As some of you are aware, I have successfully surprised most of my family. I tradeded in the warm weather of Swaziland and flew 36 hours to get back to the US. Once here, I surprised my mother and then my grandparents. They were quite surprised.
I do need to apologize to my readers for misleading everyone, and for the well-intentioned falsehoods I told. I am blessed to have so many people concerned about me over the holiday. So thank you.
I'll be in Wisconsin for 2 more weeks, and I'm hoping to spend some quality time with my family before heading back to Swaziland until August. Maybe I'll even catch some football.
Merry Christmas and God bless. I hope you enjoy the holidays as much as I do.
-Ben
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
On time
This one will be right on time.
It's holiday time and everything is well in Swaziland. Even though the country is pretty troubled, it seems like most people are happy. That may have something to do with the fact that many businesses had their Christmas parties today and will be off during the holidays.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to zip down the mountain and investigate the Mantenga Cultural Village. It's basically a tourist attraction, supposed to be a picture of traditional life. Of course, instead of farming, the people dance. So it's not too traditional, but I hope to have some pictures Monday.
The other interns and I are having a bit of trouble thinking of this as Christmas. Swaziland had a balmy 80 degree day today, so thoughts of snow are far away. But I hope your Christmas season is going well.
-Ben
P.S. I'm warning you now that my posting may be irregular and infrequent during the holidays. There's not a lot going on and the office will likely shut down for a good portion of the holidays.
It's holiday time and everything is well in Swaziland. Even though the country is pretty troubled, it seems like most people are happy. That may have something to do with the fact that many businesses had their Christmas parties today and will be off during the holidays.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to zip down the mountain and investigate the Mantenga Cultural Village. It's basically a tourist attraction, supposed to be a picture of traditional life. Of course, instead of farming, the people dance. So it's not too traditional, but I hope to have some pictures Monday.
The other interns and I are having a bit of trouble thinking of this as Christmas. Swaziland had a balmy 80 degree day today, so thoughts of snow are far away. But I hope your Christmas season is going well.
-Ben
P.S. I'm warning you now that my posting may be irregular and infrequent during the holidays. There's not a lot going on and the office will likely shut down for a good portion of the holidays.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The Things I Do...
Sometimes I amaze myself. After forgetting to post twice last week, and being certain I would post on time this week, I forgot again yesterday. But that is not the extent of my incompetence. I was actually on a Partners conference call and we were talking about blogging. A half hour later, I left work without posting. But I'll do what I can.
Things are certainly slowing down here. Tinashe's gone this week, Pastor Daniel (our field guy) is in South Africa at a big church service there. And it looks like I won't get to start at the abattoir until after the holiday break. But yesterday a group of farmers was in town to set up bank accounts. That way, when we get the money from the abattoir, we can deposit it directly into their bank accounts.
One really cool thing about modern technology is that they'll automatically get text messages when their money becomes available. So they know when to come into town and pick up the money they need. Even though they live in the boondocks. Technology like that is really tying the world together.
-Ben
P.S. It appears storms have my network connectivity on the fritz. I will post this soon.
Things are certainly slowing down here. Tinashe's gone this week, Pastor Daniel (our field guy) is in South Africa at a big church service there. And it looks like I won't get to start at the abattoir until after the holiday break. But yesterday a group of farmers was in town to set up bank accounts. That way, when we get the money from the abattoir, we can deposit it directly into their bank accounts.
One really cool thing about modern technology is that they'll automatically get text messages when their money becomes available. So they know when to come into town and pick up the money they need. Even though they live in the boondocks. Technology like that is really tying the world together.
-Ben
P.S. It appears storms have my network connectivity on the fritz. I will post this soon.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Catch-up
It's been a complete week since I last posted and I must apologize for my absence from the blogosphere. I actually forgot to post Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm sorry if anyone thought I was in trouble. I'm actually fine, although I'm concerned about my memory. So I'll try to catch up a bit here.
The newspapers noted today that Swaziland is ranked 95 out of 183 countries today in terms of corruption. We've got a 3.1 out of 10, with 10 being a society without corruption. There's also no money for December salaries for civil servants. They managed to resist pay cuts though, so at least they're not getting paid a larger amount than they would be if the government had listened to the IMF.
There's some really cool stuff going on here at AfricaWorks. The abattoir that we work with, Temashing, and AfricaWorks have partnered. So we invested money in the abattoir, which allowed them to begin some needed upgrades, and we also formed a marketing company with them. So now that AfricaWorks has some ownership in the abattoir, part of my job is going to be to evaluate it. We want to make sure it's running smoothly and efficiently. About a month ago, I noticed some discrepancies in the results we were receiving from them, so the first thing I'll be doing is to see if I can figure that out.
I'll keep you posted on that as it happens, so expect more information to follow.
On a more serious note, I was notified that Zac is having some pretty serious medical problems. This came as quite a blow to me, because only a couple weeks ago he was my favorite face to see. I would request your prayers for Zac and his family, and for the doctors.
Tomorrow is a holiday here, but I'll try to do a better job blogging the rest of this week. I should be either here or at the abattoir the rest of the week, but I'm not sure about next week because businesses here basically shut down around Christmas.
-Ben
The newspapers noted today that Swaziland is ranked 95 out of 183 countries today in terms of corruption. We've got a 3.1 out of 10, with 10 being a society without corruption. There's also no money for December salaries for civil servants. They managed to resist pay cuts though, so at least they're not getting paid a larger amount than they would be if the government had listened to the IMF.
There's some really cool stuff going on here at AfricaWorks. The abattoir that we work with, Temashing, and AfricaWorks have partnered. So we invested money in the abattoir, which allowed them to begin some needed upgrades, and we also formed a marketing company with them. So now that AfricaWorks has some ownership in the abattoir, part of my job is going to be to evaluate it. We want to make sure it's running smoothly and efficiently. About a month ago, I noticed some discrepancies in the results we were receiving from them, so the first thing I'll be doing is to see if I can figure that out.
I'll keep you posted on that as it happens, so expect more information to follow.
On a more serious note, I was notified that Zac is having some pretty serious medical problems. This came as quite a blow to me, because only a couple weeks ago he was my favorite face to see. I would request your prayers for Zac and his family, and for the doctors.
Tomorrow is a holiday here, but I'll try to do a better job blogging the rest of this week. I should be either here or at the abattoir the rest of the week, but I'm not sure about next week because businesses here basically shut down around Christmas.
-Ben
Monday, December 5, 2011
Busy Today
I've been a bit busy today with meetings and such, so I don't have much time to put together a normal post. Instead, I'll just say congratulations to the Wisconsin Badgers for beating Michigan State to win the Big 10 and advance to the Rose Bowl. Also, congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for their continuing undefeated season.
My thoughts and prayers go out to especially to college students who are finishing up their semester in the next couple weeks. Good luck.
My thoughts and prayers go out to especially to college students who are finishing up their semester in the next couple weeks. Good luck.
Friday, December 2, 2011
World AIDS day
Some of you may be aware that yesterday, December 1, was World AIDS Day. I was considering a special post, but a storm knocked out the power and made that decision for me. But today, I think it's fitting to note it.
Swaziland is certainly a country torn by AIDS. It's sometimes hard to figure out which problems are the result of AIDS and which are just the problems of a developing country, but I think many problems in Swaziland do boil down to an AIDS problem.
In 2004, 56% of pregnant women aged 25-29 were HIV+. Even though HIV is not automatically transmitted to a fetus (and techniques have been developed to combat transmission to infants), this is a serious problem. In the past 10 years, Swaziland's life expectancy has fallen from 61 years to 32 years, almost exclusively as a result of AIDS. About 60% of the children who live in the communities that we're working in have lost one or both parents (this is lower higher than the national average).
The UN and the WHO (World Health Organization) are gravely concerned about the situation and fear for the continued existence of the country, simply because the population will die off at such a rate that only children are left.
A large part of this is sadly due to Swazi culture. Reproduction is seen as a major duty of everyone, and not limited to monogamous, marriage relationships. Polygamy (or simple male promiscuity) is another major factor, with 23% of men involved with multiple partners. Combined with sexual violence (1/3 of girls are subjects of sexual violence before reaching 18), this has resulted in 50% more women than men being infected.
If reading about this situation has made you depressed, I know what you're feeling. In fact, I get sick when I learn too much (today I read a news story about a couple who sold their daughter for E350, about $40). But as easy as it would be, I don't think I could live with myself if I stopped caring. I don't know how to fix things here, but I don't think we can stop trying.
I'm going to suggest two possible actions.
1) Prayer. Although we are all facing our own challenges and our own lives, I think this matter needs to be prayed about. Pray for a change in the culture and the situation. Many pastors and elders claim HIV is a demon or an ancestral curse and the medications are either against God or poison. Pray for real truth and wisdom for this nation.
2) Foreign aid/assistance. I'm not saying we should airlift condoms, pamphlets, and ARVs. That's the wrong answer. But the Swazi government is in turmoil, can't pay its workers, and its law enforcement is atrocious. I think it would be amazing if a Western government provided training and funding for a law enforcement group targeted at prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence. And actually made it happen (the anti-corruption commission has existed since I've been here, but isn't actually doing anything yet; these are things Swaziland needs NOW).
There are no easy or simple solutions to this problem, and I recognize that. But I thought I should expound on the situation and maybe someone else will have some wisdom that I don't have.
-Ben
Swaziland is certainly a country torn by AIDS. It's sometimes hard to figure out which problems are the result of AIDS and which are just the problems of a developing country, but I think many problems in Swaziland do boil down to an AIDS problem.
In 2004, 56% of pregnant women aged 25-29 were HIV+. Even though HIV is not automatically transmitted to a fetus (and techniques have been developed to combat transmission to infants), this is a serious problem. In the past 10 years, Swaziland's life expectancy has fallen from 61 years to 32 years, almost exclusively as a result of AIDS. About 60% of the children who live in the communities that we're working in have lost one or both parents (this is lower higher than the national average).
The UN and the WHO (World Health Organization) are gravely concerned about the situation and fear for the continued existence of the country, simply because the population will die off at such a rate that only children are left.
A large part of this is sadly due to Swazi culture. Reproduction is seen as a major duty of everyone, and not limited to monogamous, marriage relationships. Polygamy (or simple male promiscuity) is another major factor, with 23% of men involved with multiple partners. Combined with sexual violence (1/3 of girls are subjects of sexual violence before reaching 18), this has resulted in 50% more women than men being infected.
If reading about this situation has made you depressed, I know what you're feeling. In fact, I get sick when I learn too much (today I read a news story about a couple who sold their daughter for E350, about $40). But as easy as it would be, I don't think I could live with myself if I stopped caring. I don't know how to fix things here, but I don't think we can stop trying.
I'm going to suggest two possible actions.
1) Prayer. Although we are all facing our own challenges and our own lives, I think this matter needs to be prayed about. Pray for a change in the culture and the situation. Many pastors and elders claim HIV is a demon or an ancestral curse and the medications are either against God or poison. Pray for real truth and wisdom for this nation.
2) Foreign aid/assistance. I'm not saying we should airlift condoms, pamphlets, and ARVs. That's the wrong answer. But the Swazi government is in turmoil, can't pay its workers, and its law enforcement is atrocious. I think it would be amazing if a Western government provided training and funding for a law enforcement group targeted at prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence. And actually made it happen (the anti-corruption commission has existed since I've been here, but isn't actually doing anything yet; these are things Swaziland needs NOW).
There are no easy or simple solutions to this problem, and I recognize that. But I thought I should expound on the situation and maybe someone else will have some wisdom that I don't have.
-Ben
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)