Off to Swaziland

All of our skills training courses have ended, and we celebrated on Saturday with a graduation and braai (grill) afterwards. The sense of the pride and excitement when our students held their certificate for the first time caught me by surprise. It was a reminder to me of the differences in opportunities that exist between the U.S. and the townships in South Africa. See some of this energy in the video below and an inspiring speech at by Nelly Makhubela, a student in Nate’s web-design class.

Tuesday, we are leaving for Swaziland (a landlocked country inside SA) to help Allan’s friend, a community developer in Bulembu. Bulembu was an abandoned mining town until 2006, when a team of entrepreneurs and social developers purchased the town to give it life again. They are on a quest to restore the town to a self-sustaining community using its rich natural resources and the spirit of the Swazi people. Go to Bulembu’s Website to see a video highlighting the landscape, people, and their vision. Since community development is pretty much my calling in life, I’m pumped to see it in action. We will return on December 18th, and I will try to provide an update around that time.

Powerhouse Graduation from Nathan Clendenin on Vimeo.