The last six weeks have been quite a doozy. School work is at its most intense and most of my classmates and I were just hoping to make it to the mid-break this week. The COVID situation in South Africa has grown quite dire and as they have been increasing restrictions, so has Eswatini. It seems like the U.S. and Europe are returning to "normal" because of vaccines but that is NOT the case for most parts of the world. On July 3rd, there were 26,485 new cases in South Africa (out of a population of only 59 million). Eswatini has only vaccinated 2.1% of its population and this has mainly come from donated AstraZeneca vaccines. Economic inequality between countries has created incredible inequalities in vaccine access, which is serving to further exacerbate those economic inequalities. It is a vicious cycle. The fact that my healthy, 15-year-old brother is fully vaccinated before elderly nurses in Eswatini demonstrates the failure of the global system to treat all lives as equal.
As if a worsening pandemic wasn't enough, over the past week in Eswatini, there have been violent protests against Africa's last remaining monarchy. This article from the NYT gives a good overview of the situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/us/africa-monarchy-eswatini-protests-swaziland.html.
I am currently at a friend's house for our timely midterm break (all schools in the country are closed until further notice). On my last day on campus, which is right outside of the capital of Mbabane, we could hear gunshots, see helicopters circling, and even smell the smoke from fires that had been started all over the city. The first night at my friend's house, we were concerned because all the supermarkets had been looted; thankfully they had plenty of pasta stocked up!
I am extremely privileged to be where I am, to have enough food, and to not be mentally overwhelmed. The way this unrest has most impacted me has been that my Whatsapp and internet access have been heavily restricted by the government. However, this impact pales in comparison to even people on our campus; they are having to ration food, have experienced power outages for days at a time, and are getting lessons on how to deal with potential intruders. In terms of mental anguish, I have friends for whom the gunfire brought back incredibly traumatic memories of police violence in their home countries, friends that know people who have died at the hands of the Eswatini police and military, friends for whom this destabilization means great uncertainty for their families and futures.
Our school has in essence taken the side of the government by accepting police protection, not condemning brutal police actions, and by offering no support to protestors. I know that my school's priority is to keep us safe and to remain open; the best way to achieve those priorities is to cooperate with the authorities and the establishment. However, not lending support to the fight for democracy, equality, and lasting peace for the citizens of Eswatini seems antithetical to the mission of the school.
We will see if we return to school next week. We will see if the government has a meeting with protest leaders. We will see if they allow the prime minister to be democratically elected. We will see what power social movements yield in the face of modern absolute monarchy.
PS: Just so no one is too concerned, I am very much safe! I have a plan with a close family friend to be able to get to South Africa quickly if needed and I am not going to any public places where I could be exposed to COVID. I am staying with a U.S. family that has lived in Eswatini for many years and the U.S. Embassy has been checking in with the family and is committed to keeping all U.S. ex-pats safe.
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