OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 15, 2008

The Stephen Lewis Foundation funds over 150 projects dealing with HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. Today we saw first- hand the kind of work people in these projects do daily. Words cannot describe the impact this visit had on our hearts and minds.

We left Durban at 7:15 a.m. and drove about 45 minutes south to the town of Scottburg – to the offices of the Umdoni and Vulamehlo HIV/AIDS Association of southern Natal. Below is an excerpt from their Project Report 2008 which aptly describes the situation in this area:

“The social problems which exist in the Umdoni and Vulamehlo areas are deep and grave. This area of South Africa has one of the worst, and perhaps the worst incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Research conducted by the Department of Health in 2005 showed an HIV infection rate of over 40% in Kwazulu Natal. This includes 29% of pregnant women, 33% of women aged 25-29 years and 23% of men aged 30-39 years…the number of orphans alone is estimated at 3,000 – and this figure does not include the probably far greater, number of children who have been affected, but have been taken I by a surviving family member.” The entire population in this rural area is 170,000.

UVHAA staff next to their vehicle.
Our contact, Coordinator Maurean Whitfield on the right

This was the schedule for our day:

8:00 a.m. – A welcome and overview of the projects

9:00 a.m. – Travel in separate vehicles to two home- based care programs

10:00 a.m. – Tea and discussions with Mr. BB Nxele (on the work of lay counselors and support groups), Ms. Zanele Mvubu (on traditional healing and training traditional healers on HIV/AIDS), and Ms. Nelly Dube (on the Road to Recovery Program)

11:00 a.m. – Community visits in Mkhunya

1:00 p.m. – Lunch at Enkanini School

1:30 p.m. – “Man to Man” presentation by Mr. Prince Khuluse

2:30 p.m. Return to Scottburgh

3:30 p.m. Return to Durban

Washing day includes sandals and other shoes hanging on the line.

Community Care Worker, Mrs. Nomvuyo Mhlongo,
stands above her home in the rural area of Natal.

The Home Based Care project uses two vehicles to transport professional and student nurses out into the deep rural areas. In each of eight areas, an Area Coordinator has been employed (thanks to the Stephen Lewis Foundation) to manage a team or teams of Community Care Workers. They work entirely voluntarily and without pay five days a week:, walking up and down steep and often muddy tracks; locating huts which house people who are infected with HIV/AIDS and/or TB; locating child-headed families, orphans; and reaching out into community offering support to those who are most in need. Without them, many of the people they support would be condemned to a slow painful and isolated death.

OPSEU President Smokey Thomas with members of
staff and the community

On our first stop, we visited the home of Ms. Christabel Zulu who is recovering extremely well after taking anti-retroviral drugs.

Some of the small homes recently built in this area

Two of Christobel’s children

Brother Ron Lavigne visited Mr. Jimmy Mkhize who is also suffering from one of the diseases in the rural area of Natal. He showed Ron the small garden plot he has planted.

OPSEU meets Jimmy Mkhize who is trying to maintain a
small garden while still suffering

Jimmy Mkhize stands near his vegetable garden

Later that morning we met with Ms. Zanele Mvubu, a traditional healer in this community. Soon after HIV/AIDS became such a problem Ms. Mvubu began trying to find out all she could on the subject – attending workshops, etc. She soon discovered she was the only traditional healer there. How can you treat someone if you do not understand what they have? That’s how she became involved.

Ms. Zanele Mvubu, Traditional Healer – educating others on HIV/AIDS

There are many stories we could relate from just this one very intense day as we accompanied the UVHAA people on their rounds throughout rural Natal. One of the most memorable moments was when we all gathered inside a small “rondavel” (a round hut with a thatched roof and polished dirt floor – actually dried cow dung which is then polished) to talk to a boy called Msizi Mkhize.

When Maurean visited the hospital last year she saw Msizi lying there, hardly able to move – a terminally ill patient. She was delivering alarm clocks to the children and youth so they would take their pills on time each day and actually felt terrible giving Msizi one – thinking that he was not going to survive at all. Today he is running around and anxious to get back to school. As soon as he went on the ARV drugs, he began to improve tremendously. There are many stories like that every day.

Walking down the steep hills to get to Msizi’s aunt’s house.

Msizi is overjoyed and his aunt was overcome
she announced it to the world below her!

Another crucial area of work is the education of men
around the issue of HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Prince Khuluse, member of the Board of UVHAA and Reverend Dlamini, also a member of the Board, recently began a program designed for South African young men, based on five principles or pillar:

• What can men do?
• What is the role of men in prevention?
• How to deal with human sexual development
• Understanding sex and sexuality
• Relationships – how to build them
• How men can fought the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Patriarchy

Mr. Prince Khuluse (left) speaking to our group

Reverend Dlamini with the nurse.
The clinic staff and UVHAA staff work together very well.

We left this area absolutely exhausted – but so impressed with the work that this small NGO is doing on a shoestring budget. We must find ways to assist them in their gigantic battle against HIV/AIDS in this area.