It was past 5:00 PM and the kids at the Anchor Center care point should have gone home, already. Our house is on the property, and in the late afternoon, we women of N- Squad have been working out on a daily basis—we call it “Sweatin’ in Swazi.” And though it’s winter, here, temperatures have been in the 80s, so we like to leave the door and windows open. On this day, the front room was occupied by about 10 of us either doing yoga or Insanity, when we see a small group of primary school-aged boys standing in the door frame. The kids aren’t allowed to come into the house, so I get up and tell them that they need to leave, and then close the door behind me. Not even three seconds later, there is banging on the metal door and I quickly open it to rebuke the boys, and then close the door, again. This happens twice more, and some of the boys are looking at us through the window, giggling and talking to each other in Saswati.
“China…” one boy whispers as he proceeds to make pseudo-karate/kung-fu moves at me. Like I haven’t heard that one before.
“Hey! You rape me,” says another.
Excuse me?
“You rape me!” he repeats.
And suddenly one of their hands reaches out and pinches my crotch.I’m mostly angry, kind of annoyed, pretty disturbed, and mostly in shock that that actually happened. A couple of the other women came to back me up to shoo away the kids. Mindy said that a girl had done the same thing to her a few days back and that our contact wasn’t surprised.
Sex is a problem in Swaziland. God definitely didn’t create sex to be a problem; but it’s become one—a big one. Polygamy is widely practiced, here. The king is currently on his 12th wife. Mothers often raise their children without a father because he lives with another wife. There are billboards and posters everywhere advocating for people to have only one sexual partner. Some of the locals believe that having sex with a virgin will cure them of AIDS. Statistics show that AIDS is so rampant in Swaziland that by 2050 the country will have died off. And it starts young. Just last week, our contact Erica saw a little three-year old boy and a little three-year old girl on the side of the road with their pants down, basically “having sex.”
All this information, in addition to being personally violated, was infuriating, yet extremely sad at the same time. I was angry and honestly pissed off at the boys, but my following thoughts moved to compassion. They have no context for what a healthy relationship looks like. They were more than likely sexually abused themselves. And they’re only a handful of kids out of I don’t even know how many. I’m not angry at the boys, anymore; but I’m still angry at the world. Maybe it’s transformed into disappointment, now. Nevertheless, I’m frustrated with sin and evil and people who don’t know any better and this horrible cycle of blindness and selfishness.
“The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur, a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice, upright men will see his face” (Psalm 11:5-7).
Perhaps it sounds a little scary, maybe even a bit sadistic, but reading this verse brings me peace. I’m grateful that no matter how ridiculous and dark the world becomes, God will always win. And I’m comforted by this assured hope.
