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2020 was a difficult year for the children of Eswatini. With Covid 19 resulting in the closure of schools for many orphaned and vulnerable children, the one meal received at school was no longer available.
There was also the safety factor. For vulnerable children, the safety of the classroom was no longer there. SOHO provided food parcels where possible and fed children in socially distanced shifts. Produce from INTSABA farm was a life saver for many.
Schools reopened a few months ago, and life assumed some normalcy. Then the grinding poverty of so many Swazis in stark contrast to the king’s extreme wealth, coupled with the frustrations of youth facing an uncertain future, fueled protest and a cry for democratic leadership. It began non-violently but erupted into violence, with looting, burning and substantial loss of life through military and police gun fire.
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