Photos of children of Swaziland

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Children of Swaziland

Swazi kids are, as everywhere else, happy and cheerful when they live with their families; it is quite common for children not to stay with their parents but with other relatives and in the extended families all have tasks to do, although there is also plenty time for play or swimming in the river.

Two little girls
 
Children in Msunduza
 
Looking after sister
 
In front of a hut
 
Children of
 
Kids from Msunduza
 
Brothers of Msunduza
 
Three boys having fun
 
Boy in his
 
Three sisters of Msunduza
 
Boy of Balegane
 
Girls in
 
Jumping in the river
 
Having fun in the river
 
Playing Marbles
 
Herd boys
 
Singing and dancing
 
Boy of Mbekelweni
 
Street kids of Mbabane
 
Dancing on the road
 
Wearing
 
Home-made toy
 
Three friends
 
Brother and sister
 
Iron wire car
 
Looking after sister
 
Boys wearing
 
Boy drinking
 
Boy, traditional dress
 
Father and sons
 
Swazi herd boy
 
Happy kids
 
At Jiyane's
 
Boys race downhill
 
Unusual toy
 
Girl with ball
 
Boys with bowls
 
Children eating
 
Children in Msunduza
 
Two brothers
 
Boy with pole
 
Boys of Kukhaloma
 
In Sunday best
 
Washing a car
 
Traditional Swazi dress
 
Children in Kopola
 
Girl with hairstyle
 
Little kids, Dlangeni
 
 
A wire car
 
Driving his car
 
Sliding down
 
Eating porridge
 
Zulu boy
 
Boys with binoculars
 
Combing his hair
 
Playing
 
Sharing a meal
 
Children of Bethany
 
Sisters and brother
 

Girls learn from an early age the role of women in this society, looking after their younger siblings and helping around the house. Boys often have to look after their father's cattle and sometimes even can be seen along the roads trying to sell handcrafted wooden bowls made by their relatives, attractive dishes with different coloured wood; they may perform impromptu "sibhaca" dancing to attract customers.

Swazi children generally seem very well adjusted and know their place in society from an early age; they are involved in the traditions from an early age too. Although girls nowadays wear store-bought dresses, small girls can often be seen wearing the traditional "luvadla" skirts and, when a bit older, participate in the "uMhlanga" (Reed Dance) and uMcwasho age-grade ceremonies wearing the "indlamu", a very brief skirt decorated with beads. Young boys, who often dress only in the "emajobo" loin covering consisting of two pieces of animal skin, can be seen looking after their father's cattle and at the iNcwala First fruits ceremony. When the Swazi army was established, boys in miniature uniforms with toy rifles could be seen soon afterwards.

Children are the same all over the world and in Swaziland too, childhood is a time of play and learn. Although many families are financially poor and there is no money to buy toys, kids are never bored: they make their own. It is quite common to see boys pushing cars, cleverly made from iron wire, with a working steering mechanism and running on wheels made from shoe-polish tins. Trolleys, with which they may race downhill, are made with ball-bearing assemblies for wheels and there are many other examples of ingenious contraptions made from discarded materials.

But they are also quite early given responsibilities and of course there is school which is taken very seriously: school fees have to be paid by parents who can hardly afford it, not everyone out of a family may be able to go to school as a result and the children are therefore expected to do their very best. They learn at a very early age to respect their elders and to obey their older siblings as well. Recently however many children have had to accept responsibility running whole households as a result of the tragic AIDS epidemic that has devastated the country long after these photos were taken.