If you had asked me what eSwatini would be like, and what kinds
of experiences our students from the College of Education at the University of
Iowa would have, I would have given you a well-rehearsed and planned itinerary
using words like orphans, child-headed home, children’s long term care
facility, schools, and the like. And all of those things would be true. But I would
have no way of truly being able to describe the magnitude and complexity of
what those terms would bear out in real life here in eSwatini (formerly
Swaziland). Indeed Annie and I developed a well-planned visit to this country,
well, I told Annie what kind of experience I was hoping to plan for our
students and she was the genius and the on-the-ground person here who has masterfully
coordinated a visit that has been beyond meaningful for our students.
Today began by loading the small SUV with a 120lb bag of
beans and another 120lb bag of rice to take as a symbol of gratitude for allowing
our teachers to visit and work with the students in the rural care point. The
call that went out to the community was that University students would be there
on Saturday to conduct a few lessons and games in English. We were told that
the primary group of students who were invited were the villages drop-outs – a mislabeling
of these kids whose only reason for not attending school is their inability to
pay. When we arrived, it was clear that word had quickly spread as there were
many, many more on the preschool grounds than just school “dropouts”. We
quickly divided into three groups. Rachel took the 10-13 year-olds, Jordan took
the preschoolers with our colleague Katy – an elementary teacher in Austin –
and I took the older kids.
My group started with a funny game of charades. All of the kids
took turns picking words and acting them out and then passing the duty onto
someone else. Some of the charades that got the biggest laughs were “drinking
straw,” “goat,” and my rendition of “body builder” which apparently looked more
like a gorilla than a body builder. True story, the kids asked me if American body
builders act like gorillas and I may have answered, “kind of.” We moved on from
charades to a few other language learning games, one which reminded them of a Swazi
game that they taught me. We then played a game that involved chanting and singing
and tug of rope, except no rope, only grabbing an opponent and pulling them
over the line. Jordan and Rachel were so adeptly teaching the other children
through play. I was so proud of them.
I then got a tour of the classroom from Make Dlanini – the head
of the preschool. While the school was well-outfitted, thanks to Annie’s
organization, I couldn’t help but notice a single poster on the wall – The
Contamination Cycle – a pictorial guide to child outdoor defecation. I later
debriefed with Annie and learned that outdoor defecation is a leading cause of
death among children. How wild that we in the States create bulletin boards about
math, science, English, student birthdays, this classroom is adorned with life-saving
imagery about poop.
This incredible juxtaposition is my shadow on this trip. How
incredibly similar are the needs of the children of this planet, yet due to a variety
of circumstances, their life-experiences, realities, threats to safety, and
well-being are so incredibly different. This morning was powerful. We left the
village preschool realizing all the incredible needs of the community, just to
provide basic schooling and food, not to mention the complete lack of water,
and a need to use donkeys to fetch water from the river a half a kilometer
away. That’s right, no clean water available at this preschool. Our hearts
ached as we pulled away and said goodbye to the kids.
Our afternoon took us to the Mantegna
Cultural Village where we toured a traditional historic Swazi village, and
watched some amazing traditional dancing and singing. Afterwards, the Iowa team
hiked to the Mantegna waterfall for some pictures. The entire walk was a conversation
about our Swazi experience – about the contradictions, juxtapositions and
challenges in this country. And we talked about everything about this place
that is beautiful – the resiliency of the children and families, the incredible
bonds of community that put some of our best efforts in the States to shame, and
the wonderment and hope that an education can provide. Everyday we’ve been here,
we’ve seen some hard things, had to hold back a tear or two, or slowly swallow in
silence as we’ve seen tough things that no child should have to experience.
Today, however was a little different for me. As I talked to the “dropouts” it
was clear the one thing they wanted more than anything was to be back in school.
To know that may not be a reality for many Swazi children is a bitter pill to
swallow. Educational access and equity is an issue that persists in the US, but
I can’t shake this heartache seeing how this issue manifests here. This is why
we are doing this work. I hope our students leave here with a sense of purpose and
conviction to change this issue not only in their own communities, but also
right here in Swaziland. I know I’ll be scheming once I return to the States on
how I can help some of these kids get back to school.
www.ifightpoverty.org
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