Selula Sandla HIV Orphans... I dont know why, but if you give a child a sticker in South Africa and Swaziland, they immediately put it on their heads!!
We were SUPPOSED to be making funny faces, but I am not sure if he got the memo. :)
Primary school students at Elangeni that we supported. From left: Sizo, Sibusisco, and Celemphile. In the back row with us is the headmaster.

The chief of Elangeni Village... a truly remarkable woman!!
Headmaster of Elangeni Primary
My Favorite little girl... Celemphile Maziya!!

February 21, 2009 Saturday

Robbery? Kidnapping? …nope, Fingernail polish!! Today we had a going away party for ourselves and invited all of the neighborhood kids. We ordered them pizza and sodas. After we walked them home, we gave them bags full of the remaining toys we brought with us… nothing exciting, only lip gloss, nail polish, some cheap Oriental Trading games, and activity books. We hugged and said goodbye and walked away. Then, halfway down the street we heard screams. At first we kept walking but then the screams kept coming. We started brainstorming… we’d sent the kids home with the leftover pizza and thought maybe they were getting robbed. We ran back to their house as fast as we could, only to find them still screaming… they’d opened their bags and were delighted by a tube of old used nail polish and some Lip Smackers lip gloss. I will never forget the simple things we take for granted everyday that mean the world to these young girls. The little one with the voice of Mariah Carey gave me another hug and told me that this was the very best day of her whole life.

February 20, 2009 Friday

We went downtown Mbabane today with Beggie to purchase school shoes for the kids we are sponsoring in Elangeni. We found out today that the children get lashes at school from the teachers if they do not have uniforms that are in good shape – dirty clothes, broken shoes, holes in their shirts... Some of the children we are sponsoring had shoes with absolutely no soles. They walk miles each day to school in the same shoes everyday that cost $15. There are many things in Swaziland that blow my mind, but this one is definitely top on my list. These children already have a difficult life, why punish those who cannot afford new uniforms? Why not let them come to school in whatever they can afford? I am sure they are embarrassed enough to not have the uniform matching the other kids… lashing them is entirely unnecessary.

Are you Bruce Lee? Tonight we had the Taiwanese Doctors over to our house for a farewell dinner. Daniel, the Taiwanese chef for King Mswati III, cooked delicious food for us! I LOVE Chinese cabbage!! After dinner we went for a walk and one of the neighbors asked one of the doctors if he was Bruce Lee and if he knew Karate. Hilarious. To make the night even better, the boys brought over their karaoke machine. Too bad that the videos won’t upload on this blogger because I have one of Dr. Ricky doing a little Chinese-accented Frank Sinatra!!

February 18, 2009 Wednesday

Today we met Beggie (Elangeni Village Facilitator) to pay some more school fees. Anne’s family donated another $300, so we were able to pay for 2 of our children’s 2010 school fees already.

Then, we had a meeting at the Chief’s house. She offered us sour porridge, a traditional Swazi drink, and we pretended to drink it!! It looked gross… Like really thin oatmeal. The Chief offered us grass mats handmade by GoGo Kunene. They are beautiful. She wanted to thank us for all of the donations you guys made. She said that many times Americans will come and visit the village and leave without ever doing anything they promised. She said that she was reluctant to have the Purdue group come because the people in the village often feel like a museum exhibit or animals at a zoo. She said that she was very pleased with the generosity and empathy offered by the Purdue students, Anne and myself. We were honored that she invited us to her home and told her that we would relay the “thank yous” to you guys!!

In the evening the Taiwanese doctors came over for another tutoring session. They are sad to see us leave so on Friday they are throwing us a traditional Taiwanese dinner (made by the chef of the King of Swaziland) and having a karaoke party afterward. Hilarious. On Sunday we will leave Swaziland to spend a week in Johannesburg, South Africa.

February 14, 2009 Saturday

We sat and thought to ourselves, who would we most want to spend Valentine’s Day with here in Swaziland? Our answer: The SelulaSandla kids!! We went to the HIV-orphanage today and played with all of the kids and brought them Valentine’s Day gifts. They were so happy we came back! We taught them how to “Down by the Banks” and play “little Sally Walker”, and they taught us to sing some siSwati songs… super fun. THEN, I realized that I am not as young as I once was… we were playing tag and I was “it”. I tried to make a flying leap from behind a pole to catch one of the little kids and I landed on my knee wrong… I think it’s sprained!! It’s swollen and hurts when I wobble around on it. I hope it doesn’t last long because Anne and I walk EVERYWHERE… Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!!

February 13, 2009 Friday

We went jogging this morning and randomly ran passed our Taiwanese friends! They were taking pictures of the ICAP building (International Counsel on AIDS Prevention) and then, when they saw us, they turned their cameras on us!! We were sweaty and dirty… gross, we definitely didn’t want our pictures. They text messaged us that they were the paparazzi… now I know how Jessica Simpson feels.

We had a lecture at Baylor today on Malnutrition and Infant mortality in Swaziland:

The Millenium Development Goal #4 is to reduce, by 2/3, mortality of children under the age of 5 years by the year 2015. In Swaziland, their infant mortality rates have actually gone up!! The Clinton Foundation did a study on infant malnutrition in Swaziland and the affiliated mortality rate. The infant mortality rate in Swaziland has increased from 110 babies per 1,000 live births to 164 babies per 1,000 live births. They predict that the rate has gone up due to the increase in HIV prevalence and they do not expect to meet the Millenium Development Goal as a country.

Malnutrition is also a problem because in most countries, malnutrition can be cured as an outpatient procedure with mechanisms like Plumpy’nut (watch the Anderson Cooper 60 minutes video I told you about before… please!!), but in Swaziland, the babies are brought to clinics in such an advanced state of malnutrition that they have to be treated as an inpatient procedure and 37% of these children die in the hospital. Before the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the malnutrition mortality was only 5%!! Over half of these patients are less than 12 months old. Being HIV exposed (the mothers have HIV and the babies may or may not have HIV) is the highest predictor of malnutrition and infant mortality. Baylor is working on a Standard Operating Procedure for identifying these babies susceptible to malnutrition and getting them into care. Anne and I are getting the chance to help! Very exciting…

February 12, 2009 Thursday

We met with Dr Mabuza today from the University of Swaziland. Purdue is making us get these LAME evaluation forms filled out… Dr Mabuza wrote that she was impressed by our professionalism and cultural sensitivity while working with Elangeni Village but that our time here was too short… Too short? 3 months is long enough for me. I love it here but I miss everyone back home… and my baby Tylie-Jo!! We were supposed to have a tutoring session with the Taiwanese guys tonight but they canceled because they had a meeting for work at the Mbabane Government Hospital. They promised us Chinese desserts tomorrow to make it up to us. Their friend Daniel is a chef for the King of Swaziland and he is making us goodies… can’t wait!!

February 11, 2009 Wednesday
Today we had a meeting with Dr Michelle from Baylor. She has put us in charge of a DBS patient follow-up project. In Swaziland, when the babies are tested for HIV they have to wait 6 weeks for the results and many times the parents do not return to the clinic to fetch them. Therefore, there are a lot of babies who do not know their status and will die quickly without ARVs. They are setting up a program where Expert Clients (HIV victims who are role models in the community) go and fetch the babies and convince their mothers to bring them back to the clinic for treatment. Baylor received a grant for $20,000US to purchase cell phones, air-time, and to hire more Expert Clients in various communities. My job is to travel to these communities, identify possible Expert Clients, and identify local nurses who will be in charge of the logistics for each community. We have 10 sites to go to all over Swaziland. We also are conducting HIV surveillance pertaining to how many children from each community are tested for HIV and how many of those children result in a DBS test that is HIV+.

February 10, 2009 Tuesday
Today we went to Elangeni to check on the progress of Nomfundo and Sizolwetho’s window. Of course the children were in school, so we met with some of their half-siblings. Unfortunately, their father had multiple wives and when they all got infected with HIV and died; they left many young children behind. But, the window looks great! Now Nomfundo and Sizo can have light in their home and no rain can get in. We purchased enough cement so that they could also patch holes in other areas of their home too!! Thanks so much for the donations! Nomfundo and her twin sister wear their school uniforms everyday, even at home and on the weekends, because they have no clothing. I didn’t know how many more times we would get a chance to go to Elangeni because we are getting busy at Baylor, so I decided to give Nomfundo two bags of my clothing. Unfortunately, that means that the remaining time in Swaziland I will be wearing the same things over and over or borrowing Anne’s clothes. But at least Nomfundo will have some nice things to wear!!

February 9, 2009 Monday
Our American accent really trips people up here in Swaziland. (They speak British English). We wanted to go to Swazi Candles which is a large tourist attraction full of intricately made candles. The candles are made by local women and the profits go directly back to them. Anyway, we told the minibus driver that we wanted to go there and he thought we said SwaziCan which is a local canning company that cans jellies and fruits. What a disaster. We ended up having to take 3 different minibuses and walked 3km to get to our final destination. But, we made it.

In the evening we tutored the Taiwanese doctors in English again. It is actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The two that I tutor are much better in English than the ones Anne tutors. Today I taught them about the Traditional Healers and Nurses in Elangeni village. I taught them about some of the “cures” the traditional healers teach their patients and about the difficulties the nurses face trying to “un-teach” them. For instance, the traditional healers think that HIV can be cured by having sex with a virgin. Unfortunately, there are many of these Traditional beliefs that are false and are the driving force of the Swaziland HIV epidemic.

February 8, 2009 Sunday
I’m feeling better today… still sniffling. But it’s nice that my cold/flu is going away because I am such a hypochondriac and was beginning to think it was something much worse… like tuberculosis or something!! Yikes!

We woke up early to go to the Mbabane Catholic Church. The English service starts at 8am and it takes over an hour to walk there… Anne and I set the alarm for 6a… Yuck! But it was a nice mass and at the end the Priest said he wanted to thank all of the “out of town visitors” and asked if the “out of towners” would stand up to be acknowledged. Anne and I didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves, so we remained seated. SOMEHOW the people knew it was us he was referring to because everyone turned to face us and started clapping. There is no blending in for Anne and I here in Swaziland…

February 7, 2009 Saturday
“You feel like a candle, in a hurricane…alone and helpless, like you’ve lost your fight; but you’ll be all right! Because when push comes to shove, you taste what you’re made of. You might bend until you break, because it’s all you can take. On your knees you look up, decide you’ve had enough - You get mad, you get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off… then you STAND!” – Rascal Flatts

Every time I go jogging these days, I make sure my mp3 player is full of inspirational songs. It is ironic that these people here are the ones struggling, but I am the one who needs inspiration. I worry about EVERYTHING… Bo always tells me not to worry because God takes care of everything… but what about for the people here? They have such an outstanding attitude on life in general and they give themselves fully to God, but they have nothing but constant daily struggle. I wish I could scoop everyone up and give them everything they wanted. For most of them, their wish list would consist of only human necessities: clean water, shelter, and food at least once per day… food to feed their children.

We took the neighborhood kids to the park again today. We had about 20 of them. Every time we go, the number grows. My favorite was there today, Thabo. Such an awesome little boy. I constantly wonder what will become of them. They are so innocent, so loving, so genuine, and such all around great kids. They do more chores in one day than I have done in my whole childhood. They study hard and get great grades at school. They have aspirations to grow up and become something: doctors, teachers, nurses… I want to know that they will make it. I want to be certain. I can’t help but worry about it.

February 6, 2009 Friday
“God bless you, and bless you, and bless you some more” – Elangeni Headmaster.
Today we went to Elangeni to finish paying off the school fees for the students. The headmaster sat Anne and I down and expressed his gratitude for giving these children hope. He said the worst part of his job is turning away students who wish to learn but have no money for fees. I think his gratitude is better directed towards you, because without your support back home, we would have never been able to send the large number of children to school!! So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

We had a little money left over and so we were able to fix Nomfundo and Sizolwetho’s broken window. The children live in a structure made of clay and cement and there used to be one window before a storm wrecked it. They have boarded up the window with a piece of tin; but with the lack of electricity, there is absolutely no light inside the house. Now Nomfundo and Sizolwetho will be able to study in their home and also they will not have to worry about the flooding problems they have been experiencing. To build a new window was only $35 US. And it looks great!!

Little Sibusiso Kunene lives in a house made of clay and due to the constant heavy raining, most of his home has collapsed. He is the 7th grader we are sponsoring who lost his mother and father to HIV/AIDS. Right now he is living in a tent temporarily until they find enough money to build him a new structure. Anne and I are going out this week to see what we can do to help. Hopefully he wont be in the tent for long!! I don’t know anything about building a house though… Bo, I wish you were here!!!!!!

February 5, 2009 Thursday
Rained alllllllll day. Hung out inside working on our Baylor project and our theses. We made the most disgusting dinner ever… We didn’t have many ingredients left so we decided to just “throw some stuff together”… I guess you cant call me Rachel Ray just yet.

February 4, 2009 Wednesday
Thanks to my cousins Katherine and Nathan, and my colleague LeeCole for their donations! We are going to have a little money to spare after paying all of the school fees, so on Friday we have an appointment to fix a window in Nomfundo’s bedroom. When it rains (and I think it has rained at least half of the days we have been in Swaziland…and when it rains, it POURS!!), her bedroom floods thereby ruining what little she owns. (Nomfundo is one of our child-headed household scholarship recipients described in a previous blog)

Today we worked on our thesis and internship stuff for Purdue allllll day long. But it was a downpour of rain outside all day today so we didn’t mind. Anne wore her “emergency poncho” today and she looked like a giant yellow Easter Peep. All of the children got out of school as we were walking by and they all pointed and laughed at her!!

In the evening we met up with the Taiwan Medical Mission physicians and started tutoring them in English. It was entertaining to say the least. One of the guys I am tutoring wants to get his PhD in the US, maybe at Purdue. I am helping him with the TOEFL English admittance exam. The other just wants to brush up on his skills because he is a doctor and wants to be able to interact with English speaking patients. They want us to tutor them for 2 hours a day, 3 days a week. Sounds like a lot to me…

February 3, 2009 Tuesday

Ricky Martin… who knew that his name is still spoken around the world… I thought he was a one-hit-wonder with the most awful “hit” in history. But, surprisingly enough, his name was brought up today – in Swaziland – by a Taiwanese medical doctor. The guys who want us to be their tutors picked us up today to talk about our plans. I won’t even begin to try to say their real names, but they gave us their “English” names so we could remember more easily. Brian, Michael, Ray and the last guy’s name I could not understand. That’s when he clarified with Ricky, like Ricky Martin. Wow.

Then, they took us to their SUV. When we were backing up to leave the meeting location, the driver did not look back and backed into a stopped vehicle. The driver of the other truck was not happy. Here in Swaziland, car insurance is a scarcity. The driver was happy to find out that the Taiwan Medical Mission has insurance and his truck will be fixed. I often wondered where the people on Purdue’s campus got their driver’s licenses… but now I know, Swaziland.

I have never been to Taiwan and really know nothing about it, but I figured that with every developing country (and even developed!!), the people have seen a dirt road. Not these guys. Today when we were getting dropped off, we told them to turn down our road and they looked frightened. They asked us if we ever see lions in our backyard. If you were here, you would definitely laugh. We live in the city. No lions for a hundred miles in any direction. They are in for a treat if they ever get a chance to go to rural Swaziland, like where we are supporting our school children. There aren’t even dirt roads there…

February 2, 2009 Monday

Gave Brandy a flea bath this morning!! He has been covered in fleas and ticks since we arrived (and most likely his whole life). Alex (his owner) doesn’t seem to care. The flea shampoo was $1.50 and it was the best $1.50 I have ever spent. 2 hours later and the fleas were falling off of him dead as a doornail!! He loves us more than ever now… What a happy dog!

After that, and a quick jog, we worked on our project for Baylor Medical Clinic. We are researching UNAIDS, WHO, and UNICEF protocols for infant HIV feeding. LOTS of information to absorb…

February 1, 2009 Sunday

The Swazi people make the most beautiful art work!! We went to the Ezluwini Craft Market today and got souvenirs for friends/family. I bought myself a BEAUTIFUL 3.5 foot tall wood carved statue of a Swazi woman carrying her baby. It took a man one month to make and it is so intricate, yet only $40US. I almost feel like I am stealing when I leave the market with bargains like that. I bought a hand carved wooden mask for $2US. But, I cant tell the other stuff I got because it is for people reading the blog and it’s a secret…

When we were about to leave, two guys from Taiwan stopped us. They are here on the Taiwan Medical Mission and work for the Mbabane Government Hospital. Their group consists of 4 guys: 2 are Public Health Masters students, one is a chinese herbalist doctor, and one is a western medical doctor. They are all quite shaky on their English skills and have a hard time interacting with their patients. They asked us to be their tutors… to be continued on that one.

January 31, 2009 Saturday

Today I worked on my thesis and tonight Alex took us to Portugalia, a bar/restaurant. There were six people there… including us. Anne and I tried to play pool but there was only one table and, you guessed it, the only 3 other people in the bar were playing all night. We stayed an hour or so and then gave up and went home.

Elangeni Primary School girls.
Elementary school kids
More elementary school kids

Above are some of the high school kids we are supporting at Elangeni.
Thanks to Brenda Henzes, Mom & Dad, and Grandma Marshall for recent donations!!

January 30, 2009 Friday

Today we took Purdue bookbags filled with “goodies” to our children you all are sponsoring in Elangeni and we also turned in their school fees. I thought you might want to learn a little more about them. We had a chance to interview 6 of them today:

1. Celimphile Maziya (grade 2)

After her father died in 1999, her mother got pregnant with her 4-year old brother and contracted HIV from her boyfriend. She later died of AIDS in 2007. There are 4 children that live at Celimphile’s homestead and no adults. Her father was in the army so after he died, the family was entitled to a pension from the government. The 22yr old sister who lives with her boyfriend, takes the entire pension and does not give any to the family leaving Celimphile, her two brothers (4y & 17y) and a sister (15y) hungry and poor. They sold everything they owned for food. No one in their family helps them because none of her mother’s relatives are still living and the fathers relatives are still mad at her mother so they refuse to help as well. They survive at the mercy of their neighbor’s second hand items (clothing, food, etc) but live in a very poor village with poor neighbors who often cannot help. This is Celimphile’s first year of formal education and tested into 2^nd grade. She is very happy to be at school.

2. Sibusiso Kunene (grade 7)

Sibusiso lives with his grandmother, aunt, and uncle (who is dying of TB). His parents both died of HIV/AIDS. They survive on the grannie’s elderly grant from the government and by buying avocados and re-selling them at the market place. The grandmother recently fractured her back and had to be hospitalized. Since they had to pay for the bills, the family did not eat for days.

3 and 4. Nomfundo (form 3 high school) and Sizolwetho (grade 7) Msibi

These two are siblings. Their father died 10 years ago and mother died 6 years ago. They eat only supper on most days which consists of porridge, maize (corn), and greens. They rarely eat meat and they do not eat before or during the school hours. They cook outdoors so when it’s raining (which has been almost everyday since I’ve been here) they cannot cook because they do not have a kitchen so they cook over a fire outside. The rain puts their cooking flame out.

They are also a child-headed household. Nomfundo (age 17) raises her 3 brothers and sisters – including Sizolwetho (age 12). Sizo said that his favorite subjects are math science and English and he wants to be a doctor. Nomfundo’s favorite subjects are commerce and English. She wants to be an accountant. She said that lots of times it is hard because they have no food and they have to go to sleep hungry and go to school without food in their stomachs. She said that they beg for food and clothing from neighbors. She said that the window in their house broke and now, when it rains, the house floods.

5. Lungelo Mhlanga (14 years old, form 1 high school)

Lungelo’s mother died and he now lives with his father who is a drunkard. When his father is in a “bad” state, he runs to his grandfather’s house. His father cannot find a job, so they frequently go hungry. They cook outside, so they have the same problem as most poor Swazis in rural areas when it rains. His favorite subject is science and he wants to be a doctor. He likes to play football.

6. Njabuliso Mabaso (form 2 high school)

Njabuliso’s parents died. He now lives with his aunt Nelly who is the RHM with HIV whom I have spoke of before. He likes to play football. His favorite subjects are science and social studies. He wants to be a policeman.

7. Nkosingiphile Tsabedze (form 2 high school)

She lives in a dilapidated house with her mother who suffers from TB. She has 6 brothers and sisters and no food. She wasn’t at school today for us to interview her because she was at home taking care of her sick mother.

January 29, 2009 Thursday

Today we woke up early to attempt to go to the craft market in Manzini. We were looking for souvenirs for people and were promised that this craft market was the best. We woke up at six because we were told to get there early for “the good stuff”. All we found was straw mats, used shoes, and underwear (hopefully not used). So, that was a waste of a half-hour bus-ride!! Ohh well. There are really neat things at the Swazi Candles Craft Market so I think we will go there to get the gifts.

Afterward we went to the bank to pay for our students school fees! We are up to 13 now so THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your support!! We are going to Elangeni tomorrow to turn our payment slips in and make sure that our 13 students have everything they need (bookbags, uniforms, school supplies, etc).

January 28, 2009 Wednesday

We had another lecture at Baylor today on PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS). At Baylor, there are 4 prongs to PMTCT:

• Primary prevention
• Family planning
• Complete ANC (antenatal care) services and ARVs (anti-retroviral medication)
• Care & support of HIV+ women and family (gynecological checkup, STI testing, and psychosocial counseling)

They do see teenage pregnancy but very few. The majority of their clients are 20-30 years old. Although the life expectancy for women was 33 years old before ARVs reached Swaziland, they are expecting this life expectancy number to increase after a few more years of introducing HIV testing and ARV treatment. Swaziland has a maternal mortality of 370 women per 100,000 live births. It is estimated that this number is even larger since it does not take into account all of the women who die during backstreet abortions (abortion is illegal in Swaziland).

These are 3 of the highschool kids your donations are supporting! These are 6 of the highschool kids your donations are supporting. The one third from the right was first in his class last year. He is not in uniform because he wasnt planning to go to school this year because he couldnt afford it. He was so happy when we told him he'd been giving an Annie's Family and Friends Scholarship!! :)

Felicia giving me a Birthday hair-do of about 1,000 braids!!

Felicia is giving me a Bitthday Hair-do!! :)

January 27, 2009 Tuesday
This morning we went to Elangeni to help our 10 orphans enroll in school only to find many deserving children who cannot pay their school fees. Due to the generosity of my friends and family (Thanks to the Thoreen Family, Aunt MM, Peter and Marina, Talida, John, Hollie, and the many others who have pledged to contribute to our orphans) we are most likely going to be able to pay for more than one school year – which is fantastic because we want to make sure that these kids are supported through high-school so they can be college bound. It would be of no use to simply pay for one year and have them fall into the same rut next year of not having the funds to pay for school. Thank you to everyone – even if only for prayers. Our Swaziland orphans are very appreciative!!

Anne’s church in Fort Wayne is speaking about the Swazi Orphans on Redeemer Religion Radio and we are hoping with those donations to add more children. We learned today of a mentally challenged woman who was abused many years ago resulting in a daughter, Miriam Malaza. This little girl is very bright and is 1st in her class, yet they cannot produce a death certificate for her father (since they don’t know who he is) and her mother (although entirely inept & unemployed) is still alive and therefore she does not qualify for the OVC grant from the government. She owes 3950Rand (~$450 US dollars) and doesn’t have a penny. She is first on our waiting list to support if there is extra money from Anne’s church, or if any other miracle happens.

Beggie is the Elangeni Village facilitator and we have been working closely with him to identify those orphaned and vulnerable children who are most in need of support, and are also the strongest intellectually in school. Today, he lined up the 6 high-school students we are supporting and made them promise to do well in school and only get 1st ranks in every subject this year (equivalent to A’s in the US). One of the girls who we were going to support declined our offer. She said she has a nanny job that puts food on the table (she is in a child-headed household) and she said if she went to school she would have to quit the baby-sitting job and therefore would not have food to eat. Many of the children walk long distances to get to school which is not helped by chronically empty stomachs. The one little boy we are supporting, Siphesihle, said that his sister dropped out last year because she couldn’t concentrate on school work because of her hungry tummy. The children are very polite and are happy to no longer be worried about how to balance paying for food and school.

This afternoon we had a lecture at Baylor Pediatric HIV clinic on infant HIV victim nutrition. We learned a lot about the protocol for treating malnourished HIV-victims and to my pleasant surprise, they use Plumpy’nut as a treatment!! If you know my obsession with plumpy’nut as a miracle cure for malnutrition, you would understand my crazy excitement upon hearing this news!! If you don’t know what it is, I suggest you google “Anderson Cooper Plumpynut 60 Minutes” and watch the most amazing video about a development from a French Food Scientist that has cured hundreds of thousands of babies in Africa. I even got to taste it!!!! It takes like peanut butter cookie dough!!

We also learned of the AFASS criteria used to assess whether HIV+ mothers are recommended to switch to infant formula feeding from breastfeeding. If these criteria are met: ACCEPTABLE, FEASIBLE, AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE, and SAFE, then the doctors will allow formula feeding… otherwise the WHO and UNAIDS recommendation is exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and then introduce foods while continuing to breast feed until 24 months. This is due to the typical lack of clean water, sanitation, refrigeration, and money for formula. Many mothers will buy formula for the baby and then neglect the other children due to the lack of money to buy groceries. Or, the mother will not have money for formula so she will dilute cow’s milk with dirty water (some of the “potable” water we have seen contains VISIBLE worms) and thereby the child will die of either diarrhea or malnutrition. There are actually many many more deaths due to malnutrition in HIV-exposed children (meaning the mother has HIV) than infant HIV-related deaths. The great thing about this facility is that they follow American protocols so HIV-infected mothers are treated at a CD4 count at or below 350 rather than 200 - which is typical in Africa. At 200, the mother is already contracting other infectious diseases and thereby exposing her breastfeeding child to them as well. We have been learning a lot and the great thing is, there are two new doctors hired at Baylor so all this week they are holding introductory lectures for them…and Anne and I were invited to them all!! I feel like I am in school… but a fun school… not Purdue J

January 26, 2009 Monday
We went to the mall to buy clothes for Thabo today. We tried to give them to his mother discreetly because there were a bunch of kids nearby that probably need the clothes just as much. I am going to be a terrible mother because I pick favorites and Thabo is clearly one of them J When we got home, we received a call from Dr Marton at Baylor Pediatric HIV clinic and the Houston, Texas division approved our internship!! We are going to a lecture on infant HIV victim malnutrition and to fill out paperwork tomorrow! Super exciting…

We worked on our thesis all afternoon. I am hoping to pass my thesis defense immediately upon my return to the US so that I can then focus on finding a job… I hope Obama turns the job market around before I get home!!

January 25, 2009 Sunday
Happy Birthday to me, Happy birthday to me #25!! We are just relaxing today. We went to the mall to use the internet but the café was closed (EVERYTHING is closed here on Sundays – people spend the WHOLE DAY at church!!). We went to Nando’s (best restaurant in Swaziland but it’s fast food) for lunch…

We are going to take a neighborhood boy named Tabo to the mall with us tomorrow. He is 9 years old and does not have a single thing to wear that doesn’t have holes in it! The neighborhood kids make fun of him and the other day when they were making fun of him they grabbed his shirt and the whole thing (already with 900 holes that had been repaired and torn again) tore apart. The poor kid was very embarrassed. The children’s clothes here are very cheap (only a dollar or two for a shirt), so we want to get him a couple of nice things so he is not teased anymore. He is the sweetest kid ever…

January 24, 2009 Saturday
Today was pretty relaxing. We interviewed a couple University of Swaziland students for Anne’s thesis. Then, while we were jogging we ran into a bunch of the neighborhood kids – so of course they followed us home and rounded up a bunch of their friends to play at our house.

Tonight we celebrated my 25th birthday!! Alex and his friend Wandile took us to the Royal Swazi Villas where Kwezwe was hanging out with some of his friends. Afterward we went to a Foam Party in Manzini at Tinkers. At first when we pulled up, Anne and I were a bit nervous because we pulled into a gas station parking lot and parked. We saw a wooden sign on a hut outside that said “Tinkers Pub & Restaurant” and a bunch of people drinking in the parking lot. Where is the party? Where is the Foam? Although we never found the foam (what a lame foam party), we did find an awesome bar with a great DJ BEHIND the gas station. We met the owner’s nephew Eddie who lives in Joburg – it was a lot of fun.

January 23, 2009 Friday
“I woke up, and wished that I was dead… with an aching in my head. I lay emotionless in bed. But the world spins madly on. I watch from my windowsill. The whole world is moving, but I’m standing still” – The Weepies

The lyrics of the Weepies song remind me of how an orphan must feel here in Swaziland. Their whole world stops. They have to drop out of school and stop having steady meals – but the rest of the world keeps going. I went to Elangeni today to meet with the Secretary of Elangeni Secondary School and Beggie (the Elangeni Village Facilitator). I learned that there were 68 orphans in need of help paying school fees in Elangeni Secondary School and probably an equal number in the primary school. These orphans could not even pay for a portion of last year’s bill as well so their grades are being held and they are no longer allowed to come to class until the remainder of last year’s bill and this upcoming year’s bill is paid. These children receive 1950Rand from the government (orphan schooling grant) but still owe another 1950Rand for Highschool and 900Rand for primary school. Unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to pay for every orphan’s schooling, but Anne and I decided to support 5 from the high-school and 5 from the primary school.

High School:
• Noncedo Simelane…………………………..2189.00 Rand
• Nkosingiphile Tsabedze…………………….2223.05 Rand
• Siphesihle Mabeleza………………………..1986.75 Rand
• Njabuliso Mabaso…………………………..2050.00 Rand
• Nomfundo Msibi……………………………2296.90 Rand
Primary School:
• Tenkhabeveni Maziya………………………900 Rand
• Celimphile Maziya………………………….900 Rand
• Sizolwetho Msibi……………………………900 Rand
• Khanyisile Magongo………………………..900 Rand
• Lingene Dlamini…………………………….900 Rand
The conversion factor changes everyday and you get slammed at the banks here – but typically the conversion is about 7 or 8 Rand per $1. So, it is about $2033USD.

We are going to the village on Tuesday to pick up all of the children and take them to their first day of school ourselves. Once there, Anne and I will be able to assess who needs what in terms of textbooks, paper, pencils, book-bags, etc. Celimphile is my favorite little girl. She is from the Maziya family I assisted, and she is 12 and has never been to a real school before. She tested into 2nd grade and is so excited to go!! The highschool students are all top of the class and the headmaster really believes they will all be college bound if they can just find the funds to finish school. I am super excited to see their faces in the classrooms with the rest of the children who still have parents to support them. Their parent’s deaths should not translate into a lifetime of struggle and poverty.

January 22, 2009
THANK YOU to Bo, Aunt Emily & Uncle Tim, Robbie & Angie, and Brownell & Kristy!! We are traveling to Elangeni tomorrow to identify the orphans who still need school fees, uniforms, books, and school lunches.

Today when we returned for the day, we had all of the neighborhood kids sitting outside our house gate. There were even some new faces today – 20 in total! We taught them how to play Trouble, Sorry, and Connect 4. Then we went to play in the park across the street (see pictures). One of the mothers commented how we’ve turned into a daycare. It seems as such, but we don’t mind. The mother said she wishes to pay us back by taking us to church with her on Sunday. Most of the poor churches do not have an English translator so I am sure we will be sitting there lost, but it would be rude to say no. Sunday is also my birthday!! The big 25 on the 25th! I wish I was going to be home to celebrate with my family and friends… and of course Bo. 

25th birthday!!!!:


Sandla children playing at the park !! :



Sawubona (hello) everyone, my blog wouldn't upload today. Something wrong with the computer... enjoy the pictures and I will try to post the blog later. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!! God bless, annie

January 21, 2009

We had a meeting with Dr. Stephanie Marton at Baylor Pediatric HIV clinic today and we were approved for the volunteer internship!! We were super excited. They have to double check with Baylor College in Houston to make sure that it is okay on a global level, but regionally, three doctors approved us today to work in the clinic. Drs Stephanie, Fiona, and Michelle (all from the US on temporary positions at Baylor in Swaziland) asked Anne and I to assist them on two separate projects.

1. In newborns and infants up to 18 months old it is difficult to test for the antibodies for HIV because the kids will test positive for the antibodies from their mothers even if they themselves are not HIV+. Therefore, to test for HIV, they have to perform a DBS test (Dry Blood Spot test) which is a PCR (polymer chain reaction) that tests for the actual virus. Unfortunately this test takes 6 weeks for the results to come back (rather than the 3 minutes it now takes for the antibody test) and some mothers fail to return for the test results due to the lack of money to travel to the clinic or some other reason. However, in children, the virus spreads very quickly and the children need to start ARTs immediately because kids tend to die soon after the HIV+ results are back at the clinic. Dr. Michelle recently received grant funding to set up a “retrieval” procedure for tracking lost patients and bringing them back to start treatment. Unfortunately here in Swaziland there are no addresses due to the lack of street names/house numbers so tracking anyone (even myself) is quite challenging [I even asked Alex what to do in case of emergency and Anne or myself needed to give an address to an ambulance… I am still unsure!!]. Dr. M plans to incorporate village Chiefs, Rural Health Motivators, and other key community informants into the tracking process. She wanted our help with the logging system to track the use of the funding and to set up a sustainable plan to implement over the course of a year.

2. They were interested in my nutrition background for a study they have pertaining to the high rates of malnutrition in infants suffering from HIV. They asked Anne and me to develop a protocol and educational material for counseling new moms of HIV victims on proper nutritional care. The latest WHO and UNAIDS reports are encouraging mothers worldwide to continue exclusively breastfeeding even if they have HIV due to the greater risk of death caused by malnutrition. However, mothers who are HIV+ are afraid to breast-feed for fear of infecting their babies; but, the chance is quite small and does not compare with the alarming rate of deaths due to malnutrition – especially in Swaziland! The mothers cannot afford formula so they typically dilute cow’s milk with river water which is wrong on many counts. First, there is not enough protein to support the growing child resulting in malnutrition and inevitably death. Second, the water is not clean and the babies tend to get parasites and worms also leading to malnutrition and death. Even for those who can afford formula, clean water is still an issue.

The fastest and most efficient way to get a program or idea accepted in a local context is to get local people involved in the development and implementation. Therefore, the materials Anne and I create will be given to “Expert Clients” who are identified by Baylor as trustworthy adults who are HIV+ and are taking all necessary precautions to live a long life, such as taking their ARTs, eating healthy, etc. These Expert Clients will then educate the patients and their families using the nutrition protocol we develop. If all goes well, Drs. Fiona and Stephanie are going to take our program to the Ministry of Health to get it accepted as the nation-wide pediatric HIV nutrition protocol!! We are very excited to get started!!

Note: The Photos are from yesterday's blog!!

January 20, 2009

We are lucky enough to have a BUNCH of toys left behind from the Purdue Undergrads who came with enough to man a small army of children with play-dough, nail polish, puzzles, and games (Thanks Guys!!). We decided to go back to SelulaSandla (the HIV orphanage) and play with the kids today! They were super excited to see us, even remembered our names! Which is surprising since our names are so similar (Anne and Annie)… And Anne and I have a hard time remembering theirs because they are so different from the sounds we are used to making… like Thulile, Thembi, and Subisco & some of the names even have clicks in them!! ANYWAY, we gave the kids Mardi Gras beads, play-dough, puzzles, games, and nail polish. P.S. Don’t give a bunch of 6-8 year olds finger nail polish! They were painting each others nails… AND entire bodies! One little girl even had silver lips!! Anne let them paint her nails but then we had to stop by a market on the way home to get fingernail polish remover because her fingers (not nails, but entire fingers) were all different colors, including green and blue. We have an interview tomorrow at Baylor Pediatric HIV Clinic and we weren’t sure the blue fingers would go over well. It’s always hard to say goodbye to the kids. They never get attention from anyone other than the 3 house moms and are shunned at school and in town because of the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. We promised to come back soon and bring more goodies.

On our way home from a long day at the orphanage Anne received a call from her aunt who is hosting a “Dress Down Day” at her Catholic School in Plymouth and donating the $150 to send a Swazi Orphan to school!! That sends one kid to school for a semester. We are super excited!! I think some of the Purdue Undergrads who came with us for the first two weeks are back at Purdue now hosting “Skip-a-meal”, a philanthropic event at their sorority houses and donating that money too. Anne and I are going to post pictures and bios of all of the kids we get to send to school with the money we’re given. I cannot wait to see the look on the little kids’ faces when they learn that their tuition is covered and they can go to school with the rest of the kids who still have parents to care for them…

If you have any children’s items (coloring books, crayons, school workbooks, puzzles, children’s clothing, warm blankets (winter is quickly approaching)… you can send them to me here in Swaziland:

P.O. Box 2277

Mbabane, Swaziland H100

I will take pictures of the recipients and show you how truly grateful they are for your second-hand items.

January 19, 2009

Busiest. Day. Ever. This morning we woke up at the butt-crack and rode two different mini-buses (always an ordeal) to Elangeni Village (the village we first worked with). Once at Elangeni we met Nelly, an RHM (rural health motivator) who is HIV-positive, to assist on her door-to-door HIV counseling visits. She lives her life persuading people to volunteer to get tested to know their HIV status. She also escorts them to the clinic to start ART (anti-retroviral treatment) if they are found to be HIV positive. She motivates them to continue to excel in life and not give up. The picture of the 3 kids sitting around a pot is at one of the homesteads we visited with Nelly. They are eating sour porridge which looks gross but everyone here likes it. The little baby in my hands is a “colored” baby at the same homestead. They call mixed babies colored here and apparently it is a luxury to be colored (but not as much of a luxury as being white). We later met a crazy old lady who smelled like permanent markers only to find out that she was a glue sniffer, but that is a different story for another day…

After a long day of traveling with Nelly around Elangeni, Anne and I stopped at the Elangeni secondary school (the high school). We had met many orphaned children who had to stop attending school because they did not have the ~$300/yr to pay for the school fees, uniforms, and books. Anne and I spoke to the headmaster and tried to convince him to let the children come to school without paying and explained their situation. He said that the school can not make exceptions for even just a few students because the entire Elangeni Village is very poor and everyone has a hard time paying. If they made an exception for the orphans, then those who have lost one parent would want an exception, and those without a father, etc… I understand, but it breaks my heart that the Maziya family who lost both their mother and their father to HIV and are now all alone (4y, 12y, 16y, and 17y) had to drop out of school and start begging on the streets for food. It is my goal to pay for them to all attend school this year. The headmaster agreed to let the Maziya family in without paying with the promise that I will pay later once I find the money. There is another orphaned family with 2 girls, both very young, who will be bound to a life of poverty, thievery, and prostitution as all of the other Swazi girls who lack a proper education. Our goal is these 5 children… $1500, but there are hundreds (actually 117,000) more. Anne and I are working on finding a way. If you would like to donate anything, even $5 or $10, please let me know how much you are sending (aelble@purdue.edu) and send my mom a check:

Suzanne Elble

1911 Bates Avenue

Springfield, Illinois 62704

I know many people (including myself) hesitate to donate money for fear it will end up not going where it is supposed to. You have my word that it will go to these orphan’s school fees. I am personally going to go to the bank to deposit it and take the receipt, along with the orphans, to school on next Tuesday to ensure that they are properly enrolled. The headmaster is giving me 3 months leniency to come up with the money, so I am sure it is possible…

After all of that, Anne and I finally trekked home on the 2 mini-buses only to find a MOB of children outside our house gate!! I guess the few we met yesterday told all of their friends about us and they sat outside our gate all day waiting for us to come home. There were 15 in total (see the picture). The youngest (same from yesterday) now calls me Mama and will not let go of me. When he went home today, as yesterday, he screamed bloody murder. During our visit with the children today, one of the boys (aged 7) went to the corner and cried. He was wearing a tattered sweater and sweatpants that were too small for him with no shoes. I asked why he was crying and he said he hadn’t eaten for a few days and was very hungry. I made him some dinner… and sliced apples for all of the other kids. They ate EVERYTHING… even the core and the seeds!! Come to find out – the kids only eat one “meal” per day consisting of rice or “pops” which is a cornmeal-type-grits. This place is truly devastating. I always knew I had a “cooshie”-life, but I never knew how much so until I realized that there are kids in the world that are denied food… the most basic human necessity. I feel sorry for mothers who have to look into their children’s hungry eyes and say that there is nothing more to eat…

January 18, 2009

Went to the Mbabane Catholic Church today. I love how no matter where you go in the world, Catholic Mass is always what you would expect. There is a comfort in that consistency. Today we sang “And he will raise you up” and other familiar songs. The church was very pretty, although humble, and the people were all friendly. We walked home today an hour, uphill, in the rain… The minibus transportation system is scary and so we are trying to walk as much as possible. They shove as many people as possible into a 14 passenger van (sometimes about 25 people!!) and then drive as crazy/fast as possible the whole way home. It’s only 40cents US each way but I don’t think they guarantee that you will make it to your destination still alive.

This afternoon we went for a walk and met a bunch of neighborhood kids. (attached pictures) They were absolutely enjoyable to be around! Felicia and RoseMary (the two closest to me) spoke very good English. We took them all back to our place and gave them jump-ropes, puzzles, stickers, play-dough, and lip gloss. They are coming back tomorrow afternoon to play soccer with us. The youngest boy, only about 1 year old, (who I’m holding) was running around town with the 10 year olds without shoes on and no adult in sight. It always amazes me that mothers here are not more vigilant of their children. Even in church this morning there was a 10 year old with a baby on his back and no parents in sight. HIV is killing all of the mothers. Felicia said she has 7 brothers and sisters at home and they live in a 3 room house. None of the kids were wearing shoes. We gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste and they didn’t even know what they were… their teeth were already rotting at 10. It is heart-wrenching every time you put food in your mouth knowing that there are kids just down the street with nothing. I am feeling so small.

“Everything will be all right. The heart is stronger than you think… even when you think you can’t, it finds a way to still push on. I’m tellin’ you, things get better, through whatever, if you fall, dust it off. Don’t you know, you can be your own miracle?? If your mind keeps thinking you’ve had enough, don’t give up!! Through it all just stand up.” – Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus

January 17, 2009

Today Anne and I made dinner for the Swazi University students. They invited all of their friends so it turned into a little party. It was nice to have people over since Anne and I have been alone quite a bit. Nuvhilla brought her son who is only 7 months! We played cars and with a ball, he was quite the cutie.

After dinner, Alex took one of the girls home and asked if we wanted to come along for the ride. She lived out in the bush and we had to take many unnamed dirt roads to get there. It is sad enough in the city with all of the poverty and hunger staring you in the face… but when you get into the rural areas it is unbearable. It looks like a wasteland. Trash everywhere… stray dogs that look like skin and bones just longing for something to eat. I lost it on the way home when we saw a little dog that appeared to have starved to death on the side of the road.

The problem is that they are not putting their resources where they could best tackle the problem. They are looking for a vaccine for HIV or a cure… what they need to do is focus on prevention. The poverty, illiteracy and unemployment are the true proponents of the HIV epidemic. Without tackling those issues, the HIV epidemic will continue to sky-rocket. And with the current prevalence rates of over 50% in 14-24 year old girls, hopefully there is not much more sky-rocketing in the future!!

January 16, 2009

Today we just relaxed and soaked up the sun in the front yard. I went jogging today around noon with no sunscreen on… bad idea. Now I look like a tomato!!

January 15, 2009

Today was another waiting game. We supposedly had a meeting with someone important who wanted to give us an internship, but we ended up just going to a meeting with Prince Cedza at Swaziland University. We soon realized that our presence was entirely unnecessary as the faculty and Prince Cedza spoke siSwati at least half of the time… Tomorrow we decided we are going to have a relaxing day of laying out in our yard with our puppy and soak up some sun rays.

Next week we are going back to Selula Sandla to volunteer at the HIV orphanage and we are going back to Elangeni Village to volunteer with the community public health officials.

January 14, 2009

We were so bored today that we took Brandy on 3 walks… Anyway we are scheming for back-up plans incase this meeting with Baylor Pediatric HIV Clinic never happens. Swaziland’s main problem is their pace at which they do everything (but drive)… GOSH DARN SLOW. Definitely something difficult to get used to when you come from the States…

January 13, 2009

“Squash?... Staash!!... STOP THE BUS!!”

We rode the mini-bus (14 passenger van) today for the first time. It was quite the experience. Apparently when you want to get off you yell something in siSwati… but Anne and I weren’t exactly sure what that something was! We somehow made it to the mall though and had a good time. We went shopping and found some cheap-o skirts and dresses for $3-5 each! I also bought a pair of green mini-heels… love them. We used the internet café too which is nice – makes you feel connected to the rest of the world instead of trapped here...

It is super sad here. The longer I am here the more I realize that the “have-nots” of this country actually have NOTHING. Anne and I went jogging yesterday and saw a pack of stray dogs that were trying desperately to find something to eat. Broke my heart. I am glad that my baby Tylie is in good hands with my mommy (Thanks mom!!)…

When we got back to the house we performed a monstrous haircut on Brandy, our little Maltese, as he has been abused for some time and no one has given him a bath or cut his hair PROBABLY since he first stepped foot into this world. His long hair was matted into one large dreadlock. You could not even feel his little 5lb body. He had dreadlocks that pinned his ears to his head and dreadlocks that made him look like he had 8 legs instead of 4 (Anne INSISTED that he had eight legs until I cut his hair). I have never seen such a sorry sight. After 2 hours of strenuous cutting with Anne’s safety scissors, Brandy finally looks like a dog again!! But he had fleas and ticks everywhere. I pulled out his ticks and caught a few fleas, but Alex is SUPPOSED to be bringing me flea shampoo from the market… we will see if he actually does. I think someone hits Brandy because this little doggy is terrified of males… L BUT, good news is, after a bath and a haircut, Brandy is enjoying a relaxing afternoon in my bedroom. I wish I could bring him (and the 117,000 orphans of Swaziland) home with me… Bo, I know I said 6, but could we maybe have 117,000 kids??? J

January 12, 2009

Day 2 no water. Alex called the City Water Supply last night and they assured us that it would be running again by this morning. But they lied. We have a meeting today with some doctors at a nearby hospital for a possible internship and we are going to be looking like a wreck when we meet them. Hopefully the meeting is in the afternoon and the water comes back on before then.

January 11, 2009

Another day of flooding. Anne and I went jogging to see how bad it was… it just will not stop raining here and Mbabane has no drainage system so the water just sits… EVERYWHERE. Cars are stranded on streets and there is no running water because one of the pipes downtown is broken so everyone is out of water. Anne and I picked a good day to go jogging and not be able to shower L Cedza took us to the market to see if we could get some bottled water to shower with but all of the economy-sized water containers were sold out, so we are going to have to shower with a million little liter bottles. Hilarious.

January 10, 2009

Today the students went back to the US. Anne and I moved into our new home! It is actually Cedza’s family’s guesthouse and it is beautiful! It is a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a cement privacy fence and a little Maltese puppy named Brandy! Alex (Cedza’s brother) lives in the servant’s quarters so we always have someone nearby if we need anything. We live off of an unnamed dirt road (as almost everyone else does in Swaziland) so the address here is:

P.O. Box 2277

Mbabane, Swaziland

Africa

I also bought a new cellphone so Anne and I do not have to share anymore.

The number is: 011-268-635-6157

We should be getting the internet soon, but it may be dial-up (yuck!!). Mbabane flooded today so we were stuck at the house all day. But it gave us an excuse to work on our dreaded MPH thesis a little…

January 9, 2009

Baylor Medical Center in Texas has been branching out around Swaziland. We got to tour the Pediatric HIV hospital today in Mbabane and we saw a second facility that is currently being built in Manzini. The physician told us that there are 8 remote sites currently being constructed due to the success of the first site in Mbabane. When we toured, we met many US doctors who came for a year to work in the clinic. It is incredibly heart-wrenching. In Swaziland (like many developing countries), although ARVs (anti-retroviral “cocktails”) are provided for free by the government, people do not have access to them until their CD4 count goes below a level of 200. At this time, a person is considered to no longer just have HIV, but full-blown AIDS and it is also this time that the person can no longer fight off infections/diseases and typically have opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. In comparison, in the US, HIV victims start treatment when their CD4 levels are at or above 350. This prolongs their viability and dramatically postpones the time which they will contract full-blown AIDS thereby allowing them to maintain a higher quality of life for a much longer period of time.

Of course I knew this from my courses, but seeing a skin-and-bones infant no older than 6 months old on life support, being tube fed through their nose, and barely clinging to life really puts a face on HIV. At this time it is no longer just a statistic in a textbook but a human life struggling to hang on. Very sad. They said that their PMTCT (Prevention of mother to child transmission) during labor is quite high (80-90%) but many of the children then contract the disease through breastfeeding. Although the alternative, dying of malnutrition due to the lack of money to afford formula, is another tragedy. Anne and I decided that we want to volunteer here at Baylor Pediatric HIV clinic, or perhaps at RFM Mission Hospital doing health promotion and health education for young HIV victims. Prince Cedza is setting up a meeting for us with the director early next week. The undergrads leave tomorrow. I am excited to get settled into a routine and to stop living out of my suitcase. More later… in the meantime please pray for all of the little ones out there on this side of world who did not have a choice in their tragic fate…

January 8, 2009

Today we went to Elangeni to say goodbye to the village people we have been closely working with and interviewing since the Purdue undergrads are going to be returning to the US on Saturday. Elangeni put on a goodbye celebration complete with singing, dancing, and HIV-related skits. Afterward, when we were saying goodbye to our Child-headed household, Ashela gave the 12year old girl a My Little Pony coloring book and crayons and the little girl cried and said it was the nicest thing she had ever received. It is hard to believe that these children are so grateful for the littlest things when the kids in the US these days demand Ninento Wiis and Cell Phones or they refuse to believe in Santa anymore.

One of the families we visited has 5 generations living on the same homestead. There is one great-great-grannie, 2 great grandmothers, 7 grandmothers, 20 mothers and 100 children. It is really a miracle to see. The great-great-grannie wanted a fence around her farm so that her chickens and the neighbors goats would stop eating the food they grow to feed their large family. So, we went and purchased fencing wire and the neighborhood men chopped down logs for us and we all helped to put up a fence!! (well, in all fairness, I mostly was involved in supervising as I was in a dress and the fence was dirty J) But, it WAS completed and the great-great-grannie said that if her late husband was alive, he would NEVER have believed to see a group of white people working for them. J

December 31, 2008
Tonight Princess Celenhle took us to House On Fire, a local nightclub to celebrate the New Year. However, it had a “Mexican” theme which was hysterical. The African interpretation of Mexican food and Salsa dancing was entertaining in its own right. As you entered the club, you could purchase a sombrero and a scummy looking Mexican mustache to tape to your face… despite people’s better judgment, I saw plenty!! For dinner, we had Dorito chips with “salsa” as an appetizer and who knows what for the main course. Also, it was totally a white person bar… I would never have guessed that there were so many white people in Swaziland. Most of them were there with UNAIDS missions or in the Peace Corps. Some of the girls we saw there were Americans with impeccable siSwati – which is quite admirable since it is a very difficult “clicking” language. The music was hilarious. Mainly American songs from the early 90s and then around midnight an Irish sounding band played. Kind of reminded me of 9 Irish Brothers set in the middle of Swaziland…

January 1, 2009
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Today was a relaxing day. My suspicions that we may have been the only white people some Swazis have ever seen were confirmed today. This afternoon some of the undergrads, Anne, and I went for a walk. As we were walking down the street, we ran into 2 young Swazi girls. The one girl was very excited to see us and started teaching us siSwati (the local language) as well as take us on a tour of her homestead. Anne and I are trying to learn but everyone laughs at our accent and so far we only know the very basic phrases… I am sure it is not spelled correctly, but we have learned the following:

Hello: san bona (singular) or sani bonanie (plural)
Girl: Sissy
Boy: Booti
How are you?: Nin jani
I am fine: Nia pilla
My name is: Ningoo
Thank you: Siabonga

Her younger sister (about 2-3 years old) had a terrible case of Ricketts and her family had very little to eat. She was a very bright girl (most people in the rural areas do not know English & do not complete much schooling). When she took us to the neighboring homestead there were two young babies (around 2-3yrs.) who were TERRIFIED of us!! They screamed and cried their eyes out. I don’t know if I have ever seen a child so scared… our new friend told us that it was because we were so “bright” and they’d never seen a person with such white skin before. After we sat around and socialized with them, they opened up to us… a little. Their mothers asked if we could take pictures of them and get them developed. Anne and I went to the mall today to get them printed...

January 2, 2009
Today we went back to our assigned homesteads in Elangeni Village to interview the families in order to eventually do a nationwide Public Health Asset Mapping program. The first family that we visited had hope and have a number of able-bodied adults to do work whenever they can find it.
However, the second home is a child-headed household and the interview was very emotional. The young boy who heads the family broke into tears halfway through the interview and we had to finish early. On Monday when we return, I am going to go to the market and buy a bunch of food for them because they never know when their next meal will be. They are at the mercy of their neighbor’s leftovers. The young boy only 4 years old suffers the most because he can no longer remember his mother and father. Very sad… The children’s greatest wish is to go to school… only 600E/year… which is only around 64 dollars. I think I am going to go to their school and pay for the whole year so they will no longer have to worry about that. The children who drop out because of the lack of funds are stuck in a lifelong cycle of poverty. The only ones who pick themselves up out of it are the ones who continue with their education at least through high school. Most of them are forced to drop out after only 1st grade. More later. Anne and I are going for a walk.

January 3, 2009
Today the students went White Water Rafting. Princess Celenhle told us that she has been before and fell in the river an uncountable number of times and it cost $40US for only an hour. At that, Anne and I decided to stay back at the hotel. We need to stretch our money over 3 months and wish not to do all of the fun things Swaziland has to offer in the first two weeks.
So, we met up with village girls we previously met instead. They took us to the nearby river and wanted to go swimming. Anne and I politely declined as we did not wish to contract some disease from the dirty water, but we watched the girls swim for quite some time. The river had a nasty current and we were worried about the little ones, but the older girls assured us that they do it all of the time. The children have so much freedom here!!
We had dinner as a group when the students got back. After dinner, Anne and I learned a lot from Busi, the owner of the guesthouse. She explained that the taxes in downtown Mbabane are ridiculous and many people are being forced to move to the shanty rural villages. She explained that her husband’s family owns the land where they built the guesthouse and the land containing the homesteads neighboring our guesthouse. The people are allowed to live there as long as they look after Busi’s family’s cattle. But, she said that the families cause her much sadness because she tries to help them find jobs and have food/money, but that there are just so many and she is but one person. She said that there has been a problem with the young boys in the area stealing from her homestead (t.v’s, microwaves, radios) and selling them in the city for money. She also said that the parents will have their young daughters sell alcohol to the neighboring people and then when the customers get drunk, they will have sex with the young girls for money. Many of these young girls have children of their own and they continue the vicious cycle of poverty.

January 4, 2009
Today the students went on a safari… but they did their safari tour on our HUGE 50 passenger bus. In addition to the fact that it was 100 degrees in the shade and there is no air circulation on the bus; Anne and I went on a safari last time we were here in March. So, we decided to stay back at the hotel and go exploring around the neighboring area instead. But as we were walking out of our guesthouse, Busi (the owner lady) stopped us and asked if we would like to go to church with her instead. She goes to ‘Jesus Call Worship Center’, an Evangelical church. It was a verrrrry wealthy church. There were Jaguars, Land Rovers, BMWs, and Mercedes overflowing the parking lot. The church was very modern looking and had an amazing sound system. There was a preacher who spoke English and one who echoed him in siSwati. The band was magnificent and everyone sang so beautifully. Their rendition of “Lord I lift your name on high” was so amazing that I tried to capture it on my camera. The attached all black “video” is the audio of the song, but it is quite muffled from being in my purse. The experience was just as you would imagine it from a movie. The people all yelled and held up their hands and said “AMEN” about every 30 seconds. There was much applause and the preachers were VERY energetic. I would love to see a Catholic priest try to conduct mass this way J Church lasted for over 2 hours, I told Busi that half of the people at mass would have been asleep by then, but the energy in the room here kept everyone alert and wanting more.
After church we socialized with Busi’s sister-in-laws who are also Prince Cedza and Princess Celenhle’s cousins. I am beginning to think that all those in Swaziland who have money are all related. The sister-in-laws were very nice and attended a North Carolina university. The rest of the day Anne and I spent relaxing and waiting for the students to return from their safari. Tomorrow we will return to the Elangeni Village to present gifts to the families we interviewed previously. I would really like to offer my family a year of education for the 2 young children…

January 5, 2009
This morning we sat on a bus. For 3 hours. We were waiting for the Swazi University students to get done with the Royal Health Motivator focus group session and… it… took… FOREVER. The bus was about 400 degrees and everyone was upset that we were just sitting there. Once we finally got the “okay” to go, the students and I went to the GrowMore Wholesaler to pick up food for our Elangeni Village families. We bought sugar beans, brown sugar, maize meal, soup broth, peanut butter, salt, soap, candles and matches for each homestead and then spent the next hour or two delivering the care packages.
In the afternoon we visited the Selula Sandla orphanage. Anne and I had a predetermined expectation that the place would be a disaster because the last time we were here in March we visited an orphanage where the children had no clothing, no education, and very little to eat. However, this orphanage is funded by an African Methodist Episcopal Church and the children were very well cared for. They all had nice clothing, appeared to be well fed, and all of them were in school. There were 23 children living in the home with 3 live-in house mothers. They said that they have the capacity to hold 36 but that a recent funding problem limits them from having adding any more. The attached video clip of the little girls is them singing their “I Love You Jesus” introduction song. They use it to teach people their names. It is ADORABLE. All of the children appeared to be very healthy besides one little girl who appeared to be partially blind and possibly has fetal alcohol syndrome. The Purdue students spent the remaining time racing the orphans (the little ones wanted to do a 100m dash – also an attached video clip), playing Frisbee in the front yard, and playing with the puppies in the back yard (soooo sad, the mommy dog was super malnourished). I was relieved to see that the children were so happy and well cared for.

January 6, 2009
Today is yet another example of why looks are deceiving. I was thrilled with the apparent health of the children yesterday at Selula Sandla; however, we were informed today that 75% of them are HIV+. Typically, the government pays for ARV (anti-retroviral treatment) when a victim reaches a certain T-cell count. However, at this level, the HIV victim is visibly ill with a deteriorating immune system. At Selula Sandla, the African Methodist Church pays for all of the ARV treatments for the children so that they can be treated despite their T-cell count. We were told that some of the young children don’t even know they have HIV, they just know they have to take pills everyday. Very sad.
The students, Anne, and I had a very “touristy” day. We went to the Swazi Cultural Village where you can witness a traditional Swazi village setting and see traditional dancing and singing. There was also a beautiful waterfall…
In the afternoon we went to Swazi Candles which is a candle-making shop. Many of the students bought candles as souvenirs. Outside of the shop there were rural people selling their handmade crafts. There were gorgeous cotton prints, traditional Swazi warrior dolls, jewelry, Swazi masks, Swazi drums, and carved figurines. Everything is quite cheap. Anne’s aunt owns a jewelry shop and we are thinking about buying a bunch of Swazi necklaces from the rural people and sending them to her Aunt to sell in the US. We would like to give the profit back to the people. Anne and I bought a necklace for $3 today that would sell at Macy’s for over $30 easily. You almost feel guilty walking away with a beautiful necklace for only $3…

January 7, 2009
I am so blessed. Being here is a constant reminder of how much I have been given in my life… not only material goods but also things like education and health. Today Anne and I tried to take the students to an orphanage that we visited last March. It was definitely a place where there was the greatest need. I can still close my eyes and see the babies kept in boxes on the floor drowning in their own urine and with no human stimulation. We wanted the students to see the need and when they go back to the US on Saturday, raise funds to make changes in these orphans’ lives.
However, when we reached the house that used to be called home to 50+ orphans, we were shocked to find that all of those children were GONE! Vanished without a trace. Although I am worried about the whereabouts and safety of these kids… it was a blessing from God that we arrived at the house… we met the most fascinating people I have ever seen, and they were all blind or severely visually impaired!! 13 blind people and 2 babies (one blind) all live in the house now. Some NGO from England (Africa Equipped??) saved these people from the streets. Just 4 months ago the eldest person told us he was a street beggar in Manzini (a nearby city). Then, the NGO grouped these blind people together and gave them recording equipment and a home (guaranteed for 5 years) to give them a fighting chance at life… and these people are the happiest and proudest people you will ever meet in your life… with the most beautiful voices. They are FABULOUS singers! They formed a Jesus Worshippers Gospel Choir and they tour and sing/dance to earn a living. I attached 2 videos of them – one of them singing and one of them dancing with our US students.

December 26th, 2008
I almost died today on the sheet of ice covering the highway from W. Lafayette to the Chicago O’Hare airport. The major highway was closed down due to a fatality and the exits on highway 41 (our alternative route) were closed due to jack-knifed semis and overturned cars. On top of my mom’s sadness and Bo’s reluctancy to see me go… the weather condition seemed like a bad omen.

Bo’s driving skills were the only thing that saved us – and a journey that typically takes only 2.5 hours totaled 7 due to the ice. Bo did a marvelous job driving; however, with the roads so treacherous and us borrowing his mom’s car, I decided to try to meet up with Dr. Okoror and ride with her the rest of the way (about 1 hour left to go). A crazy Nigerian professor and her false sense of security in her Lexus SUV was a bad combination with the given road conditions. I sat in the back seat and said multiple prayers all of the way to the airport. We made it, FINALLY, and all I could think about was that in 24 hours I would step foot once again in Johannesburg, South Africa.

December 27, 2008
So, I am here, but one of my bags isn’t. Hopefully they find it and in the meantime I am borrowing all of Anne’s stuff… I am lucky to be traveling with such a great friend!! We arrived in J-Burg around 11:30 at night (but 4:30p Indiana time after over a days worth of traveling) and went straight to a guest house to sleep. In the morning we will travel to Mbabane, Swaziland where the undergraduate students will complete their 2-week service-learning trip and Anne and I will subsequently be completing a 3 month volunteer project. I am excited to learn more details about our project.

December 28, 2008
It is rainy and humid (but that’s WAY better than being cold and icy!!). We made the 4 hour bus-ride to Mbabane and once we arrived we had a beautiful and tasty catered dinner with faculty members from the University of Swaziland in the Royal Hotel typically reserved for Heads of State. They are excited to have us on board and they will be our main collaborators for the next 3 months. Not only is the dean and the head of the department involved, but also 6 community health nursing graduate students. The University of Swaziland has a child-headed household research project and they have requested Anne and my help. The students will begin the research project and upon their departure on January 11th, Anne and I will continue with the project for the next 3 months.

December 29, 2008
No hot water part II…Anne and I have been rather unlucky with our room assignments. We have always ended up with the rooms that have no hot water and the cold water faucets tend to electrocute you when you try to turn them on. On top of that, we are outside of Mbabane in the TOTAL BOONIES!! There are wild animals running around at all hours of the day and night making ridiculous noises!! However, we do have a marvelous view of the mountains and surrounding city. Also, the sky is so clear from pollution around here that you can see every star in the sky… there was even a rainbow today!! You could see from one end all of the way to the pot of gold at the other side… and all of the colors in between. Never seen anything before like it… ever.

We do not have the internet but I did purchase a Swazi cellphone today. The network here is such that incoming calls and texts are free… if you would like to call me; my number is 011-268-635-6427. We met the chief of a nearby village today. SHE is a remarkable woman. (Notice I said she – as this is unique in Swazi culture to have a female chief of a village) She is absolutely incredible and leads by example such that she is out in the field everyday along with her community members producing crops for consumption. She also provides all necessary needs for the members even if this means giving up her own resources or money from her own pocket. When we met her we were expected to wear traditional Swazi attire and stand when she’s standing and sit only when told to. Before and after our meeting we sang a prayer thanking God for the rain (the Swazi people see it as a blessing from God) and thanking God for bringing us together. It is always remarkable to me that these people still take time to be thankful for such little resources they have rather than waste their time wanting resources that are currently out of reach. Very inspiring…

December 30, 2008
Once again I was reminded of the blessings I have in my life. We traveled to the Chief’s village to visit homesteads containing orphaned and/or vulnerable children (OVCs). We were accompanied by the Swazi University community health nursing students I spoke of earlier as well as some key community leaders. Without these key informants, we would not be able to enter people’s homes and gain such personal information about the death of their parents and their current psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual status. It is always a shock to see people living in such absolute poverty but who are still pure at heart and overwhelmingly happy!

For example, today a boy of only 18 years asked if we would offer him a job saying he would be willing and able to do anything… in essence, they are not asking for a handout, rather a hand UP…

The second house I visited today was an 18 year old boy who was raising his 4 younger brothers and sisters. His father died in 1999 and his mother died just last year. When we left their home the young children all started climbing the trees. We assumed they were climbing to show off or play; however, they were climbing to pick berries from the very highest leaves to show thanks for our visit. This is typical in Swazi society. Even if the people have nothing and you have the whole world in the palm of your hand, they will pluck their very last cob of maize and give it to you for your dinner.

I really enjoy the company of the Swazi University students, especially Futhi! She and I have become fast friends… Also, the former 2006 Miss South Africa is part of the Ubuntu team. She is amazing. She started out in a rural village much like the ones we visited and has now made herself into an inspiration for rural community members across the southern African region. She has fans everywhere we go!!

This afternoon we were welcomed at the King’s ceremony. The people were all dressed in traditional Swaziland attire – even young children. The king’s (13!!) wives were honored as well as their children. It was a celebration to end a national holiday/time of rest and mark the re-entering into the fields. Even us American students were asked to wear Swazi King Mswati III wraps! We looked awkward but not as awkward as the two Chinese tourists standing in front of us (the only other tourists there) J I think we may have been the only white people some of the Swazi’s have seen as we were treated as celebrities! Everyone was bowing and waving to us and offering their sons for marriage (don’t worry Bobo)!! It was a very lovely day and I look forward to tomorrow…