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| ashley's Diary |
| Date |
Wednesday, 12 Jul 2006 |
| Country |
Swaziland |
| Weather |
Sunny, but v cold at night. |
| Diary |
Swaziland 11th 12th July
The racial tensions apparent in South Africa seem to fall away as you cross the border into this kingdom of about one million. It reminded me of a very dry Wales….I remember what Wales looked like in the summer of ’76 and it was like this! Everyone seems to be related to the King, Mswati III who has about 100 wives or so and is one of the last absolute monarchs in the world. I don’t understand this polygamy thing…to keep one wife happy is a nightmare, you’d never get to go down the pub with your mates if you had 100 to think of (Note: Clare says “My friends and I can provide you with a list as long as an elephant’s trunk why you find it impossible to keep a woman happy. I’ve given up trying!”) So, if there are enough spare gigabytes available on the internet email me with a list of faults I have…..on second thoughts, faults I don’t have would be a lot quicker and is a lot less bruising to my already fragile ego!
Independence (of Swaziland, not Ashley, although I can feel it coming) was granted from Britain in1968, but the King didn’t like the constitution (too long, no doubt, it took until 1973 to read it) and revoked it to become an absolute monarch ruling by decree. Don’t know how he gets any time to rule with all his wives and children, just taking the kids to the park you would probably need to book at least 6 buses and making their packed lunches for school could take most of the night. On a more serious note an estimated 30% of the population are infected with HIV which is a massive problem that even a well developed country would struggle to deal with. Met an American lady working for the Bill Clinton Foundation who are providing help, support and education for Swazis infected with HIV…my comment of “I bet you don’t preach abstinence then, being part of BJ Bill’s mob” was probably a joke too far…ahhh one of my faults has just surfaced…yes, I suffer from foot-in-mouth syndrome and really don’t know when to shut up…I’m sorry to everyone who I’ve ever offended, it’s my genes you see! This self examination is really quite healthy…I do believe I’m having an attack of emotional intelligence!
PIC SHOWS: Swaziland or a drought stricken Wales.
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