Dream Centre - Week Two

The thin girl died last Tuesday. I didn't even know her name. I'll never forget her face, or the haunting stare she looked at me with.

Sat in the garden on Thursday morning with a man called Anthony for a couple of hours, soaking up the sun, just chatting to him about his upcoming birthday on Monday, his 8 year old son, how he was going to get married as soon as he leaves this place.

He died that night.

I don't even know how to describe how it felt to walk into his room in the morning, to see the empty bed with the name rubbed off the chalk board, his bed perfectly made with the drawings still stuck up on the wall. His death affected me more than anything so far, his birthday was in 10 days ffs, we were going to buy a cake and celebrate with him, and although weak, I was having a wonderful conversation with him 12 hours earlier! The only thing that made me feel better was when Bart pointed out that he was happy that day. I will never forget him basking in the sun with his feet propped up on a chair, smiling at me because I asked him for a smile.

3 others died last week. 6 more died over the weekend. That is not the 30% we were told to expect.

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Onto happier times!!

Last Wednesday, there was a strike on all transport (even cabs!) so that none of the staff could get into TDC! We had the few night staff and that was pretty much all, meaning all the cooking, cleaning, looking after patients, activities had to be done by us. First job was to wake up at 6 to get breakfast sorted, I gotta say, I look HOT in a hair net!!! Tough day, especially as Imo and I both had a temperature.

The people at TDC tend to be poor, and because they have Aids, they are liable for a disability grant – but only if their CD4 count (the amount of good cells in their body) is below 200. For a healthy person it's around 8-900. You often hear about people not taking the ARVs which would prolong their life just to get the grant. After all that they only get R960 – about 60 pounds – a month. Getting the grant isn't easy either, you need an ID book, a district surgeons note etc etc etc, and don't forget we are operating on SA time – everything takes months!! It's a very beaureaucratic system and it doesn't help that SASSA (where new applications are made) is split into districts who don't liaise with each other. V frustrating. Bart and I have been following up a case for Nonpumelelo (try and pronounce that one – I dare ya!) and we are just going back and forth. Thought everything was sorted, don't be silly! Now need school reports and clinic cards for her children, fingers crossed for today!!

Thursday night we got a Zulu film for the patients and they loved it – was amazing to hear them laugh so much. I didn't understand a word of the film but was proper “old skool”! Went out to Durban that night (Ruth and Elle – do not, repeat, DO NOT go to a club called Joe Cools, it's full of freshers and they are off their faces by half 9 – although what we were doing in a packed club at half 9 is slightly beyond me). Drinks were cheap though!! They had cut off 2.25 litre Sprite bottles full of alcohol – classy joint for a classy bird! Seriously though, the segregation in SA was so obvious, the only black people there were the staff, and when Malou talked to a couple of white people, let's just say they weren't shy about their opinions. In fact, I think one of them said “all black people have Aids and are criminals”.

The weekend came around far too quickly!! We went to the Drakensberg World Heritage Site and into Lesotho, a small country that is landlocked entirely by SA – apparently because no-one wanted to claim it! How rejected would you feel?! There was no shortage of alcohol, met some more volunteers from other projects and a few other backpackers at the first hostel, had a pretty chilled evening just chatting and drinking. It was freezing outside though, and our little fireplace was so bad!

In the morning (too early in the morning I must say) we went on a hike and saw some rock art, it was pretty spectacular, the views were beautiful and I felt really small with nothing but mountains and fauna around. I was pretty much staring at my feet the entire time though so that I wouldn't trip up – don't worry, I still did *sigh*. After a lunch of the fakest pinkest hotdogs you will ever see, we went horse riding!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was!! I got a gorgeous horse called Flash who liked to bite other horses' bums..... HMM! We all rode up the mountain to see the views from the top, and my my my were they worth the sore bum! On the way down we cantered a lot of the way :-D I have a bruise the size of an apple from the rubbing but it was definitely worth it!!

On Sunday we drove along the Sani Pass into Lesotho, rocky, steep and breathtaking. Tasted the local beer, Maluti – homebrew, yummy..! Looked like dirt water and tasted like it too! Made a beeline for the Highest Pub in South Africa after that, and had a nice warm glass of mulled wine – couldn't have been more perfect.

OH! I just read Imo's blog to get inspiration and I completely forgot to tell you guys about the criminal!! There's a guy who is on trial accused of murder/attempted murder and you know what, he is actually a really nice guy, just another patient. We were warned that his friends may try and break him out – EXCITEMENT!!!! (i'm secretly hoping it happens – don't tell anyone else).

Putting up a few pictures for you guys!

Take care!

Lots of love

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