WE ARE VOLUNTEERS--AND YOU'RE NOT

At the end of training, we took our ‘finals’, said good-bye to our host families and moved back to the Lutheran Farmer Training Center for logistical reasons. After intense training, we found a little slack time while preparing for our permanent move, for the first time in—we couldn’t remember. I ran.

On September 23, we were bused to a public hall in Piggs Peak for our swearing in ceremony. I wore a tie and sport coat for the one occasion PC said I would need them for during our 27 months. There were chiefs, ministers, PC staff, Presidents of organizations, the U.S. Ambassador to SD, and the Prime Minister of Swaziland, and the press. The ceremony began when the Prime Minister arrived.

The President of NERCHA spoke. A couple of days earlier, a Prince had denied all modern methods of controlling HIV and said bathing is the answer. In Dr. von Wissell’s speech, he said, “If you don’t know about modern science, you should not say anything”. The Times of Swaziland quoted him under a banner headline saying “SHUT UP”, and then left out the word ‘not’, turning the meaning of the sentence totally 180 degrees.

The Ambassador and the Prime Minister each spoke (the Prime Minister in siSwati and then again doing his own translation into English). The Prime Minister had two uniformed assistants attending him. One served as a guard in military uniform, the other had a few additional ornaments in his uniform and it was his job to pull the P.M.’s chair out from behind when he stood, and place his notes on the lecturn, etc. Every time he assisted in this manner, he would step back and give a snappy Monty Python-type salute. The oath was administered by Ambassador Irving, we got our certificates and shook hands with each, and posed for pictures which were printed in the Times of Swaziland and the Swazi Observer (p.4).

The next day, we were bused to mBabane in order to familiarize ourselves with the PC office and staff and a chance to do some shopping in the big city. Bonus: We saw the bright lights of the big city, were allowed to go out after dark, and even went out on the town to celebrate our “passage”.