Friends Visiting in April!

In less than a month two good friends from the US are coming to Southern Africa, and we’re pretty excited about it. We’ll all head first to Mozambique (where we’ll visit another American friend living in Maputo), then we’ll spend some time here in Swaziland, and then we’ll spend some time in South Africa’s famous Kruger National Park—lions and giraffes and hippos and other awesome safari fare.

This is gonna be fun.

Their April visit kicks off an exciting month for us. We’ll be going to a weeklong “Close of Service” Conference with all our fellow Group 6 PCVs, and after that we’ll set off for another 12 days of regional traveling: Victoria Falls (Zambia side), then Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Kalahari Desert.

The Peace Corps may be tough, but it certainly comes with benefits.

Stepping Away

The local high school faculty and student body are excited about having another College Fair, and this year it will be held during the school’s first term (instead of the final term). This year, however, planning it and hosting it is entirely up to the school itself; all we’ll do is help revise the invitation letters. It’s not that we’re lazy. It’s just that, if we were training wheels, it would be time to remove us.

At this stage of our service, it’s all about stepping away and letting our counterparts do these things without “outside” assistance. So the less we need to be involved, the more successful we’ll feel! We’re also “stepping away” from an upcoming Youth Day event that builds upon last year’s efforts to increase the capacity of a local youth organization. We’re involved, but again, the less we do this time around, the more successful we’ll feel. Our local counterparts have (hopefully) learned how to plan and organize these kinds of events, and now it’s time to apply their new skills.

I want to briefly talk about this notion of stepping away, because, with just about 5 months left in our service, we’re thinking a lot about what we’ll leave behind; what’s likely to prove sustainable and what isn’t.

After two years of living and working here, we can say with great conviction that the only worthwhile kind of development efforts are those which seek to curb the pattern of aid-dependence. And this applies even to events like the ones mentioned above. Our working model of sustainable development seeks to build a community that does not need to rely on outsiders like us to (in this example) host successful community events. No matter what the project, building self-reliance is the underlying goal.

The crippling impact of aid-dependence, we have found, extends to all areas of outside assistance. Any form of “no strings attached” handout, which does not require any accountability or effort or commensurate obligation on the part of the beneficiary, has the potential to worsen aid-dependence. For an interesting and controversial treatment of the topic, we recommend the recent book by Dambisa Moyo called DEAD AID (2009). Clearly, there are productive and nonproductive ways of offering assistance to underdeveloped countries… problem is, the nonproductive approaches are usually the easiest and quickest—and they yield great photo-ops, too.

BUT… there is a tendency for people to use this aid-dependence difficulty to absolve themselves of charitable obligation. The rationale goes, since these do-gooder organizations only end up making things worse, there’s no reason to donate or otherwise get involved with them. But that’s misguided, and here’s a couple reasons why.

First of all, not all do-gooder organizations are equal. A genuine concern about aid-dependence should not discourage a person’s natural and healthy charitable inclinations, but rather compel them to be more selective about which aid organizations they support. We like using the website Charity Navigator to research organizations both large and small. Personally, we tend to favor projects or causes that seek to develop local capacity (both individual and/or organizational capacity); that equip the local population to better address its own needs and wants. That could be skills training or strengthening infrastructure, increasing general knowledge about issues being faced, etc.

Second of all, there are, regrettably, plenty of circumstances in which direct handouts are entirely appropriate. We’ve seen plenty of them first-hand. An aging grandmother caring for 6 orphaned grandkids, for example, whose mud-hut is collapsing and whose meager pension hardly satisfies her own hunger much less her grandkids… it would be immoral to deny her a bag of rice based on some lofty principal of reducing aid-dependence. If she doesn’t get that rice from the Red Cross (for example), someone could literally die. She IS dependent on food aid, and thank God there’s an organization out there willing to support her. So frankly, I have no patience for the old “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” argument in these kinds of dire circumstances. There really IS a place for this kind of extreme intervention, and organizations providing it rely on donor (and governmental) support. But when this extreme intervention is applied across the board to ALL cases of need, whether extreme or moderate, that’s where the aid-dependence problems arise.

Anyway, as we begin our process of stepping away from our development and aid projects, we’ve learned a lot about the various levels of need and the various approaches employed to address them. We’ve been involved with projects we deem successful and ones we deem unsuccessful. We’ve seen the benefits and limitations of charity and of self-reliance, and we believe that any society, whether struggling or prospering, requires the strength of both forces to function.

In fact, we’ve learned that the most desirable kind of human charity is that which seeks self-reliance for others, while the best kind of self-reliance is that which seeks charity for others.

Local Homestead Census Project

We’ve been helping our community tally and analyze the results of a big local census (which was shaped and organized thanks to Jamie’s efforts). Local rural health workers were recruited to visit homesteads in their “coverage areas” and conduct the census, and we have now received demographic information for 1,377 homesteads—that’s over 11,000 people—in all 4 surrounding Chiefdoms that comprise our Inkhundla.

Why do this? Well, the simple answer is this: without basic, up-to-date information about these homesteads, it’s nearly impossible for local leaders to assess the community’s primary needs and to secure proper resources from both government and charitable organizations. So this census not only provides that basic information, but it also familiarizes locals with the process of conducting a census—and the importance of doing them.

Many NGOs show up in our community with all manner of handouts, from food to tents to clothing, and they ask the Headmen to please point them in the direction of the “neediest” local homesteads. But that’s a terrible way of doing things. It reveals a deep misunderstanding of the local jealousies and favoritisms (read: corruption) plaguing Swazi society. And that “show up and ask” approach also assumes that the Headmen actually have that kind of demographic information at the ready. But they don’t. No one does. So this census will at least provide everyone with an objective look at the community’s homesteads and their relative levels of need—a snapshot that will be out of date rather quickly, but is at least a good beginning.

So anyway, here are a few of the more startling things our Census has revealed about this community:

· 49% are kids, under the age of 18, with the vast majority of them (39%) under the age of 14.

· Of all the kids, 35% are either single- or double-parent orphans. That’s 17% of the total population.

· Of the remaining 51% that are adults, just 14% are over the age of 45. (sidenote: the national average life expectancy is currently around 34).

· Just 8% of the surveyed adults report having income from formal employment. (informal employment is more common). That’s an unemployment rate of 92%… and we think the US is struggling with joblessness!

So the “average” local homestead houses about 8 people—4 adults and 4 kids—and if they’re very lucky, one of those adults is bringing in steady money for everyone else to live on. If the family has any wealth or assets, it’s most likely in the form of cattle and/or goats.

After compiling all this census data, we set about finding an objective way to “measure” the different levels of need and risk that a given homestead faces. The need for an objective risk assessment is due to all the favoritism and jealousy that often hinder well-meaning assistance efforts. As cold as it may sound, we needed to take all these personal situations and express them in numerical terms—that is, assign a “Risk Score.” So we worked on building a formula, variously weighted by the number of orphans and working adults and elderly adults, the ratio of kids to adults and other ratios… and then we applied it to all the homestead reports. And what we’ve come up with so far seems to do a pretty good job at identifying the most at-risk homesteads— and without any last names or locations; nothing subjective to corrupt things.

The situations on homesteads with the highest risk scores are pretty bleak. They have no adult at all, or else very few adults (unemployed, of course, and likely elderly) with lots of orphans to care for. Here’s what a 15.22 risk score looks like on paper: 1 adult who’s 60-74 years-old and earns no income; 9 kids (5 younger than 14), 7 of whom are orphans. Yikes!

So we’ve graphed all this information and are teaching our local counterparts in community leadership to read and access the data. And hopefully, when the next organization comes and asks for the “neediest” homesteads, they’ll at least have something to reference.

Skills Training for Rural Health Workers

Jamie has been busy developing short lessons for our community’s Rural Health Motivators (RHMs) on a variety of health topics. She presents these lessons to the women during their monthly gathering at Umphakatsi (community grounds), when they come to collect their government pay of about US$40 (that’s a monthly salary). Her upcoming lesson is about nutrition and malnutrition: how to properly identify malnourished children, and how to improve the local diet without spending too much money. She’s made upper-arm measuring bands to check for malnourishment in 1-5 year olds, and this week she’ll distribute them and show the RHMs how to use them.

(poster shows a balanced diet)

Here I am using one the measuring bands on Jamie. If her arm belonged to a 1-5 year old girl, she’d be one healthy kid. No malnourishment detected. Good news!

Jamie has made a lot of health-information posters over the past year or so. They’re on display at the local Clinic, they’re used for these RHM lessons, and they’re displayed at various community spaces and events.

As you can see in these pics, much of the poster information is written in siSwati. This is not an easy thing to do. Jamie writes out what she wants to say in English first, then consults the siSwati dictionary, then consults with friends to get the translation correct. It takes a lot of time, but it’s worth the effort.

poster information: signs and measurements of malnutrition and better food choices with limited money

School Library Project

Soon we’ll be busy at the local primary school, helping the newly formed Library Committee set up its first-ever library. The school’s principal worked to renovate an old building into a great library space, and we worked to build a stock of books for its shelves. And within a month from now, both of those efforts will yield big results.

As many of you know, this nationwide book donation project reached its fundraising goals (thanks donors!) and Books for Africa shipped out their container of about 30,000 books last month. They should arrive here around early April, at which time the sorting and distributing will begin. Our school lays claim to just over 1000 of them!

PCVs from 26 different rural communities throughout Swaziland, including us, joined together on this Peace Corps Partnership Project. We were able to raise US$10,300 to cover the costs of books and shipping/customs expenses— and we set a Peace Corps record: the most individual donors to a single PCPP fundraising effort in the history of that program. Wow! Thanks everyone who contributed.

All 26 schools also had to raise money to cover various in-country expenses.

We’re preparing for the book’s arrival. Last month we attended a workshop to learn how to set up a school library, and in a few weeks we’ll teach that workshop to our school’s new Library Committee—covering things like book organization systems, making subject catalogues and title catalogues, establishing a lending system… lots of details. We expect to be busy with the Library Committee throughout April and May.

soon these shelves will hold books!

It may seem strange that a Swazi school library be stocked with English-language books, so I’d better explain. English is the mandated language for all education here. In fact, it’s the co-official national language (along with siSwati), and it’s the official language for all “government business.” As children progress through the grades, they must pass certain subject exams, and the most important of these exams is the English competency exam. In fact, students who do not pass the grade-5 English exam do not qualify to advance to the High School level. Without a firm grasp of English, the rationale goes, they’ll be unable to understand the teacher’s lessons in the upper grades. So for better or worse, this English-language mandate means that attaining fluency in English is extremely important for all Swazi students. By having a good library of English-language books for both the students and English teachers to use, our primary school will be much better equipped to meet these mandated education requirements—and the kids will have a better chance of graduating.

That said, it is important that these libraries properly integrate these English-language mandates with the cultural heritage of Swaziland and other Southern African traditions. In that spirit, school faculty members and PCVs are making every effort, to bring important cultural documents and reference materials into these libraries. We are working to include titles by regional authors, culturally relevant visual aids, siSwati language periodicals and other reading materials, and any other things that will help to encourage a sense of respect and pride in the Swazi culture. Plus, we’re encouraging the Library Committee to consider using the library for various cultural events, such as hosting local guest speakers to discuss local history and tell stories.

We’ll keep you all informed as this exciting project develops! And we want to send a big thank you to our Arizona friends, the students and teachers in the Verde Valley for their generous contributions. They raised money and purchased 185 children’s books for this library—and as soon as they’re on the shelves we’ll send you pictures! You are a special group of kids and teachers, and we’re so thankful for your efforts.

Community Garden Project Update

We’ve been continuing our work on renovating the community garden’s water system, which many of you helped fund (thank you!). And as the rainy season comes to an end and water once again becomes a scarce resource, we’re preparing to see a big surge of interest in the garden: the pipes are full of water. For the first time in many years, when June and July rolls around and Zombodze’s rolling hills are all brown and fallow, the big rectangular footprint of the community garden will still be green and verdant… and I cannot wait to see it.

Although most of the work has long been done to bring water back to the garden spigots, there has still been a lot to do. Last month we expanded the creekside reservoir and reinforced it with concrete. Just last week we installed the permanent filter at the intake pipe (built by the local welder). And just a few days ago we finally finished the fairly grueling process of replacing all the old, damaged standpipes and spigots in the garden with brand new ones—18 in all. I’ll replace a few more old components before we leave, but nothing critical. The last big labor component to do: build some ground-level concrete water tanks in the garden, to be used for water storage if/when the pipes and spigots need to be closed for maintenance or repairs. I’ll be hiring a few local laborers to do the work (while I hover over them impatiently).

Picture Caption: Here I am replacing an old standpipe and spigot assembly with new components. I've spent a good part of the last few months standing in muddy holes and sweating profusely.

I’ve also begun compiling a maintenance manual for the new system, which is intended to help the Garden Committee preserve the pipes and valves. It includes pictures of all the components and how they’re put together, where to find all the underground stuff, information about local parts suppliers, and a maintenance routine for regularly flushing out the system and exercising the valves. I love doing this kind of stuff. Seriously—I do.

Our most challenging work lately has been mobilizing the Garden Committee and holding garden meetings to improve overall organization… but we’ll keep at it and try various approaches. This is not a society that places any value on punctuality, so as a result, trying to organize and hold meetings here is often a frustrating exercise in futility: sometimes no one shows up, sometimes people trickle in… hours late. Drives me nuts. But we’ll persevere. I’m going to approach a Swazi organization and ask them to help with long-term organizational development of the garden, thinking they’ll be around after we’re gone to follow through.

So that’s the garden water project update. The water flows, the system is functioning well, and what work remains is aimed at improving its prospects for long-term maintenance and preservation. When the dry season is in full swing I’ll do some measurement/evaluation regarding increases in garden membership and crop production.

Picture Caption: Two of our most valuable volunteer workers, Mkhulu Nkambule (left) and Mkhulu Simelane. These guys are really, really strong. And friendly.