Frances led us into a house that she referred to as a new client. Her patient was an 82 year old woman who lived with her only son Henry, his wife and youngest daughter with her daughter. They lived in more established area of the township in a house with stucco siding, established rooms with furniture (very tiny rooms - the largest room appeared to be about 6x6 feet - but very nice and you could see the pride for their home in how they kept it).
Frances took the mother/grandmother/great-grandmother into the other room to bath and tend to her and Betsy and I stayed in the front room and talked with Henry and his wife (who I can't remember her name right now). Henry was about 65 years old and had just retired from working from the time he was 13 years old. He had worked for what he called a stationary business. You could tell by talking with him that he was a hard working man that was having a hard time adjusting to not having the responsibility of work outside the home.
We talked about our families. I showed him my photo of my family and he told me about his family. He had 5 children - 3 boys and 2 girls. His oldest son was 40 years old (my age). His second son died when he was just 28. I did not ask why/how but you could see it was a pained subject in the way he said it and in his eyes. They only had their youngest daughter with her daughter in the house - but I can't imagine how they would have managed to have a family of 5 kids plus 3 adults in this tiny (nice) home.
I have not met a family here that has had some level of crippling hardship - in Henry's case loosing his son.
This family visit was not as "hard" as the first visit. Even as a new "client" they were very open and warm to our presence and made us feel like welcomed guests.
I did not get to have a photo taken with them - as it did not feel appropriate, but I do have a photo that I took from the car of the outside of their home (not a great shot, but here it is):
This is their house
This is their street.
Please be sure to visit my friends sites to read about their home health care visits. Brian and Mike met a 98 year old woman who was in such great shape mentally and physically - who said to them "now I have children in America" - which although I was not there with them touched me. The spirit of these people runs deep - even though they have nothing and have faced hardships that would cripple most anyone. I can only imagine what this 98 (with her 99th birthday right around the corner) woman has seen and experienced in her life. Here are links to their blogs (make sure to check back as they may not have it all recorded just yet):
Brian's: http://briandimasi.blogspot.com
Mike's: http://safelitetrip.blogspot.com
We then spent some time with a partner of MaAfrika Tikkun who took us on a tour of a local community health center. The facility was setup like a relatively modern health care facility and was busting with people even though they referred to it as a "slow day". They battle with TB - and face struggles with the balance of poverty and health. If people are diagnosed with TB they are put on a government stipend that ends when the TB is cleared up (treatment takes about 6 months). They find people will stop taking their medicine after 5 months just so they can keep on receiving the government backed stipend on which they live. Many of the affected people have HIV/AIDS and risk their lives for the stipend. Read more about TB here: http://www.tballiance.org/why/tb-threat.php (not related organization, but informative.
Wisely - the MaAfrika Tikkun team in both Joberg and Cape Town have partnered up with local governments and other "non-government organizations" (known as NGOs here) to try to make a difference for the communities.
I'm going to end this post here and start another for the remainder of the day on Friday.
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