It has been awhile since I gave a proper update on what has been happening here. Thank you to those of you who showed so much interest and support of my investigative training in San Francisco. You guys are amazing!
Angela (girl I mentioned previously with HIV): Wow. Where do I begin? I wish I had better news for you today. A few weeks ago Angela told me her whole story about how she got infected with HIV. I have to say, I wasn’t surprised by her story, though it is one of the more bizarre I have heard. In the year 2000 Angela started regularly visiting a local witch doctor. She would go two to three times per month to get medicine for a headache and stomach ache. This witch doctor gave her some liquid to drink. Angela never questioned what it was. Then is 2007 Angela fell in love with this witch doctor, according to her story. They got married and she quickly got pregnant. He became jealous and violent at the same time that Angela found out she was HIV positive. She then “realized” that the witch doctor was giving her a “love potion” to make her fall in love with him. Sounds crazy to us, right? But these are the beliefs we are dealing with here Africa. Anyway, her husband then left her while she was pregnant, and she never heard from him again. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter Lalita, Angela became deathly ill. She was so sick and weak that she couldn’t even talk. The doctors here have said that it is bizarre for her health to have deteriorated so quickly. It is usually a gradual process with HIV patients. She also has nerve damage that is not consistent with HIV patients. Which kind of makes you wonder what the witch doctor was giving her to drink all of those years? And is it really a coincidence that she became so deathly ill shortly after he left her?
A physical therapist visited Angela last week. She told us to have Angela put her shoes on to try and get her to walk. Well, I tried this on Friday, and we couldn’t even get her shoes on. She had a bit of a breakdown and started crying pretty hard. We finally got her to stand up without her shoes. She was mostly putting her weight on our shoulders. When I asked her to try and take a step, it was worse than I thought. Her legs were completely out of her control. She can move them, but they flail about and she cannot control it. I was so sad to see this. I thought she was closer to walking than she may be. She is so determined though. I have never seen resolve like hers. People like Angela, who live everyday knowing they have HIV, live in constant pain, and still stay strong and positive are my heroes. What I do everyday is nothing compared to her. Her faith and relationship with God is stronger than it has ever been before, and this is definitely something to celebrate. She is so very brave.
Bible Study: I have to be honest with you and express my disappointment here. Two weeks ago I had no one show up for Bible Study. This has NEVER happened before with this set of girls. I was so discouraged. The following week I really tried hard to rally them and get things back on track. Well, only one girl showed up, so I asked her what was happening. She explained that this is their exam time at school. All of the girls were going to study groups each night until 8pm. Fair enough. I am glad they are so concerned. This will keep going on until the first week of December, which is when I leave to come home.
This means we won’t have Bible Study again until February. I was so discouraged and deflated by this. All momentum is lost now, and it SO HARD to gain any type of momentum in the laid back Xhosa culture. I am just hoping and praying that once February comes, I will be able to rally them again.
What can I say? There are good weeks and bad weeks. I know that greater is He that is in me than he who is within the world. I know that the Lord loves justice and is a defender of the weak. He cares for the orphan and the widow. With all of these bad things happening all around, my hope is not lost. God is still moving in families and in hearts of the people in Masiphumelele. My hope is in God, because through Him all things are possible.
I will give an update on all things concerning Justice [ACTs] and human trafficking in the next email. So much happens in just a day here, and believe it or not, I try to keep these emails short enough to read in a few minutes.
Love to all!
Christina
