All the King's Children #Swaziland

#Swaziland. Ever heard of it? My guess is probably not, unless you are intimately familiar with the geography of Southern Africa. The Kingdom of Swaziland is a small country located on the southern tip of Africa, and is landlocked by South Africa and Mozambique. This past weekend, I had the fortunate pleasure of visiting this beautiful country courtesy of SAP. I didn’t really have any preconceived notions about Swaziland before visiting, mostly because I didn’t know anything about the country. But I was able to do some brief research prior to my trip which I'd like to share with you.

 

The Kingdom of Swaziland has a population of approximately 1.4 million people and is ~120 miles north to south and 81 miles east to west. While the King and his wives (yes, plural) live a lavish lifestyle, most of the population lives on less than $2 a day. The Kingdom gained independence from the UK in 1968 and is currently ruled by King Mswati III who ascended the throne in 1986 after the death of his father King Sobhuza II. The average life expectancy is 43. 43! Why so young? Because Swaziland is ranked #1 in the world for percentage of adults living with HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that more than 30% of the people are infected. And as you might imagine, due to reporting inaccuracies, I’m sure that total is much higher.

"Imagine that you're 12 years old. Your father died five years ago. Two years ago, your mother got sick. You left school to help tend to her, and to care for your little brothers and sisters. You've tried to grow corn on your family land, but there's a drought and you haven't learned enough yet to be a good farmer. Now, your mother has died, too. In the midst of your grief and your fear for the future, questions keep you awake at night:

What will happen to us now? How will we live?
 

Unfortunately, those questions are the reality for more and more children in Swaziland as their parents die of AIDS. And sadly for some, they also have to face being HIV positive themselves.

 

There's an old saying that “there are no orphans in Africa.” With the tradition of the extended family, there was always someone to take in a child and care for her – an uncle, a cousin, even a neighbor. But the toll of AIDS is growing so heavy in Swaziland, that's no longer true. Families are losing more and more adults, so there are fewer left to care for the orphans left behind. The extended family structure is breaking down, and the children are the victims.

 

Because AIDS predominantly kills younger adults, in most cases orphan children are left in the care of grandparents, if they have them. On some homesteads, one gogo (“grandmother” in siSwati) has seen four or five of her children die and she must care for all her grandchildren alone. Unfortunately, this older generation is at the point where their own children should be helping them. Most are too old to work – if jobs were available. Many are even too old to tend the family fields and grow food.

 

The most unfortunate orphans are the children who don't have living relatives, or relatives who are willing or able to take them in. They have to care for themselves with no adult help, making them the most vulnerable. It's a sad fact that there are people who take advantage of their hunger and poverty, promising food and other presents in return for work and sex." Young Heroes allows kids to say “no” to this exploitation" and supports a real future.

 

YoungHeroes is an organization that was started a few years ago by a Peace Corp volunteer and is a local organization that SAP supports internationally. Young Heroes is also the reason behind our trip to Swaziland. More on YH shortly, but let me take a step back.

We piled into the vans leaving Johannesburg shortly before 6 a.m. with our driver Q behind the wheel. I tend to ask my drivers a lot of questions, so you’ll find that I’m sharing a lot of information that I pulled from Q along the way. It would be a 5 hours trip to Swaziland (including rest stops). We made a quick pit stop about an hour and a half into the trip. As we pulled in, Shahzia mentioned that she’d been to this gas station before and that it has rhinos. No seriously – rhinos. I have to paint the picture for you though because you’d never believe it if you didn’t see it with your own eyes. Pretend you’re driving through Iowa at the start of planting season. The John Deere tractors are tilling the fields, but the corn hasn’t started to grow yet.  There are cows everywhere eating their way through the rolling pastures. The sun is streaming in the windows highlighting the beautiful landscape.

 

Mixed between the planting fields, you're guaranteed to see a few things.
1) There are patches of tree stumps everywhere due to government mandated tree trimming. Our driver Q tells us that there are so many stumps because the government requires that they be cut down because they aren’t naturally found trees in South Africa. Some of the wood is sold in piles on the side of the road, but I’m not sure where the rest of them went .
2) There are hitch hikers everywhere. I’m not talking about hooligans looking for a free ride, but rather mothers, fathers, children, grandparents…the poor…looking for a ride home. Although he can’t say definitively, Q explains to us that these people are likely “going home” for the weekend.  They are likely field hands working for the farmers living in the shacks that cover the sides of the road. It’s a symbiotic relationship really. Gas is expensive and these people don’t have cars. Those with vehicles will stop and pick them up for a few Rand in exchange for a ride.

3) The small farming villages that pepper the side of the road depict utter rural poverty. 4 mismatched walls made of scrap metal or whatever seems to be lying around. Q tells us that the people likely work for the farmers because there is no other industry out in farm country. He said that they are likely paid with food and a small plot of land to have their home. At the end of every month they probably get a very small stipend for their work, but probably not much.

  

 

 

As quickly as we left the city and entered farm country, we left farm country and entered a beautiful mountainous region that connects eastern South Africa and Swaziland. We made it to the border around lunch time. Gang and I are immediately stopped by the police officer on the South African departure side and hassled for taking pictures. I know not to take pictures at border control in the airport, but it didn’t really dawn on me that I shouldn’t be taking pictures here. (Sorry Dad! I know I should know better.) After shuffling the 12 of us and 2 drivers through South Africa’s departure line, we pile back into the vans and cross the border into Swaziland where we have to get back out and get in line to enter the country.  Behind the bright yellow desk where the agents sat, was a picture of the king and one of his queens (note: there are official 12 wives to king swati). Success. 12 stamps later we are back in the car and at our hotel within minutes.

 

 

 

We stayed in Mbabane, Swaziland’s capital city and largest city. The landscape here looked like a mix of Austria meets Wine Country. We passed the Italian and the Mozambique embassy on the winding road that lead to our hotel, The Mountain View Inn. Although we were located at the top of the mountains, the heart of the city was nestled in the valley below. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the CEO of Young Heroes organization and his right-hand gal. They were going to be escorting us to a youth center in a village not far from the hotel. But before we could head to the kids, we had to stop and buy enough food to cook. With 2 carts brimming with packages of chicken, 2 huge bags of rice, salt & pepper, veggies, fruit, and sweets, we paid and headed off to the orphanage. Fun fact – in Swaziland you can pay with South African Rand but they’ll give you change in Swazi money which happens to be wavy J The cost of the food to feed 60 people split by the 12 of us? $140.

Back in the van and a few minutes down the road we arrived at the children's center. We drove through a big field and parked. The kids were scattered all over in various groups by age playing games. Their grandparents and guardians were seated receiving some sort of lecture in front of us. Remember when I told you about  the last orphanage I visited in ZA? Well it was a similar scenario. I had the sweets and the kids surrounded me looking for a treat. Some were crying because I couldn’t get to them fast enough. They were calling me “Teacher”. “Please teacher!” “Me Teacher” “Teacher here!” Their voices were excited yet frightened I might run out of sweets before I got to them.

Rohit took over cooking the chicken over an open fire in a witch-like caldron with help from some of the guys. Another group began washing the vegetables and cutting up fruit for snacks. I was on a mix of play duty and do whatever the group needs me to do duty. There is no running water and all of the ground water is pumped up through a hand crank. I gave the local guys a hand and took over some of the pumping. I was pretty proud because I outlasted some of the SAP guys. I’m pretty sure that

the local guys (seated behind me) couldn’t believe that I was helping pump. A couple words of wisdom – 1) if you had to pump your own water, you’d be a lot stingier with this precious resource. 2) if I had to pump my own water, I’d be very skinny.

The kids were screaming to me – “Teacher Shoot!!” which means they wanted me to take their picture. Cameras are not common in these poor villages and the kids don’t often get their photo taken. They

love posing for the photos and then seeing the outcome of the photos equally as much. I taught some of the kids how to make a heart with their hands – It was a way for me to communicate love to them and show in a symbol back to all of you how precious these kids are.

 

 

Like the center we visited in Kliptown, these kids come to the center before/after school and to get a meal. Most of them don’t eat at home. Most do not have both of their parents due to HIV/AIDS. 6 of them are orphaned and live at the center.  The leaders of the center estimate that probably 10-15% of the kids at the youth center have HIV or AIDS. They either got it from their parents at birth or got it taking care of their dying parents. Young Heroes was hosting a recruiting session at the Youth Center that day. Young Heroes provides financial support to families that take in orphans who have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS and helps to cover the cost of food and clothing for the children thus minimizing the risk that someone will turn the child away. They use centers like the one we were visiting as a way to give out the funds and make sure that the money is going to the kids and is being used for what it is supposed to be used for.

I love kids of all ages and can’t wait for John and I to have an army of our own (if you ask him, we’ll be having a rather small army ;) But there was one very special girl who touched me that I’d like to tell you about. Her name was Smile (pronounced Smee-lay).  

She said to me, you’ll never forget my mine because it is spelled like Smile in English. She was right. Smile is 13 and absolutely beautiful. She speaks fabulous English even though it’s not her first language. The girls were all gathered around playing “hand games” and I asked if they would teach me one. She bravely stepped forward and took me as a partner. Video coming soon.

 

Shortly thereafter dinner was ready. Nonnetu who heads up the center gathered the kids around and lined them up in 2 lines. Boys on one side and girls on the other. Smallest to tallest. We handed out the polo shirts that SAP sent ahead of time. The kids were thrilled with their new shirts. They ran to show off their shirts to their grandparents and other family members that happened to be sitting there. Then the kids lined up to pray and queued up again to get in line for their foot. Each bowl had rice, chicken, salad, and some orange drink.  

Click here to see the kids praying before they eat.

We ended up feeding more than 140 people off of the food we bought for 60. We ran out of plates, cups, forks , and just about everything you could think of. But they didn’t care, they just shared with one another.  Imagine feeding your children, your parents, their parents, your friends and asking someone to eat non-finger food with their fingers. In a word, humbling. I never thought I’d be thankful for having cutlery. The meal we served that day was likely the only meal they would receive that day, perhaps all weekend.

We took a team photo and we began saying our goodbyes. We hugged the kids – hugged them some more – and headed out before we all broke down into tears. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. 

 

 

I’m very proud to work for a company whose slogan is “Helping the World Run Better”. They don’t just talk about it but instead SAP really does try to make a difference around the world using both their financial and human capital resources.  I feel very grateful that I could be an agent of service through my company. To be continued.

Something new every day…