From the Project

July 29th, 2009, Community Volunteers, by Jim Newton

I’m sitting at my computer on Sunday morning, eight days after we returned to Underberg from our too short stay in Canada, trying to reflect and write about the situations that we face both here and in Canada. That stay featured the difficulty of getting back into the health care system after nearly two years with no registration for health care coverage anywhere in Canada. We have to stay in Canada for six months a year to be covered, and finding that time simultaneously with operating the programs of Edzimkulu has proven very difficult. Our resolution is to put in the six months in 2010 and beyond and get back into the system.

How to resolve that dilemma was at the forefront of our thinking when we heard about the fire in the community centre. It was obvious that we needed to return to South Africa as soon as possible, and also obvious that we needed to finish some tasks, including continuing a dialogue with Health Insurance BC to figure out our coverage.

The trip back here was very long: ferry to Vancouver, flight the next morning to Seattle, then Memphis, then Baltimore. Shuttle the next morning to Dulles outside Washington, then 18 hour flight from Dulles, through Dakar in Senegal to Johannesburg. Six hour drive the next day to Underberg. We left Victoria on Tuesday and arrived in Underberg on Saturday, and that was the quickest trip possible, so on top of the fire that consumed our thinking we were totally exhausted.

Jim & Chris Newton with Matu (left) and Busi

As most of you know, a fire swept through the community centre on 25 June. The centre was burned to the ground in less than an hour, along with two nearby homes. The fire was caused by high winds which resulted in sparks from the clinic chimney getting into the thatched roof. It had been bitterly cold at the time of the fire and the clinic’s heating stove had been lit. All building roofs burned and at least one building appears not to be usable at all. We may be able to re-roof two of the buildings, but all buildings must be surveyed by a structural engineer to determine how to proceed with rebuilding. No one was injured in the fire, though community members repeatedly went into the buildings to save medical records and other items.

The operations of the clinic were moved immediately to the orphan house. The house mother moved back to her own home and either took or placed all the orphans in suitable residences for the time being. Community members were able to save many clinic documents and some fixtures, but most of our furniture, fixtures, tools, supplies and other contents were destroyed in the fire. Burned clinical records have for the most part been replaced from the memories of community health workers.

Edzimkulu employees, including community health workers, are generally in good spirits and anxious to continue operations. We have ordered a pre-fabricated building, to be delivered on about August 4, and that building, along with the orphan house, will provide approximately the same amount of space that we had in the clinic which was burned. The new building will be the same size, and with the same configuration, as the building that Edzimkulu donated to the Underberg Clinic a few years ago. That building was much appreciated by the Department of Health because it made it possible for the Underberg Clinic to be accredited as an anti-retroviral initiation site.

Volunteers begin excavation at new site

Now we need to prepare the site for the new building in Ndawana, and we need community volunteers to do the site preparation. We have been pleased by the response to the call for volunteers. Community members came and cleaned out the debris from two buildings shortly after the fire. On Thursday, the first day we were able to work on the site, the chief, Mr. Zala, came with several Ndunas (advisors) and at least 15 other men. We worked together to start excavating the steep slope to prepare a level site for the building. On Friday a different set of about 20 male volunteers appeared, and they were joined by the community health workers and Canadian volunteers to continue the work. The community always has been supportive of our work here, and have appreciated the services provided at the community centre, at least partially because they know is their centre and they hold many different kinds of events there. But this is the largest volunteer effort we have seen and it reflects the commitment of the community to continuing operation of the clinic and other programs.

We have felt for years that we and the other Canadian volunteers are a part of this community and that we are working together to provide necessary services for community members. Our community health workers seem to be the wonder of the district for their dedication and professionalism, and they once again are rising to a new challenge. Now we have other community members coming to start the recovery from the fire, and the sense of community is stronger than ever. We aren’t sure where to go with rebuilding because there are so many ways to think about possible futures for Edzimkulu, but we do know that we have to keep the health system going and the community is rising to that challenge. That’s what keeps us getting up in the morning.