From Silicon Valley to Swaziland by Rick & Wendy Walleigh (read aloud txt) 📖

we surveyed the damage, and it was significant. Trees were uprooted and lying everywhere. Our cottage had relatively minimal damage although a piece of the roof had been ripped off and blown away. Large branches and a broken tree, twelve inches in diameter, had fallen within ten feet of our bedroom. Our closest neighbor had a two-foot diameter tree uprooted within six feet of his house, and he had major roof damage. The exit road from our Emafini compound was blocked by a large fallen tree. We called the office to get a ride to work, but we had to climb over downed trees and branches, with Wendy’s suitcase, to get to the main road where our driver could pick us up.

Fortunately, our shower worked. We had hot water and electricity from the Emafini backup generator. Others in the office had been without power and water for two days. On the road to work, most of the traffic lights were out. Everyone who had gotten into the office had a story to tell about downed trees, blocked roads and detours, and our office Internet was down. Wendy’s trip to Johannesburg was delayed to make sure the roads were passable. We were informed that the roads were passable, but Johannesburg had gotten a rare snowfall overnight. With every bit of warm clothing she had, Wendy finally set out with her colleagues.

The weather remained cold, and the winds continued for a third night. They were not as severe as the night before, but there were more trees down when I got up the next morning. Electricity and water remained off in many areas. Once again, people in the office had lots of stories: going to hotels for showers, being given a bucket of water to wash up, etc. I continued to be fortunate. (Wendy was still in Johannesburg.) Our compound had a generator for electricity, which also powered the water pumps. For the most part, I had electricity and water pressure. However, the previous night, as I had been reading and debating with myself as to when to go to bed, they shut off the generator, the lights went out, and I had my answer. In the morning while getting ready for work, I heard a strange sound from the toilet, which turned out to be the water in the tank draining back into the pipe because the pumps had quit. I hadn’t taken a shower and was not looking forward to going to work unshaven and unshowered. However, within fifteen minutes, the water pressure came back. I shaved first, just in case, because the effects of being unshaven are more obvious than being unshowered. I showered as well, but did it quickly and didn’t soap too much of my body at once in case the water disappeared again.

Wendy’s trip to Johannesburg was a big success. She and her colleagues were able to witness a very successful JA program operating in an adjacent African country. They were also able to observe a highly effective and heavily utilized business center for entrepreneurs. Following her trip, Wendy contacted JA International’s Africa director to begin discussions on starting JA in Swaziland. From the conversation, she learned that JA had operated in Swaziland ten years earlier but had been shut down due to financial irregularities. However, JA was willing to re-start the program with the backing of an organization like TechnoServe. Since TechnoServe did not have the people resources to start up the program alone and eventually wanted to turn the program over totally to a local partner, LULOTE was chosen to be the local sponsor. With these developments, the School-Aged Youth Entrepreneurship (SAYE) program began to take shape.

Wendy’s trip to Johannesburg was a big business success, but it didn’t help her sickness, so Leslie recommended a local doctor, and Wendy finally went to see him. The doctor was an interesting chap. He was probably in his midseventies and seemed to practice very informally, as would have been done sixty years ago in the United States. His offices and equipment also looked as if they may have been new fifty years ago or more. I saw a baby scale that was the exact model my mother had used to weigh me. The doctor was originally from England but had immigrated to Swaziland many years ago. He was pleasant and seemed to know what he was doing. He diagnosed Wendy with bronchitis and prescribed antibiotics and cough medicine, which his assistant dispensed. Wendy paid the total bill for medicine and the doctor’s visit. It was about $40 cash. No insurance, no co-pays, no submission of the physician’s bill to the insurance company for reimbursement, partial payment, and subsequent billing to the patient for the remainder with computers printing out a paper trail at every step. It’s too bad the doctor supported only himself and his office staff. If he had been working in the United States, he could have charged five times as much and supported a legion of administrators and clerks at multiple insurance companies and intermediaries. Sometimes the simple old ways work just fine.

The medicine seemed to help, and Wendy’s condition improved. She had a follow-up visit with the doctor, and I went along because we both needed a specific signed certificate from a doctor to get our work permits/visas. Even though we had signed letters from our doctor in the United States that indicated we had been recently examined and found to be in good health, we still needed to have this specific Swazi government form signed by a doctor. The form that the doctor signed certifies that he has examined us and that we are not “idiots, mentally defective, deaf, dumb and/or blind.” Everyone has a good laugh over the form, but the government requires them anyway. This doctor signed a lot of them.

Although the medicine seemed to help Wendy’s condition to improve, it may not have been the only source of benefit. Wendy’s cough was really nasty-sounding, and it could be heard by anyone in the vicinity when she coughed. After her visit to the doctor, she happened to cough while she was in the restroom for our office building. A woman came up to her and said, “You must get rid of that cough.”

Wendy said, “I know. I just came from the doctor.”

The woman said, “No, I mean I can help. I have the healing touch from Jesus. Let me help you.” The woman then proceeded to put her hands on Wendy and prayed for a few minutes. No results were immediately obvious, but Wendy continued to get better. We could never be certain as to the real source of her improved health.