I cycled past a Hippo on Sunday
The last few days have been crazy crazy crazy. I worked all Saturday and then rewarded myself with a cycle ride around Mlilwane park on Sunday. We literally cycled past hippo snorting in the lake, a crocodile eating a zebra in the same lake, lots and lots of zebra and other wildebeest deer like things and I have yet to find in my little book. It was beautiful.
Monday and yesterday were spent preparing and hold out own private media circus. The TV cameras came, the papers came and we did the speeches and the drama. Unfortunately my 'brilliant' ideas about tying up HIV never actually happened as the drama group had better and more culturally appropriate ones. It was great actually. The crowd were laughing and the non nutritionists were able to tell me the main messages - good nutrition with ARVs can help slow the progression of HIV.
We made it into the paper! Like I have commented before - most days are slow news days in Swaziland and so the opening of a project is major news. Apparently we are going to have a double page every day this week and a feature supplement. (??!!) It was also a great opportunity for the donors to visit the communities and get a real feel for the project. Now at least they can out a name to a face. They met with Sister Diane and Sister Barbara, who run the Cabrini Mission, one of our major partners, and were subject to a mass of information on the reality of living in the rural areas of Swaziland. They described one of their staff who has lost 5 close family members in the past year, a sister and a daughter and a mother, friend's husband brother in law. She finds herself as the person responsible for her family. How can she cope with this massive grief and responsibility for all these people at the same time? She is 22.
Our cook/cleaner/fantastic helper outer person on our staff, has the day off today as she has to pick up her granddaughter from her maternal grandparents house. They cannot take care of the child for some reason, and her son has died and the mother of her granddaughter has left. She is going to take care of her and pay her school fees etc. She is already taking care of her sister, who is 8 years old. Before her father died, he 'fell in love' again and had another child. Now he is dead, as is the mother of the child. Both children are 8 years old. She is joking that she has twins now, having already brought up her own family.
This is an area of controversy in Swaziland as many donors want the people to work for the aid - good idea in theory, so as to avoid dependency and expectation and also to encourage empowerment and dignity. In practice, many of the people who are left taking care of the children are old. They have already raised families of 9, 10, 11 children and asked for no help the first time. Now they are old and arthritic and tired and their responsibilites continue. Maybe in these cases it's OK just to give some food or means to get clean water and not expect anything back. Maybe it's a human right that they have been denied through no fault of their own. One of the Sisters asked the EU representative, "Would you expect your Granny to do manual labour in order to feed 15 of her grandchildren as her children have all died?" Good question Sister.
Swaziland has the second highest disparity of wealth distribution in Africa, behind Angola.
Monday and yesterday were spent preparing and hold out own private media circus. The TV cameras came, the papers came and we did the speeches and the drama. Unfortunately my 'brilliant' ideas about tying up HIV never actually happened as the drama group had better and more culturally appropriate ones. It was great actually. The crowd were laughing and the non nutritionists were able to tell me the main messages - good nutrition with ARVs can help slow the progression of HIV.
We made it into the paper! Like I have commented before - most days are slow news days in Swaziland and so the opening of a project is major news. Apparently we are going to have a double page every day this week and a feature supplement. (??!!) It was also a great opportunity for the donors to visit the communities and get a real feel for the project. Now at least they can out a name to a face. They met with Sister Diane and Sister Barbara, who run the Cabrini Mission, one of our major partners, and were subject to a mass of information on the reality of living in the rural areas of Swaziland. They described one of their staff who has lost 5 close family members in the past year, a sister and a daughter and a mother, friend's husband brother in law. She finds herself as the person responsible for her family. How can she cope with this massive grief and responsibility for all these people at the same time? She is 22.
Our cook/cleaner/fantastic helper outer person on our staff, has the day off today as she has to pick up her granddaughter from her maternal grandparents house. They cannot take care of the child for some reason, and her son has died and the mother of her granddaughter has left. She is going to take care of her and pay her school fees etc. She is already taking care of her sister, who is 8 years old. Before her father died, he 'fell in love' again and had another child. Now he is dead, as is the mother of the child. Both children are 8 years old. She is joking that she has twins now, having already brought up her own family.
This is an area of controversy in Swaziland as many donors want the people to work for the aid - good idea in theory, so as to avoid dependency and expectation and also to encourage empowerment and dignity. In practice, many of the people who are left taking care of the children are old. They have already raised families of 9, 10, 11 children and asked for no help the first time. Now they are old and arthritic and tired and their responsibilites continue. Maybe in these cases it's OK just to give some food or means to get clean water and not expect anything back. Maybe it's a human right that they have been denied through no fault of their own. One of the Sisters asked the EU representative, "Would you expect your Granny to do manual labour in order to feed 15 of her grandchildren as her children have all died?" Good question Sister.
Swaziland has the second highest disparity of wealth distribution in Africa, behind Angola.
posted by KeiraCiara at
08:27
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