How was Swaziland?
How was Swaziland?
A well-intentioned question that begs for a one sentence high level summary that would precisely impart the quality, intensity, and emotional impact of the experience. Innocent enough as questions go, but really it just causes the receiver of this question tremendous anxiety to deliver the above described response. Instead what you will get is: “it was great” + toothy smile head nod.
How Swaziland was for me will not fully be understood for some time. It will come out in snippets of conversations about the mundane parts of life back in the US
- the color of that blood orange looks just like the cracked earth in Swaziland,
- yeah I remember in Swaziland we had to balance a leaning tower of half a dozen power cords plus transformers and converters to one outlet… it sparked a few times but we didn’t set anything on fire,
- those mashed potatoes look just like “pop” the national staple in Swaziland… its made from ground corn flour… it is absolutely tasteless
- hammocks remind me of Swaziland because it describes really well the way people are: happy, relaxed, easy going
Swaziland could never be captured in anything less than a long conversation starting over breakfast extending into a late supper. To start the conversation I will say that it is a country misunderstood. It is an enclave in South Africa but it is not South Africa. Though blacks and whites do not necessarily mix in social environments, there has never been apartheid and the two communities live peacefully in their own social spheres. It is a country with the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world but it is not because Swazis are any more sexually reckless than the rest of the developed world. The cause of the high rate has not been identified but it is far more complex than the casual judgments thrown about in the media. It is a country with a particularly strong sense of identity for a country the size of New Jersey and consisting of only 1 million people. An identity consisting of tradition, trust in their king, love for their land, and a pace of being that feels like the strumming of a Johnny Cash ballad.
Swaziland for me was about taking on the challenge of creating something from nothing, and finding the courage and confidence to make recommendations with the best information at hand no matter how imperfect. It was a month of full immersion into Gone Rural and Swaziland, which meant fast paced learning and doing while simultaneously slowing down to the beat of life to start understanding — it was about managing the pressures to produce work in three weeks and the need to stop and listen very closely for hours at a time. It was mostly sharing in their sweet song that continues despite the poverty, sickness, and knowledge that over half the women I met will likely die in the next ten years from HIV/AIDS. It is about accepting the responsibility of my privileged position in this world to not turn my back on what I have seen and experienced.