Potato Potato Potato

Here's a short story that will most definitely illustrate a typical Swazi approach (very non-chalant) to something which in a Canadian context, may have caused significant increases in blood pressure, if not worse.

This past weekend our group (from UBC) had our midsession retreat. It was at a lovely wildlife reserve not too far from Mbabane and facilitated by an incredibly inspiring woman from Lesotho. (the other teeny country encompassed by South Africa) At the end of the session, on Sunday afternoon, we all decided to have lunch together in Mbabane before heading our separate ways. Of course, it started absolutely pissing it down while we were in the restaurant, so the boys decided they would take a taxi home. (They had a lot farther to go, on a journey comprising two soggy crammed buses and a ten minute trek between bus ranks.)

In any case, one of them phoned the taxi driver and asked that he pick us up at the restaurant (Nando's flame grilled chicken- oh yeah). He said he would be there at 3. At about 3:10 we called again, and he said he was "stuck" but on his way. ok.

A few minutes later (about 20), we are in the car. (Luckily, Gelekeceni was on the way so I bummed a ride :) As we head for the entrance to the highway, our driver elaborates on why he was "stuck": apparently, his windshield wipers had stopped working. It is still raining. Excellent.

Sitting in the front seat, I can't see anything. So as we accelerate to about 80 km/h on the curvy, hilly highway to where I live, I have to ask: "How can you see anything?!"

"Ah, no problem, no problem, my friend taught me a trick!" Great. "This side, I can see ---I put potato." Huh?

Yep, he had literally cut a potato in half and rubbed it on his windshield in attempt to be able to see the road without windshield wipers.

Lol. Okay, so I admit that when I looked over to his side, there were small spots where the potato substance had minimized the blur cause by the MASSIVE amounts of rain dumping down on the car.

After a few minutes of contemplation I say "I think you need more potato."

He just laughs. Typical. Then to comfort me, he says "Don't worry, I use the white line too" (meaning the lines on the road)

Oh good.

From the backseat, the boys offer to stop and buy some potato.

After rummaging around under his seat, the driver says "No no, don't worry," and proudly produces a chunk of potato.

Needless to say, I made it home safely. And as I was scrambling up the concrete steps to my path home, our taxi driver was diligently smearing potato on the windshield of the car.

More about the work I'm doing...

I work with the Regional Coordinator of one of Swaziland’s Four Regions: Hhohho. The organization I'm working with is working with the UNDP on a project to organize Support Groups into coordinated networks. This is what I’ve been working on.

My work has mostly been in the head office so far. I have visited rural communities, to have exposure to the Support Groups on the ground- but these meetings/events are held in SiSwati (the local language) so its not as productive for the organization to have me there. The actual work has been fairly unexciting. I have helped with writing up progress reports, drafting activity plans, inputting and organizing electronic data. The skill sets of my coworkers vary, but often I am simply helping show them how to structure a formal report, or use certain features on excel, or attach a document to email. At times, there is not a whole lot to do; I usually spend this time brainstorming and writing out what kind of feedback I can give to my coworkers at the end of my placement.

It may sound mundane -its definitely not the picture most people have of what volunteering in Africa looks like. I work in an office, similar to an office you might find in Vancouver.

All said and done, and with the bigger picture in mind, my first month has been full of amazing and reality-grounded learning experiences. Working here has exposed me to many of the aspects of and challenges facing the development community in Swaziland. In addition to the work I’ve been doing in the office, I have had the chance to attend a national forum on Alternative Care for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, a meeting on HIV-Aids, Gender Equality, and Human Rights, and a week long course on Mainstreaming HIV/Aids.

The real world of development is not about food handouts or building community centres. Its about finding a way, with all the roadblocks and challenges, to empower people to lead healthy and happy lives.

Swazi Time

Here in Swaziland things run on a different sort of time -something I like to call Swazi time.

Here's a little story to illustrate. Enjoy!

On Friday afternoon at about 2pm, I was told that I would be attending a training for the entirety of the following week. The training was to be residential so I need pack a bag. To get there I could either take a kombi to an unfamiliar destination or I could meet one of my coworkers at work (in Mbabane) at 7:30 on Monday morning.

--a little sidetrack is that I was going away for the weekend, and thus was unable to communicate this to my host family until Sunday night, when I had just returned AND I had no clean clothes (having planned on doing laundry on Monday once I had returned from my weekend trip. OF COURSE, it POURED rain on Sunday night, leaving me to be quite resourceful with my clothing strategies while away. typical---

In anycase, my commute to work normally takes about 45 minutes from doorstep to doorstep. So I lugged my backpack to the kombi "stop" on Monday morning at about 6:30. For some reason, it was apparently extra busy, because every kombi that passed by was full. I waited for about 45 minutes, which brought me to 7:15. I began to stress a little, because I had no idea where this training was, or how the heck to get there. I imagined l would lug my pack all the way to work (crammed into the back of the kombi) only to find I had been abandoned. haha.

I didn't have the phone number of my carpool buddy. of course. I only had the number of his boss. I called. And woke her up. I got his number, and sent him a message. Finally, I got a kombi. phew. By the time I got to work, it was about 7:45.

My carpool buddy wasn't there. But one of my other coworkers informed me he hadn't been there yet. He came at about 8. Turns out, he was at the salon getting a haircut.

I sat in the office for about an hour. We need some sort of document before we can leave, some emails need to be sent etc etc etc.

So at about 9:15, we're ready to go - the car won't start. I walk outside to the sight of my coworkers repeatedly pushing a truck up a small hill and then pushing it down while the other attempts to start it.

After about three tries, it finally starts. No one seems to be concerned that the truck wouldn't start on its own, because we all pile into it.

Then, we have to drop one of my coworkers off at the government buildings. He's supposed to come to the training too, but no one told him, so he doesn't have his stuff. lol. I have no idea why we dropped him off at the government buildings.

Then, we go back to my office. huh?? I know, right? Turns out, the truck needs gas. The gas is on an account, which needs vouchers. Once filled up, we bring the vouchers back to the office. FINALLY, we're on our way.

We arrive at the training centre at about 10:30 (its 20 minutes from where I work). We were supposed to be there by 8. No biggie. Its swazi time!