Farewell Joe | Sibebe Camping Trip

Over the first weekend in June, our good friend Joe held his farewell party on the top of Sibebe. You’ll likely remember Joe from numerous other blog posts as he arrived just three days after we did and became an immediate friend and traveling buddy. Joe was here for 10 months on a Fulbright Scholarship through which he studied how religious organizations and orphanages are attempting to teach family values in the absence of parents lost to AIDS. Joe also studied a lot of other things in Swaziland…like dagga, beer, ultimate frisbee, and a silver Opel. So, with his wild and crazy ideas, it was very fitting that 23 of us schlepped up a mountain to camp for the night in his honor!

Everyone hiked up the mountain at different times throughout the day while Joe convinced a friend or two with heavy duty 4x4 vehicles to drive the cow trail up with the beer, food, grill, etc. Personally, I had Doug to carry all of my stuff! He was actually quite a trooper, because that morning he competed in the Imvelo mountain biking race in Miliwane - 35 kil0moters! Some of the 'later comers' (including us) met at Tao/Alison's house at 4:00pm and raced the sunset up the mountain. Tao and Alison literally live at the foot of Sibebe, so while it was a very direct route, it was also very STEEP! But, like I said, I wasn't carrying a thing. Poor Doug.

At the foot looking up

Trying to capture the steepness

Coming over the saddle and across the field to the campsite

Setting up camp (Erin - US/PAC Doctor and Tini - UK/Economist with the Ministry of Finance)

Doug (US/PAC Doctor and Sherpa)

As dusk was approaching, people were still arriving, so the camp set-up continued even though the sunshine did not. Tao (Swazi/Computronics) and Alison (US/Clinton Foundation)

It was only fitting that Michelle (US/PAC Doctor) was one of the last to arrive (she tends to be a little more on the late side)

The rest of the evening was enjoyed around the camp fire telling stories, eating, playing games, drinking...etc.

Newly engaged, Matt (US/PAC Doctor) and Farrell (US/ICAP)

Joe (on the phone with his roommate Duane who had to make his way up completely in the dark). Joe and Doug eventually went on a rescue mission to assist him.

The next morning, it was another beautiful day on Sibebe. Here's the view from our tent when we woke up

The sun rising across the meadow

And then we climbed back down! Doug took a different route back, but I climbed down with Tao and Alison to get our car that was parked at their place. Still steep! But beautiful valley views.

Capacity Building Workshop II

As previously mentioned in my February blog, ‘Capacity Building Workshop I,’ the European Union (EU) has funded three, one week workshops for the members of the INSET Department within the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET). The second of these three workshops was held from May 31-June 4, 2010 at Foresters Arms in Mhlambanyatsi, Swaziland. Just like the first, it was also a ‘residential’ workshop and since the accommodations were about an hour north from Mbabane, all of the participants stayed at Foresters Arms for the full week. In February, the workshop was held in town near Manzini and many of the participants scooted home after dinner (including me!). Being ‘sequestered’ for this workshop enabled relationships to be strengthened and team building to be a natural, positive outcome from the week. In addition, the Teacher Resource Centre (TRC) Coordinators selected a new logo for INSET – courtesy of my brilliant, graphic designing sister, Nichole, and also created ‘marketing’ flyers for the programs and services offered by their respective TRCs. Other sessions included Teacher Supervision, Reinforcement, Motivating Teachers, Being Effective in Your Role, Literacy Strategies, Composition Writing and a variety of other topics that the Coordinators had expressed an interest in learning more about. These workshops are definitely one of the highlights of my consultancy role with the EU; the third and final workshop for this budget cycle will be in August. Stay tuned!

This is the Director of all of INSET, Maria. I work most closely with her to support her work and numerous projects.

Mrs. Bhembe and Mr. Magongo (front row) and Mrs. Khumalo and Mr. Zwane (back row) made use of the 'computer lab' that we set-up in the workshop room to design their TRC marketing flyers.

There were also many resources for producing teaching and learning materials compliments of the EU! I heart school supplies.

As previously mentioned, Nichole designed about 16 options for the new INSET logo; therefore there was a lot of analysis of the different logos and a lengthy discussion to bring 13 to consensus! Mr. Sihlonganyane, Mr. Mndzebele, Mr. Magongo and Mr. Dlamini discussed the logo options.

As did Mrs. Bhembe, Mrs. Khumalo and Mr. Mavuka

Perhaps the only downfall of the week was the weather. Winter arrived during the workshop and we wee bundled-up in the workshop room from 8:00-5:00pm. However, it was amazing the heat that this one fireplace could provide; we huddled around it during every break!

OSISA Conference | Zambia

Apart from my job with the European Union, I have also taken on a three month project with the foundation, Open Society Initiative Southern Africa (OSISA). I got involved with the project through my friend, Kathy, who runs a non-profit in the north of Swaziland and with whom I volunteer. OSISA is part of the Soros Network of Foundations which was founded by George Soros, the philanthropist. The main objective of the foundation is to build and strengthen the values, practices and institutions of open and tolerant democracies throughout Southern Africa. Specifically, OSISA supports advocacy initiatives that seek to enhance public policy and improve the situation of the most marginalized members of Southern African communities. They also support human rights defenders and other actors who seek to bring about social justice, pulling together diverse organizations and institutions, facilitating dialogue between key national players, and providing financial resources to organizations that promote open society ideals. Their efforts are aimed at building the capacity of civil society organizations to advocate for transparency, accountability and democratic practice, whilst supporting state actors who show a willingness to be held accountable to their citizens. [For example, OSISA paid for the lawsuit against The Government of the Kindgom of Swaziland when free primary education wasn’t implemented in 2009 as per the Constitution.] One of the current primary initiatives in the field of education is Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) or ‘preschool.’ OSISA is tackling this from a human rights’ perspective and trying to push policies that will increase the existence of ECCD programs as well as access to them. Because this is an area of interest for the foundation, OSISA commissioned 6 Southern African countries to write a report on the state of ECCD in their respective country. Kathy was contracted to write Swaziland’s report and she subcontracted me. So, that’s how I came to be in Zambia for an OSISA Conference!

The conference was more like a ‘mid-point writing retreat’ as each country presented their baseline findings and current drafts for discussion. The majority of the sessions were focused on unifying the different reports through common themes and also by identifying the areas which needed to be supplemented to ensure a cohesive final document. The conference took place in Lusaka, Zambia at a game reserve called, Lilayi. Because we were scooped up from the airport and taken directly to the lodge, I didn’t get to see much of the city itself, apart from the drive. But, to be honest, the countryside looked just like Swaziland and/or South Africa’s Kwazulu Natal providence! Nonetheless, here are a few pictures from my trip…

Lusaka International Airport

Lilayi Game Reserve, Lodge

Pool

My hut

Enormous tree at dusk

Conference room

Rumbidzai from Zimbabwe

The Angola (Sirajo, Juliana, and Doroteia) and Mozambique (Iria) country teams

Views from the shuttle bus

Shopping center

Downtown Lusaka

Bicycles! Very uncommon in Swaziland, yet very common in Lusaka

And to wrap things up, the final draft of our paper is due next week. Then, I will be traveling with Kathy to Mozambique during the first week in September to present our final research at the International OSI Colloquium. I’m very excited to be published…it will be my first time! Stay tuned!

1 Brit + 1 Canadian = Wedding in Swaziland

Our friend’s Dan and Karen tied the knot in Mbabane on Saturday, May 15, 2010. While it was not a ‘traditional’ Swazi wedding, it was our first wedding in Swaziland. Their families flew in from different corners of the world and some of their closest friends, too. It was a really lovely celebration of love, complete with a puppy donning a bow-tie! Dan and Karen hosted the wedding at their home with the help of a local catering company. Dan’s Dad played guitar and Doug and I ended up Dj’ing the dance party into the wee hours (random, I know).

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

The threatening weather made for the important addition of the 'tent' for the ceremony

Menacing clouds

Dan's Dad and ceremony guitarist

Here comes the bride! She was walked down the aisle by her Mom, Bev

You'll notice that the deck is long and thin...and that there are a lot of us sitting/standing on said deck. A few minutes into the dancing, a couple of the deck supports buckled and it began to pull away from the house. That's when we moved the party inside.

Wedding cake

Happy attendees, Nick and Steph

Doug and Paisley

Yael and Shakes

Paisley and Tini (in a competition for who can wear the most eye liner)

Jessi and Uri and baby

Fighting HIV/AIDS: Houston’s lifeline to Africa

Mark Kline is the founder of the PAC and this is his article from the Houston Chronicle this week. We said goodbye to Dave and Amy last Monday morning after 4 years in Swaziland. It was bittersweet and a bit like watching the 'Mom & Dad' of Baylor Swaziland depart. But, there's still a lot of work to be done and a lot of awesome PAC Doctors to get it done in Swaziland. This is a shout out to Dave and Amy and a word of recognition and encouragement to those who remain. Keep on keepin' on.

By MARK W. KLINE, M.D.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

June 5, 2010, 4:14PM

Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital sent some of America's best and brightest young pediatricians and family doctors to Africa in 2006 to help battle an unfolding health care cataclysm — HIV/AIDS.

The concept was simple. Africa, with just 10 percent of the world's children, was home to 90 percent of all children living with HIV/AIDS. Many were dying simply from lack of access to clinics, doctors and nurses versed in routine pediatric care and the use of lifesaving anti-retroviral medications. In Malawi, there was just one pediatrician for every 500,000 children. Sending in 10 American pediatricians effectively would more than double the number of trained doctors available to care for and treat Malawian children with HIV/AIDS. Children would live instead of die.

The Pediatric AIDS Corps was born. Its two-part mission: Dramatically expand access of African children to lifesaving HIV/AIDS care and treatment, and train thousands of African health professionals in the care of children with HIV/AIDS and other serious or life-threatening diseases. In that first year, 52 eager and idealistic young physicians were trained here in Houston and sent to work at Baylor and Texas Children's facilities in six hard-hit African countries.

One of those young doctors was Tony Garcia-Prats, the oldest of 10 boys from a prominent Houston family and the graduating chief resident in pediatrics from Baylor and Texas Children's. Tony could have written his own ticket to virtually any high-profile pediatric practice opportunity in America. Instead, he and his wife, Heather Draper, chose Maseru, Lesotho. For an annual salary of $40,000, Tony committed himself to difficult living conditions far from family and friends, long hours, and a seemingly endless torrent of some of the world's poorest and sickest children and families. Nearly four years later, Tony and Heather are living and working at a new Baylor/Texas Children's center in the central highlands of Tanzania and are the proud parents of three girls, including adopted twin daughters from Lesotho.

Amy and David McCollum were among the very first doctors recruited to the Pediatric AIDS Corps. Natives of Mississippi, they had trained at the prestigious University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. I invited them to Houston for an interview and offered them jobs in Africa over enchiladas at Chuy's on Westheimer. Soon afterward, they were in Mbabane, Swaziland, with their beautiful toddler, Molly. Over the past four years, they have done more than most of us could hope to do in a lifetime of service to humanity, providing medical care to desperately ill children and families and training African doctors and nurses. With the addition of Laine and Duma, their little family of three now is a beautifully blended family of five. They will return to the United States shortly for additional medical training in infectious diseases.

Thanks in large part to Tony, Amy and David and more than 120 other outstanding young American doctors, the number of HIV-infected children receiving care in Baylor and Texas Children's centers across Africa has increased from just 10,000 to more than 70,000 in less than four years. About 4,000 new children and families are added to that total each month. And the death rate in the African centers has plummeted to only about 1 percent per year, comparable to results achieved at Texas Children's Hospital and other top American centers.

In the context of endless discussions of health care reform, cost containment and the business of medicine, one might be led to believe that the idealistic young physician with an abiding interest in the well-being of his or her patients and a commitment to the principles of Hippocrates is a thing of the past, but this clearly is not the case. Core values endure and find expression in unexpected ways and unexpected places. The mere existence of a Pediatric AIDS Corps bodes well not just for Africans, but for ill American children and families, as well.

Kline is professor and chairman in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital.

Doug's Birthday

Much to his chagrin, Doug turned 32 on the 18^th of May. Much to my happiness, we are back to the part of the year in which we are the ‘same age’ and therefore he has to stop saying things like, ‘Paisley is in her mid-thirties’ just because he was 31 and I was already 32. Even though EVERYONE knows ‘32’ is hardly ‘mid’ (it was one of his favorite games). As I began by noting, Doug does not actually like his birthday. He doesn’t like getting one second older, let alone a full year older. Many in his family refer to him as ‘Peter Pan’ because he is in a constant state of trying to ‘have fun,’ but, I also think that this nickname is fitting because he would definitely love to stay the same age forever! In discussions about what age this would be, he decided ‘about 26’ with the qualification that he’d like to have already been a doctor by this age so that this could remain his career. I guess I should also be thankful that we met when we were 24 which means I would be included in the equation, as well.

So, with all of this knowledge in mind, we had a rather low-key birthday celebration. A small group of us ventured to Mantenga Lodge for dinner the Friday before his birthday and had a really nice time. We sat around the table with some of our ‘couple friends’ and enjoyed ‘Inyasha Inyama,’ wine, and each other’s company. I have to admit, it was a far cry from our days in SoCal where we’d scramble to Disney Land after work in order to race around the park to hit Doug’s favorite rides on his birthday. But, this is Swaziland, so a birthday dinner we had.

Here are a few photos from the evening.

Stephanie, Paisley and Doug (with his celebratory ‘military’ haircut…ugh…)

Shaun and Rebecca

Nick and Tini

Jessi and Uri (who will be welcoming their first child in July – it’s a boy!)

Inyasha Inyama (Fire Meat)