A commonwealth partnership: Hampton and Piggs peak.

• Author: Harrison, Bev
• Position: Hampton, New Brunswick and Piggs Peak, Swaziland - Viewpoint essay

In 2005, a native of Swaziland visited the town of Hampton, New Brunswick and spoke about the AIDS epidemic. The citizens of Hampton decided to help and got involved. They established a partnership with Piggs Peak, Swaziland to help this African community. Through the tremendous support of this small town of 4,000 citizens, Hampton has raised money to keep eighty students in school while supporting many other community projects in Piggs Peak. This article looks at the Hampton project and the role a local Member of the Legislature has played in developing this partnership.

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In 2004 Canada hosted the CPA Conference; an internationally attended gathering of Commonwealth nations. I was Speaker of the New Brunswick Legislature at that time and felt very privileged to attend.

I saw a young African man standing by himself in the hotel lobby, looking at his agenda. I walked over, introduced myself and discovered he was a new MP from Swaziland and his name was Prince Mphiwa. Over the next few days of attending events and excursions together, we became friends.

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a small country; a little over 17,000 square km, with a population of about 1.1 million. It is independent, with a fully autonomous government. The Swazi people comprise a single tribe made up of several clans who speak Siswati and English. The Swazi are a proud, peace-loving people with happy personalities and a keen sense of humour. It is also a country with the highest percentage of people in the world infected by HW/AIDS.

On another occasion Prince Mphiwa had the opportunity to come back to Canada to learn about establishing legislative committees. Swaziland had just re-written their constitution and the parliament was evolving into a more effective legislative branch. I suggested he should visit New Brunswick and I could tour him through the province, as well as Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Through the beauty of October, we drove throughout the Maritime Provinces; experiencing the hospitality we are famous for.

This was the beginning of a friendship that opened my eyes to the plight of a generation, an entire world away. It never occurred to me how much of an impact it would have on my life, nor the path it would steer me to. What I also did not know was how generously involved my community of Hampton, NB, had already become.

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