Pastries and Poverty
So why did I leave Paris? A large part of me didn’t want to leave. I was making great friends there and was quite literally having the time of my life. It seemed almost illegal to have that much fun and be so happy. But I knew as soon as I applied, that if I got the position with MBA Without Borders I would not turn it down. Part of it was from shear curiosity of exploring a new part of the world, Southern Africa. Part of it was because if someone decided that my skills were useful, that I could improve even marginally the image I had in my mind, that I had to try. I couldn’t turn my back knowing I could be helpful and still enjoy pastries in the same way. Two weeks after I was offered the position I packed my things from Paris, bought a couple of sweaters to prepare for winter in the southern hemisphere, and was on my way to greet death and orphans.
Google did not lie about the statistics and facts about Swaziland. It does have the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world. People are dying without treatment and there are people like go-go Victoria who should be sitting back to enjoy her last years but who instead is forced to toil day and night to earn enough to care for 8 orphaned grandchildren. However, what the statistics do not tell you is that death here is not overt like that which you would see on a battlefield. There are not bodies strewn about nor a sense of desperation clinging in the air. Instead it is quiet and hidden. The dying are quite discrete. They work and function as long as their bodies will allow and when it becomes too heavy to carry AIDS around they retire to their death. They and their families have come to accept their fate. For better or for worse, there is acceptance of the poverty and sickness. However, it is not a population that has given up. To be realistic and accept the trials of the day is not to give up. A survey of the rural women when asked what was their greatest need listed school fees to educate their children above health services which hardly anyone receives now. They have accepted that it is unlikely they will get access to quality health care anytime soon, but they continue to build their future through their children. They still invest in education. They still have hope despite their circumstances. This I find incredible and it is for these people that I happily leave behind my buttery croissants and delectable tartes aux fruits for the peanut butter sandwiches that I have eaten nearly every day since I arrived. And I am still so happy.