At 11 am, while we were still waiting at the hospital in Siteki 40 min away, we were supposed to be at Section 19 for the community awareness meeting for CHE- Community Health Evangelism. CHE volunteers work with communities to educate them about health and disciple individuals in a holistic way. We texted Valencia, the trainer, who would conduct the meeting with two other volunteers in Siswati, to say that we were running late. Nomsile, one of the main leaders and advocates in the community had also texted to say she would be late. She had visited a friend and hadn’t been able to get a ride back to Section 19. Finally, at 11:30 the CHE trainers texted to say they were also stuck waiting for a bus connection 30 min from the meeting site. The trainers made it by 12, and Corine went to pick up the community leader. By 1 pm, we started to gather the community for a meeting.
Folks who work in Africa know that things take much longer. However, we were racing against a deadline, the time of day when most of the community begins drinking- at around 1 pm. We gathered in the middle of mudhuts sitting on grassmats at the base of a giant shade-tree. It was not an ideal meeting site but it was picturesque for me- my idea of what an African Community Meeting should look like. Then we waited… and waited, I’m not sure for what we were waiting for, and I still have no idea. I couldn’t read the subtle cues. I don’t know if we were waiting for key community members, elders, someone to take charge. It was all very unsettling for Americans- "efficiency, productivity, time is money....". People came and went several times- to meet friends or answer cellphones. Finally, the meeting started.
The meeting was all in Siswati; so all Corine and Heather and I could really do was to pray. Valencia and her volunteers were explaining that NGO’s and church’s and outside help was not always going to be around. She said soon the community would have to stand on their own two feet and help themselves. She said that she would be there to help them make those decisions and to mentor them, but ultimately it was God who transforms the hearts of people. The entire time a sugar-cane worker who was drunk and slightly menacing was shouting at those gathered. He looked and acted like the demon-possessed man in the story where Jesus casts the demons from the man of the tombs into the pigs. A couple times a woman with a stick tried to physically threaten the man and bring him back into line. Through this whole drama, the community selected a committee to train for the CHE in a very demoncratic process. Folks were nominated and voted on with an enthusiastic “Yebo”. Many organizations and NGO’s have been working in this area and community without truly impacting behavior. People know how to form committees. They have had multiple lessons on how to treat and prevent HIV. They have a lot of knowledge about many things but it has not impacted what they do in their daily lives. Our hope is that Swazis teaching Swazis where no money or gifts or incentives are offered will really empower the community to solve its own problems in a long-term way. And only God can do that work. It will require lots of prayer, and looking out over a sea of dirty and neglected kids, it is clear that something needs to change in this community.
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