Adolescent Empowerment????

Today was a good day.  We are not sure exactly what changed.  Maybe it was that we prayed more, maybe it is that the straight-talking preschool teacher gave the adolescent girls a talking to Swazi style, and told them that they did not need to come back if they were going to be disrespectful, or maybe it was the two talkative respectful older girls that came today……  Whatever it was, we had a fun day with the girls learning about God’s love for them and how they are fearfully and wonderfully made.  We did provide a snack. 

      After many discussions about the importance of food in Swazi culture and many hypothesis by Swazi Christians who understand both Western and traditional Swazi values; we listened to many theories.  We heard everything from a history of colonialism, to the world food program creating unnecessary dependence on outside food, and bad choices by many outside organizations to just give money or food without building the capacity of Swazis.  We even had one friend, a strong young Christian who celebrates his culture but also understands how Westerners think give us the old adage of teaching a man to fish.   He did this at our house while eating an American style hamburger. I think the take-home on the complex relationship between Swazis and food is that it is way too multifaceted and nuanced for me to understand as an American girl in three months, and that it is probably not a battle worth fighting if my goal is ultimately to demonstrate God’s love to teenage girls.

    I think there are many lessons from the start of adolescent camp.  The first lesson is that adolescents are universally reviled throughout the world.  Sorry teens, we have all been there.  Heather and I love them.  But, the most common response from adults both Swazi and ex-patriots was a resounding “Ewww, I only like kids up until the age of 12.”  So there is a need to minister to this group.  The concept of adolescent empowerment and self-esteem building are very western concepts; where adolescents are not part of the family labor force that help a homestead to survive.  In Swaziland, adolescents are valuable because they help cook, clean, collect water, watch children, and do many other tasks that very busy mothers do not have time for.  The idea of sending them to a camp, where they sit around and talk about self-esteem and God’s love and make some handicrafts does not serve the collective good of the family.

       However, this is also a very vulnerable group.  Adolescents around the world have some of the highest rates of contracting HIV.  Many teens in Swaziland leave school because they become pregnant.  Adolescents are vulnerable to advances and abuse from older men in the community.  These are real problems and needs.

    So we go back to our running theme, “We don’t know what we don’t know”.  We have had a big learning curve as a couple of American girls walking into something new.  Lessons learned, we need a Swazi adult involved to keep order, Swazi teens are much more reserved than American, Mexican, Thai, Honduran…teens I have worked with before and it takes time and effort to draw them out, and lastly it will take time and relationship building for adults in this community to see a need for ministry specifically targeted to adolescents.  Heather and I will run the adolescent camp for one more week, and talk about bible stories, values, communications, relationships, and dealing with dilemmas.  Then, with any luck, I may be able  focus on training and discipling a smaller group of older girls to be peer educators using the community health evangelism lessons and hopefully find a couple of women in the community whose response to working with adolescents is not “Eww…”.