3.17.09

Three days later and I’ve experienced quite a bit. I’ve spent two more days at Walk In the Light, and seen two more days of stuff that still seems somewhat surreal.
Monday, my group got to do the township visits. Now, to explain myself, the township (located directly across the street from Walk In the Light, is basically the “African” community people think of when they imagine “Africa.” Houses are either government issued and built of brick (generally two small rooms), or they are constructed of mud (which we get to help build later this week which should be amazing). Anyway, so one of our groups of 4 gets to go into the township a day and see the same people face to face who we read about online, who we watch on TV, but who seem worlds away from America.
What we first experienced on our visit to the township was the corruption of Africa. We had to stop by the police station with a woman who had just lost here aunt the night before. This woman needed a form called an affidavit, which essentially ensures the death of the dead. Our guide/translator Pendile said that up to this point, every time they needed an affidavit, they get one pretty easily. However, on this particular occasion the officer wouldn’t give one because she needed “proof” that the lady’s aunt was dead. It was surreal to see the frustration that stems from such a broken community that continues to lose because people aren’t willing to help each other. We never actually heard, but I’m fairly certain that things got sorted out later that day, but it took hours longer than needed.
Our first house visit was to the house of a man who is both HIV and TB positive. A lot, if not most, people in the township who are HIV positive are also infected with TB, a sickness transferred through the air, which is very easy to get with a weak immune system. The catch 22 is that if someone is getting treated for TB, they cannot get on the pills that help boost their immune systems when they have HIV. So people, just like this man, are forced to get treated for TB before they can even approach the HIV. So here was this man, one week away from starting his HIV treatment, alive and talking in front of my eyes. Again, so simply sit there and experience the life of someone with HIV or AIDS is completely mind-boggling. So foreign, and so wrong. It’s super frustrating to be honest. God never intended life to be so broken, but here we are. To be able to touch the skin of a person with HIV, so be able to pray for this 35-year old man who could easily pass for 20 was so empowering. We went on to visit a woman who was sick with a mental degenerative disease where she can’t remember her age, her kids age, and has just lost her husband within the month. We visited a man who is in great health since being on the ARV pills for some time, and also 2 brothers, both HIV and TB +, who were surrounded by friends (which is good) who possibly had no idea they were sick (which is bad). The shame that comes with being sick is overwhelming to see, especially since I’m so privileged to have the undeserved health that I do.
Today was a little different. Rain came in, and it was “cold” (60 degrees haha), so the house we were supposed to repair got postponed and we spent much of the day cleaning at Walk In the Light. We moved wood, hacked away at grass (old-school lawn mowing), and then got to spend our Tuesday afternoon with our favorite ladies. Today was the most successful time we’ve had with them. We got to play telephone and a couple other games, sing some songs, and share some stories. By the time we were done, we were pleased with the day of work we had put in.
After work we went out for Papa’s (Adam) birthday. Woody, our campus pastor from APU, and his family just got into town so we’ve been spending the night with them while celebrating Papa’s birthday, and enjoying ourselves all the while. Life continues to be good, and as I always say God continues to be better. I think this is my longest post yet so why don’t you open up iTunes, throw on some John Mayer, and relax your mind for a little while after this hour-long blog post…haha.