Swaziland is a country I have wanted to visit ever since I heard about it and so I am so excited to finally be here. When I first heard of Swaziland it was to do with the AIDs epidemic that is present in Africa and the prediction that at the rate that HIV and AIDs are spreading in the country it will no longer be a country in 2050. That is the only thing I had really heard about Swaziland before coming here.
And I don’t know about you but when I think of Africa I think of a flat desert with animals roaming around and people living in huts. Kind of like the Lion King and the flat plains of that movie. Well that is not what Swaziland is like at all, it is full of lush green plants and it is a land of hills (it is beautiful scenery to drive through but a different story when I am running in the mornings). The people here drive modern cars and live in houses with tile floors and cable TVs (my team is however living in a cute mud and straw hut). We take a van into town every day and often hang out at a very modern American style of mall in the afternoon. The grocery stores here are the most similar to the United States that I have seen on the race. Most people can at least have basic conversations in English. I have to say this is not what I expected when I thought of Africa but I have been pleasantly surprised.
This month our whole squad is staying on homesteads surrounding the town of Manzini and we are all working with the AIM base that is located here in Swaziland. Ministry has been a little different this month in that there are different ministries that AIM does and we all got to kind of choose where we wanted to work. I chose to do hospice and hospital ministry with three other girls from my team. Basically we just get to spend our days hanging out with people and talking to them.
The hospice has been a place of particular interest for me because there is just something so special about being able to share in people’s last days with them. It has been really sad for me to see the children and young people at the hospice center, some of which have been orphaned and don’t have family to take care of them. There have been a couple people who have really stuck out to me who I have really taken an interest in. One is a 19 year old girl who has AIDs and is at the hospice center with her mom. She is no longer able to walk and so spends her days lying in bed with not much to do. She told us in our first visit with her how bored she gets during the day so we told her we would bring a movie and nail polish to do with her the next time we come. We asked her if people come and visit her and she says she doesn’t really have any friends to come and visit her. It is a sad realization of the loneliness that so many people face in this country.
Another person I have come to really love is a little boy who lives at the hospice center who is about 6 years old. He came to the hospice center not with a terminal illness but severely malnourished. His mother is also at the hospice center and she is in the final days of her life also dying from AIDs. The hospice center was started as a home for people with AIDs but has broadened to include other terminal illnesses. Today about 90% of the patients at the center have AIDs. The boy is now doing much better but they do not want to discharge him because there is no one to look after him and know that he will not receive proper nutrition and care if he leaves. So he is just staying at the hospice center until further notice. He is a bundle of energy and love and is always the first person to greet us when we arrive and walks us to the gate when we leave.
Being the second month in a row of being around people who are sick and suffering has given me a new appreciation for people in the medical field. It can definitely be a hard environment to be in day after day but there is also a special connection and relationship that can be developed with these people who understand the frailness and gift of life and health. It has given me an appreciation for the good health God has blessed me with. This is a shorter month of ministry because of parent vision trip at the end of the month but it is turning into another great month. I love Africa and I just love the laid back lifestyle of the people here. The days start early for me this month at about 5:30am but it is kind of nice to be able to watch the sunrise in the morning. I am starting to really enjoy getting up early in the morning, which I am sure is surprising to my parents but hopefully this enthusiasm continues.
