I am back to blogging, I am not really going to blame Kevin that it has been so long but it is a good excuse instead of just being a procrastinator. Kevin arrived the 19th of January with his sister Barb and niece Amy and were here until the 31st of January. The best thing about having visitors is that I get to revisit places that I haven't been to in awhile so it is nice to reconnect with people that I miss seeing on a regular basis.
In just one day we did the following:
Our first visit was to a school in Nyanga (a black township whose name means moon in Xhosa) called Mkhanyiseli, which means Light of the World (or something like that according to my Xhosa friends!). We visited the first grade class of Noxie, a member of the JL Zwane Church congregation. Noxie has been at the school since 1978. It is a government school meaning that the school is free for the students but they still have to pay for their uniforms and stationery. Noxie has one assistant to help with 34 students in her class, more boys than girls and she says her biggest challenge is with discipline. When I asked Noxie what her biggest challenge was for her besides the discipline problem she said that she has to purchase most of the items she uses in class herself. The government supplies the basics but nothing extra to help the children learn more. She wants to get the map of the world, a weather chart, a number chart and containers to store their supplies in. They always need crayons, writing utensils and of course more paper. I think this is the same struggle in schools back home in the United States, am I right?
After visiting with Noxie we went to Nancy's Place. Nancy is the mother of a twelve year old girl Ntombi, who has cerebral palsy. Ntombi had been in day care at a centre called "Golden Girls" (yes, it was named for the show starring Bea Arthur and Betty White) that housed approximately 35 children living with physical and mental disabilities that had been discarded (a word constantly used at the home) by their parents who either didn't want them or couldn't afford to take care of them. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) Golden Girls was shut down in 2007 due to the care and cleanliness of the facility and mismanagement of funds. At the time of the closure Nancy didn't know how she was going to take care of Ntombi. Since she didn't have another centre to take Ntombi to she made the decision to quit her job and stay home with Ntombi and try to take care of some of the other children that also had no where to go, this is how Nancy's Place came to be. With help from the JL Zwane Centre, Nancy is able to care for Ntombi and 14 other children. Ten of the children live in Nancy's Place full time, the other five are day residents. JL Zwane supports Nancy's Place with food, nappies and helping to find funding from the US and internationally.
After Nancy's Place we proceeded to Khayelitsha, a black township with over 750,000 people. Khayelitsha has the highest HIV+ rate in the Cape Town area. Over 75% are unemployed, living in shacks without water and electricity and unable to attend school due to not having an income. Amidst all this tragedy is TAC - Treatment Action Campaign (I blogged about TAC last year) run by Mandla Majola. The JL Zwane Centre has been a friend and supporter of TAC for many years. When Kevin was here in 2003 he befriended Mandla and a friendship between Open Arms and TAC developed. There are over 3000 volunteers with TAC working in the township walking door to door educating the community on the prevention of HIV/AIDS and working in clinics to educate people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Many of these volunteers themselves are HIV+, have no jobs and work tirelessly to be a voice for others. TAC wanted to help some of these volunteers who they felt were the neediest of the needy by providing food parcels to them. Open Arms helped raise enough funds (thank you Tony!) to provide 54 food parcels. We went to Khayelitsha to help distribute them, meet the recipients and to thank them for all they do for the people of Khayelitsha. The media was on hand to take pictures and interview Kevin and Mandla about the day and what TAC represents in the community. After we distributed the food parcels Mandla drove us to an area of Khayelitsha to visit a few of the people who received the food parcels. I have been in many shacks since 2001 but one of the ones we visited was the worst I had ever seen. A family consisting of a father, mother and a one year old little boy were living in this tiny, dark (no windows), mildewy wood/zinc/garbage shack. The father and mother were both unemployed. I remembered seeing the father and little boy at the distribution because the little boy was so cute and so well behaved, unlike some of the other children who ran around screaming and hitting each other, he just stood by his dad quietly. When we were in his shack talking to his father I picked up Ayabonga and as I was holding him I realized why he was so quiet and well behaved, he was sick. Ayabonga's skin was so hot and his breathing was irregular and raspy. I touched his little forehead and knew right away he had a temperature. It was very hard to leave him but as soon as I got home I called Mandla and asked him to please have someone go to his home and take him to the clinic. The next day Mandla emailed me to tell me that they did take him to the clinic and that he was very sick. Unfortunately, I do not have an update on Ayabonga. I have left a message for Mandla and I am waiting to hear. I can't stop thinking of him and probably now you can't either so I will keep you updated. Everyday I am still amazed and angered that human beings still have to live like that...
The day still isn't finished! After TAC we visited Lydia and Neo (I blogged about them last year and updated you this year). Kevin can not come to Cape Town and leave until a visit to Lydia is made! Lydia was one of the first persons he met in 2003 participating in the HIV/AIDS Support Group at JL Zwane (Open Arms supports the meal program at the centre). Kevin was able to see the new zinc home that Lydia was living in thanks to Arm In Arm In Africa (a non-profit based in Minneapolis)! They are still very happy, warm and dry. Neo is growing like a weed, his current course of ARV's seem to be working which is a positive thing.
The time with Kevin, Barb and Amy was wonderful. We experienced new things together and ended the trip with a two day safari at Inyati where I went in November with my sister Mary and her husband Ray. It was sad to say good-bye to them at the airport and not be going back home with them to Minnesota, a few tears did fall. One consolation though was when I thought about the snow and cold, returning to Cape Town didn't seem so bad!
Photos:
1. Students in Noxie's first grade class.
2. Kevin and Mandla with a food parcel recipient.
3. Little Ayabonga with his dad.
4. Kevin, Lydia and Neo.
5. Couldn't resist posting this safari picture!
Bye for now...
