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Bridges to the World The Summer 2005 Tour
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Bridges to the World The Summer 2005 Tour
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Home visits are a profound experience for those who choose to do it. GDCU participants go to the homes of those with AIDS and create a small Memory Book about that person's life and what they want people to remember about them when they pass away. |
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mud or concrete and thatched roof houses are typical of homes in the Loskop area. Entire
families, from grandparents to cousins and great grand children may live in them,
providing just enough space for them to sleep and for a cooking and heating area. The
ceilings are heavily coated with soot from the parafin they burn.
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| This is Samiseway, which means "accept what has been given". In the last year, she's been hospitalized several times for life threatening illnesses. She was hospitalized the day after we visited her. | Our
interpreter, Linda, explains that the family tells us she has Tuberculosis because it is
considered shameful to have AIDS.
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| Sami remains quiet throughout the discussions about her. Her cousin quietly plays as we talk. | Sami's teenage sister nurses her own child. | ||
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| The woman in the red sweater is Sami's grandmother and primary care giver. The woman standing to the right in the green blouse is Iris, Sami's Aunt, and a Community Health Worker. | Linda volunteered to be our interpreter because he wants people to know of the condition of his people. Linda is an assistant to the Mayor of Loskop. | ||
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We learned a great deal about Sami, her family and
the people of Loskop that day. It's not enough to understand that millions of people are dying, that grandparents are raising their children's children, that malnutrition leads to disease and infant mortality. It's when you see a face like Sami's as her grandmother explains that her prognosis isn't good that all the statistics become something more real... |
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| As we walked back after our interview, we ran into these children hanging around outside a tuck shop (convenience store) that was operated by a Microfinance for Youth student. | GDCU participants, interpretors and community health workers gather together again for lunch when the interviews were over. | ||
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The Community Health Workers give us a preview of a song they've written especially for the AIDS Awareness Fair the next day at Sizathina High School. | ||
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