Christmas in Bulembu

Sharon Singleton (whom I met at the UNICEF workshop) invited me to spend Christmas visiting Bulembu, which is a tiny, semi-abandoned town outside of Piggs Peak. Sharon's sister Zanela works at an orphanage there, and for the last few years, two other sisters and Sharon have met there to visit and to help out a bit. I was happy to have an invite, as my trip to Burundi over the holidays had been cancelled at the last minute. Plus, I liked the idea of doing something to help some of the many orphaned or disadvantaged children in Swaziland.

Around 1 pm on December 24, I picked up Sharon and three young girls (Sharon's 8-year-old daughter Shemine; her cousin's orphaned 11-year-old daughter Lindelwa, who also lives with Sharon; and 15-year-old Hloniphile, whose current guardian had just died and who had no place to stay over the holidays – she may end up a long-term ward of Sharon's as well). I hadn't expected three girls so had overpacked my own belongings to an embarrassing degree; plus, we also ended up transporting bags for Sharon's sisters who were taking public transport. We crammed everything into the trunk and onto the girls' laps and headed out.

The drive to Piggs Peak took a little more than an hour, with another half hour or so of gravel road to Bulembu. Driving through the countryside, I was struck by its similarity to Bosnia – the road winds over and around hill after rock-strewn hill, with terraced farms and forests interspersed. Of course, here one sees round thatched huts and small shacks of wattle and dab construction; in Bosnia, tall cement block structures, relieved by the occasional crumbling medieval fort, are the norm. The last mile was the worst – that section of road had once been tarred but is now just a patchwork of potholes. Once in the village, we met up with Zanela, who gave us keys to the house we would stay in. It was quite a large house and we filled it with three adults and five children (my car-full plus Sharon's sister May and her two children). Sometimes, more girls stayed as well, as Zanela and Pearl (the other sister) have two each. The only boy child
present was May's 15-month-old, Ziggy, who either was not feeling well most of the time or just likes to cry a lot (especially at night). The house was OK although not well equipped (no towels and inadequate cooking utensils); plus there were daily battles against the kitchen cockroach population.

Pictures attached to this entry include one of the outside of the house we rented, a shot of Sharon cooking in the kitchen, a view of the gravel road and scenery from the drive into Bulembu, and a distant shot of some of the many identical and mostly-deserted company houses left over from the mine.