By Fr Zweli Ngwenya
I used to hear about her but I was never interested in her story. I saw her and I fell in love. This love made me to be even more interested in her story. The more Iwas interested in her story the more I was inspired by her.
I love Rome, I am more interested in her story, and yes I love the eternal city. Love is a mystery because even in the midst of pain and frustrations one continues to love.
Just imagine the pain of spending more than ten months not seeing your family and your loved ones, of not speaking your language, of missing a typical Swazi dish, of studying in a foreign language. Do you think that this is a curse? Not at all, in fact it is a blessing because I, myself, have often taken for granted the feelings of the many foreigners living in my country. I just wonder how they fell when they are made to attend Mass in siSwati or English and yet they do not fully understand those languages. Anyways that is not the matter here.
Dear friends, studying the language and the culture of the Italian people has made me to fall more and more in love with both the language and the culture of the Swazi people. How I wish this beautiful language can be preserved and developed. Every day I ask myself: as a Swazi what have I done to preserve and to develop the language of my fore-fathers? The honest answer is that I have done nothing but I promise you that the next time I write I will write in SiSwati.
Besides the love of the language and the culture I have also developed a good sense of history. I now truly believe in the saying: ‘if you do not know where you are coming from, you can never know where you are going.’ I am greatly inspired by the many museums, the ancient buildings and monuments found all over the city of Rome not counting those outstanding ones found inside the Vatican State. The Vatican, which is the smallest state in the world, with a population of less than one thousand people, is home to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every day. All because of its beauty, both physical and spiritual. In fact I should have started by making you know that I am staying in Italy but I am studying in the Vatican. For those who do not know, Italy and the Vatican are two independent states. I would like to believe that the Vatican is the richest country in the world when it comes to art. It is home to the famous St. Peter’s Basilica which was built in the 16th century and yet still remains not only the most beautiful but also the tallest building in the Vatican and probably the tallest in Rome.
Nine labatsandzekako eNkhosini, nginibonga ngalokungachazeki ngemithandazo yenu lenihlala njalo niyetfula kuSomandla ngenca yami. Nami ngihlala nginithandazela njalo. Asichubekeni sithandaze kuMdali wetintfo tonkhe kutsi achubeke asilondvolote, alondvolote libandla lakhe, kanye nesive sonkhe semaSwati.