Babies and Tazzering

Yet more delays between posts (that is the line that I seem to be opening my diary entries with most often these days also). But new month, time to turn over a new leaf.

Friday night was a big one. Sitting sweltering hot in the office all day, leads one to go to the local hotel pub, sitting in the outside bar having a white wine spritzer (I've been listening to too much Lily Allen). Later in the night we ended up at 'Tinkers,' an outdoor nightclub. Which completely lives up to the Scottish understanding of the name- Tinkers is not the classiest club and it comes to a certain time of night when one has to clear out. That time came on Friday night when a man runs towards the exit gates with some women running after him, the man just managed to get through the exit when the guard caught up with him and began practicing his tazzering skills.

Driving through the back streets of Ngwane Park, we see a woman with her back to the road, sitting in a red satin negligee. We get out to see what is happening, her hair is disheveled and her face looks a little messed up, though i can not tell if these are old or new scars. The woman tells us that she has just had a baby. Just then a man comes stumbling up the road with a blanket for them both, they had been waiting outside for 30 minutes for the ambulance to come. Its a huge blessing that no one attempted to cut the umbilical cord. As we drive towards the main road, gooey baby girl with her small cries, mother and confused father in the back seat, we passed the ambulance, but didn't stop and drove straight to RFM hospital.

The attendants said Mother and baby were both going to be OK. While in the hallway waiting for confirmation of this, before heading home, my friend started telling the father that, 'you know, you musn't be scared. Women are strong, it's amazing. That is why you must respect women always.' To which the new father replied, 'yeah, thanks. I think I am going to go and have another drink now.' I am happy to say that the male nurse shut down this notion pretty quickly, basically ordering the father to remain and check up his new baby.

I don't know what had happened between the parents. My friend and I have our assumptions, perhaps I am projecting my knowledge of life in Swaziland onto these two people. The enormity of the situation; the small blessing that no one attempted to cut the umbilical cord; that the birth was straight forward; that maybe that gentleman has taken in a few words of respect for women that he will pass onto the mother of his child and that those words of respect will then permeate into every aspect of the girls life; that I had the opportunity to meet such a young female life with all the possibilities and challenges that girls face, before her. These thoughts have been with me since Friday night, and yet my host Make (mum) was not surprised at the whole situation. Simply commenting that it was nice of us to take them to the hospital.