News
Back to News Contents
February 10, 2005 posting, by Jim and Chris
It’s been a month since our last update. Chris started this as Jim wrote
the first message about our team member Sibusiso. We want to fill you in on
the events of what is now the last six weeks. So much has happened during this
time...
The weather here takes on a whole new meaning. Rainfall is about three times
that of last year and almost every afternoon is marked by violent thunderstorms,
often accompanied by hail. A few weeks ago the hail was so big it broke about
80 windshields and destroyed many of the crops. A recent storm in Ndawana
destroyed many huts and washed away the dam we use to get construction water.
The bright side of this is that there is so much water in the stream that
we have no need for a dam!!! All the rain has meant shortened construction
days and slogging through endless mud.
We recently received an e-mail from Chris’s Mom which inadvertently went
out to the whole mailing list. It was neat to read her reflections on Sibu
and her memories. She also raised some interesting questions about how AIDS
progresses and Sibu’s seeming lack of symptoms. It is certain that he
had AIDS and that he died of several opportunistic factors which afflict people
who have AIDS. Here in rural Africa his situation is more the norm than not.
People suffer silently miles from health care with seemingly minor illnesses.
And then one day they are very ill and within a few months they die. They simply
cannot afford all the cost and time that goes with the healthcare we take for
granted. In South Africa it is illegal to treat a patient for AIDS until a
CD4/viral load count is completed. That test costs over 1000 rand. And everyone
pays unless you are an inpatient in a hospital, and to be an inpatient you
must be very sick already. 1000 rand is what Sibu made in a month, and he just
got a raise.
 |
| Community Centre Progress |
Aside from our deep sadness about the AIDS situation things are going extremely
well. Two of the four buildings of the community centre have much of their
walls up. Doors and windows are going in and one roof is at the thatching stage,
with the first thatch bundle going on yesterday. May 7th is our official opening
date for the centre, and we have hired two additional thatch crews to speed
up that process, which is turning out to be our current bottleneck. We invite
you to come the opening. We plan to invite many internationally important people;
nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Last month was one of many arrivals and departures. Colleen Vallee left for
Kenya on the 22nd after nine months with us. It was like having one of the
kids leave home. Our dog Bhuti is especially bereft. On the other hand, Marg
Rathnavalu discovered that the neighbors found a puppy on a ledge in the
river, presumably thrown in to drown, and we now have a companion dog for
Bhuti. We found her on the day of the tsunami, so her name is Sisi (sister)
Tsunami, Tsusi for short. Marg and Larry left Wednesday after being here
for their second round as volunteers. We fervently hope they will come back
again. Their presence is so calming and they do so much work and we will
miss them so much (again). JoAnn Frisch, a new grad in architecture from
Toronto, has now been here for four weeks, and she has taken over much of
the day to day management of construction. Also, she is an observant Jew,
and we have shared the beginning of Shabat with her each Friday night. What
a lovely way to start the weekend for all of us. And now, Lark Clark is here
from Edmonton, on leave from CKUA, and we sing on the way to the village,
during team meetings, and just for the heck of it. Gail Olmstead and Joanne
Elvin were here with Carlene for a couple of nights. So many people and so
many blessings.
Our census of the village is complete and we are mobilizing to get documents
and apply for grants. The Eastern Cape has agreed to send mobile units to
Ndawana with the document people and a social worker until the job is done.
This in contrast to some half of the people at present being without one
or another necessary document and consequently without one or another grant
to which they are entitled. We calculate that if every person in Ndawana
who is eligible for a grant gets that grant the total of the annual income
in the village will more than double. A long and a frustrating and a very
worthy task.
Back to News Contents |
