Ron Rivera was a Good Guy

Just earlier today while doing some research, I visited the Potters for
Peace website. They help people in the developing world make low-cost
ceramic water filters. The guy that ran the whole thing, Ron Rivera,
traveled around the world helping set up these filter workshops was kind
of a friend of mine. We had corresponded via email sporadically about
water filtration appropriate tech and we had brunch at Denny's inFt
Lauderdale earlier this year before I headed out to Swaziland. We were
going to meet up in Maputo, Moçambique but the timing was off.

Anyways, I visited the Potters for Peace website today and discovered
that Ron had passed away in September. While setting up a workshop in
Nigeria, he got hit by malaria and it caused a heart attack. Its such a
shame. I didnt know Ron that well but he was a great guy; it was obvious
within the first 5 minutes of chatting with him. He was very helpful,
encouraging, and had a positive attitude. I have a feeling he followed
his heart and lived a full life. He also has probably saved many many
lives all around the world. I think theres not much more one could ask for.

Ron Rivera left the world a better place for sure. Peace to you, Ron!

Check out his work : http://www.pottersforpeace.org/

Returnation

The whole team is back to the US now from Swaziland.

While I am very happy to be back home, I have definitely grown attached
to Swaziland. Its hard to pin down exactly what it is but it has to do
with the imperfections in the Swaz. Advertisements and consumer products
are not crafted to exacting standards.Rules and policies are more like
guidelines; "This is the rule, try to stick to it." It was an aura of
human flaw. Society was not perfect and orderly and people didn't try to be.

There is neat movie called "The Island". In this near-future movie, the
main characters live in a perfectly clean and ordered "island". There
every needs are met; machines clean up after them so that there are no
blemishes anywhere, meals are prefectly healthy, colors on uniforms and
walls are all perfetly neutral off-white, and soothing music and videos
are played everywhere.

Coming from Swaziland, this was exactly what America felt like.

While I was waiting in line in immigration, there was even a cliched
video showing Americans smiling and saying "Welcome". It looked
absolutely insincere like one of those prescription drug commercials.

Anyways, though we have returned, this does not mean the work is over.
We have a Swazi colleague, Thokozane (Thoko), that is driving the
project forward as I write this.

Because we were not able to plant seeds due to the cold, we are now
waiting for the September heat (remember the seasons are reversed) for
the first planting. Thoko will travel around the country to all our
partners' sites and carry out this first planting.

While we definitely wanted to get the seeds in the ground ourselves
during our stay, we would rather get it right. Thoko will have that
pleasure in proxy!

Once the seeds get in the ground, it should take about six months for
the moringa to reach 5 feet. We plan on returning right before the
growing season ends (April) to conduct a series of training workshops
and further propagation.

This summer has been an absolutely awesome opportunity and I am very
glad that we were able achieve the results we have. Many development
experts in Swaziland said it couldn't be done with our timeframe, but
thanks to the support and encouragement from our friends and colleagues,
we managed through it, didn't we? :)

We have some other mischief up our sleeves and we'll let you know once
those plans are ready!

Break!

Finally, a vacation.

Last weekend, we took a short trip to the Moçambique capital city,
Maputo. Moç is a former Portuguese "colony" so the people have distinct
way about them. They are more informal and social. And the Portuguese
music was really fantastic, beautiful language.

Maputo is right by the ocean so its famous for its seafood, especially
Moz prawn. We went to the crafts market on Saturday and walked along the
water. Found a small cheap local seafood place right on the boardwalk
and had an awesome dinner. I had braaied zebra ribs, Alex had grouper,
and Abhi had a cheeseburger. Yeah, I know. The zebra ribs had a very
very distinct sweet flavor to it. It was a cool to try zebra, but to be
honest, I didn't like the taste of it much.

To sum it all up, I would say it is like an African Miami.

Just yesterday we had the final informational conference of this summer.
Present were representatives from several government divisions. We have
discovered that there is a lot of interest in moringa as animal fodder.
Animal fodder, we are told has shot up more 200% in just 3-4 months.
This is directly linked to the global food prices crisis. Some of our
partners that grow chickens and cows will be investigating using moringa
for their animals. We expect to see some good results in the next year
or two.

In Southern Africa, and especially the very traditional Swaziland,
cattle is a big deal. It has been the traditional sign of wealth and
status. While things are somewhat different in the cities, in marriage,
there is still the payment of cows to the bride's family. Generally, a
woman is worth about 12 cows ;) just kidding. But that is about the
usual settlement.

Before this info conference, we have been running all around the the
country doing site surveys for our partners. We helped them select a
good sites to grow moringa for their specific needs (high density plots
for leaf production or spread out for tall trees for seed production).
We have pictures of each of the sites but we won't be able to put them
all here.

Abhi and I also took a day to head down to Matata to meet with a women's
sewing group that was organized by one of friends in the PeaceCorps.
They make beautiful handbags to generate some money for themselves. This
source of income helps them take care of their family when sometimes the
husband can be very irresponsible. Traditionally, the women don't earn
an income so there is a dependency of the husband. By helping women earn
cash, it helps promote better gender equality. Abhi is going to see if
we are able to help them connect to US markets.

One of the kombi owners let Alex sit in the driver seat and mess around
a little Manzini bus rank.

almost there

Whew, there's a lot to share.

On June 21st, we hosted a moringa conference in Mbabane. Representatives
from our partner organizations all came for a full day of discussion
about the future of moringa in Swaziland. We introduced our
organization, moringa technical information, market, and discussed
expectations and responsibilities from all parties. Attached are some
pictures. It was held on a Saturday and one of the reps (I won't say
who) complained about having to work on a weekend. If I didn't know the
organization well, I would have been hesitant to continue that investment.

These same reps didn't like the lunch we served. We hired one of the
local braai (bbq) guys from our neighborhood to serve grilled chicken,
salad, and mealie (corn meal). This guy is named Rim and we've been
trying to encourage him to start a braai catering service.

Other than that, the conference went smoothly. Everybody was well
interested and looking forward to beginning.

Here's the big news... we've got the permit for importing moringa! What
does that mean? That means we have the government's permission to import
and promote the non-indigenous moringa in Swaziland. After all the
negotiations and maneuverings since April, we've got it. Many of our
colleagues are surprised that we have been able to get it in such a
short time. Most of them told us that it would take no less than a year;
we would never be able to get the permits this summer.

We've officially opened the door for moringa utilization in Swaziland.

That was Monday. We just got back from up north doing site surveys and
building a demonstration leaf drying structure. This is a solar drying
structure that should be able to dry (moringa) leaves in a shorter time;
we're testing it out right now. The dark dry room takes about 7 days;
we're testing it now and shooting for 3-4 days. Attached are a few
pictures from construction and end product. There's a video we recorded
explaining how it works but its way too large to upload at this internet
speed. Such a drying structure would be able to really help folks
producing large amounts of powder. This is especially the case for an
organization like Cabrini Mission. They provide food supplements and
wants to include moringa powder into that supplement package.

We were hoping to go to Maputo this weekend, but we are just all
exhausted from working pretty much 12 hour days the last week. Between
traveling and working, we haven't had much of a break at all. We just
got back to our house in Mbabane to get our first baths in a week of sweat.

On a more personal note, I have been disappointed in that I haven't been
able to spend more time learning about the healthcare system. Thats
really my special interest; healthcare delivery, not nutrition.
Nutrition is important to be sure, but direct healthcare is really what
I want to work in professionally. Fortunately, next week I am headed out
for a field trip with a Baylor doctor doing some ARV/TB outreach program.

picture time

some pictures :)

Oye

 

I just got back from northern Swaziland today with the guys. A community development outfit was holding a farming workshop and we were invited to attend. It was an opportunity to meet with a moringa guy, Jon Nzira from South Africa and a chance for Alex and Abhi to see rural homesteads for the first time. Also, we had some trouble germinating the seeds here in Mbabane due to the altitude and cold so wanted to try at a friend's farm where it was warmer.

 

So, we traveled up to the area just north of Piggs Peak Wednesday straight to the farm. We immediately started building a small greenhouse to increase the temperature a bit more. Alex designed it on the fly and there was a lot of improvisation. It took us a day to build the first half. We chopped up some wooden stakes, secured them into the ground, tied a tarp over, and dug trenches to keep the sides down. It sounds easy and simple, but it was much more complicated and difficult. Ill attach some pictures of our greenhouse on this post.

 

Wednesday afternoon, we rushed to Vusumnotfo to catch the end of their workshop. One of the presenters was this guy, Jon Nzira from South Africa. He has been working with moringa for 15 years now and is currently doing it in Mpumalanga and Mozambique just across the Swazi borders on the western and northern sides, respectively. We talked with him for maybe an hour as he was in a rush to get back to Joburg. He gave us some excellent information on moringa's presence in southern Africa; how its being used, what the market is like, and the nuances of growing it in this region. My vision has been for moringa to ultimately become a local commodity sold at the bus ranks and small shops right alongside the bananas and oranges. Jon told me that this is already the case in South Africa (which is fantastic because it sets a precedence for demand and feasibility) and that moringa powder there is going for 5R (0.60USD) for just 2 tablespoons. That is serious income generation. That also means that market awareness is just next door and more easily be transferred to Swaziland.

 

On Thursday, Abhi and Alex went out with Moya Center and Vusumnotfo people as they went out for site visits for their joint permaculture project. This was their first exposure to true bush Swaziland. This region actually gets a fair amount of rain so its not nearly as bad off as the Lowveldt. But nevertheless, it is good to see how folks live. While they went out, I stayed at Vusumnotfo office to work on the official project proposal to be given to the government. My friend Kathy Gau, who has been doing community development for nearly 30 years now in Swaziland, had helped me prepare the document. That woman knows her stuff. She gave me great advice on our project and laid out pitfalls that many big-name ignorant organizations continue to make.

 

I should say that thanks to mentoring by teachers back home and here, my personal understanding, perspective, and judgement relative to international aid and development has been able to grow by leaps and bounds. Speaking with experienced NGO staff here, I can keep up in conversation and sometimes even offer constructive criticism (sometimes). To be sure, there is so much so much more to learn.

 

I was so intimidated. I was very nervous in telling them any details about our group and our project details. These are big name people; FAO, Save the Children, WHO, TechnoServe, Action Against Hunger, and so on. After discussing our proposal in depth with some close allies, it turned out we actually had a fair game plan that was sensitive to socioeconomic and cultural nuances. That makes me so proud, honestly. This proposal seems to be one of the few things in my life that I've gotten somewhat right :) Whoodathunk? Its amazing that nobody thinks we are a ridiculous bunch of crazies.

 

By Friday, we went back to farm to finish the other half of the greenhouse. Stayed the night and came back to Mbabane on Saturday with short stop in Manzini for Alex to pick up a guitar. The bus ride was 3.5 hours total.

 

Am just totally exhausted.

 

Something interesting, we've been picking up food mostly from street vendors and there's a slight difference in the food offered. In Mbabane, we get bananas, onions, potatoes, oranges, boiled maize (corn), grilled maize, grapefruits, peanuts, avocados, papaya, cornbread, and fat cake (I'll explain fat cakes in a moment). Up near Emkhuzweni in the north near the Mozambican border, they had all of the above minus avocados and papaya and plus taro and cassava and fish. Taro and cassava are traditional Swazi staple foods but have been neglected after the introduction of white maize (which is entirely inappropriate for dry climates). I don't know why taro and cassava was available there and not in Mbabane. The fish was a direct result of Mozambican influence and maybe even a Moz import.

 

It should be noted that people and things here don't travel much so there is not an even distribution of ideas. Because of this, seeing regional influences is very interesting. Seeing fish in the north sold at the bus rank means people like fish up there. Not seeing it in Mbabane suggests that people aren't a big fan of fish down here.

 

Okay, so the fat cake is basically a small unseasoned fried dough ball. It sounds kind of goofy, I know, but its totally delicious. Maybe its because we don't eat much greasy foods here so when we do, our taste buds just go wild for it. This week, we survived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (Alex and Abhi), taro/cassava/fatcake (me), oranges, bananas, and pears. Okay, Alex loves them fat cakes too.

 

Oye, estoy cansado...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boys are Back

Just a couple days ago, I traveled to Joburg to pick up Alex and Abhi from Tambo airport. Had a big ol smile on my face when I saw my boys walking down the terminal with all their bags. Finally, my team is here and what a great feeling. Ive realized that Ive been working with them for so many years now that when we work separately, the project feels incomplete. Its wonderful to have colleagues to debate ideas with (emphasis on debate).

 

Made them dinner at the backpackers lodge and we left right away the next day for Swaziland. To save money, we used public transport (mini-bus). The mini-bus was packed with people; people sat on stools in the middle of the aisle! However, it was fast and it only cost 160 rand a person versus 400 rand per person on the backpackers bus. To be sure, given Joburg's reputation for being the murder capital of the world and recent escalation in violence with the "xenophobia attacks", we definitely took a calculated risk. But here at swaziAID, that's how we do.

 

I introduced them to the stesh boys (the guys hanging around the braai all day), taught them some elementary siSwati, showed them how to get around on the kombis, and toured around downtown Mbabane. We did a little work on the way; reserved the Emafini conference center for our first general conference for moringa trials in Swaz. We want to make sure that everyone has a clear idea of what we are going to do separately and together, what we will provide, and what kind of concerted action we can take to get the support of MOAC.

 

Yesterday, we went to Manzini to scout out the building and agricultural stores. We spend the day there and found pretty much all the materials we will need for setting up the plots; fencing, drip irrigation piping and heads, greenhouse building material, and all the tools. We found some good prices and will be able work with minimal costs but still make it all work well.

 

This coming week, we are setting up a low-cost simple greenhouse to start the moringa plants to seedlings. While we are not yet planting it on the ground, this is in preparation for MOAC's permission. Then we are heading up to Piggs Peak for a 3 day farming workshop hosted by Vusumnotfo. This will be Abhi and Alex's first trip to the bush and see the average rural Swazi farmer lives. This is a wonderful opportunity because it is the rural Swazi farmer that will benefit the most from moringa.

 

If you remember, we will be working with a rural women's group to produce and market some very nice handbags. We will apply what we have learned from Makers United to help them sell these hand-made bags. This is important for them because for most of them, it is their only source of income. The money earned from the sales put their children through primary school. Abhi, our business specialist, is going to spearhead this project.

In the pictures... two guys selling 2nd hand clothing from the US at the Joburg Wanderers station, of course, they were wearing an Ohio State jacket and an FSU jacket, unbelievable. and I was of course wearing my UF hat. Another picture is abhi trying out his new hemp at the hardware. also a stall at the Mbabane farmer's market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its getting really cold!

I have been in the Swaziland one and a half months now and the moringa project is going strong.

Within the last week, we have secured 2 more plots with mission groups in - and - . Both of these missions already have robust agricultural activities; this means that we wouldn't not worry about the day-to-day management and care for the trial plots.

Yesterday, I had a chance to go visit one of the farms, called New Life Children's Homes. The couple that started this farm-orphanage started down a similar path with as we did with swaziAID/Makers United which is one of internal self-sustainability. On this farm, there are currently 4 houses each home to about 7 children to total 28 of the most orphaned-orphans.

To clarify, there are degrees of being an orphan. A child that has lost one parent (whether through death or desertion) is considered a single orphan. A child that has lost both parents is considered a double orphan. Even in the cases of double orphans, Africa's strong extended family networks will usually take in these orphans. However, there are some that, for whatever reason, doesn't have (or cannot find) an extended family are the most vulnerable children. These children just live out there somewhere. New Life Children's Homes focuses on these children.

Returning to the farm, each home is under the care of a Swazi house-mother who is essentially a surrogate mother. Nearly all the orphanages and children's hostels here use surrogate mothers as a way of keeping the family natural, ensure the passing on of Swazi culture, and keep the “foreigner” out of the picture as much as possible. This children's home is of course not cheap to maintain.

To ensure that these homes will not fall apart when the mission leaves or funding stops, they have a small but significant production of broccoli, cauliflower, beef, and free-range eggs to supply local supermarkets. They also have started a nursery that is providing local farmers with all sorts seedlings. All together, the current estimate is that the farm is 67% self-sustaining. That is something very difficult to achieve.

I will be visiting the other farm later this week and it will be also very interesting (for reasons that I cannot share just yet, however much I would like to).

Swaziland is one the few countries in the world that recognizes Taiwanese sovereignty meaning Swaziland and Taiwan are good friends. The Taiwanese have established a Taiwan Technical Mission here in Swaziland to provide permanent agricultural assistance. They have worked on many projects and ventures over the years and has a ton of experience. They are, of course, sanctioned by both governments and consequently has a direct line of communication with the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives. This pretty much means that whatever they work on, the government is more open to.

I met with the chief of the Taiwanese Tech Mission last week and presented the tree to him. He was professionally hesitant(meaning he doesn't take on without consideration, good thing) but was receptive. I gave him a number of documents on moringa, including one from a Taiwanese agricultural research institute, and left him to speak with his colleagues about helping us monitor the plots and/or hosting a plot on their on their own research farm. If this comes through, it would be one of the most important alliances we make in this venture.

Piggies at New Life Children's Homes.

Ish

 

 

Over the past week or so, I've been kind of down. There are some things back home thats just been stressing me out and driving me into the ground.

 

Just lined up some more meetings for this coming week. Will let you know how they go later this week.

 

Moved into a new house just a couple days ago. Its not in compound and not surrounded by razor fences; its in a purely Swazi neighborhood, out in the open, with a view of the mountains behind the front door.

 

Nothing too exciting now, but here are some pictures from the last post.

 

1. Here is the hill where the bus rolled all the way down the hill.

2. My pack waiting for the kombi from Cabrini Mission to Siphofeneni to get back to Mbabane.

3. Visited the touristy Cultural Village with a traditional dance troupe.

4. There were also a troupe of wild monkeys at the Cultural Village.  

5. The YH visit. This where the child-headed family of 8 lived.

6. One of plots that will be hosting the moringa trials. Standing with one of the Moya Center employees. He'll be helping keep the plot going.

 

 

 

 

Its a long one

Last week, I had a meeting with the non-profit Moya Center just 45 minutes away from the capital city Mbabane, where I stay. This group provides orphan care as well as gardening workshops. They have been working here for many years and is well-respected. They have agreed to partner with us on setting up a moringa trial plot in their area. The Malkerns Research Station is the primary agricultural research office of the government and is located very close to the Moya Center. Despite being in the Highveldt - Midveldt, this proximity makes it easier for monitoring by the Ministry of Agriculture's officers. This plot is within an NCP garden. NCP (Neighborhood Care Points) are places in the community where young children and elderly come together during the day for activities, education, gardening, and a bit of lunch. Some NCPs are quite successful while some are ineffective. I saw the NCP and plot today was very impressed by the balanced meal provided for the children and all the food and herbs they were growing from their garden. The Moya Center assists this NCP and has helped provide farming skills to the youngsters. All the gardening is done by the children! The soil is good and has a warm climate; the moringa will do well here.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture is naturally concerned about the ecological impact of introducing any foreign species, such as the moringa. Two trees have, recently been on the minds of the Swazis. The Australian wattle is a very fast growing and proliferative tree that has invaded the Highveldt. It has radically changed the ecosystem. While the environmentalists are concerned with the eco-impact, the average folks are quite glad that its here. They say it is very good and abundant firewood and is used in most housing and fencing. The other tree is the Jatropha tree. This tree has been imported and grown in large plantations by the D1 Oils company for bio-fuel production. The recent scandal is that the some farmers have tried using the poisonous seed-cake (left over from oil the oil press) as animal fodder.

 

As a consequence, the government has, understandably, become quite conservative about introducing anything else. Moringa, however, is known to be non-invasive and has never had any bad repute in the development community. We must convince the government that this tree will not cause any problems down the line. One of the possible key points is that if it is already growing here in Swaziland, than it would be not really importing something brand-new and unknown. I have been trying to find moringa in Swaziland and just heard by second-hand that there are some mature moringa trees in Swaziland somewhere. Somebody at the FAO supposedly knows where they are. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

 

These past few days I have been down in the Lowveldt around the Siphofeneni and Big Bend region attending fruitful meetings. I had a  chat with a local seed dealer in the Siphofeneni area who may be able to assist us with odds and ends. Also met the head farmer of the Tambuti Estates plantation. Tambuti Estates is a for-profit company with many many hundreds of acres of citrus and vegetables. We may set a trial plot on the plantation for benefit and exposure to the many farm-hands.

 

The most important meeting was, however, with the well-reputed Cabrini Mission. This Catholic mission provides a hostel and schooling for 150 orphans in addition to a regional clinic, home out-reach for TB and HIV/AIDS, supplementary food aid, and agricultural activities. They will be partnering with us first to conduct the trials on their land and continue later on for sharing moringa with families in the region. If it goes well, they talked about adding the moringa powder to their supplementary food packages. In addition to working with us on the moringa, I may be spending some time in their clinic observing and assisting.

 

On the way to the Cabrini Mission, the PCVs and I took an old mini-bus from Siphofeneni to St.Philips. This clay dirt road was terrible; just shakes and rattles the whole way through. The road was full of small gulleys where old rains have washed through. Half way through the 1 hour ride, the over-packed mini-bus broke down on top of this hill. One  of the PCVs sat in the very front seat above the engine. She had to get out for the driver to try to fix the vehicle. After waiting for 15 minutes for so, I squeezed out the window and walked out into the bush for a wiz. On the way back, I saw the bus moving in reverse and thought, "Fantastic, its fixed!" I kept walking and the bus kept rolling. I looked at the PCV who had gotten off the bus, she was cracking up! I looked the bus and realized that it was, in fact, NOT fixed. The brakes gave! It was just rolling down the hill with a bus full of passengers that included our friend! Luckily, there was no accident. After that, we just grabbed our bags and managed to hitch a ride with a passing truck (bakkie they call it here).

 

In Swaziland (and I think also in South Africa), the whites are pretty well-off relatively. The public transportation is taken primarily by the blacks. I have never seen a white (or any other foreigner) taking public transport or hitching rides. Basically, its just me and the PCVs. Yesterday, the PCV and I hitched a ride from Big Bend to Siphofeneni on the back of a truck with some blacks sitting on some massive tires. Afrikaaners (white Africans of Dutch descent) and tourists drove past us in disbelief. "Who are these loons??" The look on their faces told all.

 

Today, I am heading out the field with a Young Heroes officer to see them work and see their orphan families. This is the second time that I am going. The family that we visited the first time were in poor shape. The family of eight was headed by an 18 year old girl. Of the seven young children, three was her own. Some of them could go to school, some couldn't. The problem is that the government provides a set amount of money for each student's school fees but the the each school charges different amounts of money. The family lived in three small clay-mud and rock huts of about 6 ft by 10 ft. In Swaziland, there are houses and huts and these were most definitely huts. On that small homestead, there was a small plot where they grew an insufficient amount of maize. The youngest one had a bowl of large grasshoppers that would most definitely be cooked and eaten later on. I do not know the cultural context of that observation, but my impression is that the bowl of grasshoppers is a result of their hard times.

 

This coming generation of young Swazis are going to face a very difficult challenge. Even though the government has invested quite a bit of money in education, the lack of parents in many of the children's lives are wreaking havoc on the social fabric. Many parents have either passed away or have just abandoned their children. On a homestead, there were about seven children being cared for by a grandmother (gogo). School was out so they just played all day long outside. It seemed that they didn't have much interaction from their gogo. And this was a relatively well-off family. The children were well-fed and there were two big houses. Imagine the strain on such families if they were poor! The parent-child disjunct will result in loss of important intergenerational knowledge; most importantly, there will be the loss of subsistence farming skills.

 

During that visit, the fact hit me that these 8 children living in those mud huts would literally and simply starve but for the assistance of the WFP and YoungHeroes. In aid and development theory, there is a lot of talk about sustainability and long-term solutions. While those aspects are important, when its simply food or no food, its time to just give the man some freaking fish.

Will provide some pictures later. Saw something really disturbing today, am still digesting and trying to come to grips with it.

Visiting Friends

From my kombi into town, I saw my friends, Ruth and Rudy last week
walking down the street.

We first met in December when they were back in the US visiting at ECHO
(they are both ex-ECHO employees). We chatted about Swaziland for a
couple hours before they had to hit the road again. They gave me some
good perspectives on the way things are here.

Anyways, the schools were on break so Ruth and Rudy were in town doing
some shopping. They invited me to visit their home just 45 minutes east
of Mbabane and so I did.

Last Thursday, a PCV friend and I got a ride with a missionary and we
all headed out at around noon. In the afternoon, the girl from the
mission was trying to set up a soccer team with the local school girls.
She came out with 10 soccer balls slowly girls from around gathered to
play. The boys, whom had plenty of opportunities to play soccer, were
trying to get in on the fun but Rudy shooed them away. They were making
clear that this was just for the girls. If they decide to take this team
seriously, we have offered to sponsor them.

Gender inequality is a serious issue in this country. Constitutionally,
women have the legal rights of a minor. Of course, this is played out
differently in the country-side and in the city. In the city, the women
are more educated and demands more respect just by their abilities. The
business-woman who owns the Grifters lodge owns several other businesses
and is a Parliament member. The gender power distribution in the
government bureaucracy seems as balanced as it is back home; men still
have the highest rank, but women are not too far behind. For example,
the head of Forestry is a man, but his second in command is a confident
and capable woman.

That evening, Ruth showed us around the school and her garden where she
grew all sorts of fruits and vegetables. The guava was delicious. We
talked into the night about development, capacity building, attitude
change, and so on.

The next morning, Rudy took the PCV and I on a hike to a nearby
waterfall in the mountains. The walk ended up being about 3 hours
round-trip. It was a difficult with the steep hills and carrying of the
children. But, wow, it was absolutely beautiful. This secluded waterfall
fed three sequential rock pools before flowing into the bush. Looking
out away from the waterfall, we could see the entire valley. The travel
nurse back home had told me never to go swimming, but I couldn't resist.
Schistomiasis, here we come!

On the way there, three little children followed us and ended up joining
us at the waterfall. While Rudy was chatting with them, I noticed that
the smallest had a chunk of flesh missing from his thigh. The one inch
diameter gape looked like a bite of sorts. They said it was a snake bite
from the day before. It was very deep and it was starting to get
infected; the child had a mild fever and swollen upper leg. There was a
black thing in it, he said it was his mother's muti (medicine). We
walked him back home and talked to his mother about the seriousness of
the injury. However, none of us were confident that she would take him
to the hospital. This kid really needed oral and topical anti-biotics.
Not knowing what to do next, we hiked back with the agreement that Rudy
would come check on the kid a couple days later.

That was a very frustrating experience. The obvious and nagging thought
was and is, "If only I had the training..." I could, with difficulty,
muster up the resources systemically address issues like that but the
medical training... that's just not something I can pull off just by
determination and creativity. Right now, that child is up in the
mountains with his other six brother and sisters in a mud house. Alive
and well, I hope.

I want to say to him in siSwati, "Buthi, I'll be back and, next time,
I'll be ready."

Quickie

I had a couple unofficial meetings with the Ministry of Ag now. They are
somewhat supportive but suspicious. Everybody keeps asking me why I am
in Swaziland, what organization I am from. Everyone is so used to people
coming from some NGO or another, that they get confused when I say I am
not really with any big NGO.

Theres a company called D1 Oils that planted many many jatropha
trees for biofuel production. This is a for-profit venture and very
large scale. There have been some controversies regarding this project
and this has created, I think, this mood of suspicion.

But, no worries. We will assuage any suspicions by showing that we
are 1. doing small scale trials, 2. open to monitoring by all
stakeholders, and 3. putting these trees under ownership of the
community and local NGOs (we are not taking any profits or other benefits).

Things are progressing well, I think. There are some things to worry
about, but its headed in the right direction for sure.

I met Ruth and Rudy in Mbabane just a couple days ago. They are
teaching and living up north of Mbabane. They are also alumni of the
ECHO internship program so they are familiar with agricultural work
(including moringa). They invited me out to see their farm up north
tomorrow. Ill be staying out there for a day or two days. They offered
to act as a nursery for future moringa propagation (produce seedlings)
which is very nice.

Today, I met with Polly, the PCV that is producing and selling
handbags with her women's support group. In 6 days, she will show me
their products. We can definitely apply the things we learned with MKU
to help with along with this.

There are these little girls forming a soccer team by where Ruth and
Rudy live. I said that we can get jerseys (shirts) done and sponsor
them. swaziAID sponsored girls soccer team, its gotta be done.

TGIF

Tonight is my last night at Waterford. They have been very kind and hospitable; things would have hairier they didn't let stay here.

Im moving to a house tomorrow. There is a family going on vacation and I'll be housesitting for them for the next month. Haven't seen the house yet, but it is in a nice neighborhood (Queensgate) within a quick walk to town where all the offices are. 

There isn't much to update. Still waiting on meetings. Attached are a couple more pictures of the Waterford cottage where I was staying and Grifter's Lodge. There is one of the road dividing non-irrigation and irrigation (sugarcane owned by wealthy folks). Finally, one of some kids playing checkers with a cardboard box with hand-drawn squares and bottlecaps. Awesome.