It has been a short work week but a full one just the same. Tuesday was most exciting with the departure of Bush and the advent of Obama. We celebrated the Obama innaugeration at the Siteki Hotel. It was broadcast live here in Swaziland and everyone I spoke to that has a TV watched along with the rest of the world. We gathered at the Siteki Hotel with about 30 other people from Good Shepherd Hospital. Many in attendance were wearing the Obama hats that we had brought from home and all were very excited to see the first Black American become our 44th President. There were many African countries respented at the gathering including the Congo, Eritrea, Swaziland and Uganda to name a few. Everyone had their own country's and personal interests in mind. Universally it is believed that Obama is the answer to all of the world's problems. Needless to say we spent a better part of the evening cautioning restraint in this belief and that change will come but it will take time and alot of patience. There was an article in the local Swazi paper the next morning that there had a been a cease fire in the fighting in the Congo, this was attributed to our new president by a reader from the Congo. In response to this optomism I responded that 'one can only hope'. It seemed best that it is better to let people believe what they will and continue to hope for miracles to come true. I must say that as we sat in the hotel lounge and had drinks, watched the innaugeration, cheered, laughed and cried with our coworkers, priest from the local parish and other friends that it was so gratifying to feel proud to represent America here in Swaziland and on the African continent. Yes, Africa is a continent and not just a single country (if anyone up in Alaska is reading along). Obama has truly made some significant changes already beginning with the world's preception of Americans and what is possible if you believe that dreams can come true.
Now that I have been here in Swaziland for nearly two months we have been seeing some of the same patients over again. We go to about 22different areas so now we are back at the beginning seeing some of the patients from last month and of course new patients as well. It is not uncommon to find out that several of the patients that we planned to see have now died. I am not familiar enough with the patients to know which ones died but I have been able to recognize some of them from last month. Although, I was so overwhelmed with all of the newness, suffering and unfamiliar territory that I do not remember as many patients as one might expect. As the past couple of weeks have progressed I am finding that I do remember more than I had the previous weeks. We went to Sitsatsaweni again, this is where I was traumatized by the young orphans, the 11 year old girl taking care of her three younger siblings. Unfortunately, I did not see them again but was assured by the RHM (Rural Health Motivator, a person in the community who helps keep track of the patients and assists with their care (occassionally) and encourages compliance with medications) that World Vision had taken over the primary care of the children and were providing food on a regular basis. We had the RHM bring them some milk to provide a little addtionation support. I will continue to try and follow up with these children over the next several months. The goal here in Swaziland is not to remove the orphans from their homesteads but to try and provide some support for them at home. There is financial support for schooling provided by the 'King's Fund', to help orphans to attend school but it is often not enough and very difficult to access.
This had been a stressful week for many here in Siteki and Swaziland in general. Schooling is not mandatory and in order to attend school children must pay school fees which often exceed what their partents make in a year, that is if they are able to find work and have an income. School fees go from anywhere from E2000 a year to E10,000 and often much more. Please note that the average daily income in Swaziland is about E6, that is certainly not enough to live on let alone afford school fees. Now, not everyone is that poor here and it is an average, 40% of the population has jobs, that leaves 60% unemployed with very little hope of finding work. Fees vary depending on the school, what year the child is in and if there is any financial support available. The financial support is very difficult to access especially for the very poor who need it most since the parents are often uneducated. I should probably say 'parent' since I have seen very few if any two parent homesteads, more often than not one parent is absent or more commonly has already died. The very poor children, most of whom I see when visiting the HBC patients do not start school until they are 10 years old if at all. I will be able to tell which children are in school starting on Tuesday becuause that is the first day of school here for the first trimester of the school year, so the children that remain at home will be those who cannot afford schooling. It is really a disgraceful situation that some basic schooling is not provided for all children but I will not eloborate on this point since I want to keep my visa.
Anyways, many mothers have spent this week looking around for money for school fees. They frequently come into the HBC office looking for assistance or through an organization called Young Heroes that David is working with, or any number of different avenues. It is not uncommon for those that work to help support other family members with their school fees or to assist orphans with theirs. Most all of the nurses I work with pay some school fees for children that are not their own. As well as support provided from the states through Friends of Good Shepherd and HBC, two very special people in New York City also provide an amazing amount of support for the children here, I will not name them but you know who you are. So it is not unexpected that word has gotten around that HBC does support as many children as they can therefore mothers come asking if we can help their children as well. It was common place to have a mother in the office this week sobbing because she could not afford the fees and requesting help.
While visiting our last patients on Friday afternoon, a homestead that I remember from last month we were presented an opportunity to provide some needed help.
David and I had been discussing that we wanted to help a child or two with their school fees or a family with food and financial support but had not started to do so because of all the adjusting we had been doing ourselves and having to pay a mortgage in New York because my apartment has not rented yet. I know that this story is going to sound somewhat, if not competely unbelieveable but here it goes. The homestead is headed by a Gogo (grandmother in Siswati), she cares for her son who is in his early thirties, paralyzed on one size probably from toxoplasmosis and therefore chairbound, has AIDS and is receiving ARV treatment. He was in the exact position where I had seen him the previous month, sitting in a chair in the doorway of the homestead looking outside with these big doe eyes and drooling up a storm. He is quite well cared for, very clean and fed but remains cachectic. Additionally, the gogo cares for her two orphaned grandchildren (their parents, the gogo's daugher and son-in-law both died of complications related to AIDS) Nosipho and Mancoba. I believe that Nosipho (the girl) is 14 yrs old and Mancoba is 11 yrs old, he is HIV positive and on ARV's, I am uncertain what the HIV status of Nosipho is. To make the whole situation even worse the gogo has AIDS and is receiving ARV treatment. So there I am assessing the gogo, who looks as if she is in her late 80's but is actually in her mid-fifties. While talking in Siswati to the other team members she bursts out crying, not just crying but sobbing and heaving with these huge crocidile tears streaming down her charcoal colored face leaving a steam of salt water on her face, I was just stunned. I said to the team (there were 4 others present) what is wrong? Have I done something to hurt her? The response was no, she was crying becuase she did not have the school fees for her grandchildren to start school on Tuesday. Their aunt, the gogo's other daughter usually paid them but that she was unable this year because her husband was dying (yes, from AIDS)and no longer could work and support his own family. Well after composing myself, I took a quick walk outside, I asked how much the fees were and when they were due, stating that I would do what I could but had to speak with David first. This was enough for the all present to see that there might be some help in sight and again, the gogo starts crying and this time Mancoba starts wiping tears from his eyes and Nosipho was grinning from ear to ear. Instantly the gogo and children as well as the team started saying the Our Father in SiSwati giving thanks that help had presented itself. It was very emotional and moving to say the least. Fast forward to Saturday morning at 8:00am and David and I are standing in line at the Swazi Bank (school fees are paid through the local banks) for an hour and a half and paying the children's fees for the year. I must say that it felt good to be able to help and know that the children will be able to get out of the house and have some normalcy in their lives. Monday morning David is going to meet the children with me at HBC and take them shopping for school supplies and possibly a new uniform. I wish that I didn't have to work and was able to go with them but I imagine they will do just fine without me being present.
Another week has passed and with it nearly two months in Swaziland for us. The experience continues to shock my existence, I really don't know how else to put it. Again I am sending my love, know that your thoughts and presence back home are felt and appreciated.
Peace,
Scott
Now that I have been here in Swaziland for nearly two months we have been seeing some of the same patients over again. We go to about 22different areas so now we are back at the beginning seeing some of the patients from last month and of course new patients as well. It is not uncommon to find out that several of the patients that we planned to see have now died. I am not familiar enough with the patients to know which ones died but I have been able to recognize some of them from last month. Although, I was so overwhelmed with all of the newness, suffering and unfamiliar territory that I do not remember as many patients as one might expect. As the past couple of weeks have progressed I am finding that I do remember more than I had the previous weeks. We went to Sitsatsaweni again, this is where I was traumatized by the young orphans, the 11 year old girl taking care of her three younger siblings. Unfortunately, I did not see them again but was assured by the RHM (Rural Health Motivator, a person in the community who helps keep track of the patients and assists with their care (occassionally) and encourages compliance with medications) that World Vision had taken over the primary care of the children and were providing food on a regular basis. We had the RHM bring them some milk to provide a little addtionation support. I will continue to try and follow up with these children over the next several months. The goal here in Swaziland is not to remove the orphans from their homesteads but to try and provide some support for them at home. There is financial support for schooling provided by the 'King's Fund', to help orphans to attend school but it is often not enough and very difficult to access.
This had been a stressful week for many here in Siteki and Swaziland in general. Schooling is not mandatory and in order to attend school children must pay school fees which often exceed what their partents make in a year, that is if they are able to find work and have an income. School fees go from anywhere from E2000 a year to E10,000 and often much more. Please note that the average daily income in Swaziland is about E6, that is certainly not enough to live on let alone afford school fees. Now, not everyone is that poor here and it is an average, 40% of the population has jobs, that leaves 60% unemployed with very little hope of finding work. Fees vary depending on the school, what year the child is in and if there is any financial support available. The financial support is very difficult to access especially for the very poor who need it most since the parents are often uneducated. I should probably say 'parent' since I have seen very few if any two parent homesteads, more often than not one parent is absent or more commonly has already died. The very poor children, most of whom I see when visiting the HBC patients do not start school until they are 10 years old if at all. I will be able to tell which children are in school starting on Tuesday becuause that is the first day of school here for the first trimester of the school year, so the children that remain at home will be those who cannot afford schooling. It is really a disgraceful situation that some basic schooling is not provided for all children but I will not eloborate on this point since I want to keep my visa.
Anyways, many mothers have spent this week looking around for money for school fees. They frequently come into the HBC office looking for assistance or through an organization called Young Heroes that David is working with, or any number of different avenues. It is not uncommon for those that work to help support other family members with their school fees or to assist orphans with theirs. Most all of the nurses I work with pay some school fees for children that are not their own. As well as support provided from the states through Friends of Good Shepherd and HBC, two very special people in New York City also provide an amazing amount of support for the children here, I will not name them but you know who you are. So it is not unexpected that word has gotten around that HBC does support as many children as they can therefore mothers come asking if we can help their children as well. It was common place to have a mother in the office this week sobbing because she could not afford the fees and requesting help.
While visiting our last patients on Friday afternoon, a homestead that I remember from last month we were presented an opportunity to provide some needed help.
David and I had been discussing that we wanted to help a child or two with their school fees or a family with food and financial support but had not started to do so because of all the adjusting we had been doing ourselves and having to pay a mortgage in New York because my apartment has not rented yet. I know that this story is going to sound somewhat, if not competely unbelieveable but here it goes. The homestead is headed by a Gogo (grandmother in Siswati), she cares for her son who is in his early thirties, paralyzed on one size probably from toxoplasmosis and therefore chairbound, has AIDS and is receiving ARV treatment. He was in the exact position where I had seen him the previous month, sitting in a chair in the doorway of the homestead looking outside with these big doe eyes and drooling up a storm. He is quite well cared for, very clean and fed but remains cachectic. Additionally, the gogo cares for her two orphaned grandchildren (their parents, the gogo's daugher and son-in-law both died of complications related to AIDS) Nosipho and Mancoba. I believe that Nosipho (the girl) is 14 yrs old and Mancoba is 11 yrs old, he is HIV positive and on ARV's, I am uncertain what the HIV status of Nosipho is. To make the whole situation even worse the gogo has AIDS and is receiving ARV treatment. So there I am assessing the gogo, who looks as if she is in her late 80's but is actually in her mid-fifties. While talking in Siswati to the other team members she bursts out crying, not just crying but sobbing and heaving with these huge crocidile tears streaming down her charcoal colored face leaving a steam of salt water on her face, I was just stunned. I said to the team (there were 4 others present) what is wrong? Have I done something to hurt her? The response was no, she was crying becuase she did not have the school fees for her grandchildren to start school on Tuesday. Their aunt, the gogo's other daughter usually paid them but that she was unable this year because her husband was dying (yes, from AIDS)and no longer could work and support his own family. Well after composing myself, I took a quick walk outside, I asked how much the fees were and when they were due, stating that I would do what I could but had to speak with David first. This was enough for the all present to see that there might be some help in sight and again, the gogo starts crying and this time Mancoba starts wiping tears from his eyes and Nosipho was grinning from ear to ear. Instantly the gogo and children as well as the team started saying the Our Father in SiSwati giving thanks that help had presented itself. It was very emotional and moving to say the least. Fast forward to Saturday morning at 8:00am and David and I are standing in line at the Swazi Bank (school fees are paid through the local banks) for an hour and a half and paying the children's fees for the year. I must say that it felt good to be able to help and know that the children will be able to get out of the house and have some normalcy in their lives. Monday morning David is going to meet the children with me at HBC and take them shopping for school supplies and possibly a new uniform. I wish that I didn't have to work and was able to go with them but I imagine they will do just fine without me being present.
Another week has passed and with it nearly two months in Swaziland for us. The experience continues to shock my existence, I really don't know how else to put it. Again I am sending my love, know that your thoughts and presence back home are felt and appreciated.
Peace,
Scott
3 comments:
Scott, I don't think I can ever drink a latte or buy a pair of shoes with a clear conscience again...it could all go to school fees. Bless your hearts.
Karen
xxoo
dear scott, it's all about HOPE and you are delivering huge doses of it to those most truly in need. i praise you; i bless you; i admire you for allowing your "system to be shocked" by your experience in swaziland. i tell so many here of what you are doing; i'm honored to know you. peace & love, jim
Thank you, Scott. I came across your web page by googling "do children pay for schooling in Swaziland." I am part of an online prayer ministry that receives requests from woman all around the world. My last request was from a precious woman from Swaziland who needs practical advice on how to keep her 2 boys in school, she says the bills were due yesterday, plus she is studying and wants to keep studying, but because her debts extend her income as her ex husband, the father of her oldest boy convinced her to take out a lot of loans which she cannot pay now. Reading your page has given me some insight into a country that I know little about as I seek wisdom in responding to this dear soul. Thank you, Scott.
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