SOS Children in Swaziland

Swaziland is in southeast Africa, bordered by Mozambique and South Africa. Over 60 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. Some 70 per cent live in rural areas and the economy is still largely based on agriculture.

Erratic weather conditions, an over-reliance on maize and failure to grow drought-resistant varieties are contributing factors to the rise in the price of this staple crop, which is now beyond the budgets of many families due to rising unemployment and the general economic slowdown in Swaziland. The food crisis in Swaziland has precipitated a humanitarian emergency that is having a particularly severe impact on women, children, the elderly and those orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Life expectancy is around 42 years and the infant mortality rate is high. Only half the population has access to clean water.

Mbabane

In 2000 SOS Children launched an emergency relief programme to help families in Mbabane affected by flooding. Young people from the SOS Children's Village helped to rebuild the family homes.

The need for a second community in Swaziland was highlighted by a government report on the situation of AIDS related orphaned children, and in 1999 the government donated a plot of land on the outskirts of Nhlangano in the Shiselweni region. The new Village was completed in 2001.

SOS Children's Village Nhlangano has ten family houses and an SOS Nursery for children from the local community as well as the SOS children. An  SOS Medical Centre provides treatment and care for local people as well as an AIDS outreach programme similar to that in Mbabane.

Since April 2002, a food programme has been running in the province of Hluthi in the vicinity of the SOS Children's Village Nhlangano supporting around 600 people who have been badly affected by the prevailing droughts.

See also Aids Orphan Projects in Swaziland, Africa