{"id":290,"date":"2009-07-14T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/?p=290"},"modified":"2010-02-02T21:10:43","modified_gmt":"2010-02-03T03:10:43","slug":"the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/07\/14\/the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kingdom of Swaziland (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is the third post in a series on the decision Beth and I have made concerning a long-term move to Africa.\u00a0 In the <a href=\"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/07\/11\/the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-1\/\">first post<\/a> I detailed how the process started and in the <a href=\"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/07\/12\/the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-2\/\">second post<\/a> I walked through the specifics of the nation we are strongly considering: Swaziland.\u00a0 This post will cover the whys and whats.<\/p>\n<p>Most people are considerate enough to assume we have a reason for going there, so the most frequent question has been &#8220;What will you do there?&#8221;\u00a0 In fact, in one conversation I had with an Embassy employee, I was told after explaining our plans that &#8220;No one just comes to Swaziland.&#8221;\u00a0 Well, we are hoping that is hyperbole.<\/p>\n<p>The most honest answer to the question of what will we do is quite simply &#8220;we don&#8217;t know yet.&#8221;\u00a0 It isn&#8217;t that we are planning on moving our family 9000 miles away with no plan, but instead, we don&#8217;t want to rush our decisions.\u00a0 We don&#8217;t want to align with an organization without first knowing the impact (positive or negative) they are having.\u00a0 We don&#8217;t want to commit to helping with AIDS victims if we would be better suited to work in the educational system.\u00a0 We don&#8217;t want to live in Manzini if we would be a better fit in the eastern plains.\u00a0 (you get the picture).\u00a0 So right now we are being very intention about our research.\u00a0 We are getting to know the groups currently there, and what opportunities may be there for us.\u00a0 We are speaking with both Americans and Swazi citizens about the needs and resources.\u00a0 We are investigating job opportunities in the public, private, government and non-governmental sectors.\u00a0 We are looking at faith-based and secular openings.\u00a0 Here are a few things we may consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I may apply for work at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uniswa.sz\/\">University of Swaziland<\/a> teaching Theology and Religion at the University of Swaziland.<\/li>\n<li>Beth may try to work in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.sz\/home.asp?pid=57\">Ministry of Education<\/a> to put her special education training to work.<\/li>\n<li>We both may work in an orphanage working with orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC).<\/li>\n<li>We may work with an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cango.org.sz\/\">NGO <\/a>doing AIDS prevention and education.<\/li>\n<li>I may work in the private sector doing web development while Beth volunteers in the community.<\/li>\n<li>We may join the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peacecorps.gov\/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.africa.swaziland\">Peace Corp<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>We may work as &#8220;missionaries&#8221; with any number of faith based groups in the country.<\/li>\n<li>We may figure out these are not the opportunities \/ needs of the country and do something like<a href=\"http:\/\/www.swazibusiness.com\/swazisugar\/\"> sugar cane harvesting<\/a>&#8230; who knows!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I realize that does not answer the &#8220;what&#8221; question, but I hope you understand our motives.\u00a0 I fear too many people decide what needs to be done without ever stepping foot in the country or assessing the impact of their decisions.\u00a0 That is why we are planning a trip there next summer to serve as the capstone of our state-side research.<\/p>\n<p>Now, let me comment a bit on the why of our decision.\u00a0 The most straight-forward answer is this: we want to experience life outside the United States in a setting that forces us to reexamine our lives.\u00a0 (so yes, you could say our motivation is primarily selfish).\u00a0 Despite the fact Beth and I have spent the last 2-3 years trying to simplify our lives and work towards making the world a better place, it is so easy to get caught in the rat race of life and forget there are things larger than us.\u00a0 As Rob Bell as put it, &#8220;one of the greatest dangers of life is assuming our world is the world!&#8221;\u00a0 Put another way, it is easy to get caught up in things that don&#8217;t matter when most of the world is struggling to survive.\u00a0 (Let us not forget <em><strong>every day<\/strong><\/em> 30,000 children die of hunger of preventable diseases, while Americans alone throw away 25% of our edible food.)<\/p>\n<p>I was reminded of this tonight while watching Schindler&#8217;s list.\u00a0 At the end of the movie, after the war has ended and the Jews have been freed, everyone there is greatful for the fact that Schindler has saved over 1,000 Jews and he can only weep and wonder about how much more he could have done.\u00a0 He breaks down when he realizes the gold pin he is wearing could have been used to save one additional life, or his car could have saved 10 more.\u00a0 He says &#8220;why did I keep the car&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here is the clip:<\/p>\n<p><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/lPHvLtitxug&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/lPHvLtitxug&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>We have realized that the questions we ask, and the issues we care about are directly related to our surroundings.\u00a0 Our goal is not to go somewhere to &#8220;fix&#8221; things, but rather to be in a place where we are concerned with the things of more significance than what we eat or what we will wear.<\/p>\n<p>The experiencing of living in a country life Swaziland is more than just something Beth and I want to go through.\u00a0 We want Mikayla&#8217;s formative years to occur in a society where the day to day struggles are litterally a matter of life and death, yet where community is something much deeper than who you hang out with when you are not holed up in a comfy suburban home with 1000 channels, a maid and a wardrobe of clothes you never where because they are out of style.<\/p>\n<p>Will it be tough?\u00a0 I am sure it will be.\u00a0 Will we miss our friends and family?\u00a0 Absolutely?\u00a0 Will we regret it, or encounter problems beyond what we expected? Perhaps.\u00a0 But, do we feel this is something we must do?\u00a0 Without doubt.<\/p>\n<p>As for a finish&#8230; we are looking at returning in 2019 or 2020.\u00a0 That would be the year Mikayla would start Middle school. Our rationale is this: we want her to get the best education possible so she can do whatever she wants with her life.\u00a0 At the same time, we want to return to the US, because we feel this nation has the resources &#8212; both financial and individual &#8212; to change the course of the world.<\/p>\n<p>As you can tell, we still have a lot to figure out, but I am excited about the direction we are heading.<\/p>\n<p>To wrap things up, I want to give you a few blog links of people who are in Swaziland:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swazihipster.blogspot.com\/\">A Hipster&#8217;s Adventures in Swaziland<\/a> &#8211; a researcher on the Swazi judicial system &#8211; he does a good job at commenting on the &#8220;real world&#8221; in Swaziland.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mfomfo.wordpress.com\/\">Mfomfo&#8217;s Blog<\/a>&#8211; regular commentary on the shortcomings of the Swazi government.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swazisecrets.wordpress.com\/\">Swazi Secrets \u2013 Blog<\/a> &#8211; Entrepreneurs who are trying to make a living selling nuts and oils<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scottinswaziland.blogspot.com\/\">Scott in Swaziland <\/a>&#8211; Medical worker<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/davidinswaziland.blogspot.com\/\">David in Swaziland<\/a> &#8211; Another medical worker<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/hardcorpsswaziland.blogspot.com\/\">Hard Corps &#8211; Swaziland<\/a>&#8211; Peace Corp Worker addressing AIDS issues<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/patrickconti.blogspot.com\/\">Straight from Swaziland<\/a> &#8211; Christian missionary<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/cabrini-ministries-swaziland.blogspot.com\/\">Cabrini Ministries in Swaziland<\/a> &#8211; Roman Catholic Mission in Swaziland<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>See Also:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/07\/11\/the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-1\/\">Kingdom of Swaziland Part I &#8211; Decision to Move<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/07\/12\/the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-2\/\">Kingdom of Swaziland Part II &#8211; Background on the country<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the third post in a series on the decision Beth and I have made concerning a long-term move to Africa.\u00a0 In the first post I detailed how the process started and in the second post I walked through the specifics of the nation we are strongly considering: Swaziland.\u00a0 This post will cover the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,140,21],"tags":[142,108,148,92,149,49,762],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-swaziland","category-thoughts","tag-africa","tag-beth","tag-jobs","tag-mikayla","tag-plans","tag-questions","tag-swaziland"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}