Tony Zappa, Veterinarian

It's been a very busy, physically exhausting week at the Centre. As I mentioned before, we have 12 students from the University of St. Thomas with us. They came last week for 2 days and were back this week for 3 days. They have been a real treat, some of the most mature college students I've met. They were all hand-selected for the trip, so we got the cream of the crop and it shows. They've spent 3 nights in Gugulethu, staying in the homes of 6 JL Zwane parisioners. It's worked out to be a great experience for both sides. They've been sharing meals and stories, learning about real, everyday life in the townships and America. I'm a little jealous that I haven't done that.

One of the things these students did was raise money for a special food parcel drive. They raised $8,000 with the plan to feed 200 families. So, yesterday we spent the full day making this happen. We started the day at Makro, basically watching the cashier check out our items. Makro did a great job this time - they had everything pulled for us and on carts, ready to wheel out the door. About an hour and R42,000 later we were ready to go.

Too bad the truck wasn't.

I just don't understand how truck companies survive here. I set an appointment for 10:00 and confirmed it again on Monday. Apparently, our driver showed up at 8:45. He couldn't find us (since Makro didn't open until 9:00 and we weren't there yet!) so he decided to take someone else's order. When it came time for our delivery, there was no truck to be found. I called the company owner, and it was the same old song and dance as in December. "We'll be there just now" (translated: we're a couple minutes away) was the mantra of the morning. Unfortunately, it took 90 minutes of "just now" before our truck arrived. I was a little smarter this time and built in a time buffer, but it still would have been great to have that time back. At least this guy knew how to quickly load a truck. We had everything on board in less than 30 minutes and were on our way.

Back at the Centre, it was controlled chaos as usual. We did the usual fire brigade to offload, and it was fun to watch young adults who had never thrown a bag of flour figure out how to do it without killing themselves. Siyaya and other staff helped fill the buckets, and we were done in record time. We ended up making 180 parcels, due to some hidden costs and exchange rate hedging.

After a good lunch it was distribution time. Unlike December's program, this one was focused on people in the hospice program and a special list of "grannies" that Spiwo developed. The grannies are home-bound women who are still raising children and grandchildren, many of who are struggling with HIV/AIDS. Also different was that fact that no one came to get their parcels. We had to deliver every one. In the end it was good, though, because the students were able to ride along and meet many more people and see many more homes than I originally planned. They all came back with a good perspective of what reality is like for people in Gugulethu, but also how little it takes for people to survive, and quite happily with gratitude, at that.

My muscles were really creaking this morning, even more than in December. I didn't feel so bad, though, when I saw the bigger 20 year-old guys walking slowly and stiffly. We all agreed that the Centre should have a masseuse on call for parcel days.

The students head back to Minnesota on Saturday. I hope they can all come again and spend more time.

I had a sad experience this afternoon. I took a food parcel to Lydia. She is really struggling, partly because last month about 6 or 7 of her family moved into her mother's house unexpectedly. They now have about 10 people there, and no one is working. They are trying to survive on an old age pension and a couple child-care grants. Needless to say, it's not a happy situation. But that's not the sad event of today.

Lydia got a puppy for Christmas. I don't know the breed, but it will grow to the size and look of a small beige German Shepherd. I'm not sure if it's officially hers or Neo's (her son). But, Fluffy is a welcome addition to the family and they've already fallen in love with it. Today the dog was playing outside, unleashed of course, and it ran in front of a car. Fortunately, the car was able to brake in time. Unfortunately, the puppy's back left paw got caught under a tire. All of the skin and muscle on the top of the foot is gone, and from around the ankle as well. It looks really bad.

There are no emergency vets here, so Lydia asked me to look at it. When she took the bandages off, my first thought was that foot needed to come off. The tendons and ankle bone are clearly visible, and the skin around the toes is gone. The foot was still sandy and dirty, and infection is a real possibility. I told her that I didn't think the puppy had a good chance, but if we could clean and dress the wound it might help until she can get to a vet tomorrow morning. About this time the man who hit Fluffy came back to the house. He had been to a pharmacy and bought some medical soap, antibiotic ointment and a bandage. So, we took Fluffy outside and carefully cleaned out his foot. I cleaned, he screamed. It was very sad. I got out as much sand as I could, and then proceeded to lather on the ointment. It smelled disgusting, so it must be good (how's that for a pharmacist's recommendation?). I wrapped it as best I could, trying to keep the skin flaps together and covering the open spots. At one point I considered putting in some stitches, but Lydia didn't have a needle and thread. That was probably a good thing, for both Fluffy and me.

The man is going to take Fluffy to the vet in the morning. I hope he's still alive and that the foot can be saved. I have a bad feeling, though, and if there's any chance of a bad result it would be best to put it down now. A crippled dog would not fare well in the rough and tumble world of township canines.

There are two somewhat remarkable things about this situation, to me:
1. How one hurt dog can raise emotions that become buried after seeing despair every single day. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't felt that much sadness in quite a while, even though I see and talk to people in sad and dire situations all the time. Maybe it's because Fluffy didn't have way to help itself and was totally reliant on us humans to survive. Maybe it's because Fluffy is barely three months old and totally innocent to the ways of the world. Maybe it's because I've been here too long and stopped really seeing the despair and innocence in people's eyes. It's shaken me up a little, and I'll have to come to grips with that.

2. How people living in the most desperate of situations can still have the capacity to love and care for a pet. These are people who often don't know where their next meal will come from, yet they take a portion to feed their dogs and cats. And no, we shouldn't deny them the opportunity to pass their love and caring onto an animal if they so choose. It may be difficult, but the unconditional love and affection they get in return may be the only comfort they receive all day.

More to come.