Cloudy again but not much rain.

The New Year has brought lots of new clouds, some quite threatening but unfortunately no new rain. It has been overcast for nearly two weeks now with only one day of rain thrown in. It is really frustrating to see all of these dark bulbous clouds yet not to have them produce any percipitation. I think that last day that it rained on was my birthday. The crops and fields really respond well to the rain. Some of the corn is well over two feet tall now and looking quite healthy but much more rain is needed for a sucessful crop. It appears that most all families plant crops, everyone plants corn and others also plant potatoes, carrots, lettuce, beets and so on. Most homesteads have some space to plant even if it is a very small lot, say 10 by 20 feet. From what I can gather that this is their main food source. I am not sure how they store the crops once harvested, I believe that the corn is dried and turned into a powder to be stored.
We (the Home Based Care team) supply the patients we see with whatever food is available. Generally, they receive a 5 kg pack of mealy meal, which is powdered corn. Also we distribute corn soya blend (sidonono) which is a complete food source (protein, carbs, fat, fiber, vitamins and other nutrients)this is supplied by the World Food Program and is a product of Japan. Additionally, we have milk (they receive 2 liters if we have it and yes it spoils almost immediately given the heat but the Swazis have taken a liking to spoiled milk, I tried it this last week and found it very difficult to swallow) and Meal Packs (2 kg of beans, 1 kg of peanuts, 500 g of salt and 500 g of sugar) only patients on ARV's get these and it is only one pack per homestead regardless of how many people are living there, it can range from 1 to 30 people per homestead. The meal packs and mealy meal are donated by a gentleman in Britian, anonymously. There use to be bleach (to help to purify the water) and cooking oil but the prices of the food has gone up so they have been cut back. Unfortunately, without the bleach there has been evidence of more diarrhea and parasites in the patients which is most debilitating. It appears that most of the very young children die from dehydration secondary to the diarrhea. Basically, during our home visits we have to make an on-the-spot assessment of the level of poverty of the patient and then give them the food. It appears to me that 99% of them need us to just go ahead and empty the contents of the entire truck for them and be on our way. Obviously, we cannot do that so frequently we have to deny the patients request for food. Then there are the people who see our truck and just come up asking for food, which may be even more painful since at most we can give them a small amount of mealy meal or some milk. Last week these four children came up to the truck while we were parked seeing another patient. The oldest was an 11 year old girl with her three younger siblings. They were talking with one of the other nurses in Siswati while I was assessing another patient. The nurse asked me to give them some corn soya, mealy meal and milk, which I was happy to do but found it a bit unusual to be able to be so generous with the food. Quickly, I greeted the children (I had my camera so I took a couple of pictures of them) and gave them the food and a piece of candy that I bring with me daily to distrube to the kids. As we were packing up to move onto the next patient I asked about the young girl and the little kids with her. I was told that they were orphans, both parents had died (the father within the last week or so) and that they had come up begging for food. I couldn't believe that we just continued to get back into the truck and drive off as they disappeared into the bush. I asked who was going to care for them and the response was that the neighbors would check in on them but that they would have to live on their own. I really cannot understand how this can be and the thought of these poor grieving children living on their own, so vulnerable and weak has been very haunting for me ever since. I am hoping that we will be able to find them next month when we are back in that area again and find someone or an organization to assist them.
Many of the mission programs are trying to provide care to orphans, housing and schooling but it can be very difficult to get them connected in a timely manner with the children. I really have been quite impressed at how many religious organization provide humanitarian relief to the people here, it appears that most other organizations have pulled out of Swaziland. At home, often we do not see all the good that our local church is doing or other parishes in the area. It has been very evident here to see how people live out their faith and belief in God, in very concrete and compassionate ways.
I am in the process of compiling a price list of the corn soya, mealy meal, bleach, oil and meal packs for those of you that are interested. As I look at the situation here, the HIV/AIDS, TB, opportunistic infections, lack of water etc., my mind races from one to another, considering the options and what to do and where our help would be most beneficial. Some days it is more medications, other days more food and others more water and so on. I certainly do not have any answers but I know that there is more that can be done, figuring out what and acting on it is the obvious challenge. I am going to try and post some photos on this site soon so that you can have some visuals, the children are especially beautiful and endearing.
Please take care.
Peace,
Scott