One of the projects that has been born out of my trip came from a wonderful experience I had with Staussa’s host mom, Ms. Ellen Matsenjwa. She took us to a recycling center to a women’s cooperative where the women are making jewelry out of recycled magazines and newspapers. I bought a couple of items and have had so many compliments on the jewelry. One of the needs, Ms. Matsenjwa pointed out was that especially in the Nkwalini community where the health center was built that clean water was still a major need.   

I discovered this Swedish company that makes solar-powered water purification units and thought that would be a wonderful fundraising goal for Nkwalini. To raise money to buy these solar-powered water purification units and by selling the jewelry being made from Swaziland. I promised I’d check out some hotels and boutiques for the women’s cooperative that might be interested in their jewelry and have had a couple of strong candidates.

It definitely gave me a chance to assess the country and the projects that I want to pursue personally and for my magazine.

I wanted to share the links with you for the magazine Summer/Fall 2013 issue which features HRH Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini of Swaziland and also the photo story I did featuring the Fort Worth Sister Cities Mbabane delegation. Please feel free to share it with everyone.

    Read the full article in Zaji Girl Magazine

     

A couple of the kids wanted me to feature their photographs in the magazine. I didn’t get opportunity to do that with this issue, but I was thinking we could put together a mini mag with their experiences and give them a chance to share their Swaziland adventure and continue with a global community service project back at home.

I really enjoyed my time in Swaziland and will definitely head back soon.

Thanks again.