My African Host Dad

It is difficult to explain the impact Bongani Dlamini and his family have had on my life.

Rachael and I each stayed with the Dlamini family in Mbabane, Eswatini, during separate Fort Worth Sister Cities International exchanges. Our visits happened two years apart, before we really knew one another. Discovering that we shared the same African host family became instrumental in our friendship.

The relationship continued growing. When Rachael and I married, Bongani and his wife officiated our wedding.

That sequence of events sounds almost impossible when reduced to a few sentences: two international exchanges, one generous host family, a friendship, and eventually a wedding. Yet this is exactly why host-family experiences matter. They create connections no itinerary could predict.

Living briefly in another person’s home offers a different form of cultural learning. Visitors encounter routines, conversations, celebrations, and family dynamics that do not appear in guidebooks. Hosts also gain a personal connection to a community and country that may have felt distant.

Over time, the categories begin to change. Hosts become friends. Friends become family. A program that was scheduled for a few days produces a relationship measured in decades.

There are countless stories with roots in Sister Cities International exchanges. Many will never become public stories, but they demonstrate the same principle: people-to-people experiences can redirect lives.

Seeing Bongani in Austin brought all of that history back at once. I remain grateful that his family opened their home, and even more grateful that they continued opening their lives to us.

Citizen diplomacy is sometimes described through partnerships and programs. For me, it also looks like an African host dad who became part of our family.