Week 1

Today is Saturday and there's no field work scheduled for today. Just writing up the week's updates to send back and putting together essentially the business plan.

This past week has been spent visiting the demonstration sites, gathering data, and discussing future plans. I traveled with our excellent colleague, Thokozane. He was a knowledgeable farmer, jack-of-all-trades, a good person, and friend of the Poglitshes. After a year and a half working with us, he is now the moringa expert of Swaziland. He is in the process of marriage now; he told me that there are three different ceremonies that must be performed. These ceremonies can be done in a week or over years. His last ceremony is planned for September; he invited me, I will try blend in and document it for you.

 On monday I went out to visit Ruth and Rudy, a very rough 40 min ride from Mbabane. Ruth has been helping us with the moringa trees for the past one and a half years and without her, we would be failing miserably. We discussed how things have been and did some planning. Thokozane will be offering moringa cultivation workshops to rural community groups all over the country. We expect the first workshops to begin in mid-September for a number of Peace Corp volunteers. We will conduct this first series of workshops together in order to refine the message and get everything right; we want to deliver a strong message that moringa is a strong nutritional supplement, not some miracle drug. There was a study from a few months back concluding that 80% of Swazis consult with traditional healers. That is not to say that traditional healers are fakes, I am just saying there's a strong sense of herbal and natural remedies that may or may not be based on scientific evidence. Anyways, Thokozane will be giving these workshops independently and, hopefully, make a fair income from these training sessions. He has thirteen nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, and children to provide for on his homestead!

 In addition to the training sessions, we're going to try to enter the informal / grey market to generate income the rural farmers. There are no jobs out in the bush and the migration of men to the cities have really stressed the traditional family and support structure. If we can set up this market in town (maybe even beyond Swaz), we'll be able to put some money in  the pockets of these farmers. Typically, these farmers are women with many nieces, nephews, and children to feed; HIV has orphaned 80,000 children in Swaziland. The money can be used to pay for school fees, buy other food, pay for healthcare, and whatever else they feel are important. We're going to try to get Kiva funding to help Thokozane establish this small business. If you don't know what Kiva is, just take a look at their website (I think its Kiva.org)

 On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we visited a few other sites. At one of the sites, local women have been adding the moringa to their regular diets and have given up positive reports. We recorded three of the interviews and I would love to post it for you guys to see, but they were conducted by Thokozane totally in siSwati. Our friend Bongi reported that the farmers understand the importance of nutrition and are keen to grow moringa for themselves. In the northern mid-veld, they have integrated moringa into their training program (funded by Garden Africa from the UK) and its been a hit. People have been buying the moringa powder from our sites faster than they can produce it and at exorbitant prices (400R[50USD] for 2 Kg). If people are willing to pay for it, then it means they value it, which means they feel it is important for their health.

Although we've gotten updates from only half of the sites, the demand seems to be there; people want to grow this for themselves.

The pictures are; Ruth talking with Thokozane, following a woman to some homesteads to do the interviews, and dinner at Vusumnotfo with Kathy Gau, Bongi (from Moya Center, one of our partners), Thokozane, and myself. The camera did something strange where I cannot extract some of the photos, but next update I should have posted pictures of the moringa plots!

 

Settling Down

Today, I met up with my friend Samkeliso. He's kindly offered a couch in his rather well furnished apartment right outside Mbabane, the capital city. This part of town is called Makholokholo, Last year, Abhi, Alex, and I passed it daily on the way back to our house in Estibeni, just a quarter mile down the road. Sam's apartment is better than my place in Tampa; he has a big flat screen tv, sound system with standing speakers, dvd player, satellite channels, matching couch and love seat, and a stylish coffee table. Makholokholo is Swazi upper middle class. I've found a place to live for a while.

 

Now, work.

 

In the morning, I had breakfast with Thokozane and a new partner, the Rehmeyers from Tambankulu. Thokozane was giving them plans for a moringa solar drier. We had a very nice breakfast and chatted about the Rehmeyers first harvest and future plans. They will be providing moringa powder for the community as well as training and assisting in growing. Thokozane told me about a friend who had been sick; vomiting, inability to keep down food, couldn't go to work, and bedridden. Thokozane brought some moringa powder to him and he drank it with morning tea. Two weeks later, he's up and going back to work. He even met with Thokozane in town and asked where he could get more! I know, I know... the context is unclear, its only one incidence, its probably exaggerated, etc. etc. But its not the only incidence, this has been happening many times throughout this previous year. Even if its exaggerated, these anecdotal results still suggest significant effectiveness.

 

After breakfast, I visited a few other Swazi friends at their offices. Some have received promotions to positions with aid / development agencies; NERCHA, World Vision, and WFP. They're going to connect me with the right people to discuss moringa. Its  such a huge change from the previous year when I made cold calls into these monolithic groups and usually got blown off. With the support of our partners and all our previous contacts, I can hit the ground running.

 

 

Was at dinner with  a few friends. One of them ordered a fajita. The server came to tell her that they were out of tortilla wraps, but it was okay, cause they would just give her a side of rice and it would be the exact same. That made me smile. Im not belittling the server, why should he know anything about mexican food anyways? It was just a revealing and funny event at the meeting of cultures.

 

Next week, Thokozane and I are headed out to visit all our partners and discuss with them the next stage of the project. They have already integrated moringa into their normal programs but have wanted to expand the outreach. Ill be taking plenty of pictures! Abhi, Alex, and I left Swaziland without any trees, just seeds and plans. Now, the fruits of the labor!

 One of the pictures is of the place where I'm staying; my bed the couch, my work desk the coffee table. Another is the view out the front door. It is a small 4 unit apartment complex with a resident rooster and hen. Finally, back on the kombis riding around town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Joburg

Just got into Joburg a few hours ago. Looks the same, feels the same.
Same smells, same sounds as a year ago. Rooibos tea, boiling water, the
unique African english accent, fuzzy TV signals, nearly antique
computers. Im even remembering some of my limited Zulu vocabulary! I can
hardly believe that Im back.

The BazBus (safe travel) doesn't go to Swaziland until Saturday, so Im
going to the Joburg bus rank tomo to catch a minibus and hope I don't
get mugged! Seriously, it shouldn't be a problem; don't worry!

Will update again when get to Swaz.

2nd Round!

Its been a year and a month since I was last in Swaziland. We left the moringa project with Thokozane and everything has gone wonderfully well; the moringa trees are growing at all the sites, more groups are interested in growing it, and folks are developing a liking to the moringa leaf powder. I could not have asked for more.

Tomorrow at 5 pm, Im departing for Swaziland again; Tampa to Atlanta to arrive in Johannesburg 5 pm local time Wednesday. The year has passed so quickly! When Im working Swaz, I miss going to class. When Im in class, I miss working in Swaz. This time, Ill be working alone; Abhi and Alex won't be joining me (go check out their new project : www.fractureme.com).

Ill be taking lots of pictures and videos and providing detailed reports of the new objectives and progress. You can sign up for email updates through the little widget on the side. Im sad to leave my classes, friends, and family. Im calm because Ive already traveled this route before and know what to expect. Im nervous from the unknowns and the anxiety of the mission. Its time again to cross my fingers and jump!