The Kingdom of Swaziland has been experiencing record drought this year, the worst in nearly four decades. Our partners in Swaziland spoke openly of the drought and the problems it would bring when we were there last summer. Everyone has known that this emergency existed and was only going to get worse. Except, apparently, the government.
Now everyone knows.
On Wednesday of this past week, the Prime Minister officially declared a drought emergency. This means that the Kingdom of Swaziland will now designate significant funds for drought mitigation. However, there is concern about where the money will come from, and how effectively the government will tackle the problem.
Today in the Times of Swaziland this opinion article ran entitled Siyabonga but ... ("siyabonga" translates to "we thank you"). Like many other articles on the subject, the gist is that, while it is nice that the government has acknowledged the crisis, they are late to the party and much damage that might possibly have been avoided has been done.
The photo below shows a man inspecting his decimated cattle herd in southeastern Swaziland, not far from Nsubane, which we visited last summer (see this map of last summer's trip)
What makes the picture all the more tragic is that cattle do not merely represent his livelihood, but his store of wealth. In traditionally pastoral societies, owning cattle is like having money in the bank. They can also potentially increase one's wealth (by calving). The death of so many cattle is like what a stock market crash or a bank failure would be here: people suddenly losing all of their savings with no way to recover it.
As of this moment, we are pleased to say that the well at the BCMC primary school in Madudula is still operational, and the school is still open. Many schools had to close, at least temporarily, so that latrines could be dug. Flush toilets were not an option in the current water shortage. (Our school was already using latrines.)
Please pray for this crisis. Pray for rain in Swaziland. The forecast for this week is hopeful (see below), but a lot of rain is needed to overcome the dryness that has already occurred.
Please also pray for the government and its leaders, that they will (finally) address this crisis and manage it wisely.
Niyabonga kakhulu! ("Thank you greatly!")
-Mduduzi
