They walk miles in their dark gray dresses or tan uniform with black shoes. They bring a large stick for firewood that will be used for cooking their lunch. They gather to sing praise songs and pray before the start of their day. These are the students from Mkhuzweni Primary School. These are the children that have stolen my heart. They are full of laughter, eager to learn, and in need of love.

I met my students and the two first grade teachers on Tuesday. My first biggest challenge was learning their names. Notando, Hlobisile, and Sihle are the easiest in the group while Nkosingiphile, Siphiwayinkhosi, and Ntsetselelo are a little more difficult. Thank goodness for the two in my class whose names are Mary and Vincent! I quickly fell into the routine of dishing out pop and beans for lunch, monitoring yard clean up, and responding to "teacha" or "Ms. Thandeka". I will be teaching English in both first grade classrooms every day and Science in one of the classes two times a week. They don't have electricity, children's books, or resources but they do have energy, determination, and sweet smiles.

Children are children whether in Swaziland or the U.S. but some things are very different. Their only form of discipline is a swat on the hand or back with a stick. On Fridays the students scrub the floor and put polish on it. They pray, sing praise songs, and have religious education. They raise their hand by doing the "swazi snap" (as I like to call it) and yell "teacha, yes, teacha". The girls must shave their heads and cannot wear any jewelry. They call an eraser, "rubber". I love all of these differences and know I will miss these seemingly 

strange things one day. For now, I'm just soaking up every minute of it.

The top picture is a few of my first graders before school. This one is a view of the two first grade classrooms.