got my car (the previous weekend). Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very well, probably from something I ate or drank, but I agreed to drive anyway. Once on the road, I did not feel better; instead, I began to channel the likes of my infamous Uncle Buster (or any old-school male driver in the family, for that matter). I became fixated on getting to the destination, and seemed completely incapable of making any stop for any reason. We passed numerous gorgeous views, but did I stop – heck no! I had to get there, dammit – so I could get back, of course. Once we exited the freeway, the road was tarred but narrow (sometimes shoulderless, really) and was littered with the usual array of pedestrians, livestock and slow-moving vehicles like logging trucks. So, the conditions really demanded complete attention, but I still could have pulled over now and then. I’m sure that would have helped me de-stress a bit.

I think it took about an hour and a half to get to Piggs Peak, at which point the directions Laura had been given became less than clear. We stopped at a hardware store then at the police station for directions. Then Laura finally called Margie, a woman who volunteers at the orphanage and who invited us there. She clarified the directions, and it turned out we’d overshot the turnoff a bit (but not as much as I frustratedly thought at first). We headed back and found the road to Maguga dam and drove over that (another lovely photo op ignored…) then drove on a bit more to find a dirt road that would supposedly lead us right to the orphanage. That road was awful (but I’ve already described it, so nevermind). We did take one wrong turn on the dirt road before finally winding our way to the top of the mountain. Finally we were met by a flock of children who ran before us to the gate and opened it. At last we were in!