Week in Review

(No fancy title for this posting, mostly because I'm not feeling too creative today.)

It's been another good week. Or, to put in Minnesota terms, it was interesting.

Last Saturday I attended part of a youth camp for kids living in Guguletu. It was put on by the Multi-Talent Group, a non-profit started by two men, Nceba and Zolile, in Guguletu. They started their organization to give kids something to do besides walk the streets and get into trouble. Every Friday afternoon they have a open stage at the Sports Complex, so kids can come and dance, rap, do poetry, or whatever they want to perform. Their "shows" last 5 or 6 hours and attract a few hundred kids every week.

The camp was held at a Rotary campground about 20 minutes away. The 65 kids stayed for 2 days and 2 nights, living 4 to a room in small dorms. The agenda was a mix of lectures and play. Nceba and Zolile lined up speakers on drugs, crime, and self-improvement who did a great job engaging the kids in discussion. The play time was divided into outdoor activities and dance classes (Zolile is a DJ, and he has many friends who are semi-pro dancers). By all accounts it was a very successful event and all of the kids enjoyed themselves.

I got to attend because I paid for their food. It seemed like a small thing to do to give these kids a diversion from normal township life. During lunch I had a really stimulating talk with 3 of the adults about tribalism in South Africa and how it's still interfering with unity amongst the Blacks. Most people probably think that South Africa's problems are primarily a Black and White problem. After listening to these men, it sounds like it's also a Black and Black problem. It seems that every week I hear of a new cog that needs alignment in order to move the big machine forward. That's why it will be at least 2 generations before this country really starts humming.

Two other cogs are accountability and social responsibility. I read an article in the newspaper yesterday that the garbage in portions of Phillipi (where my clinic is) has not been picked up for 6 months. It seems that the government forgot to award the tender and no one bothered to get the job done. They have moved on it recently, and now there's a fight amongst 3 vendors about who has the best community connections. People living in the township have thrown rocks at some workers of certain companies because they don't like the company (not politically connected or not Black-owned). The mayor is threatening to bring in Army personnel to protect the workers from the citizenry. I've seen the trash, and I cannot believe how people can prevent its collection. It's a real health hazard, especially with the recent rainfalls, but some people don't seem to care or understand.

Wednesday evening I spent 5 hours in the KTC Day Hospital, an urgent care of sorts in Guguletu. It was one of the most disgusting places I've been to. The process started when I walked into the Centre at 4:15 after painting with my GLA students. Two women from the HIV support group were waiting there for Zach to help them take another support group member to the clinic. They asked if I had time to take them, and I said sure, thinking it was a quick trip. The woman, Notozama, had been sick for many days and was feeling very weak. She got infected with HIV in late 2006. According to her mother, up to then she was a very beautiful, dynamic woman with a good job. After she got infected her boyfriend "disappeared" and she started to wither away. She stopped eating and just slept all day. When I saw her, she looked to be about 90 pounds, if that. She could barely walk to the car, and every step came with a grunt of pain. We got to the day hospital at about 4:45. They didn't think it would take very long, and there was some hope she'd be admitted to hospital, so I hung around to give them a ride back home or to the hospital.

She was finally taken to a room at about 6:00. Half an hour later, she was taken for a chest x-ray. (As soon as I saw that I thought of TB. About half of all HIV-positive people here also have TB, and it can cause wasting similar to HIV.) Her mother came from work about this time and went back to sit with her. Then, about 7:30, her mother said the doctor was going to give her a drip (an IV), but only a pint so it wouldn't take very long. So, more waiting.

During this time I saw people of all ages come in for treatment. There was the man with the bloody leg (either a fracture or a knife wound), the woman with a head wound (she either fell or got something thrown at her), the man with the stab wound in his back (who proceeded to bleed all over one of the benches), and two kids with head wounds from falling down. There was also a woman with a cold, a woman having bad abdominal pains, and other run-of-the-mill urgent care stuff. The odd thing was that everyone was talking to everyone else, almost like they knew each other. I don't recall seeing that in any other ER I've been to. People generally keep to themselves and don't share their life stories. Not here.

At one point Notozama's mother asked me to sit with her, because she was saying she wanted to leave. I went back and spent a little time, convincing her that she needed the drip and that it would be over soon. As she dozed in and out I had the chance to look around. What a contrast to Brown's Farm Clinic. Our clinic is nearly brand new and very well maintained. The day hospital had seen better days. The gurney Notozama was laying on had dried blood in the grooves between its parts. There were blood drops in the walls, alongside the dirt and mud stains (I imagine someone had kicked mud off their shoes at one point and it never got cleaned up). The storage lockers for the IVs and supplies were a mess. There is little privacy, with 3 beds to a room and no curtains between them. I guess it's better than nothing, though, which is what much of rural South Africa has.

We finally left the clinic at about 10:30. Notozama was scheduled to go to the TB clinic the following morning to get started on TB medications. Once that's stabilized, which will take 2-3 months, then she'll start on HIV medications. Hopefully, these will allow her to get her appetite and energy back so she can start living again.

Yesterday was the last day for the GLA program. We got a lot of painting done, more than I expected. We finished about 90% of the outside and all of the inside, save two small offices. They had a fair amount of time to interact with the local kids, playing games and just giving hugs. They also spent two afternoons this week with the after-school program, helping kids read and do homework. It was a really great experience for me, to see some of our future leaders in action. One other nice thing: During their class presentation about their experiences they voted me one of the top 100 people in the world. That made me feel good. I'm attending their closing dinner tonight, which should be fun.

Off to work now. More to come.