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! TRIP DIARY OCTOBER 2012! logo here VISIT TO SWAZILAND BISHOP TREVOR WILLIAMS (LEFT) AND MICHAEL HANNA & SALTERS STERLING (ABOVE) ALL FROM THE DIOCESES OF LIMERICK & KILLALOE THE JOURNEY TO SWAZILAND. Arriving in Johannesburg about 10am, other drivers and discovered that St We left Dublin on Friday afternoon on we proceeded to pick up our hired cars Engenas Zion Christian Church were a flight to Heathrow. Our connection and drive to Swaziland. The journey holding a special service that weekend, went smoothly and late in the evening takes 4 to 5 hours, but there is a and thousands were expected to we departed London for Johannesburg. strategically placed coffee shop, Milly’s, attend. This church preaches a to break the long drive. Crossing the prosperity gospel. We discovered that Our traveling party consisted of Jan & border, with paperwork on both sides St Engenas was alive and expected to I, the Bishop of Limerick & Killaloe, usually takes an hour. attend. Five hours later we drove into Trevor Williams, and Michael Hanna and Swaziland. Salters Sterling also of that diocese. We drove over the last hill before Our main purpose was to visit the farm Oshoek and were greeted with the We were very glad to see Frances and at Luyengo which is the Limerick & sight of thousands of cars queueing at dinner at Brackenhill Lodge, our base Killaloe diocesan mission project. the border. We got out and chatted to for our stay. Sunday 14th October ALL SAINTS’ CATHEDRAL Bishop Trevor had been invited by Fr Advent Dlamini to preach at the 8am English language service of Holy Communion in All Saints’ Cathedral in Mbabane. (This is the second service - the first is at 6.30am.) We received a very warm welcome; the sharing of the peace took a very long time, and Michael and Salters joined heartily in the singing. After church hot-dogs and boerenworst were being sold to raise funds for parish development. We met some old friends and made some useful new contacts, and Jan met another Nederlander. ST MATTHIAS’ EZULWINI One church service wasn’t enough for us! At the invitation of Mandla, USPGI’s Swazi volunteer, we headed for Ezulwini, where we arrived at St Matthias’ during the second reading. This was a very different Eucharist. The music was provided by the young people of the parish, and the very energetic preaching by the Revd Mandla Bhembe, a self- supporting priest and curate. He admitted to being a little anxious about having a visiting bishop in the congregation! Afterwards there was time to chat with Nola Nixon from Tandragee who lives next door. Nola is in Swaziland as part of USPG’s Experience Exchange programme, and is teaching English in primary schools. MLILWANE GAME PARK With no time in the programme for a visit to a game park, we decided to drive through Ezulwini valley to Mlilwane Game Park for lunch. Driving through too quickly, we still managed to spot wildebeest, gazelle and a warthog. In the lake by the cafe a crocodile was on the move. After lunch, Jan went to meet his new Dutch contact, and the rest of us had an informal meeting with the Diocesan Finance Committee to keep everyone up-to-date with progress on Luyengo Farm. SUPPER WITH BISHOP-ELECT We were delighted to spend the evening with Revd Ellinah Wamukoya. She will be consecrated as the first woman bishop in the Anglican Church in Africa on 17th November. Please pray for Ellinah as she embarks upon this new phase of her ministry. Monday 15th October ANGLICAN SCHOOL PRINCIPALS MEETING An early start to be in Thokoza, the diocesan centre, by 8.30am to prepare for a meeting with Anglican School principals and deputies starting at 9.15am. This meeting was a follow-up to their meeting in July and our visits to all 26 schools. The day started with a short act of worship and once again the singing was magnificent. Archdeacon Bheki Magongo led the worship and the singing. Bishop Trevor spoke about Church Schools in Ireland, and why we want to keep them. He suggested that a definition of “ethos” would be helpful. As some teachers had set off very early in the morning from remote schools, we had a break for tea and sandwiches at 11am. After this teachers took part in four workshops, based on the topics which had arisen at the previous meeting: Unity; Anglican identity; Children; Teachers. The workshops resulted in many worthwhile proposals which will form part of the report on the meeting. The report will be shared with the diocese and the schools. The day ended with lunch. VISIT TO LUYENGO FARM The visit to Luyengo Farm was the main purpose of the visit by the delegation from Limerick & Killaloe Dioceses. We were very pleased that Bishop-Elect Ellinah was able to join us. We were welcomed by Tiekie de Beer and Robert Atwell of Luyengo Fresh Produce, and given a guided tour of the 14 acres of the farm which are already under cultivation. We were able to walk over the land and see the cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, maize, tomatoes, and baby marrows. We saw the site of the proposed dam, and the area earmarked for expansion. The plan is that within the next few weeks USPG Ireland will purchase a 50% stake in Luyengo Fresh Produce on behalf of the Diocese of Swaziland. This would not have been possible without the support of the Dioceses of Limerick & Killaloe. We were pleased to have Salters Sterling and Michael Hanna with us to share their considerable knowledge with Tiekie and Robert. We were also delighted to be able to deliver vital car parts for the Tata vehicles, thanks to the ongoing generosity of Donnelly Brothers of Dungannon, Northern Ireland. Tuesday 16th BISHOP TREVOR, SALTERS & MICHAEL With Mandla driving the red Tata, and packed lunches provided by Brackenhill Lodge, the Limerick & Killaloe team headed off to visit the south-east part of the country. The people of this area are very poor, and there is often drought here. The children are small and malnourished. Many, many families rely on Neighbourhood Care Points. Fr Gregory Makhubu’s parish covers a large area around Hlangano, and two of his Care points were visited: Mpandesane and Matsanjeni. (First stop the wholesaler in Hlangano for supplies for both places.) There was also time for a quick visit to Mpandesane Primary School. JAN & LINDA I enjoyed a morning at school. On the invitation of Margaret Mahlalela, principal of St Francis’ Primary School, I accompanied Nola to her two Grade Five classes, each with over 60 children. The students each selected a book from among Nola’s treasures, and obviously enjoyed reading them very much. As books were finished, they were exchanged for another. Nola moved around the class, encouraging and helping. As the hour came to an end each pupil was asked to tell something about the book they had read. In the afternoon we visited the offices of the solicitor dealing with the shareholders’ agreement for Luyengo Farm, and in the evening we met with the Diocesan Trust Board, to hear them pass the required resolution to progress the farm project. Wednesday 17th October BISHOP TREVOR, MICHAEL & SALTERS Again in the capable care of Mandla, the men headed north to visit Sandra Dlamini, a volunteer with the Home-Based Care Programme. Sandra is married with five children, but still finds time to visit and care for the sick and dying in her community. The team had the opportunity to visit some homesteads with Sandra. They also brought gifts of soap, gloves and nappies - always in short supply, and vital for family members caring for HIV positive relatives. After a brief visit to the pre-school at Nkhaba, they proceeded to visit St Paul’s Anglican Primary School. The school has 588 pupils and 17 teachers. Principal, Josephine Khumalo, reports that 60% of children walk for more than 30 minutes to school, and 75% show signs of malnutrition. A visit to the Agriculture Department of the University of Swaziland was followed by two tourist stops: Swazi Candles and Ngwenya Glass Factory. JAN & LINDA We were delighted to spend time this morning with Archdeacon Bheki Magongo, who remains the main point of contact in the diocese for USPGI and other partners. Later in the morning we held a meeting with the directors of Luyengo Fresh Produce. Once again the aim is to progress the farm project, and to have all the paperwork completed by the time of Bishop-Elect Ellinah’s consecration in November. Midday saw us in the University of Swaziland, introducing Tiekie de Beer of Luyengo Fresh Produce to Dr William Mukabwe, a lecturer in the Agriculture Dept and a parishioner of All Saints’ Cathedral, Mbabane. Michael & Salters visited later and met more members of the department for more detailed discussions about the possible areas of cooperation between the University and Luyengo Farm. Afternoon, and a meeting with our Swazi accountants about Luyengo Farm We all met with Mandla and Nola for our last evening. THURSDAY 18TH OCTOBER Great excitement this morning as we met Abraham Gama (principal) and Mina Mkhwanazi (teacher) at Ingwempisana Anglican Primary School. They were on their way to spend a week in Rossorry Parish, Enniskillen, which has a link with Ingwempisana. Fourteen people from Rossorry visited Ingwempisana in July 2012. and transformed an unused store room into a school library. Abraham and Mina had never been in an airport or on a plane, and hadn’t slept for days with excitement. Thankfully the border crossing was quiet and straightforward today.

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