Romy and Rhiannon, two young members of the UNICEF Campaign Action Network (UCAN), report from Swaziland on the HIV prevention projects they visited, and the people they met.

Rhiannon and Romy with the yellow Unicef bus.

UNICEF UK/2008/Connie Wessels

Photostory: Take a look at the projects we visited and the people we met.

Video: See how young people are affected by HIV and AIDS in Swaziland.

Last month, we embarked on a trip with members of UNICEF UK to visit the UNICEF team in Swaziland. Here, we’d like to share our thoughts and experiences with you. But first of all, a little background about this lesser-known country.

Swaziland

The small country of Swaziland is located in the North East of South Africa bordering Mozambique. Renowned for its beauty and rich cultural heritage, it is a remarkable place. The beautiful surroundings offer a stark contrast to the poverty and inequality that plagues the country.

Swaziland has been under a State of Emergency since 1973 and the country now faces a lethal triple threat:

• climate change which has led to recurring drought conditions
• the HIV/AIDS epidemic
• soaring food and fuel prices

Due to last year’s drought, food and fuel prices have risen massively, with the staple diet of bread and cereal increasing by 62%, and fuel and transport prices increasing by 31.4%.

The Emvembili Lutheran Primary school club use sport to build awareness about HIV and AIDS, through educational games that encourage peers to discuss issues affecting their lives and communities.

UNICEF UK/2008/Clare Richards

Swaziland also has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world at around 40% of the population.

Statistics like these are shocking and overwhelming and visiting the country gave these numbers real meaning. It is hard to grasp the individual and human suffering that the Swazis must be facing.

HIV prevention

There were eight of us on the field trip, including six members of staff from the Youth, Campaigns and Fundraising teams.

The purpose of the trip was to visit projects focusing on prevention of HIV/AIDS and see how the UNICEF team and their partners implement these projects at a community level. As we are both young people who volunteer for UNICEF and other charities on HIV and AIDS issues, we were interested in how young people in the country are getting involved in taking action.

The projects used different activities, from sport, to dance, drama and farming to engage and educate young people. We learnt how these projects support orphaned and vulnerable children to become increasingly self-sufficient and to gain essential life skills.

Born Free

One of the projects we visited was a ‘Neighbourhood Care Point’. These are places where very vulnerable children, many of them orphans, are looked after during the day. Here they are given a meal and educational and emotional support. This picture shows one of the children’s favourite games.

UNICEF UK/2008/Clare Richards

Last year, UNICEF launched the Born Free from HIV campaign which aims to ensure that mothers with HIV receive medication and care. The primary focus of this campaign was the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT).

In Swaziland 39% of pregnant women are living with HIV. Since launching the PMTCT campaign a massive 80% are now receiving treatment! We visited the young mothers, doctors, nurses and mother-2-mother groups to find out the secret to their success.

We also visited community-based care schemes such as ‘Shoulder to Cry On’ and ‘Neighbourhood Care Points’ who are supporting individuals like Nonnie, a 17-year-old girl who looks after a household of 5 children, and 6-year-old Tiyabong who is cared for by his great grandparents.

• Photostory: Take a look at the projects we visited and the people we met.
• Read our daily blog, and leave us comments telling us what you think!
• Video: See how young people are affected by HIV and AIDS in Swaziland.

We will also be posting a film and podcast about our experience on Youth Voice so watch this space!