annie in africa

Summer 2012

2011-09-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Join our Give Hope, Fight Poverty team on 10 day service-learning trips next summer to southern Africa and make a difference in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children!!

Swaziland: June 26 - July 5 (Hope Art & Computer/English Literacy at a rural school)
Swaziland: July 3 - July 12 (Playground building team at an HIV orphanage)
Swaziland: July 10 - July 19 (Playground & mural painting team at an HIV orphanage)
Namibia: July 17 - July 26 (Pottery-based income generating project for HIV+ women)
Scouting: Zambia: July 26 - August 1 (for professionals or photographers only)

If you'd like to join us or you want more information, visit our website: www.ifightpoverty.org or email me at: anniefightspoverty@gmail.com

This quote from the band Abandon took the words right out of my mouth:

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. "I am needed here," I think. "They have so little, and I have so much." It's true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in those same people. It's a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day.

The images spilling out of my television showed circumstances that could seemingly only equal misery, and I was fooled. I bought into the lie that circumstance defines happiness. The truth is, in Africa I find hearts full of victory, indomitable spirits. In places where despair should thrive, instead I find adults dancing and singing, and children playing soccer with a ball crafted of tied up trash. Instead of payback, I find grace. Here, weekend getaways are not options to provide relief from the pains of daily life. Relationships and faith provide joy. Love is sovereign.

My new reality… I know now that my joy should have no regard for my circumstances. I'm ashamed by my lack of faith, but at the very same moment I am excited by my new pursuit. I'm forced to redefine the meaning of having much or having little. I'm uneasy with the prospect of change and of letting go, but just the thought of freedom is liberating. I want what I have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart - I no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy.

I'm not saying that Africa does not need our efforts. It absolutely does need our partnership. But for me, I've come to understand that I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME. Why? Because it is Africa that has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart. I've learned that I don't need what I have and that I have what I need. These are just a few of this continent's many lessons. I came here to serve and yet I've found that I have so much to learn, and Africa, with all its need, has much to teach me.

YOU RAISE ME UP!

2011-05-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION: One of the 13 year old kids we sponsor named Sizo invited us to his church for a special surprise. So, all of us girls pile into the van and trek to Grace Christian Fellowship Church to see what he has in store for us. We sit through a beautiful service titled "I am a Winner" about how everyone can be a "winner" if you put your faith in God - no matter what you have done or what you have failed to do in the past. I thought about how it applied to our children we sponsor as they have risen above the horrible hands they have been dealt and continue to thrive despite their many every day obstacles.

Then the pastor introduces our group to the church stating that we are Sizo's "special friends" and calls Sizo forward. Sizo takes the microphone and says that he owes his future to his sponsors in Indiana and how lucky he is to have us in his life and then dedicates the song "You Raise Me Up" to us and proceeds to sing beautifully a capella. Of course our service-learning team goes crazy snapping pictures, taking Flip video footage, and frantically wiping the tears off of our faces so we dont miss a single moment.

I wish these kids I met years ago when I was living in Swaziland had even a fraction of a clue as to what they do for me every single day... THEY raise ME up to be a better person - less selfish, more giving, more loving, and truly inspired. My life is more purposeful because they are in it.

Day one - MAY 10th: My bladder the size of a peanut is never a good thing on the journey from Indianapolis to Mbabane, Swaziland. After climbing over a sleeping Kait the whole 18 hour plane ride, we spend the night in Johannesburg only to wake up to have a 5 hour drive to Mbabane and there are....NO toilets in sight for miles. Behold! We finally see a tree!! So, Kait and I had to have our friends (and drivers) Pam and Amilcare stop so we could run through a field of burs to squat behind the only tree we have seen to give us some privacy. I spent the rest of the drive picking burs out of my pants, shoes, and....undergarments, but WE MADE IT!

Immediately upon reaching town, we went to Selula Sandla Orphanage to play with the kids. It is against Swazi culture to seclude and stigmatize children who have lost their parents by placing them into traditional Western orphanage facilities, but the country makes an exception for Selula Sandla because most of the children here are HIV-positive. The caretakers are trained to provide proper nutrition and to look for health indicators of HIV-related infections. Also, it is strategically close to Baylor's Pediatric HIV Center where all of the children are treated with ARVs (anti-retroviral drugs). Minus some tattered clothing, they actually appear to be the healthiest kids in town due to their 3 meals a day (including protein!!) and constant access to healthcare facilities. Our team painted nails, colored, made bracelets, sang songs, and rejoiced that the kids who have suffered so many health challenges in their short lives were all momentarily healthy.

Future GHFP Goal: This orphanage has no means of transportation and no nearby playground facility. The only time children are able to leave the small compound is to go to Baylor for HIV treatment or to school right down the street. The Program Coordinator asked us to build them a small playground with a slide and some tire swings. Who wants to help? We already have a Swazi automotive company willing to donate the tires and perhaps other building materials (thanks to Pam!!). We are planning a volunteer crew to go next summer (late July 2012) to build the playground, and a subsequent crew immediately afterward (early August 2012) to paint the playground and a HOPE mural.

MAY 11th: Unpacking and organizing 1,000 pounds of donations is quite a chore! We were lucky to receive brand new medical supplies from OWENS AND MINOR, food packs from KIDS AGAINST HUNGER, books from HALF PRICE BOOKS and Christine & Lia's church, toothbrushes, sanitary pads, shoes, clothes from HANCOCK TELECOM, art supplies from FOLLETTS BOOKSTORE, stuffed animals, school supplies, vitamins, etc. As always, I told the girls they should not bring anything they did not want to leave behind in Swaziland - even their suitcases! Usually I ask the girls to meet me with empty bags so they can fill them with donations I have acquired. This time, the girls went above and beyond and found the donations themselves! My favorite was Lia and Christine telling Folletts Bookstore on Purdue's campus that the one single t-shirt they were going to donate was not going to be sufficient and subsequently getting much more! :) Way to go girls!!

Medical Supplies donated by Owen's and Minor

Below is only a fraction of the 1,000lbs of donations. Thanks everyone!!

The students went on safari today at Hlane Royal National Park so Kait and I could get some business done. Swaziland is a very traditional country and there are formalities that have to happen before a team is welcomed into a village. We met Bheki (eLangeni Village Facilitator) at the Primary School where we spoke to the headmaster to receive permission to work with the kids this week and received the bill for Celimphilo (more about her later) and Gcinile's 2011 school fees. Then, we hitched a ride to the Secondary School where the headmaster took us on a tour. When I first toured the school in 2007 there were two structures in place (one without a roof), 1 teacher, 1 grade available (form 1 or freshman year) and no electricity or running water. Now all 5 forms (grades) are available and there are 400 kids with about 10 buildings including woodworking, textile and design, agriculture, and listening lab! The headmaster is amazing and works hard to acquire donations and support from other countries and his hardwork pays off for the kids! I was amazed to see that some of the kids spend their own money to ride public transportation from their homes in the cities (Mbabane or Manzini) 30 minutes each way into the rural village to go to school - this speaks a lot about the quality of school. The only downfall to this school is that the reason why they are able to provide such a stellar education is that they will not allow OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) who cannot pay the school fees to enter. Many rural schools will allow orphans to attend despite their inability to pay but that dilutes the education for everyone because there is no money for good teachers, or textbooks, or computers. That is why Anne Fogler and I started raising money for orphan education funds a long time ago - these kids are getting an education at eLangeni that will allow them a better chance at escaping a life of poverty.

In Swaziland, education is not free. It is around $600 USD per year for a child to go to school. For an orphan with no caregiver like those of ours in child-headed households, this financial feat is impossible. The Swazi government tries to help out by offering an OVC grant that will cover half of the orphan's school fees, but $300 USD per year is still impossible for kids living on hand-outs from poor neighbors. And the disappointing news Kait and I discovered was that due to the failing Swazi economy, they reduced the OVC grant to only 25% of the school fees making our kids' tuition $450/year. One of our kids was dropped from the government grant entirely because the government said that he didnt fill out the paperwork properly. (The children have to prove every year that they are still an orphan to receive the grant...as if their parents might some day miraculously return from the grave.) We are supporting 12 kids (11 owing $450 per year and one owing $600) so now we owe $5,550 each year rather than the previous $3,600. Challenging since Kait and I are teachers, but we get a lot of help from family and friends and the kids are worth every penny!

May 12th: This morning we woke up for breakfast to the smell of fish sticks - Kait's favorite!! We then went to the Manzini Market and sweated our butts off (I thought it was Winter in Swaziland??) while supporting local artisans. ((Give Hope, Fight Poverty (ifightpoverty.org) has many Artisan Direct products you can purchase to support the women artisans as well as GHFP programs. You can purchase these through our eNewsletter or by hosting a Party for a Purpose.))

Afterward, we went to the Swazi Cultural Village where the students are able to learn more about Swazi tradition and culture, watch traditional Swazi dancing, and hear incredible singing. The highlight of the day was watching the monkey's raid our van. Kait and I tried to save the day by chasing them away, but they took one look at the peanut butter crackers in Kait's hand and decided to charge after us instead. Kait didnt want to "encourage their negative behavior", so instead of throwing the crackers at them and hightailing it out of there - she decided to go an alternative route and.... shoved them down her pants. I am sure this episode will end up on YouTube as the students so kindly got it on tape.

Then we went to Lobamba Clinic where we met up with my friend Nelly who is an HIV-positive Expert Client. She is compliant with her medication and takes great care of herself emotionally and physically, so the government pays her 850Rand/month ($136 USD) to work full-time at the clinic encouraging others to get tested and counseling them when they are positive. She also helps with checking compliance of patients by counting pills and educating them on how to properly take their pills and what nutrition is necessary to stay healthy. We went on a tour of the clinic and learned about the successes and challenges of their small facility. There are 8 nurses on staff, a number of Expert Clients, and ZERO doctors. There used to be a couple of doctors from Zimbabwe but they have since quit. Due to the lack of a medical school in the entire country and the poor wages doctors are paid compared to Swaziland's surrounding countries - there are VERY few doctors (most on a short stint from the US, South Africa, or Europe). So the nurses alone see over 250 patients per day. They frequently run out of supplies and their days are filled with patients too sick for them to be able to treat with their limited medical equipment. (Thank you to OWENS AND MINOR for their generous donation of gauze, syringes, suture needles, hospital gowns, slings, splints, and gloves - this was truly a blessing) They are in the process of building an HIV testing lab on site so that they will no longer be required to ship their bloodwork to South Africa for testing. They also hope to be able to treat HIV-positive children and infants. (Right now Baylor is the only facility equipped to do so)

May 13th: Kait and I took the students to meet the Princess Chief of eLangeni today. She had just a short time because she had 3 funerals this weekend for family members who passed away. In a country with the shortest life expectancy in the world (32 years of age), loved ones dying is frequent and painful. During our short visit, the Chief explained her role in the army and her training as a nurse and midwife. She is also a leader in HIV prevention for the nation - such an AMAZING lady. She was very happy to see that I have returned with a group again because many people promise to do so but don't.

Future GHFP Goal: The Chief explained to us that for her students to be competitive enough to go to college, they need to be computer literate and this needs to start at an early age. Most children do not have electricity and have never even seen a computer until high-school. She asked that we supply the Primary School with 4 or 5 computers loaded with English literacy programs so the children can learn English, learn to type, and learn about how to use a computer. Who wants to help???

We then went to eLangeni Primary School where we dropped off donations of books and school supplies. Kait taught the 5th graders how to do a weaving project that all of the kids (and the Swazi teacher) enjoyed. Then, we played with them during the morning recess. This recess allows time for some of the neediest children to receive a free breakfast. All children receive a free lunch consisting of porridge or mealies (ground corn meal). For many of the kids, this is the only food they will eat for the entire day.

If you look closely, you will see Katy, one of our Purdue students in the middle. :)

Proud of her weaving.

Finger-licking good!

The 5th grade class holds up their masterpieces!!

Then we headed off to the Secondary School (high school) where the headmaster held an all-school assembly in our honor. It was so amazing to see all of the kids again. The headboy (senior class president) welcomed us to the school and stated on behalf of the students that they were happy to see us. Then the school's quartet (including our very own Sizo - first picture below) sang a couple of songs for us. Then they asked us if we prepared any songs for them...although the students offered to sing "Row row row your boat", I told the headmaster we unfortunately were musically challenged.
All-school assembly
Then our sponsored orphans took us on a tour of the school - the Purdue students were impressed as they saw the opportunities available at arguably the best high school in the country. Then, we sat in the computer lab to talk with the students. Each student said what year they were in school and what they wanted to be when they graduated...their dreams - accountants, doctors, nurses, teachers. I am so happy that we are playing a part in helping them come true!! When the students were asked if they had any questions for us, Sibusiso raised his hand and said "Only to ask if we may say thank you". Then their eyes lit up when they saw the bags of donations with their names on them. It is amazing what a couple of bags of KIDS AGAINST HUNGER meal packs and a pack of crayola markers means to the kids in eLangeni!!

We told the Msibi's and Maziya's that we will be coming back tomorrow to pick them up to go to town. The kids rarely ever get to leave their village and little Celimphilo has only been to Mbabane to take her little brother Mazwi for his HIV treatments. Sizo said "I am so happy I can hardly contain myself". Then he asked what time we were coming to pick him up because he wanted to look sharp!! :)

May 14th: Today was a day of many firsts for our kids! When Pam and I went with our kombi (mini-bus) to pick up the kids for a day in the town, they were all anxiously waiting in their finest clothes. We took them to the mall where we met up with Kait and the Purdue girls and went to Mr Price for a shopping spree. The Purdue girls all pitched in some of their own money to make sure that Nosipho, Nomfundo, Sizo, Mazwi, and Celimphilo all got to select a new outfit and pair of shoes. The kids were very excited!

Mazwi and Celimphilo (Celie) Maziya in the Purdue girls' sunglasses The kids holding their bags of new clothes and shoes at Mbabane Mall

Purdue girls and the eLangeni kids at Mbabane Mall

Then we decided to take them to the theater to see Gnomeo and Juliet since they'd never seen a movie before. Little 7 year old Mazwi was on the edge of his seat the whole time! Afterward, 17 year old Nosipho pulled me aside and asked if I would come with her into the Pick N Pay (grocery store). She pulled me into the hygiene aisle and asked if I would buy her some sanitary pads. 13 year old Celie was right behind us, so I asked her if she needed any. She hunched over very shy and shook her head "no". Then, as Nosipho and I headed toward the register, Celie quickly grabbed an economy pack and came running after us. The things we take for granted... like not having to use dried cow dung during our period.

The next "first" was pizza!! We had a Debonairs pizza party - the kids loved it and the littlest two (Celie and Mazwi) ate the most! When I dropped them off, Sizo said that he made something for us. It was a painting (with the supplies Kait and I left for them in November) and it said "You are Most Welcome - to the Most Beautiful Girls in Indiana". Haha, thanks Sizo.

May 15th: After going to Sizo's church this morning, we picked up the Maziya kids and brought them to the Msibi homestead to spend the day with us. We did art projects (clay, story quilts, weaving, coloring, etc). Nomfundo, Nosipho, and Sizo all did "before and after" story quilts. One square was their "now"/before and the other was their dream of the future/after. Nomfundo's before was her family (the 3 kids listed above) outside of their house. Her after was her as a pediatric nurse with her patients. Nosipho's before was her wearing traditional Swazi attire and her after was her fashion design store. Sizo's before was him outside of his house and his after was a music album he recorded called "You Raise Me Up".

Seeing Mazwi smile melts my heart. It happens much too rarely.
The Msibi's showing off their new outfits!
The clay masterpiece.

Celie working hard at her storyquilt.

Mazwi would not put the DoodlePro down for a minute!!

Goodbyes are always heart-wrentching. A year is SO long in a child's life (and mine!)!! We said our goodbyes to the Msibi's and Kait and I promised to be back next year. Then Kait, Kristen and I drove Mazwi and Celimphilo back to their house. It was pitch black because they do not have electricity. We stepped inside to show them the toys and food (KIDS AGAINST HUNGER) we brought for them - they LOVED the teddy bear, barbie, light-up truck, and clothes. Just when we were getting ready to leave, a drunk man appears at the door and approached little Celie. He said something in siSwati and Celie replied with a short tone. I still wonder what words were exchanged. It was time for us to go, so we waited for the man to walk away and made sure he wasnt lingering around before we left. As I was walking back to the car, the tears would not stop pouring down my face. Are Mazwi (7) and Celie (13) scared of being alone? Does that man commonly come around at night? Does anyone prey on the little kids alone in the dark house? I cried for them but I also cried for the tens of thousands of other kids in Swaziland in similar situations. The child-headed household phenomenon is increasing with the HIV prevalence and these children are easy targets for theft and abuse.

May 16th: Today we went to the SOHO Welcome Center to paint a LITSEMBA ("hope" in siSwati) mural with the pre-schoolers that Art With a Heart teacher Kristen Busenbark marvelously designed. Since we were only equipped to paint with 5 pre-schoolers at a time (imagine all 50 with permanent acryillic paints in their hands!!!!), I was the designated kid-go-getter. Along the way on one of my trips, I saw the teacher's son who I met on the last trip in November. He is about a year old now, remembered me, and immediately he wanted to be picked up, but I saw that he had completely peed through his pants... So I grabbed a random sweatshirt I saw lying on the ground and wrapped his booty up in it. Hopefully no one was planning on wearing that in the near future!

There are many needy kids at the Welcome Place. One of the girls about 16 was there in the morning to bring her little brother (age 3) to school. She said that her mom and dad left them alone and she had no idea where her parents were. A little girl was born with only one eye. There was a little boy who was albino and had severe skin and eye problems. The needs were overwhelming in this rural village so far away from towns.

She is in need of a glass eye.
After the mural was completed (it turned out BEAUTIFUL, thanks Kristen!!), we played games with the kids. I decided that duck, duck, goose was easy enough for pre-schoolers, but they never quite got the hang of it. Getting them to form a circle was easy enough, and they knew to stay seated when I tapped them on the head saying "duck", but when I got to "goose" it was total chaos! All 50 pre-schoolers immediately jumped up and chased me all over the school yard until one of them tackled me and the others piled on top. Getting yourself free of 100 pairs of little hands is not an easy task!! Prince Fikeveni Dlamini stopped by to check out the SOHO facility. He is originally from Swaziland but moved to Indiana to pursue a degree at Purdue. He has always been a major supporter of any endeavor that SOHO has done and is a true blessing to his people back home in Swaziland.

Circling up for Duck, Duck, Goose.
Pre-school mural painter. All of these small pieces were put together to form the masterpiece.

Singing their morning prayers.

We left the SOHO Welcome Place to go to Baylor's Pediatric HIV Center. Dr Eric took us on a tour and answered questions. We learned that in Swaziland, they start treating people for HIV when their CD4 levels drop below 350. In the US, we start treatment at diagnosis or at least by 500 T-cell counts. By 200, the victim will start experiencing lesions and there will be major devastation to their immune systems (we learned that the term AIDS is no longer actively used, but at 200 the person technically has full-blown AIDS). We learned that 50% of babies will get HIV if their mothers are not treated and 50% of those kids will die by their second birthdays. The doctor almost lost his composure when he told us a story of a 14 year old "miracle" patient who has never received treatment for her HIV she contracted at birth and whose t-cell count has been dropping dramatically. It was 15 in November and 5 when he saw her today. She has TB and pneumonia but her father will not let her start ARV treatment because he is afraid it will kill her. The doctor tried to explain to him that it was by NOT being on ARVs that she was slowing (actually now rather quickly) dying - but he could not get through to the father. She and her father left the clinic today with no ARVs. Dr Eric said that the hardest part of his job is knowing that there are treatments available in the US for the pateints he sees, but these treatments are not available in Swaziland - so sometimes he turns people away with conditions where there is a cure... it is just out of reach.

After Baylor, I dropped the girls off to get some dinner and Kait, Kristen, and I went to the Wholesale store (kind of like a Sam's Club). We noticed when we dropped the Maziya's off yesterday that the only thing they had in their entire house was a dirty caved in mattress laying on the floor. The Purdue students pitched in their own money (again) to buy them pillows, sheets, blankets, and comforters. I am so proud of my students!! We also picked up 2-3 months worth of food, candles (no electricity), cooking oil, matches, and soap. While the Purdue students were eating dinner, Kait, Kristen, and I ran back to eLangeni to drop off the goodies. We picked up Bheki to help us deliver them. When we got to the Maziya house, the older brother was there and he had Hannah's Purdue basketball shorts on. Celie came to the door wearing the necklace I left and Christine's bracelets around both ankles clutching her new teddy bear. We said our goodbyes again, but this time it was much less sad - Celie actually hugged us back although Mazwi just stood there stiffly as usual - but hey - I'll take what I can get! :) I love those little kids so much it hurts.

May 17th: We are headed back to the US today and it is bittersweet because I am leaving the kids but I am energized to raise $ and awareness so that Kait and I can do more in the future. Give Hope, Fight Poverty's upcoming focus in Swaziland will be:

1. Recreational: We promised Selula Sandla we will come back next summer to build a playground for the HIV orphans.

2. Literacy: We are committed to the Princess Chief to create an English literacy computer lab at the eLangeni Primary School.

3. Educational: As always until the children graduate, we will be sponsoring the school fees for the child-headed households of eLangeni.

4. Medical: We will continue to support our collaborators, Baylor Pediatric HIV Clinic and Lobamba Rural Clinic, by providing medical supplies.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!! There are endless ways you can help: You can always donate money to one of the above causes (even $5 helps!!). Or you can host a Party for a Purpose (with our Artisan Direct goods) that will raise awareness and funds for one of the above programs. Help us to network with others who may be able to contribute. Write a letter to your hometown paper. Gather donations for our next trip to Zambia in December (need suitcases, art supplies, children's toys, chewable vitamins, sanitary pads). Join us for one of our upcoming trips (find them on our website: ifightpoverty.org). "Like" our facebook page Give Hope, Fight Poverty. Pass this blog on to friends or family.

Please contact me if you are interested in learning more: anniefightspoverty@gmail.com.

It feels so overwhelming every time I come. I know that the VERY little I have been able to do over the last number of years (with your help!!!!!) has changed their lives but there is SO much more I want to do for them and SO many other orphaned children I want to add to our team. That is why my friend and business partner Kait Mariutto and I decided to start our own nonprofit: Give Hope, Fight Poverty (ifightpoverty.org). In the Selula Sandla orphanage earlier this week, I saw a sign with a Mother Teresa quote: "We, ourselves, feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." I know I am partial, but I am certain that even if these children were but single drops of rain... the ocean might as well be completely dry without them. They are my inspiration to be selfless... to live simply so others can simply live.

2010-12-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

I LOVE YOU POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE

This message is all over Baylor’s Children’s Center for Excellence in Mbabane Swaziland, and it is a message I have learned to live by since first traveling to Swaziland almost 4 years ago. After meeting child after child who are born into this world HIV-positive, literally victims since birth, you start to lose faith – yet you look into their eyes and see hope so powerful it will blow you away.

On Monday, I returned from a 10 day trip to Swaziland with a group of undergraduate students from Butler and Purdue Universities. The overall theme of the trip was “orphan art” but the message to the children was definitely that they are loved – positive or negative.

November 18-19:

I told my little four year old friend Elias that during his bedtime prayers last night he should ask God if my group could get upgraded on our Delta flight to Joburg. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. After over 24 hours of traveling (uncomfortably), we finally made it to Astrid’s guesthouse in Joburg and it is adorable! After reading and discussing Baylor’s article called “Epidemiology of HIV” by Meg Gwynne Ferris – we called it a night.

November 20:

Five hour drive to Swaziland with 9 people and 24 huge suitcases full of donations stuffed in an 8 passenger kombi (Swazi minibus)…we were traveling Swazi-style!! Then, we arrive at our guesthouse in Mbabane only to find out that regardless of the 3 confirmation emails and phone calls, they have been overbooked. Typical. We find a guesthouse with some room (although not much – we are all spooning in full-sized beds and have only one bathroom). Did I mention that our one bathroom has no toilet seat and no running water?? Welcome to Swaziland ladies!!!

Prior to the trip, I was explaining to the girls that the lack of a sanitation system in the rural areas is an extreme public health hazard and that typically the people will dig holes (pit latrines) to go to the bathroom. Late this evening, I heard commotion and giggles in the other room. I entered their room to find a student with a flashlight and she was trying to find something to dig with… oh my goodness…

November 21:

The students went on safari today but I passed so that I could take care of some business in eLangeni Village. They almost peed their pants when they saw monkeys crossing the road on the way to Swaziland yesterday so I wish I could have seen their faces when they were 4 feet from an elephant - but I have work to do. Swazi people are very formal and you must gain permission to access certain people and places in the rural areas. Luckily, I have worked in eLangeni village a couple of times in the past – so I met up with the Princess Chief and the Village Facilitator Bheki to finalize this week’s plans. I arrived at eLangeni during a community-wide meeting/multi-denomination church service. The leader of a particular denomination would preach and their followers would stand. I stood and tried to represent for the Catholics but the priest spoke in siSwati so I had no idea what he said! It was a beautiful afternoon. After the Princess Chief of eLangeni spoke, I met with her and the elders of the village and asked formally for permission for the SOHO group to work in the community this week. They graciously agreed. The girls came home from safari with dozens of pictures – one of a dung beetle pushing a “prize” that was 3 times his body size! Hopefully they weren’t bypassing the chance to see a lion for their efforts…

November 22:

We went to the SOHO preschool in Mhlosheni today with Lorraine (SOHO nurse who now lives full-time in Swaziland). Joy, one of our Butler students, teaches preschool in Indianapolis and her class made friendship bracelets for the SOHO preschool kids. We handed out the bracelets and let the Swazi kids make some in return. They had a blast! Then Kaitlin (lead teacher at Art with a Heart) taught the SOHO preschool kids how to paint with water colors. They painted “Thank You” cards (now on sale 5 for $10).

Afterward, we traveled around in the village and met 5 different families in the surrounding rural area who are supported by SOHO. We saw an elderly Gogo (grandmother) who lives with her blind husband and together they are raising 5 infants under the age of 5 years old. Many of these kids aren’t even their relations! We met a HIV-positive young girl who is already developing visible skin lesions on her face. She has a small infant. What will happen to her young son? Is he HIV-positive as well? I saw a change today in my students as they saw the homesteads and met people living in true poverty - 70% of Swaziland lives on less than $1 per day!

When we returned home, the girls decided to reenact the safari for me in the front yard with blow-up animals we brought to give as gifts for the orphans. We got many stares from passerbys!! Sometimes if you can’t make yourself laugh, you will cry.

November 23:

Woke up early to meet with Bheki and hold our first art outreach lesson at eLangeni Primary School! We told Bheki that we only had the capacity to work with 30 children because we were going to offer crayons, colored pencils, and a pack of paper to take home with them after they completed their paintings. Bheki kept sneaking children into the classroom until we had 45! Already I am doing the math in my head trying to figure out how we can reduce the number of art supplies every child is going to be able to take home. Then, I look out of the broken windows and see a hundred kids staring longingly at the “chosen ones” who are happily learning to paint (none had ever seen a paint brush or watercolors before!). I told Bheki that when the first group of kids was finished, he had to bring another group in – we simply can’t turn anyone away. So, at the end of the day due to the masses we served, each child only received a single crayon and one sheet of construction paper. You would have thought they were receiving an ipod by their ear-to-ear smiles and siyabongas (thank yous) of gratitude.

This afternoon we met with Dr. Mabuza, head of Community Health at University of Swaziland, and Dr. Ruth, Community Health Nurse, to ask questions about the HIV epidemic and other diseases prevalent among the Swazi people. They explained that poverty makes you vulnerable to illness: TB, childhood communicable diseases, diahhrea (poor sanitation), malnutrition/stunted growth, and HIV/AIDS. Recently Swaziland started formally promoting male circumcision as a means of reducing HIV and STIs; however, it is not culturally acceptable so it is still not widely practiced. Another large scale recent effort has been geared toward providing health education for traditional healers to reduce the gap in knowledge and practice between those practicing western medicine and traditional medicine.

November 24:

This morning the students went to the Mantenga Cultural Village. It is really interesting to see how the Swazi people live and how far back their culture and traditions date. After the tour, they have a singing and dancing performance. The students had a great time.

Baylor has many pediatric HIV clinics in Africa - I worked as a visiting scholar in the Baylor Center for Childhood Excellence (CCE) in Mbabane a couple of years ago. We went to Baylor’s CCE this afternoon to meet with Stephanie, one of the American pediatric HIV physicians I worked with previously. She gave us a tour of the facility and then lectured on HIV and TB:

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) are very common in Swaziland. We learned that 84% of the people suffering from TB also have HIV. So, when they come to get TB tested, they usually find out the HIV-status. Almost a half of a million children in sub-Saharan Africa were infected in 2008 from mother to child transmission of HIV. Baylor CCE treats 1,000 of these children. Due to the difficulty of testing infants, drawing blood, and dosing antiretroviral treatments (ARVs) – they are one of the few facilities to offer infant and child HIV treatment. Treating children is vital because by age one, 50% of HIV-positive kids die. By age 2, 70%...age 6, 80% and age 10, 90%!! Because of HIV/AIDS – the life expectancy in Swaziland is only 32 years. Because of this, 30% of children in Swaziland aged 14-17 years old have lost at least one of their parents.

November 25:

I met with the Chief’s brother and the school council this morning to learn about the advancements at eLangeni Secondary School. It is amazing to see the difference from just the last time I was here! Now they have an agricultural class where the children are each designated a small plot of land and are taught how to grow crops. They also learn how to raise hens. They added a workshop where kids learn how to make wooden furniture and goods. It was all very impressive.

I then took the group to the Msibi homestead. We helped them paint canvases for our April 1^st Art, Full of Hope exhibition at the Athenaeum downtown Indianapolis (you’re invited!!). Nomfundo told me that last week she and her siblings had no food for 3 days. She said that when her mom was alive she taught them that the Lord is their Shepard, so they shall not want. She said that remembering this, she and her siblings sang songs to their dead mother and asked her for the strength to not want the food they were craving. Broke my heart.

Then, I met with a prophet (traditional healer) and learned about his healing practices. For 400 Rand (divide by 7 for USD), he said he can cure ANYTHING. He can even make an ex-boyfriend love you again by drinking one of his special concoctions. The recipes for these potions are told to him by God in a dream. He said that other traditional healers can cure AIDS and cancer with a tea made from tree bark. It’s sad that this man is squeezing the last dime from these poor sick people. If the people can muster 7 Rand, they can go to the government hospital and get real treatment – Baylor is even free!!

We then went to the Maziya homestead. This child-headed household is always the saddest for me. The oldest girl stole the family’s money and moved in with her boyfriend in the city. Then, when she got pregnant, the boyfriend kicked her out. She is still not living with her brothers and sisters in eLangeni, though. Despite all of this, her little sister (age 16) looks up to her and is searching for a boyfriend herself. Years ago when I asked if we could pay for her school fees, she turned us down. Her brother (19yr) explained that she is constantly looking for a boyfriend and typically finds the wrong guys who will come back to their homestead and steal what little they have left. Celimphilo is one of the children we sponsor though. She’s in 3^rd grade and is a little old for her grade because before I found her 3 years ago, she had never received any formal schooling! She is doing well in school, had made a lot of friends, and now can speak English! Her little brother is 7 years old, HIV-positive, and fighting off a bad case of TB. He cannot attend school because he is in and out of the clinic for treatment. God bless the Msibis and the Maziyas…and then bless them some more, please.

November 26:

We went to the handicraft market today. I bought $250 worth of fair trade goods for SOHO to resell. Check out our goods on facebook (Saving Orphans through Healthcare and Outreach) or you can come to our office (8240 Naab Rd Ste 320, Indy 46260). We have lots of beautiful things from paintings to masks!

In the afternoon we went to Selula Sandla orphanage where 80% of the 23 children are HIV-positive. I was happy to see that almost all of them survived since the last time I was in Swaziland! They actually have a new “pod” that will be able to house 12 more children. They are funded by a South African church and the children receive plenty of food, education, medication, and love. Super impressive – especially in a country that is typically opposed to western style orphanages.

In the evening, Alex, Sandile and Wandile took us to Portugalia dance club. The girls had fun showing off their moves to the old American tunes that played in the club… everything from old Snoop Dogg to YingYang Twins!

November 27:

Goodbyes are always hard. I like “See you laters” better. Unfortunately I don’t know when that will be… We made our last trip to eLangeni today and said goodbye to our child-headed household orphans. I was praying that the kids would keep it together because I was definitely on the verge of tears. Saying goodbye to the Msibi’s is so hard!! They have such a great outlook on life in spite of their constant struggles – amazing kids. I always wonder how drastically different their lives would have been had they been born with things like food, health, and loving LIVING parents. What simple things that every child should have. Saying goodbye to the Maziya’s is equally hard because I don’t know if the little HIV-positive Maziya boy is going to live long enough for me to see him again. I always wonder if it is easier to never know your parents like him but never experience that kind of love – or remember your parent’s and their love like the Msibi’s but miss it every single minute of every day.
Bheki added another child to our sponsorship list: Gcinile Mndzebele – grade 6. We visited her homestead today. She is being raised by her Gogo. Her would-be 8^th grade sister already has a baby. I didn’t want to ask but I am assuming it was rape. We met with Neliswe, an HIV-positive Rural Health Motivator. These RHMs are “elected” by the community and are trusted individuals that will learn about the health of the community members and help them receive HIV testing and counseling. Neliswe told us that one of our children that refused to be sponsored for school a couple of years ago is now pregnant. I hope she does not have HIV as well. Seems as though that is the outcome for the girls who aren’t in school. I pray everyday that nothing happens to our 12 eLangeni orphans. They deserve a better life than childhood pregnancy, AIDS, and poverty.

November 28:

Woke up early and drove to Johannesburg. Our plane didn’t leave until the evening, so we had time to tour Soweto. We drove up the most famous block where two Nobel Prize winners grew up: Nelson Mandela and Rev. Dr. Desmond Tutu. We saw the Hector Peterson memorial erected by Nelson Mandela to honor the 600 black children who were shot and killed by the white police officers during a peaceful protest during the apartheid movement. We drove past slum villages and we drove past mansions that cost over $10 million USD. It’s hard to believe that there is so much poverty next door to so much wealth. There are still clear discrepancies between what the whites have access to in contrast with the blacks. Hopefully one day things will be more equal…

November 29:

When you make it home and return to things like clean water (instead of streams where water is shared with cow dung, chemicals, and intestinal parasites), toilets (instead of pit latrines), and an abundance of food (instead of empty stomachs and maize meal we feed our farm animals) - you take a nap only to wake up and think that the last two weeks were just a dream. Once you realize that - indeed - it was reality, you feel guilty for having such privileges. You hate the fact that children like the Msibis and the Maziyas don’t. And you feel like there is nothing you can do about it. Then you take a step back, dry your eyes, and realize that you ARE doing something about it! EVERYONE can do something about it!! I personally invite you to do something about it - Join SOHO’s efforts to increase the quality of life for orphans and vulnerable children in Swaziland. www.savingorphans.com

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”

– Mahatma Gandhi

2009-02-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

THE FOLLOWING ARE OLD BLOG ENTRIES FROM 2008 and 2009...

WEEK 10

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.

We went downtown Mbabane today with Bheki 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!!

2009-02-19T01:10:00.000-08:00

WEEK 9

Today we met Bheki at the Chief’s house. The princess Chief 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.

2009-02-14T08:50:00.001-08:00

WEEK 8

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…

2009-02-13T02:48:00.000-08:00

WEEK 7
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+.

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!!

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.

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…

2009-02-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

WEEK 6

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…
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…

“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…

2009-01-30T23:52:00.000-08:00

WEEK 5These 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!! :)
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.

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

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… :)

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

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. Celimphilo 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 Celimphilo’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 Celimphilo, 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 Celimphilo’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.

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).

2009-01-19T04:19:00.000-08:00

WEEK 4

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

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!!

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…

Anne and I are Visiting Scholars at Baylor College of Medicine Swaziland!!:

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. 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!!

“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 Bheki (the Elangeni Village Facilitator).There are 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.

We decided to choose the following children to support.
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:
• Celimphile Maziya………………………….900 Rand
• Sizolwetho Msibi……………………………900 Rand
• Sibusiso Kunene…………………………….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. 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.

2009-01-13T00:41:00.000-08:00

WEEK 3

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. 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.

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

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

, 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.

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) 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.

25th birthday!!!!:

Sandla children playing at the park !! :

2009-01-13T00:33:00.000-08:00

2009-01-08T02:25:00.000-08:00

WEEK 2
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.

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 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. 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.

Busi (the owner of our guesthouse) 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 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. 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, Busi talked with us about the problems in the nearby village. She 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.

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. They are at the mercy of their neighbor’s leftovers and never know when their next meal will be. 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… 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.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 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” (ketchup) 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…

2009-01-02T05:02:00.000-08:00

WEEK 1
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…
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.

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.

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! 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) 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!!