Swaziland is a place that has such a rustic beauty and is steeped in tradition.  An African Kingdom, the people here hold on to their way of life, their music and their dance and they enjoy being able to share this with those who come looking.  One of the first things we did was visit a traditional Swaziland village.  This is what a lot of people would actually think about when you think 'Africa'.  Huts arranged in a tribal manner, dirt underfoot, and men walking around in tribal wear.  Our guide gave us the rundown on why things were arranged the way they were and filled us in on the customs and traditions practiced there as well.    When I asked about what made him happy, he answered immediately, "Respect."  You could see by the traditions that guided their lives that their society revolved a lot around respect.  He told me that with young people, they are starting to lose respect for their elders and it gave him joy to be able to teach, and pass on, the value of respect to those that come behind him.  Later, we visited a local school and talked to some students who gave us their point of view.  

We came to this High School in Swaziland to meet the students: you should have seen how crazy they went when we asked them to show us their joy, their happiness. Everyone started laughing, screaming and just genuinely smiling. High School happiness that's a good thing to remember!

A lot of them love music, and friends but they also mentioned their traditions were very strong on the list of the things that made them happy and they even showed us a few dances.  One of the high school girls in particular mentioned that one of her favorite things was the yearly dance that was held in honor of the king. This dance, by the way, is a dance that only virgins can attend, both male and female.  This single dance was the very reason why she abstains every year.  I thought this to be a worthy aspiration with a very worthy result.