Alvina – my Swazi mother

Here in Nsoko there is a
weekly women’s meeting, Beauty from the Ashes. I don’t remember all of the
women that I met the first time but I have a distinct memory of Alvina. She had
just come from working in the fields and was wearing rubber boots, sweatpants
under a knee length skirt, a long sleeve shirt, scarf, and a large straw hat.
Have I mentioned how hot it is here? She was so quiet that first day, probably
unsure of how we would react to her, and if we would judge her in any sort of
way. And she stole my heart then and there.

A few weeks later we visited
her and her daughter Faith. Faith is a beautiful, lively 26 year old woman who talked
with us about everything from politics to explaining parts of the Swazi culture.
Again Alvina was pretty quiet that day except when she pulled out her bible and
began to read, telling us that she had been praying for us everyday. She told
us that she had been praying for our parents back home while we are so far away
and that the Lord would be preparing good husbands for us. Alvina is mother
through and through.

Since then we have seen her
almost every week at Beauty from the Ashes and at church. Alvina tells us
constantly that we teach her by how we treat others. At nearly every meeting
she thanks us for accepting everyone for who they are and not judging anyone
regardless of how they are dressed or how little money they have. It breaks my
heart to realize that she probably says this for a reason and many people may
have judged her in the past.

I call her my Swazi mother
really because she asked me to. When it comes to the older woman’s group we
don’t exactly know what to call everyone, Sisi (sister), Make (mother –
pronounced “maga”), or Gogo (grandmother). The women range in age from their mid
30’s to their early 60’s. Alvina is almost 60 – exactly my mom’s age.
The first few meetings I called all of the women Sisi. Each time I said it in
passing to Alvina though, she leaned over and softly corrected me, asking me to
call her “maga”, once I realized what she was saying I happily obliged.

 A few weeks ago at the meeting we asked her to
lead us in a siSwati song; she shyly smiled and tried to hide behind the paper
in her hands. But when we asked again she began to sing with a splendor that
can not be described in words. It wasn’t necessarily the beauty of her voice,
or even the words she used (she was singing in siSwati after all so we could
only understand a few of them), it was the heart behind the singing that could
simply be felt beyond bounds of language. As the other women joined in, it made
you want to just close your eyes and soak in the love and appreciation that was
being poured out to the Lord. There are few people in the world that I would
say this about but Alvina is one that just has a beautiful soul and I see it
every time I am in her presence.