AIDS Walk Africa 2008: Day 5

July 4, 2008

AIDS Walk Africa 2008: Virtual Walk

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

By Heather Mason Kiefer
Photos by Jon Hrusa

Tom Antonellis (R) and Keri Oberg (L) work
on the community build site at Mkhulamini
Clinic on the final day of AIDS Walk Africa
2008.

It’s strange to wake up in a foreign country on July 4th. It’s like playing hooky from school. But really, the way we spent this day in Swaziland is perfectly fitting (at least for the Americans among us). The 4th of July should be spent with friends and family, and our group includes mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, best friends. In fact, we all feel like family now and we’re thrilled to be spending this day together.

The ride to Mkhulamini Clinic, the site of our community build project, was long and bumpy, far up into the hills. The moment we arrived we were greeted by Francis Bunzira, the civil engineer in charge of the build. He was eager to get started; we had much to accomplish. We divided into two groups: one to build a covered outdoor waiting area for the clinic, and one to complete a playground just next door. We were excited to see lots of shiny new tools and supplies ready for us to use, thanks to community build sponsor Standard Bank.

Jennifer Fox wields a pickaxe at the community build site at Mkhulamini Clinic.

The playground would include a jungle gym with a slide, tire swings, a see-saw, and a tunnel made of barrels. The playground team quickly set to work shoveling dirt, hanging the swings, and building the ladder for the jungle gym.

Jennifer Rikkers (R) works with her mother
Judy McCormick (L) on the community build
site.

The covered area would be beside the clinic – a place for patients to wait out of the sun and rain. The waiting area team faced hard manual labor: clearing away sod to make way for the floor, digging holes in the hard, dry earth for the building supports, and mixing concrete. Tom Antonellis, who owns a construction business, handed out donated hats, tool aprons, and work gloves, and jumped right into supervising.

There was a cacophony of work sounds all morning – drills, hammers, pickaxes, and a cement mixer. Francis blared country music from his pickup truck, perhaps as a tribute to the U.S. of A.

Everyone who we’ve met along the way this week – Ministry of Health officials, HIV/AIDS educators, staff from the Foundation’s Swazi office – was on hand to help today. We had lots of onlookers too – schoolchildren, mothers and babies, dogs, even chickens. Local women in colorful headdresses appeared and pitched in with the work.

Pam Tucker meets children at Mkhulamini Clinic.

Things were quieter after lunch. The playground team was painting, decorating the equipment in festive pinks, blues, and greens. The carpenters were hard at work framing the roof of the covered area, with walkers assisting.

Around mid afternoon we received a very special guest – Masitsela Dlamini, the prince of the Manzini Region and brother to the king. The prince had come to see our project and he shook hands with the walkers individually, saying a few kind words to each of us. It was the first and only time that most of us would shake hands with a Swazi prince.

When we finished with the prince, we found that the local children had discovered the completed playground. Much to our delight, they were swinging, see-sawing, and plunging down the slide in droves. We went down and joined the fun. The temperature was perfect, the children were laughing, and the sun was preparing to set behind the mountains. We were happy.

Jessica Hancock offers a high-five to a schoolchild.

The covered area isn’t quite finished – the roofing and cement flooring still need to be added. But the bulk of the work is done and we expect the patients of Mkhulamini Clinic to have a brand-new waiting area next week.

The last day of AIDS Walk Africa was winding to a close. We gathered around the front door of the clinic and Regional Health Director Howard Dlamini, dressed in Swazi garb, thanked us for our participation. He presented Pam Barnes with a traditional Swazi wrap and tied it around her shoulder, then presented each of the Foundation leaders and “senior” (meaning oldest) walkers with a similar wrap. It was our own proud group of AIDS Walk elders.

Gigi Hancock (2-R) receives a traditional Swazi wrap from Regional Health Director
Howard Dlamini (R) after the community build at Mkhulamini Clinic.

To cap off the day, we performed our last avocado tree planting. Board member Jennifer Fox and Youth Ambassador Talia Rosenberg placed the tree in the ground, each with a huge smile on her face. Then we piled into the vans and headed for Timbali Lodge.

As we drove home, we were treated to a stunning Swazi sunset over the mountains. It reminded us of what a beautiful country Swaziland is, and redoubled our commitment to make a difference in the lives of the mothers and children who live here. Goodbye from Swaziland – hamba kahle!