First Impressions, First Days

June 27^th: 2 AM

All 41 of us are loaded onto buses outside of our hotel in Philadelphia.  We arrive at JFK about 5 hours before we can even check in at the gates.  I am too tired to interact with the other volunteers.  Thus begins the grueling two day journey to Swaziland.

June 28^th: 9 AM

We touch down in Jo-burg after a 16 hour flight.  We are met promptly at the gates by current volunteers and Peace Corps staff and exchange some money into Rand, which is accepted in Swaziland.  We hop on a bus and leave for Swaziland.  We stop at a South African McDonald’s type franchise called Steers along the way.  What a hilarious culture shock that is!  I’m not surprised at the difference, but rather at the similarities the restaurant shared with fast food chains in the U.S.  The region is a mining one, but if you squint, it does not look much different from the flatlands of Illinois.  Back on the bus. Zzzzz…

June 28th-Present

Next thing I know, there are mountains and we are crossing the border and getting our passports stamped.  All of the unease I felt in South Africa dissipates as I see a chicken cross the road.  Why did it cross the road?  (Haha).  I also get a thrill out of the bus yielding for cattle.  The mountains are beautiful.  The earth is red.  The birds make me want to pick up binoculars and a field guide, despite the fact that I’ve never cared about birds before.  (Swaziland’s supposed to be one of the best countries for bird watching in Africa, too!)  First impressions, you know…

But another thing strikes me.  The infrastructure is fantastic.  The highway is smooth, clean, and better lit than most highways I’ve driven on in the US.  The toilet facilities everywhere are neat and toilet paper is not scarce.  I tried to leave with no expectations of Swaziland, but it turns out I had some after all.  I expected to be overwhelmed by poverty and a lack of infrastructural development.  Everything glints of newness in this region.  Converters and every amenity you could want can be found at reasonable prices.   

I am told by current volunteers that this is not representative of the whole country, as this is the tourist region (between Mbabane and Manzini).  It is also the industrial heartland.  The highway system apparently also benefits from the nearness of South Africa and belonging to the South African Customs Union.  There are volunteers who live down dusty roads, use latrines, don’t have electricity, and need to travel overnight to get here.  I think it’s important to record first impressions, however, and this is definitely one that struck me.

We are staying at a conference center with dorm-style rooms.  It’s even bigger than my dorm in college, and the water in the shower is hotter, too!  We are living in what volunteers and staff dub as “Soft Corps” at the moment.  We do have to boil, filter, and bleach our water, but we have been spoiled with delicious Swazi food up until this point.  Pap, or thick porridge, tastes a lot like an uncooked matzo ball.  I have yet to try the Incwacwa, which is sour porridge, as I didn’t know it was being served at one point.  (By the way, the c in Incwacwa is a click!)  Meat in sauces is served over rice, and is sometimes served with bones.  Providing guests with meat apparently has some sort of cultural significance.

Speaking of cultural significance…  We have had little interaction with Swazis so far, but those we have met have been intelligent, kind, and quite friendly.  My siSwati is pretty limited still, so when I blank on the response to the question “How are you?” (Unjani?), I simply give the nice group of Swazi men a thumbs-up.  They laugh.  I later find out that thumbs-up means that you are *ahem*…open for business.  Oh the perils of cross-cultural communication!

Every Swazi here addresses me as Sisi (sister).  Married and older men and women are all Babe (father) and mother (Mage).  It feels warm and welcoming when strangers call me Sisi.  My host family will apparently give me a Swazi name when I meet them.  I’m thrilled, but also hoping I don’t get the name “Another girl” –this is the translation of a common girl name, I’m told. 

So far, our classes have been about safety, health, and language.  Today, we have a two hour lecture on diarrhea.  Who knew?  We start technical training soon.  We move in with our host families on Monday, and they live in villages near our training center.  I feel like nervous, 16 year-old me about to meet my host family for the first time.  I’m sure it will work out fine, with some thumbs-up-style gaffes along the way.         

The internet is shoddy and rare at best, and we don’t get our cell phones for another several days.  PLEASE don’t worry about me if I don’t contact each of you personally- I can tell I’m in good hands and loving this beautiful place already. 

 

In less than 48 hours....Swaziland!

Here's my address for the first 3 months:

Peace Corps Volunteer MY NAME
Peace Corps Swaziland
Box 2797
Mbabane H100
Swaziland
AFRICA

Write to me snail mail style, facebook style, blog style, and always in your own personal style. 

Take care friends and family- I will try to keep you updated often. 

I realized that I may someday want a long Swaziland reading list in a central location, so I decided to start a list on here.  I will keep updating this list as I read more.  Most highly recommended books/articles are listed first.  Most of these relate to the politics of Swaziland.  (I had to write a lot of grad school papers this semester.)  There’s TONS more out there that I have yet to discover, so stay tuned for updates!  

O’Neil, Owen Rowe.  Adventures in Swaziland: The Story of a South African Boer. (Free on Kindle!)

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!  This is Heart of Darkness, but real life.  It’s the autobiography of a colonial Boer’s coming-of-age in Swaziland around the turn of the 20^th century.  I was cringing at the number of times O’Neil can write ‘savage’ on one page, as well as his sensationalist account of Bhunu’s short but cruel reign.  The matter-of-fact way O-Neil describes his treatment of slaves, his own murdering of blacks, and his utter disdain for the ‘lesser’ race is absolutely bone-chilling.  However, it is an important time piece, and a well-written book.  It provides a stark contrast to the academic, politically correct literature in the rest of this list.  His descriptions of Swazi customs around this time are fascinating, but should probably be taken with a grain of salt.   

Fleminger, David (2009).  Swaziland Southbound Travel Guide.

Most thorough and up-to-date guidebook for the more serious traveler.  It also includes a great deal of Swazi history as well as detailed histories of the places it recommends visiting.  The tidbits make it worth it.  For instance, a queen in the 1700s boiled her son’s right hand in porridge so that he would be forced out of the succession due to Swazi suspicions about left-handedness!  Information about border crossings, highways, transport, etc. is also good and up-to-date.  A must-read! 

Gillis, D. Hugh. (1999). The Kingdom of Swaziland: Studies in Political History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Fantastically thorough political history of Swaziland, beginning with Swaziland’s consolidation in the early 1800s up to the 1980s.  People who are interested in politics will get the most out of this book.

Kuper, Hilda. (1986). The Swazi: South African Kingdom. New York, NY: CBS College   Publishing.

Written by an anthropologist who spent many years in Swaziland.  Generally good at history, cultural practices, and profiling modernization.  Most other prolific works cite her as a source, and she has many interesting tidbits that I have yet to read in other books.  This is updated from an earlier book based on research conducted in the 1930s.   

Liebenow, Debra.  In the Kingdom of Roses and Thorns.

Fiction, but could be true stories.  The stories of 5 Swazi women of different worlds and life experiences.  All of these stories are simply narrated, giving it an easy-read vibe.  Definitely a tear-jerker.  It also does an excellent job of highlighting some of the greatest tragedies of Swaziland in a non-judgmental way- AIDS, the violence and oppression of patriarchy, and neo-colonialism are all expertly weaved into the plots. 

Potholm, Christian. (1972). Swaziland: The Dynamics of Political Modernization. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.

Excellent modernization-theory book.  Potholm examines the question as to why Swaziland remained a monarchy, despite the generally opposite trend in other post-colonial African states.  He concludes that the strength of the monarchical political institutions, as well as their ability to adapt to a Western political culture were key, although there are other, less-important factors discussed in the book.  (Basically, the pre-colonial political institution of the highly-centralized monarchy just changed its name to become a political party). 

Marwick, Brian. (1966). The Swazi: An Ethnographic Account of the Natives of the Swaziland Protectorate.  London: Cambridge University Press.  

Similar to Kuper’s work.  Also cited as an important source for later works.  Haven’t actually read this one yet, so I’m not able to give an opinion. 

Booth, Alan. (1983). Swaziland: Tradition and Change in a Southern African Kingdom. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Inc.

Good book, but a bit redundant of other, better reads.  Also a bit colonial.

Kuper, Hilda. (1978).  Sobhuza II: Ngwenyama and King of Swaziland, The story of an      hereditary ruler and his country.  New York, NY: Africana Publishing Company.

Another book by Kuper.  A highly detailed read, mostly discusses the political history in great detail, but also some interesting cultural ideas about interactions with colonists.

Lange, Matthew K. (2004). British Colonial Legacies and Political Development. World    Development, 32(6), 905-922.

Basically, whether a country was ruled by the British directly or indirectly determined a lot about their post-colonial political development.  A dual system like Swaziland’s is not discussed, but it really matches the indirectly ruled model closely. 

            

Miller, Norman. (1968). The Political Survival of Traditional Leadership. Journal of Modern African Studies, 6(2), 183-198.

Modernization literature piece, so it’s somewhat dated in its theory.  However, the discussion of the political role of traditional leadership is great for political science students.

           

Mkandawire, Thandika. (2010). On Tax Efforts and Colonial Heritage in Africa. Journal of Development Studies, 46(10), 1647-1669.

Basically, the post-colonial tax systems line up with the colonial tax systems.  Whites get a free ride, and poor blacks pay the brunt of it. 

Barker, Dudly. (1965). Swaziland. London:  Her Majesty’s Stationary Office. 

Extremely colonial and superficial, but worth getting a late-colonial British perspective.

Sihlongonyana, Mfaniseni. (2003). The Invisible Hand of the Royal Family in the Political Dynamics of Swaziland.  African and Asian Studies, 2(2), 155-181. 

Different explanations for the continuation of the Swazi monarchy are summarized. 

Sangmpan, S.N. (2007).  Politics Rules: The False Primacy of Institutions in Developing Countries.  Political Studies (55)1, 201-224.

 Not Swaziland specific, but this article offers an alternative perspective on the role of institutions in developing countries.

Movies:

Wah-Wah

Movie about a colonial British family failing apart around Swazi independence period

Without the King

Banned by his majesty Mswati III, this movie is fantastic at highlighting wealth inequality and political oppression in the Kingdom.  It is an extremely important film.

 Life, Above All

South African film which won a lot of awards, and it could be relevant to Swaziland.  A girl shows courage as she cares for her dying mother and prostitute friend.  She battles the stigma of her community with quiet grace.  It will leave you reaching for the tissues, but the ending is hopeful! 

After months of waiting, guessing, and spending far too much time on the Peace Corps Wiki, I finally received my Peace Corps placement. 

I leave for the KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND on June 26th as a community health HIV/AIDS educator. 

....So what does this mean? 

The job description (as with most community development jobs) is pretty vague.  If you're curious about the work/lifestyles of volunteers in Swaziland, I strongly recommend googling "Peace Corps blogs Swaziland."  Past and current volunteers have executed some pretty interesting projects, and I'm excited to follow in their rather large footsteps.  (Did I mention that Netflix founder Reed Hastings and Hardball's Chris Matthews both served in Peace Corps Swaziland?)   

I will have 9 weeks of pre-service training with other volunteers in Swaziland before I move to my permanent residence for the next two years.  Pre-service training is supposedly a crash course in language, culture, job training, and health/safety training....I sincerely hope they teach us the best ways to kill black mambas without getting bit.  Gulp. 

While there are a thousand things I'm looking forward to about my new home, there are also some things I look towards with a certain level of trepidation.  Most of all, I will miss my wonderful family.  They have always patiently put up with my international travel/years abroad, but we all recognize that two years in a country as different as Swaziland will be hard on everyone. 

There are a few tragic facts of life in Swaziland that I will confront in my job on a daily basis, HIV/AIDS being the primary one.  Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the entire world.  Conservative estimates put it at roughly 25% of the population.  Others put the rate at closer to 40%.  For 20-30 year olds, the rate is 40-50%.  The life expectancy (32) is the lowest in the world.  These facts are staggering, and painful even to think about.  The future of the entire country rests on its ability to battle the disease, and I'm intensely curious to see the response on the ground.  There's only so much you can learn scouring NGO reports and public health journals.

I am keeping my expectations low in terms of the work I'll be doing and the impact I'll have.  Perhaps I'll only impact the lives of a few individuals, perhaps I won't produce any change other than a ripple, or perhaps I'll be just another well-meaning Westerner in a country with thousands of well-meaning strangers. 

In the mean time...

I will do my best to learn as much culture, language (siSwati), and technical skills as possible.  For anyone who wants to learn about the political situation and wealth inequality in Swaziland, I recommend the superb documentary (on Netflix!) "Without the King."  While it is a stark indictment, I would recommend reflecting on wealth inequality and political rhetoric here in America.  Perhaps the 99% movement's greatest success was its ability to bring the discussion of wealth inequality to the forefront of our nation's consciousness.  In this way, the film's subliminal message rings eerily true in our own drastically different political and cultural context.        

I am still very much in the learning-process about Swaziland, although I find myself rattling off more and more complex details each day.  Now, it's just another waiting game until departure....