A Week in the Life of Khetiwe (that's me...)
Monday Feb 5, 2007 - Orphan feeding. Edzimkulu has monthly orphan feeding days, where we provide basic nutrition to families caring for orphans. We have over 100 families receiving food packages in the village. Starting at 6:30 am, volunteers load crates of food (beans, rice, mealie meal, porridge, soya mince etc) into 3 vehicles and a trailer, loading them to the max. Once loaded we drive out to Ndawana and drop the packages off to families on the list. It can sometimes be a full day process as we often need to make a second trip into town. It's fun, though - people are always in a good mood when there is food involved!
Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 - Weekly hospital trip. On Tuesdays we drive about 40 patients to the nearest hospital, 1 1/2 hours from the village. Most of these patients are HIV positive and are going to start on ARV treatment. This is Anati, one of our youngest patients on ARV's.
Upon our arrival to the hospital, my coworker Thanda, whose health deteriorated rapidy in the last months, collapsed and was rushed into the doctor and admitted. My coworkers, Nstiki and Babalwa, and I spent some time with her on the women's ward, a sad place where most of the women are in their 20's and 30's, emaciated and looking so near to death that it hurts to look at them. I cannot begin to describe that place; I will never forget the reality of a dying generation in Africa. We had to return to our other patients, but went to see her again before we left, giving her sips of juice and promising to see her soon.
Wednesday Feb 7, 2007 - Most of the day I spend preparing for a cerebral palsy workshop for our Home Based Care team. There are several children with CP in the village. Access to therapy is limited to once a month in a town an hour away, if the mothers are aware of these services, which most of them aren't. Access to specialized seating and orthotics is even more difficult.
I drove out to the village with some of my coworkers who have come into town for driving lessons (having a drivers license will not only reduce reliance on foreign volunteers but is also very empowering for women in the village). We visited a sick HIV patient and her baby, who needed to be tested for HIV as soon as possible.
Thursday Feb 8, 2007 - Thanda's story.
At 2 in the morning, my coworker and friend Thanda died. She was 32, and died alone, in the hospital, on the ward that looks like a stepping stone to the grave. Myself and the Edzimkulu team, and all the Home Based Care workers that worked with her, found out before her mother. Her mother was away preparing for the funeral of another family member.
I spent the morning weeping with the women that I work with, the women who have all lost loved ones to AIDS, the women who are so strong but who can only take so much grief. Thanda had 2 children, the youngest of which had TB meningitis when I first arrived here. Thanda was afraid to start ARV's because she did not want to cause her mother heartache. Of 5 children, Thanda's mother has only 2 still living. Beautiful Thanda laughed easily and had a smile could fill a room with light...
Grandmothers are called gogo's here. The gogo's suffer more than anyone else, I think; they watch their children die, and are left to raise their grandchildren. Sometimes they then watch their grandchildren die.
At times of grief it is hard to remember how much things are improving here in Ndawana. There used to be about 8 funerals a week. Now, after a few years, our team has helped to reduce stigma, people are getting tested, and people are starting on medications that can keep them alive and healthy. It is getting better here. It really is.
Friday Feb 9, 2007 - we stayed in town today, with some of the team coming in for drivers classes. I worked on some homemade, low budget toys for the children that I visit. Most families cannot afford toys; often children are quite understimulated, especially the ones with disabilities. We had our weekly team meeting, starting off with a prayer and song, in Zulu, for Thanda.
Saturday Feb 10, 2007 - Thanda's funeral. This is the first funeral that I have attended in the village. The night before the funeral, the family and neighbors gather for an all-night vigil, singing and praying at the home of the departed. We did not attend the vigil, but arrived the next morning for the funeral, held under a tent at Thanda's mothers home. The service was a 3 hour affair, in Zulu, with passionate preaching/yelling, singing, dancing and clapping. After the service everyone gathered for a meal. When we went to say goodbye to Thanda's mother, the gogos had all gathered in one room and were laughing, eating, and visiting. It was a nice way to leave.
Monday Feb 12, 2007 - Back out in Ndawana. Our new clinic for HIV management is almost done...just the finishing touches of renovations. We started construction of our new playground for the creche children (preschoolers) - to be made out of old car tires and bright paint. While we painted the tires we listened to the Zulu station on the radio; Zanele entertained us with Zulu dancing and her amazing singing voice. The best times in Ndawana usually involve singing... In the afternoon I went on home visits with Noluthando and Nonthlanthla, 2 home based care workers. We visited 2 children with severe CP, one of whom was quite badly neglected. I wish that I could stay longer here, there is so much to do and never enough time.
Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 - Weekly hospital trip. On Tuesdays we drive about 40 patients to the nearest hospital, 1 1/2 hours from the village. Most of these patients are HIV positive and are going to start on ARV treatment. This is Anati, one of our youngest patients on ARV's.
Upon our arrival to the hospital, my coworker Thanda, whose health deteriorated rapidy in the last months, collapsed and was rushed into the doctor and admitted. My coworkers, Nstiki and Babalwa, and I spent some time with her on the women's ward, a sad place where most of the women are in their 20's and 30's, emaciated and looking so near to death that it hurts to look at them. I cannot begin to describe that place; I will never forget the reality of a dying generation in Africa. We had to return to our other patients, but went to see her again before we left, giving her sips of juice and promising to see her soon.Wednesday Feb 7, 2007 - Most of the day I spend preparing for a cerebral palsy workshop for our Home Based Care team. There are several children with CP in the village. Access to therapy is limited to once a month in a town an hour away, if the mothers are aware of these services, which most of them aren't. Access to specialized seating and orthotics is even more difficult.
I drove out to the village with some of my coworkers who have come into town for driving lessons (having a drivers license will not only reduce reliance on foreign volunteers but is also very empowering for women in the village). We visited a sick HIV patient and her baby, who needed to be tested for HIV as soon as possible.
Thursday Feb 8, 2007 - Thanda's story.
At 2 in the morning, my coworker and friend Thanda died. She was 32, and died alone, in the hospital, on the ward that looks like a stepping stone to the grave. Myself and the Edzimkulu team, and all the Home Based Care workers that worked with her, found out before her mother. Her mother was away preparing for the funeral of another family member.
I spent the morning weeping with the women that I work with, the women who have all lost loved ones to AIDS, the women who are so strong but who can only take so much grief. Thanda had 2 children, the youngest of which had TB meningitis when I first arrived here. Thanda was afraid to start ARV's because she did not want to cause her mother heartache. Of 5 children, Thanda's mother has only 2 still living. Beautiful Thanda laughed easily and had a smile could fill a room with light...
Grandmothers are called gogo's here. The gogo's suffer more than anyone else, I think; they watch their children die, and are left to raise their grandchildren. Sometimes they then watch their grandchildren die.
At times of grief it is hard to remember how much things are improving here in Ndawana. There used to be about 8 funerals a week. Now, after a few years, our team has helped to reduce stigma, people are getting tested, and people are starting on medications that can keep them alive and healthy. It is getting better here. It really is.
Friday Feb 9, 2007 - we stayed in town today, with some of the team coming in for drivers classes. I worked on some homemade, low budget toys for the children that I visit. Most families cannot afford toys; often children are quite understimulated, especially the ones with disabilities. We had our weekly team meeting, starting off with a prayer and song, in Zulu, for Thanda.
Saturday Feb 10, 2007 - Thanda's funeral. This is the first funeral that I have attended in the village. The night before the funeral, the family and neighbors gather for an all-night vigil, singing and praying at the home of the departed. We did not attend the vigil, but arrived the next morning for the funeral, held under a tent at Thanda's mothers home. The service was a 3 hour affair, in Zulu, with passionate preaching/yelling, singing, dancing and clapping. After the service everyone gathered for a meal. When we went to say goodbye to Thanda's mother, the gogos had all gathered in one room and were laughing, eating, and visiting. It was a nice way to leave.
Monday Feb 12, 2007 - Back out in Ndawana. Our new clinic for HIV management is almost done...just the finishing touches of renovations. We started construction of our new playground for the creche children (preschoolers) - to be made out of old car tires and bright paint. While we painted the tires we listened to the Zulu station on the radio; Zanele entertained us with Zulu dancing and her amazing singing voice. The best times in Ndawana usually involve singing... In the afternoon I went on home visits with Noluthando and Nonthlanthla, 2 home based care workers. We visited 2 children with severe CP, one of whom was quite badly neglected. I wish that I could stay longer here, there is so much to do and never enough time.
posted by caitlin at 6:59 AM
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