Heartbreak, death, hopelessness, and despair surrounded me from the moment I entered Swaziland. You look around at first glance and think this is a pretty, young nation and wonder where have all the men gone? The men are dead or dying and leaving behind their infected wives, infected children, and go-gos (grandmothers) to care for everyone. It is a country dying of AIDS, nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS. If things do not change from what is happening now, the entire nation will die off by 2050. Something has to give! We need to rise up and embrace this dying nation.

The nation is not just dying of AIDS, they are dying because clean water is a luxury most people do not get to enjoy. In Swaziland, only thirty-three percent of the rural population has access to a clean water supply. This lack of potable water is the main reason of the high rate of infant death in the country from diarrhea, malnutrition and infectious diseases. Seventy-seven percent of the rural based population in Swaziland depends on rivers and unprotected wells as the main source of household water. In most cases, the women have to walk three to five miles to fetch water and then proceed to carry it back home in a huge container balanced on their heads. I do not know one Westerner who could complete such a task! These women are fighters. They are trying their best to survive no matter the cost.

I was blown away by the inner strength of every woman I met in Swaziland. Death is knocking on everybody’s door, yet these women persevere. They walk with a quiet dignity in their spirits. One lady was beat by her husband when he found out she was HIV positive. Weeks later he found out he was infected as well. He was the one unfaithful in the marriage thus infecting his wife. It is a land filled of injustice. My heart broke to see it in every face. I cannot cure them of AIDS but I can love them. I can sit with them and encourage them. I can hold their sick babies and take the burden away for a short time period. Swaziland needs hope and help. We can bring that to the nation.

In Australia, there is one group that is doing just that. They call themselves “MOSS” or Melbourne Old School Skate Sessions and they are a group of middle-aged skateboarders. Every year they hold an Old School Skate “Jam” at a different skate bowl in Melbourne. Old School Skateboarders come from all over Australia for a weekend of celebration of their mid-life crisis, reminiscing, music, fun and skateboarding.

They gather sponsors to donate funds that will ultimately provide the installation of a water tank in Swaziland. One order consists of one tank, two kilometers of piping and fourteen water taps, costing approximately $6000 Australian. The government is now supplying the clean water to fill the tanks, whereas before, they had no where to store the clean water. Lives are being saved all because of some old school skaters who want to make a difference.

Read all about these middle-aged skaters at:

http://www.mosswaterproject.com/mosswaterproject/HOME_-_MOSS_Water_for_Swaziland/HOME_-_MOSS_Water_for_Swaziland.html

This just goes to show you that anyone can help, and the more creative, the better!

For pictures, click here!