Support group

Sanibonani, bangani (Hello, friends).

Jack gets here on Wednesday! I think we’re both stressed, but we have a plan of action for how he’ll begin things here. I look forward to showing him around the country. It’s really exciting that he’ll finally be able to get started with his volunteer work. I was trying to get him jazzed up on the phone last night by reminding him that he’s flying to AFRICA! Sometimes you kill two or three big spiders a day, but besides that it’s awesome.

I went to a support group for children with HIV on Saturday. Because of the nature of the work I’m doing here, I’m going to be careful about the photos I post. I doubt I’ll post much of anything from the clinic. I don’t want to invade anyone’s privacy or inadvertently reveal anyone’s status. Please help me with this. If you see something questionable, let me know. I actually haven’t taken any photos at the clinic. If anything, I’ll probably shoot the staff at some point so you can see with whom I’m working.

Back to the support group.

About 70 children 12 and younger participated in the monthly group. First they go through and get their antiretroviral medications and then they play games. A guy from Mbabane, I think from the Elizabeth Glaser Pedriatic AIDS Foundation, came to lead them. USAID also is involved, and I think the World Food Program is the one who provides food for the kids. Their transportation is paid for. We played a game where we introduced ourselves and then the man from Mbabane divided them into three groups: the Senate, the Assembly and the Royal Family. These groups competed against one another in a quiz game about HIV. The children, not surprisingly, know a lot about the virus they have. I was one of the judges, but I wasn’t particularly useful because the game was in siSwati. I kept vigilant score, however.

Part of the game also included questions about the definition of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is a big, big problem here. Jack’s going to be doing some volunteer work related to that.

The children seemed to have a great time, laughing and talking. Many have been coming for quite some time. The clinic staff always refer people to support groups when they’re diagnosed with HIV. The Royal Family team came through in the end to win it all. Then they lined up for food — chicken, rice, beet salad and lettuce salad.

The adults who helped also received food. I felt bad about that because I don’t need it and had brought a sandwich. I gave the rest of mine to a girl who had come with a friend and wasn’t part of the support group so wasn’t getting food.

As I ate with the head nurse, a small boy came up. He’d said hello earlier, remembering. me from last month’s support group.

“Babe, can you borrow me this container?” he asked the nurse, pointing to his take-away food carton. “I want to take this food home.”

This was about the part of the day where my heart broke. I’m sure this little kid needed the food himself. I’m also sure he wanted to take it back home to share with his family.

The nurse directed him inside for a container.

It’s a different reality here, every day. That’s good. That’s why I’m here. But it isn’t always easy to see.

In happier news, the dog on my homestead had her puppies a few days ago. I’ll get some photos when they emerge from the bushes. Right now they still look like rats.

Salani kahle.