WFP's Richard Lee recently visited parts of eastern Swaziland and found families hanging on in the face of hunger and disease - in particular, the world's second highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS.

Sept 3 - Kneeling on the hard, dry ground, Mike Njele searches the grass for any remaining grains of maize spilt during the day's distribution.

He knows that he will probably end up with only a couple of handfuls of extra food. But in the current crisis, every little bit helps.

"It's embarrassing to do this," said Njele as he carefully dropped a few more grains into his small plastic bag. "This is what chickens do. But there's no food at home and I've got eight children to feed."

The situation here is very, very bad. But WFP and NGOs like us don't have the resources to help all those in need. We can only feed the most vulnerable families - the very poorest of the poor
William Kelly, assistant-director of CARITAS, an NGO that distributes food aid in Lokhayiza

Like most farming families in the district of Lokhayiza, Njele watched his maize plants wither and die as a devastating dry spell struck the region.

Extending over the crucial first three months of the year, the drought destroyed people's crops throughout this part of eastern Swaziland, leaving many of them with very little - if anything - to eat.


And after two successive years of bad weather and poor harvests, most people in the area have nothing to fall back on.

"The situation here is very, very bad," said William Kelly, assistant-director of CARITAS, a non-governmental organisation that distributes food aid in Lokhayiza.

"There was no harvest in this region and people were forced to start selling off their livestock long ago. Now many of them have no chickens or goats left to sell and are dependent on food aid. But WFP and NGOs like us don't have the resources to help all those in need. We can only feed the most vulnerable families - the very poorest of the poor."

Like Ivy Tabete, who has no food, no job and a family of eight to support and whose daughter, Mbali, has already developed a scalp disease due to malnutrition.

Or like Vusi Shangabu, whose wife and three children eat once a day if they're lucky.

Or like Nomsa Sikwane, who still has a small stock of tomatoes to sell but when that runs out in the near future will have no means of feeding herself or her extended family of 18.

And the situation is just as critical in other districts.

TRIPLE TRAGEDY

In Khuswene, 66-year old Ntombiyembango Dlamini, sits forlornly on a straw mat outside her house. Pointing at the dead, dusty fields, she explains that her family harvested nothing this year.

In the past, her sons would have helped with the farm even though they worked in the mines in neighbouring South Africa. But two of them were stabbed to death in Johannesburg, while the other one died after a long illness, most probably HIV/AIDS.

This triple tragedy left Dlamini with 18 grandchildren to care for and no crops or money to care for them with. Ivy Tabete with her family's ration

"We're living entirely from handouts at the moment," said Dlamini. "So far today we have had nothing to eat but we hope that one of neighbours will come round and help. People do give food if they have any but the current situation is terrible. Not just for me and my family but for the whole region."

MALNUTRITION RISING

The district is the worst affected in the country. And it is easy to see why. Most fields are barren and empty. In others, the dry stalks of long-dead maize plants stick out of the dusty scrubland - testifying to the wholesale failure of this year's harvest.

"The people around here tried to plant but nothing came of it," said Themba Hleta, a programme officer with the NGO, World Vision International.

"Some families harvested one or two bags but that did not last long and some people are now going for two or three days without eating. Unfortunately, this means that malnutrition is rising and children are starting to drop out of school."

Indeed, Dlamini admits that none of her grandchildren will be able to stay in school after the end of this year.

However, that is not her primary concern. She says that she can only remember one other year as bad as this in her entire life and that she fears for the future welfare of her family.

"I am really worried about the children," she said sadly. "They don't have enough food and it affects them. And when they are not lively, it really hurts me.

CATALOGUE OF MISERY

But at least Dlamini's grandchildren have an adult to look after and to pass on priceless information about how to farm. Unfortunately, an increasing number of children in Swaziland are finding themselves orphaned - usually because of HIV/AIDS.

Very few people are prepared to admit to suffering from the disease but the country now ranks as the second highest adult prevalence rate in the world with some estimates putting the figure at around 30 percent.

The result is a catalogue of death and misery, which is creating more and more child-headed households every year.

Sharing a bowl of maize porridge and beans with one of her sisters, 22-year old Phumephi Shongwe cries as she talks about her parents.

In the past the family were quite prosperous. Her father worked in a nearby mine but also planted the family's fields with maize and a small amount of cotton. They also looked after some of their neighbour's cows.

A 'LONG' ILLNESS

But last year, tragedy struck when Phumephi's parents died within a few months of each other.

They had both suffered from a 'long' illness and were buried in the same makeshift cemetery near the house, leaving Phumpephi to look after her five younger siblings.

It is an almost impossible task. The family has no resources at all - no chickens, no goats, no crops and no money. They have been kept alive by the generosity of their neighbours and of an aunt, who lives in a nearby district.

But even so, the children often go hungry. "Every time my stomach hurts from hunger, it reminds me of my parents," Phumephi said quietly.

"It wouldn't be happening if they were still alive. My father was not a wealthy man but he always managed to provide for us."

HAND-TO-MOUTH

Nowadays the Shongwes live hand-to-mouth, relying on handouts to keep them from starving. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to find people who are willing - or able - to part with any food.

"We often have to go round our neighbours begging for food," she said. "But it is becoming harder every day. Sometimes we turn up at a house and the people will tell us to go away, saying 'we didn't kill your parents, so why do you have to burden us with your problems'."

Fortunately for the Shongwes, they have now received their first distribution of WFP food aid, which was distributed by World Vision. And they can look forward to further rations over the coming months.

However, if sizeable new donations are not reeived, then food aid supplies could become scarce towards the end of the year - a possibility that fills all of the beneficiaries in eastern Swaziland with fear.

"With this food aid - the maize, beans and vegetable oil - we're going to make it even though it will still be hard," said Vusi Shangabu. "If the food stops coming than people are going to die."