Swaziland: Success in the community

The SOS Family Strengthening Programme and medical centre in Mbabane, Swaziland, are community projects that are valued by the Swazis.

The eldest of four siblings, Gabsile, was responsible for caring for her chronically ill mother and younger siblings. The family's only source of income was from the mother's job. "When mama became ill, she lost her job and we had no money for food," said Gabsile. The children became desperate and went hungry, but they had nowhere to turn. All five children had to drop out of school and as their living situation deteriorated even further they began to eat anything they could lay their hands on.

It was in this bleak situation that the SOS Family Strengthening Programme found the family. The family was provided with emergency food parcels and the children were registered at school again and were given uniforms and some books. Gabsile, who went into form 4 at a neighbouring school, excelled. She completed high school with very good results and was accepted into the University of Swaziland. There, she studied for a Bachelors Degree in Humanities and graduated last year. Gabsile is now hoping to get a teaching post from the Ministry of Education and is temporarily teaching at a school in Peaks Peak, north of Swaziland. At home Gabsile continues to look after her mother and helps her sisters a lot with their school work. She helps around the house and pays for the home expenses.

The centre opens its doors at 8 a.m. every morning for patients to receive treatment. Each day the nurse prepares for her day before seeing her first patient. Over the past year the clinic has seen an increase in patients seeking medical attention. The medical centre mainly assists mothers and children. Some patients travel from the other side of the country to the Mbabane clinic as it is known as a place where they can receive good health care. One older lady came all the way from the far east of Swaziland. She travelled over two and a half hours to Mbabane. "I brought all my medical records from other clinics and I travelled the distance because I feel more comfortable and cared for by the SOS Children's Village nurse than anywhere else," she said. One patient, who was unemployed and had no money to pay for medical care, was seen by the SOS nurse and because she felt at ease with the nurse she told her about her financial worries. She said she was losing hope of ever finding a way to generate an income. The nurse listened to her story, advised the patient to be positive and said that things would work out. Today this lady makes and sells Swazi mats in Manzini. "I am grateful to the SOS nurse. Without her encouragement I never would have had the courage to start my own small business. She listened to my problems and really cared about me."

It is because of this sense of caring and word of mouth that the SOS Medical Centre is growing on a daily basis. "We are here to help people physically," said the SOS Children's Village nurse, "but, if we can help them psychologically and emotionally as well, then we are happy."