Getting ready for Swaziland
Editor’s note: Judith Gilsenan, Head of Marketing & Fundraising with World Vision Ireland, and Rosaleen Tarleton, Supporter Care Manager with World Vision Ireland are just back from a short trip to Swaziland where they prepared for our sponsor trip to the region in November 2011.In this blog post Judith shares some of their experiences from the trip.
Rosaleen and I had our organising hats on for this trip. Our goal was to ensure that when we arrive with our sponsors in November everything will run to plan and that the sponsors would get a real view of what life in Shiselweni ADP is really like. We also took the opportunity to inspect accommodation and tourist areas of interest.
If you have signed up to join us on the 2011 trip, you may want to stop reading now – spoiler alert!
The Swaziland Team is as excited as we are about the sponsor trip and could not have been more welcoming. Their preparation was flawless and their patience (for delayed planes and nonstop questions) was endless!
We started our planning trip at the local health centre which takes about 80 patients a day and has two nurses. We built houses for them recently so that really high calibre staff would be attracted to live in a pretty remove area. Next, we moved on to visit Robert Shabangu, a 39 year old pastor, husband, father of four and bee keeper with serious ambitions.
The Swaziland Team also brought us to see the Lugedzeni Water Project which frustratingly isn’t flowing because funds have dried up. The funds raised for the trip in November will help kick-start this project again ensuring that clean water is brought to the nearby households. The impact will be instant and life changing just like the Mawelawela Water Project which actively services 125 houses already and by its completion will support 182 houses.
The sign of Swaziland’s shocking life expectancy (37 years) were everywhere as we met young widows and mother of four, five and six children really struggling to make ends meet. We’re doing what we can but our list of people in need just grows and grows.
Of course our sponsors will also meet a number of sponsored children on their trip, so Rosaleen and I visited a number of households, speaking to mothers, children and even child-headed households.
At the end of each filled day we returned to The Forrester Arms Hotel where every time we walked in the door, I was struck by how lovely the atmosphere was made by the team there. In November this will be just the same and our group will get a chance to reflect on the experiences of each day.
We had an amazing trip and can’t wait to go back in November to show all our travelling sponsors what their donations are achieving. If this made you consider coming along on our 2012 trip, get in touch with either Rosaleen or myself and we’ll talk you through the details.
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