Your Hosts:

Jonathan and Helen Pons have been in Swaziland since 1998, when they moved to an ancestral farm. They have 4 children.

Jonathan is a South African trained Doctor committed to rural health. Since 1986, he has worked in various mission hospitals in Kwa Zulu Natal and until recently, was Superintendent of Bethesda Hospital, Northern KZN. He is an ophthalmic surgeon and heads an ambitious project in Swaziland that aims to prevent avoidable blindness. His project is part funded by CBM, an international charity and he sees about 7000 people a year at various sites within Swaziland. He operates at the local mission hospital, Good Shepherd Hospital where near 500 blind receive their sight each year. As a volunteer surgeon, he is partly supported by various charities and the hospital. He also helps manage the small farm with the help of a manager.

Helen home schools 3 of the children and manages the sales of milk, cream and maize from the farm shop. They are both active Christians in the local church. Hobbies include horse riding ,flying and bird watching.

History: In the 1930's, Helen's grandfather, Carl Todd was influential in setting up Swaziland's sugar industry as well as being intimately involved with Swaziland's independence from Britain and in drafting her constitution. He was a Senator under the late King Sobhuza's reign. Mabuda farm at Siteki has been farmed for near to 100 years and since Siteki was a regional government centre above the malaria zone, it once attracted many ex-patriot farmers and colonial administrators. The town has seen its fortunes decline since those colonial days but is home to 20 000 people and a wonderful climate. It is still malaria free.

Farm history:

Mabuda House was built by Sam Evans, Chairman of Crown Mines in Johannesburg, in the early 1930's. The foundations of an earlier building behind the big bamboos in the back yard suggest that the property had probably been farmed for sometime before that - possibly for 100 years. It might have been one of the many small farms around Stegi (as it was spelled until 1968) farmed by Europeans since the 1890's. Since Siteki was a regional government centre above the malaria zone, it once attracted many ex-patriot farmers and colonial administrators. The town has seen its fortunes decline since those colonial days but is home to 20 000 people and has a wonderful climate. It remains Malaria free.

Mabuda House is reputed to have been designed and built by an architect who never saw the site. It was built by Italian stonemasons, who came specially from Italy to do the job. They quarried the stone from a rhyolite outcrop near the vlei some 100m west of the dairy. It appears that each building bloc was cut individually to specifications. the quality of the workmanship is amazing and much admired and remarked upon by visitors.

Carl Todd (Helen's grandfather) acquired Mabuda in 1939. He was influential in setting up Swaziland's sugar industry as well as being intimately involved with Swaziland's independence from Britain and in drafting her constitution. He was a Senator during the late King Sobhuza's reign.

Jonathan and Helen Pons moved to Mabuda in April 1998 with their 4 children and, for the first time since it was built, Mabuda House is permanently occupied by a family.

We believe that "Mabuda" means "the Place of Dreams" although this has never been verified by a reputable authority.