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ESWATINI (FORMERLY SWAZILAND)
I have a blue shirt I wear because I feel sorry for it
The stitching is amateurish, the front doesn't lay flat
The buttons are unevenly placed
When it arrived in the mail I was surprised by the poor quality
I looked to see where it was made
It was made in Swaziland (now Eswatini)
I had no idea where that was, somewhere in Africa was my guess
I looked up this place that is 7,500 miles from my door
It is a million light years away culturally
They don't wear blue camp shirts in Esawtini
They wear an emahiya - two pieces of fabric
One is wrapped as a skirt, the other is draped over the shoulders
The country has high poverty rates so clothing manufacturing is a step
A small step, only 2% of the economy
A childhood in Eswatini is rich in community and traditions
But not material wealth
More than one third of the population is under the age of 15
I was building a mental picture for myself of where this shirt came frm
A popular women's name is Nonobeko, which means "One who is dignified"
I can picture Nonobeko, radiant in the way many Africans are radiant
Leaving the sugar cane fields of Mhlume to work in a textile factory
The confusing training, the constant roar of industrial sewing machines
The pressure to produce a finished product, obligations to her family
All carried in her heart, as all young people carry hope in their hearts
Nonobeko can not imagine me, but I can picture her
Envision her journey from village to factory
Reaching for an unknown future, the same unknown future
That we all face
I wear my wonky shirt with pride,
A testimony to all the brave young people starting out
Headed for a future that will be, by necessity
Very different from our past
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