Adèle reports on Day 2 in Swaziland

14 March 2006

Hi from Mbabane, Swaziland’s charming capital, which is set amidst green rolling hills and has been providing Karen and me with a very warm welcome, in all ways. It feels as if we have been here for longer than three days. We have met a range of amazing people with incredible stories, whose courage in the face of unbelievable hardship boggles the mind – both individuals who are HIV-positive and trying to live positively and make ends meet in dire circumstances, to orphans who are in desperate need of love, support, and the most basic of care, to healthcare workers and HIV counselors who are often working very tough conditions but whose dedication and commitment to helping their fellow Swazis is both impressive and humbling.

Though we knew before coming here that over 13,000 Swazis are now on antiretroviral treatment, free of charge, through programs funded by the Global Fund and implemented by the government’s National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), hearing the stories of a few individuals whose lives have been turned around because ARVs are now accessible to them – they have been free through government hospitals since 2004 – is a powerful motivator for all of us to continue to do our best to ensure that the funds keep flowing.

Take Lulu Vilapati – we met Lulu yesterday at the Baylor Clinic, a pediatric AIDS clinic in Mbabane which is a private clinic focusing on HIV-positive children and their families, but whose antiretrovirals come from the Global Fund-funded government program. Lulu is 23, HIV-positive, on free ARV treatment, and works as a translator at the clinic, assisting doctors and patients in the consulting rooms (often the children and their parents who come to the clinic speak only SiSwati, and some of the American doctors who work there don’t, so both sides need some translation help during consultations). Lulu is gorgeous and the picture of health – and is herself a mother, to a 2-year-old little girl called Sinetapha (which means “we have hope”), who is HIV-negative thanks to Lulu having been on ARVs during her pregnancy, and having had the prevention of mother-to-child transmission treatment during delivery. You can see how Lulu is a total inspiration to the women who come here when, in the consulting room, they discover that they are positive, and they learn that Lulu is as well, and they understand in an instant by looking at Lulu, that being HIV-positive can mean having many years of health and a productive and joyous life.

Then there’s Sisi Dube, a 38-year-old nurse who runs the Lobamba Clinic outside of Mbabane, where we went yesterday. The Lobamba clinic is something of a contrast to the Baylor one – it is quite small and modest (Baylor is a big, brand new building) but spotless and clearly an efficient, smooth-running operation. Here the focus is on prenatal care – including counseling and testing women for HIV. If the women are positive, they are referred to the government hospitals and health centres for follow up and treatment, as well as for actual delivery when the time comes to have the baby. Though Sisi Dube and her staff work in constrained conditions, they somehow manage to be cheerful and strong and provide incredible support for the patients who come there, many of whom – like the young mother with a dehydrated 8-week old baby who Sisi Dube was rehydrating by syringe-feeding when we arrived – have nowhere to turn and for whom paying the 3 Emalangeni (about 50c) for the clinic visit is unaffordable. Sisi has worked at the Lobamba Clinic for 15 years – a real sign of her dedication and strength.

There’s much more to tell – and we will share more of the stories of the people we’ve been spending time with, along with photographs and some audio clips of our interviews – when we get back.

Adèle