Tribute to Gugu wami

Today is the memorial and all night vigil for my closest Swazi friend, Gugu Dlamini "Goo-goo Slah-mee-knee". Tomorrow before dawn she will be buried. I have been to burials before but this will be my first all night vigil. It will take place at the husband's parents homestead and will be outside under a tent all night (it should be nice and cold--remember we are heading into winter here). It is part of the mourning process here in Swaziland. We will sing, people will preach, we will sing, preach, sing, preach, etc. until just before dawn when Gugu will be laid to rest. Unlike the US (burial being before the sun rises is also unlike the US) we will not only have a short service by the grave but we will lower and bury the coffin, shoveling spadefuls of dirt on and packing it down every so often. It is a hard but a meaningful time.

I affectionately called her Gugu wami "goo-goo wah-me" (my Gugu). She is the Swazi friend who gave me my Siswati name; Nomathemba Dlamini "No-mah-tim-bah Slah-mee-knee" It means "You bring hope". She would call out "my Noma" when she needed me in the office. Most call me Make Sandra (momma Sandra) but I was always Nomathemba to my precious Gugu.

Gugu had a way of making you feel at home and loved from the first moment you met her. She gave great hugs and could always made me laugh even when I was in a bad mood.

She was God's hands and feet. Gugu's life was not easy by any means but she never let you know that. Even on really bad days, she would bring joy and love to the office.

This past Monday, the office staff met to share and mourn and rejoice Gugu's life. It was unanimous that the one word that we would use to describe Gugu was LOVE. No one ever spent any amount of time with Gugu and did not feel cherished. She was the heart of the office. We joked that you could not even go to the kitchen to get tea or to the restroom without passing Gugu's office door and getting a big smile! If we could just love on people half as well as she did. She was absolutely God's hands and feet!!!

She is survived by her father, her husband and 3 beautiful daughters, Khetsiwe "Ket-see-way" (far left), Noncedo "Known-tay-dow" (eldest and in front of Gugu) and Sethu "Set-too" (next to me) who are pictured below at Roger and Mary's engagement party 18 months ago.

1 John 3:18 says "Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions." Gugu wami, you showed us well!!! I love you and miss you and look forward to dancing with you in the presence of the King for all eternity!!!!!