I met eyes with a 16-year-old named Mbali. She was thin, with close-cropped hair and a beautiful smile. I offered her a packet of crackers, which she ripped open with her teeth. After wolfing them down, she looked at me and said, “I hate having sex.” Her parents were dead; she was unable to pay her school fees, had been abused by an overburdened aunt — and now, like many of the girls, she was a runaway. Nearly one in four Swazi girls is H.I.V. positive, and Mbali is one of them. Her treatment options are limited. “I have nowhere to sleep unless I find a man,” she said. “Sometimes I don’t have money and food for two days. A man without a condom will pay more, so obviously I say O.K. because I need money.”
She continued: “I am so tired. These men are so rough.”
I’ve been working with women and girls for over two decades now — in Haiti, in Zimbabwe, in Tanzania and in Kenya — and I have heard this story often. But this one, deep in the forest of Swaziland, seemed so desperate. I was as surprised as she was when I suddenly burst into tears.
Mbali held my face and said, “Don’t cry!” She hugged me. How absurd can life be? A 16-year-old, H.I.V.-positive orphan was comforting me while I wept. It was a strange way to carry on an interview, but that’s what we did. I asked her what she needed most. “Someplace safe,” she said. “Someplace to be a girl. Someplace where I won’t have to have sex with men anymore.”
The driver of our car appeared, carrying takeout food from a nearby bar. I could hear trucks speeding along the highway through the forest. I kept thinking about what Mbali asked for: a safe place to be a girl. How strange. How simple.
Milk and Honey - Goapele from goapele on Vimeo.
Over 400 people participated, and those that want to join are given mandatory training, which makes the event not only entertaining, but educational for those involved. The contestants are not professional models or designers.
The Carnival focuses on the "4-Es: Education, Entertainment, Exhibition, and Economic Benefit.
Other training sessions include Fashion Runway, Fashion Dance, Dance, Singing, Fashion Trend, Make-Up & Hair Style, Accessories, Presenter/Broadcasting Skills, Majorette, & Event Organizer.
Posts
All Comments
Posts
All Comments
