Swaziland Info Part 2

 The HIV crisis in Swaziland

 

From Avert.org:

In Swaziland, a small landlocked country in Southern Africa, one in four adults are living with HIV. Since the first cases of AIDS were reported in the country in 1986, the virus has spread at an alarming rate and now Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence in the world.¹ 

Women have been particularly affected by the epidemic; among those aged 15-49 HIV prevalence is 31 percent among women, compared to 20 percent among men.²
 
AIDS has devastated the country. Orphans and vulnerable children account for an estimated 15 percent of the total population³ and in 2009 around 7,000 adults and children died from AIDS.⁴

The impact of Swaziland's epidemic has been so severe that life expectancy is just 48.7 years - one of the lowest in the world.⁵

To sum up:

~ Swaziland is a kingdom in Africa that is the size of New Jersey.
~ It has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world.
~ Population is less than a million - 200,000 of these are orphans.
~ The problem is so big that experts say there could be NO ADULTS by the year 2030 unless something is done.
~ The country is so small that solution is possible. (taken from nnlfilm.com)

THIS is why it is vital to act. This is the seriousness of the mission our friends are on - people are dying from a preventable illness, but their lifestyle for generations has included polygamy. So, HIV continues to be passed on throughout families, infecting from birth, and the far-reaching impacts of this disease are mind-boggling. Thousands of children have no adult family members living. Many will not see middle-age. It is impossible to change generations of tradition in a country which practices polygamy and culturally has no problem with that. What can be done though, is to demonstrate God's love so that there is hope, and a future, for these souls. Working with orphaned children is a way to at least reach the Swazis with Truth and can hopefully start a change that will spread throughout the land. Please pray for Swaziland.

Here is a great link to a film and organization that is encouraging others to partner with them to combat the plague of HIV in this beautiful country.

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

Swaziland's location in South Africa

Swaziland Info Part 1

I'm going to do a few posts on the basics of what I have learned about the country we are going to visit. I'll include some simple facts and then more details about the Clyburn and McAdams' families daily work. You'll see that it could be an overwhelming situation if we had no hope that God is working.

Warning: Some of this info is not as happy as our previous posts. In fact, it can be discouraging and downright heartbreaking. And, God loves these people just as he does Americans! We can question why some suffer so greatly, or why we were not born into the same type poverty or circumstances. There are no answers for those questions except that in His sovereignty, He has placed us where we are for His purposes and to bring Him glory. I pray that we will use our lives to do that, and part of that journey is serving the people of Swaziland. Please read below and pray for them.

Poverty and HIV are the main threats to the Swazi people. This info was taken from Wikipedia:

Swaziland - "Some 75% of the population are employed in subsistence farming, and 60% of the population live on less than the equivalent of US$1.25 per day.^[4] 

Swaziland's economic growth and societal integrity is highly endangered by its disastrous HIV epidemic, to an extent where the United Nations Development Program has written that if it continues unabated, the "longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened."^[5] 

Swaziland has the highest HIV infection rate in the world at 26.1% of adults,^[6] and over 50% of adults in their 20s.