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Going ‘the further mile’: a two-day bus journey to attend
AIDS training SWAZILAND — When Sphiwe Ngwenya,
Executive Secretary of the Bible Society in Swaziland, attended the
Joint HIV/AIDS Evaluation workshop held in Nairobi earlier this year,
she discovered that a seminar introducing the HIV/AIDS teaching material
known as the Good Samaritan outreach package was due to be held
the following week in Namibia. Recognising the importance of the opportunity,
she quickly telephoned her office and asked two employees to attend
the course. It would involve their making a long journey by bus via
Johannesburg to Windhoek in Namibia; in all it would take them between
two and three days.
The day of the seminar dawned and the other participants were ready to begin. Of the pair from Swaziland there was no sign. But then, just an hour before the seminar was due to begin, into the room walked two smiling young people who introduced themselves as Thobile and Malandzela – from Swaziland! They had been on the road all the previous night and the day and the night before that, but they were not remotely interested in catching up on their sleep: they came straight in and took part in the seminar. We cannot sleep “You must be tired!” we said to them later on. “Yes,” they answered. “But this is so exciting, that we cannot sleep! It simply is impossible!” The seminar came to an end on Friday evening and so we went our separate ways – they to catch a bus and make the long journey back, and I to return – by plane – to Addis Ababa, a journey, in all, of a mere 24 hours. When I arrived home I sent them an e-mail to find out how things were going, but it took a long time until I received an answer. “We reached home on Sunday night,” Malandzela replied, “after several delays and stops. I am sorry that I have not answered you before, but I have had so much to do. The week after the seminar with you, we arranged our first one here – at Bible House. Good experience “The participants were our staff and representatives from various HIV/AIDS groups that we had invited. Now the seminar is over. It was a good experience for us, and as far as we can tell from the evaluation, it seems to have been a success. Both the instructors and the participants are satisfied.” It was extremely touching that Thobile and Malandzela should have gone to such lengths to attend the Good Samaritan training and very gratifying to know that, thanks to their devotion to duty, the program is now under way in Swaziland, too. (WR 407/18 - 12.06) [1 photo] |
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