AIDS has ransacked her people. Swaziland has the highest infection ratio of any country in the world. UNAIDS has published that 26.1% of the population is HIV positive but there is a lot of evidence the percentage is much higher. This demographic is based solely on those required to be tested. Most troubling is that 42% of pregnant mothers are positive. This is likely more indicative of the true rate than the 26.1 reported. Women 25-29 have a 44% rate while men 35-39 are 45% HIV positive. AIDS has worked its way quickly through the population accelerated by polygamy, prostitution, incest, and extreme poverty. Hunger leans toward desperate choices.
Females of every age have few rights and little protection. Even if punishment is doled out for a crime such as rape, it is rarely severe enough to give pause. Many Swazi’s don’t believe that AIDS is spread through sex. They look for a cause/effect relationship and because they do not see immediate symptoms of the disease after intercourse they do not believe it is connected. Thus condoms are viewed by some with suspicion--a plot to reduce pleasure—and by many with contempt.
The devastation left in the wake of this disease is almost inconceivable. It has literally wiped out almost an entire generation. Children are left with no parents and the “old” are left to care for their grandchildren. Old is a relative term, because in Swaziland the average life expectancy for a female is 30 years of age. The women who are left alone to care for their grandchildren are called “Gogos.” They often find themselves to be the only caretaker left alive in the family. As the only living adult, they bear the burden of caring for children, grandchildren, even great nieces and nephews. Many of these Gogos are widowed, having lost their husbands to AIDs, and some carry the disease themselves, having been infected by their husbands.
They are left with no money, no employment, little to no education, no protection, no food, and little hope that anything will change. Though often they are provided with medication from various agencies for their disease, they may still have to pay a significant amount of money for transportation to get their medication, which must be taken consistently to be effective. When the disease claims their bodies, and there are no more caregivers to be found, the children are the only one left to take care of the even younger children.
Because of property regulations, which give inheritance rights to children unless they leave their homestead, the Swazi government does not allow for orphanages. Instead of being comforted and able to mourn their loss, children are bequeathed with the unimaginable responsibility of finding food for themselves and their siblings—they are forced to focus on survival.
It is in the midst of this context that you feel the full force of Swazi’s other enemy. Poverty overwhelms her. Though her cities might surprise you with bright neon lights, modern automobiles, and tourist attractions, you will discover a stark contrast that begins as you reach their outskirts. What hits your eye first is the dirt. Everything is the color of dirt. The brown countryside stretches before your eyes—with the lavender bloom of a few jacaranda trees defying its stubborn blandness. It might surprise you, because on isolated properties vegetation thrives, nurtured by the mild Swazi climate. The sight of small children sharing the weight of a bucket of water between them along the dusty road explains the inconsistency. Running water is a luxury of the rich, wells the friend of a few, and other water sources often distant and unreliable. Growing a garden is difficult without a consistent water source, not to mention the goats that roam undetained and hungry bellies on the lookout for a free meal. Drought and heavy rains alternate their tolls turning the land to either dust or mud.
Most of the stretches of green are sugarcane fields. They are owned by the rich—those who have the money to put in irrigation systems. They account for a large number of the few jobs available to Swazi’s people. Unfortunately, their employees are paid barely enough to feed their families, about $120.00 a month—though they work 12 hours a day, six days a week. Other industries and commercial enterprise are few and far between. It takes more capital than the entrepreneurial have at their disposal. The few poor who are well-educated are forced to find work in South Africa.
Though the government does subsidize some of the education costs for orphans and the poor, it is generally not enough. Most families have to pay about $150.00 a year per child, plus uniforms and books for primary grades and about $1,200.00 a year for high school. For a family with multiple children and $120.00 a month income…well, you do the math.
With little evidence of change on the horizon, poverty and AIDs bring along their close friends: alcoholism, and increased crime, and despair. The death wave that began two years ago has not yet reached its peak. Without help, Swaziland will lose the war.
The landscape stretches before us with a dismal view. There seems little evidence of harvest in the making.
Until you look closer.
Until a warm breeze blows away the dust that had seemed so settled.
Until a new hope arises.
We don’t have the power to make things live or grow, but as Pastor Vern said a few weeks ago,
“We can affect the soil.”
AIM has already begun to do this. Eric and Jen Peterson, Scott and Marcia Borg, Jumbo and Kriek, Julie, and other team members are making extraordinary strides in Swaziland. They are affecting the environment, nurturing life and enabling it to thrive. They are feeding and caring for children, discipling the Swazi people and empowering them to minister. They are teaching job skills and creating commercial industries to help people support themselves. They are coming alongside the people and providing support, direction, and provision to the needy. They need help to bring life and breath to this land.
The people of New Hope Church have decided to join the fight. Can you see yourself in these pictures?
Article by Bgrace,
Swazi Six Team Member
