March 17, 2008

On Monday like most, Lindsey and I were making our way to
the care point. But on our walk to catch the public kombis we found out that
they were on strike for higher wages. So we didn't have a way to the care
point. Instead we walked with Elisa to her ministry locations at the market,
hope house, and hospital. We walked all over town. After leaving the market
this crowd of people come running by us. One woman tripped and fell down losing
her shoe. Many of the street venders frantically began to pack away all their
merchandise and flee. We were really confused and didn't know what was going
on. So we continued to walk up the street. Then this mob of men appeared in
front of us. There were about 25 to 30 of them. They had sticks in hand and were
making their way down the street in the direction we were coming from. As they
passed us they said, "Hey how are you white people?" and then kept marching. It
was quite bazaar. A block over and minutes later two cop trucks pass by us with
helmets on and guns in hand. So needless to say we had an eventful day in
Manzini.

For the past few weeks textile workers in Matsapha have been
boycotting because the Chinese owners of the company are unjust. They lowered
their wages over time from R400 to R300. So their wages went from a little less
than 60 dollars to less than 40 dollars American. Imagine supporting your
family on 40 dollars every two weeks. I can't imagine paying school fees, rent,
transportation fees, and  meals on that low of wages. All of the workers were fired, because the
employers claimed they could just hire more workers. Since the workers weren't
able to go to work the public transport was not making the same amount of money
taking them back and forth. So on Monday the public transport boycotted on
behalf of the textile workers and a new bill that was passed for transport
drivers to buckle up. Public transport drivers boycotting is brilliant, because no one in Swaziland can function without them. And the government can't keep ignoring the issues at hand. So all in all Manzini and all of Swaziland was
in chaos on Monday. But the Lord is working it out for the good of the people,
because the government is now negotiating for better terms for the workers. I
am glad to see justice being served here in Swaziland.