annie in swaziland: I got stabbed in the bush today (by a tree)!

This morning ground was covered in thick fog and dew. As we turned off of the highway into eLangeni Village, we saw our school children in their uniforms running down the mountain in straight lines from every direction. It reminded me of tiny rushing tributaries feeding into our eLangeni Primary School river. The sun was trying to break through the clouds and my heart was totally satiated with happiness.

We reached the school kitchen and were immediately put to work. We were making cornmeal (mealies) covered in bean stew for 634 adorable little ones. Soon I needed a bathroom break. I had to make a vital decision whether I wanted to risk sinking into 3 inches of poopy quicksand in the school pit latrines (I cannot WAIT until our new GHFP latrines are built!!) or venture into the nearby bush. Clearly the bush was my better option. Sydney offered to chaperon me into the forest and stand guard for snakes or stray dogs. I keep trudging deeper and deeper trying to get away from the visual line of the road and soon I am stuck. A thorny tree has me by the hair, skirt, and calf. As I try to pull away the thorns dig deeper. I scream bloody murder and Sydney runs to my rescue. After a few minutes of detaching me from the monstrous tree, I decide it’s safer to just pee on the road and hope no cars get sight of my very white butt. (Dear Amanda, your skirt now has thorns, bean stew, blood, and a bit of pee on it…Katy, your shoes might as well) We dish out to the school children and promise the cook we will be back in November. She is devastated. I hate goodbyes.

We then traveled to Lobamba Clinic to see Nelly. Nelly is an HIV positive “Expert Client”. She works in the VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) department of the clinic as somewhat of a social worker and support system for people coming to receive testing, support, and treatment. We focused on bringing books in our extra luggage this trip for our eLangeni Primary School library, so the medical supplies amounted to a single grocery bag. Because of this, I was hoping to see Nelly, receive a short tour, drop off the donations and sneak out before the head nurse saw me due to embarrassment. Unfortunately we were busted. She came running to see what we brought. Although she was thrilled with the donations, she commented that the last time I was here we left multiple entire 50lb suitcases full. I promised her when I come back in November that we will bring her goodies and asked what they were out of. Everything was her answer. She said the nurses were working without gloves and the patients were turned away without treatment due to the absence of simple things like antibiotics and pain medication. I promised again that we will bring the clinic goodies in November and said our goodbyes. Did I mention that I hate goodbyes?!