The HIV/AIDS reality in Swaziland

Yesterday I asked one of the waitresses at Malandela's (the restaurant that I am working at ) to please come to a training next Monday morning at 7.30am (we are having an empowerment training)....and she said she couldn't.

I say: "Nelly, this is really important, it will benefit you in all areas of your life, please try and make it"...

Nelly: "Sisi, my niece died this morning so I have to attend the funeral at Pigg's Peak"

I say: "Nelly, I am so sorry....what happened to her?"

Nelly: "she was HIV positive, she was only 34, and left two kids all alone..."

As she said this, I could not contain my tears....I lost it for a while....excused myself and went home for a bit....just to put myself back together...

I had known about the reality of Swaziland, where 36% of the population is HIV Positive and more that 50% of the country is under the age of 15!!!

so just imagine the gap!

Yes, there are problems in every corner of the world, but in my experience, AIDS has always been far away....here in Swaziland it is part of every day life.

the latest at Malandela's....

MALANDELAS RESTAURANT
We had our first official tasting at Malandela's 3 weeks ago...it was a success.....15 close friends and family members of the restaurant owners were invited to taste the new additions to the menu and the dishes that are having a makeover.....the tasting included starters/appetizers such as beef or chicken empanadas with tomato/cilantro salsa (south american!!), chicken kebabs with spicy peanut sauce, creamy artichoke dip served with crostini, eggplant/tomato/pepper towers with basil pesto sauce...Gazpacho, cucumber/Avocado soup (which was not one of the favorites!), carrot ginger soup....ahh- FYI, Malandela's is a farmhouse restaurant, so very fresh, local, and organic ingredients!

Main Dishes included a delicious seasonal vegetarian lasagna, Eggplant parmiggiana (was too similar to the lasagna), 3 types of salads as main dishes (mexican, asian, and mediterranean) with choice of chicken, steak or fish.... a beautiful red snapper with white wine, tomato, and caper sauce.......

and as I write this I realize that just telling you readers about all the food, dishes, etc would be to go very far away from reality...as it is only the effect of many many things that actually have to happen in order to get a very simple dish right-

to actually teach a staff that has been working the same way and making the same menu for over 15 years has been a challenge for me....most of them are very open to learning new things, but are not very used to following recipes....so that has been one of the most difficult things to achieve- to have a recipe remain constant....

So here we are...in this process....hopefully before I leave they will be be on a roll with the new menu, and also feeling confident enough to use their creativity and introduce their own dishes (whenever they do that and a dish sells well, they get a commission).

I have 1 more month in Swaziland...and when i think of leaving I get teary eyed......I WILL COME BACK, that I know! Thank you for reading. Love, Natalia.