My Top 5 Peace Corps Memories

It was suggested to me that I do a reflective post on my service thus far. I don’t really spend enough time on this, and this post was a pleasure to write. Looking back to seek out and re-experience the best moments of my service was a wonderful exercise. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 memories of my Peace Corps service to date.

5. Cooking Dinner for Nombuso

Nombuso, my best friend, has had me over to her homestead countless times. She always serves me a “snack” (read: heaping plate of food that would feed 2 Americans for a large meal) of rice, beets, chicken stew, and cabbage. She is an excellent cook, and somehow I always manage to clear my plate. Proof positive that I’m integrating! One evening, I cooked for her.

I visited another PCV (Pam) for a World AIDS Day fair in Siteki, which was conveniently where all the fair volunteers (including Nombuso) were staying. Pam and I spent the evening preparing chicken breaded with French’s fried onions, Kraft macaroni and cheese, and steamed broccoli. For dessert, we made chocolate no bakes. I think she liked the American food itself, but she loved that we cooked for her. She might have reassured us that she liked it about 75 too many times to be entirely convincing, but she gamely ate every bite. Food is a gesture of love universally, and I think it is always well-received.

4. Watching G12 Swear In

When I, a member of the 11^th group of Volunteers to arrive in Swaziland (G11), took my oath, I felt like I was a part of something special. I had just come off of 9 weeks of intensive and challenging and busy training. I was used to seeing Americans every day, I was comfortable with siSwati, I felt like I had a good handle on my projects, and I was ready for the downtime that everyone promised would come during integration, the 3-month period of observation when we move to our permanent sites. I felt like I had seen and done and experienced so much, and now I was officially achieving a dream: being sworn in as a member of the United States Peace Corps.

What followed was, by far, the most challenging year of my life. I have never been so sick, bored, lonely, cold, hot, challenged, or incompetent. I was terrified and stressed. However, it was also one of the best years of my life. I made a Swazi best friend, I learned how resilient I can be, I did projects that were meaningful and fulfilling, I found my place in a wonderful new community and host family, and I learned how to be happy.

When I swore in, I thought I understood what that oath meant. After completing a year of service, listening to the same oath had a totally different meaning. The words were powerful, and knowing what the members of G12 were about to undergo made them feel even more so. Looking back and how far I had come and what I had learned with the members of my group made the oath very, very special.

The oath is as follows:

“I, AB, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

3. Peeling Beets

On World AIDS Day, Nombuso invited me to a fair that she had helped to plan in Siteki. That was all she told me, and that was all I knew.

Turns out, we were on cooking duty, which had to prepare meals for 3,000 people. We started working at maybe 3pm the night before and worked until midnight. We started to feel loopy and giggly as we worked and the night progressed. Our hands were stained bright red from peeling beets, which you do after they have been boiled. Some of them had been boiled minutes before, and we learned really quickly (and the hard way) not to touch those.

The men, as men are wont to do, were sitting and talking while we scrambled to get the work done. One young guy was urging us to work faster and flirting. We told him that if he wants to talk to us, then he too must peel beets, because this is the beet peeling table.

I have never seen a man grab a beet so fast. It was so funny. It ended up being a lot of fun and pleasant conversation. We started cooking at 4am the next morning, and all 4 of us still had red hands.

2. Seeing Photos of My Library

I wrote a post quite some time ago about how freaking hard starting a library is. When I was moved to a new community, I left my library in disarray. Only half the books were numbered and had labels on the spines and checkout cards glued in. they were still in boxes. I handed the printed register to the librarian and that was the last I heard of it.

This is my library the last time I saw it. When I get new photos from Nombuso, I'll post them.

Nombuso and I meet up frequently, and one day she showed me photos of the library she had taken on her phone. I almost cried.

They finished it. They unpacked those boxes, put a spine label on every book, glued a checkout card in every book, numbered every book, and entered it into the register by hand. They did it. The library is open, students are reading, and I have photographic evidence that I created a sustainable project.

There are many moments here where we each question whether we are making a difference, or if anything we do will live past our departure. I am lucky enough to know the answers to those questions before the end of my service, and I will forever admire the work of my old library team.

1. Nombuso’s Graduation and Big Announcement

Nombuso earned a certificate in psychosocial support through the University of Swaziland through distance learning, which is where you commute for the weekends for class. For 2 years, she went 3 hours each way to take her classes. I helped edit her papers, which were thoughtfully written and rewritten by hand, quite painstakingly. She took her learning and did trainings all over the community, unpaid, because she wanted to see the children properly cared for. Nombuso is amazing. She also has a 5 year old son and a husband who works out of the community, so he’s never able to be around.

She invited me to attend her graduation. I met her parents, her husband (who is absolutely hilarious and utterly smitten with her), and her wild little son (he’s 5). I watched her walk and greet the King. She was so proud, and her parents were so proud of her. Her husband asked me if I would give him a present. I asked him why I would do that. He said that he was the real winner here today, because he convinced the most beautiful and smart woman in Swaziland to marry him. He then kissed her on the cheek while she squirmed away and looked embarrassed. It was sweet and funny.

Nombuso and her husband

She then told me that she was enrolling in a program for a Bachelor’s degree in social work. She said that, through the sales of jam, honey, and atchar, which we learned to make in one of our projects, she has raised and saved enough money to cover the tuition. She held my hand, thanked me profusely, and hugged me. She told me that now, all her dreams are coming true.

Nombuso has been a defining character in my Peace Corps service, and a true friend. Most of my top memories include her, and I suspect will continue to include her for my final 6 months here. Whitney M. Young, Jr. once said, “The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self.” Nombuso, the Swazi people, and many Peace Corps experiences have given me every bit of my newfound nobility. 

Nombuso's parents, Nombuso, me, and her son, Snethemba

A Beginner's Guide to siSwati

Most of us, if we have any experience with any language other than English, are used to Romance or Germanic languages. Bantu languages are utterly unlike those languages, and I’m hoping to introduce you to the basic history and structure of siSwati to demonstrate some of those differences.

A Little Bit of Background

The Bantu language family includes four major language groups: Nguni, Sotho, Tsonga, and Venda. The Nguni group includes two subgroups: Zunda and Tekela. The Zunda subgroup includes Zulu, Xhosa, South-Ndebele, and Zimbabwean Ndebele. The Tekela subgroup includes siSwati, Sumayela Ndebele, Lala, Nhlangwini, Phuthi, and Bhaca. Any language in the Nguni group can be understood fairly easily by a speaker of any other language in that group. For example, I spoke siSwati in a Zulu-speaking region of South Africa, and pretty much everyone understood me. I know that listing all those languages seems a bit unnecessary, but I really want to drive home the point that there are 12 million people that speak an Nguni language, and most of us have never heard of most of those languages. That’s a lot of people to ignore!

There is some tension between Swazis and Zulus relating to language. The z is a letter and sound in isiZulu, so speakers of siSwati try very hard not to use words with a z in them. When I first came to Swaziland my host family was Zulu immigrants and they named me Maswazi. My second host family, also Zulu, decided that that wasn’t feminine enough, so they changed it to Lomaswazi. My current host family is proud to be Swazi, and they changed my name to Temaswati. Zulus and English speakers say that the language here is Swazi and the country is Swaziland, but Swazis say that they speak siSwati and live in eSwatini. The Zulu king and King Mswati III are actually very close, united by the need to protect their traditional cultures, but the Zulu and Swazi people have a more complicated relationship.

Finally, it is worth noting that English is the official language of instruction in Swazi schools and all government functions, speeches, and publications (except by the king) are given in English. This has led to a divide between those who have completed school and those who haven’t, and it has also introduced some interesting new vocabulary words and slang. I’ll go more into those later, but for now, a good example is the slang for mom and dad: li-oledi (lee-ol-lady) and li-oltimah (lee-ol-timer).

Sounds

Most of the sounds here are similar to what you’d expect in English. Some of the most notable differences, however, are that k is pronounced like g and on all the c’s and x’s there is a click. The kh is pronounced like a k. T is pronounced like d and th is pronounced like t; similarly, ph is pronounced like p. Many of the sounds are nasally pronounced, like ng, ngi, nkhw, ntjw, and ndlw. It takes a lot of practice and is all very confusing.

How Nouns Work

Nouns are divided into noun classes.

Class	Singular Prefix	Plural Prefix	Examples
1	Umu-/um-	Ba-/be-/b-	Umuntfu (person), banftu (people) Umfati (woman), bafati (women)
1a	U- (sometimes)	Bo-	Gogo (grandmother), bogogo Mkhulu (grandfather), bomkhulu Thishela (teacher), bothishela Dokotela (doctor), bodokotela
2	Umu-	Imi-	Umuti (home), imiti Umfula (river), imifula
3	Li-	Ema-	Likati (cat), emakati Lijezi (jersey), emajezi Liawa (hour), ema-awa
4	Si-/s-	Ti-/tin-	Sinkhwa (bread), tinkwha Sihlahla (tree), tihlahla
5	In-	Ti-/tin-	Imbuti (goat), timbuti Inja (dog), tinja Indlu (house), tindlu
6	Lu-/lw-	Tin-	Lukhuni (firewood), tinkhuni Luphondvo (horn), tinphondvo
7	Bu-	None	Buhle (beauty) Bunandzi (enjoyment)
8	Ku-	None	Kudla (food) Kufa (death)

All verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and objects depend on these noun classes. It’s complicated, but we’ll get through it. Nouns are not masculine or feminine, like they are in the Romance languages. It’s a unique structure. Also, as we’ll see, alliteration is a rule and not a fun literary tool in siSwati.

How Verbs Work

First, you need a subject concord to define who is doing the action. Infinitive verbs start with ku-. For first person, you can replace the ku- with ngi- (me) or si- (us). For second person, u- (you) or ni- (you all). For third person, u- (him/her/it) or ba- (they).

I’ll conjugate a verb to demonstrate. Since I love doing it, let’s go with sleep: kulala. I sleep is ngilala, we sleep is silala, you sleep is ulala, you all sleep is nilala, he sleeps is ulala, and they sleep is balala.

In siSwati, that’s all grammatically incorrect. You have to have something after the verb. I can say ngilala kakhulu, which is I sleep a lot. If I don’t want to add something, I have to say ngiyalala.

There aren’t that many tenses, so let’s look at those quickly. I’ll conjugate ngilala throughout.

Tense	English	siSwati
Simple Present	I sleep	Ngilala
Long Present	I am sleeping	Ngiyalala
Present Progressive	I’m still sleeping	Ngisalala
Immediate Past	I slept	Ngilale
	I slept	Ngilalile
	I was sleeping	Bengilala
Remote Past	I slept a long time ago	Ngalala
Immediate Future	I will sleep	Ngitawulala
	I will sleep	Ngitakulala
	I am going to sleep	Ngiyolala
Remote Future	I will sleep in a long time	Ngiyawulala

Confused? Me too. Don’t worry, this is a very complicated language.

How Possessives, Adjectives, and Relatives Work

Possessive Concords

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
1	Wa-	Ba-
1a	Wa-	Ba-
2	Wa-	Ya-
3	La-	A-
4	Sa-	Ta-
5	Ya-	Ta-
6	Lwa-	Ta-
7	Ba-
8	Kwa-

Possessive Stems

First person	-mi	-itfu
Second person	-kho	-inu
Third person	-khe	-bo

First, find the concord. Let’s talk about my dog. Dog is inja, and that’s noun class 5. Since it’s my dog, it’s a first person possessive stem. So my dog is inja yami. My dogs are tinja tami. Our dogs are tinja tetfu. See what I meant about alliteration above? There must always be agreement. My rabbits – bologwaja bami. His table – litafula lebo. Your food – kudla kukho. This gets even more fun with adjectives.

Adjective Concords

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
1	Lomu-	Laba-
2	Lomu-	Lemi-
3	Leli-	Lama-
4	Lesi-	Letin-
5	Len-	Letin-
6	Lolu-	Letin-
7	Lobu-
8	Loku-

Adjectival Stems

siSwati	English
-khulu	Big or old
-ncane	Small or little
-dze	Tall
-fisha	Short
-hle	Beautiful
-sha	New
-nye	One
-bili	Two
-tsatfu	Three
-ne	Four
-hlanu	Five
-nengi	Many or too much

To make an adjective, find the noun you want to describe and then pick a stem. Say I want to say that my two brothers are tall. Bobhuti bami lababili labadze (literally, brothers mine two tall). My rabbit is small. Logwaja wami lomuncane (rabbit my big). His three dogs are old. Tinja tabo letintsatfu letinkhulu (dogs his three old).

Relative Concords

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
1	Lo-	Laba-
2	Lo-	Le-
3	Leli-	La-
4	Lesi-	Leti-
5	Le-	Leti-
6	Lolu-	Leti-
7	Lobu-
8	Loku-

Relative Stems

siSwati	English
-mnyama	Black
-bovu	Red
-bhidzi	Brown
-mhlope	White
-luhlata	Green
-luhlata sasibhakabhaka	Blue (literally translates to “green sky”)
-bubendze	Maroon
-mtfubi	Yellow

Same deal as with adjectives, but these only apply to colors the way I use them. My vocabulary isn’t all that advanced, so I’m doing my best. Let’s do another sentence! My three old dogs are brown. Tinja tami letintsatfu letinkhulu letibhizi (dogs mine three old brown).

Verbal Extensions

I really try with siSwati, but this is a challenging language. I just made simple sentences. What about a composition? What about if I say that I gave you three old brown dogs last week? Then we’d need to get into verbal extensions. English uses prepositions and linking verbs, but siSwati does not. This is where verbal extensions come in. I’m not going to get too into this, but also keep in mind that each extension has its own tense, and this table is just in the present tense.

Name	Use	Example
The passive extension	An action has been done to someone	To give: kupha, add -iw- or -w- Inja phiwa inyama. – The dog was given meat.
The intensive extension	Something is done intensely	To wash: kugeza, add -isis- Ugezisisa tandla. – You thoroughly wash your hands.
The diminutive extension	Something is done a little	To eat: kudla, add -y- Bayidla inyama. – They eat a little meat. To sleep: kulala, repeat the stem Ngilalalala kushisha. – I sleep a little when it’s hot.
The neuter	Used to express “able”	To write: kubhala, add -ek- Lo ubhaleka. – It can be written easily.
The reciprocal	The subjects are doing an action to each other	To like: kutsandza, add -an- Make na babe batsandzana. – Mom and dad like each other.
The causative	Something is causing an action to happen	To learn: kufundza, add -is- Thishela ufundzisa mine. – The teacher causes me to learn.
The applied	Someone is performing an action for someone else	To speak: khuluma, add -el- Ngikhulumela make wami. – I speak on behalf of my mother.

I haven’t covered how to make a negative of a normal verb, and then there’s a way to make a negative out of each verbal extension, and a negative for each verb tense. Then there are pronouns, conjunctions, words to express time, and a whole bunch of vocabulary. Since this is intended to be a basic introduction, and I’m wearing out, I think I’ve said about all I can say.

Borrowed Words and Slang

English has crept into siSwati in some interesting ways. Some of these words are slang, and some are intended for everyday use.

siSwati Word	Phonetic Pronunciation	English Word
Umthoyi	Oom-toy-ee	Toilet
Impompi	Eem- pomp-ee	Pump
Ipheni	Ee-pen-ee	Pen
Liphepa	Lee-pay-per	Paper
Li-oledi	Lee-ol-lay-dee	Old lady (Slang for mother)
Li-timah	Lee-ol-time-ah	Old Timer (Slang for father)

You can also speak siSwenglish. If you add i- or ema- to the start of any word, it magically becomes siSwati. I was asking a man to pass me my water bottle when we had moved seats at a table. I kept asking and he kept staring and doing nothing. Finally, I asked for i-water bottle, and he immediately handed it to me. My host make also asked me if I had any music by the ema-Rolling Stones.

Although siSwati is a challenging language, I have enjoyed learning it. Hopefully this little introduction illustrates the complexity and unique structure. If there are any questions, or you want to know how to say something, hit me up! I’ll do my best to get you a translation.