2021 Midwinter Newsletter

Take a Walk With Us

Every Winter season at Botshibelo brings waves of both tragedy and happiness. This year is no different, except perhaps the waves are more extreme than other years. The winter mornings are cold but beautiful, and we begin every day with fresh hope and optimism. But on many days, life quickly tosses us unexpected curve balls, leaving us smiling ruefully and shaking our heads at our own powerlessness. Take a walk with us through some of the events of the past weeks.

Covid-19: The deadly third wave of Covid-19 is upon South Africa in full fury.

Reported daily cases have again topped 10,000 per day, and everyone knows this figure is a serious under-count of the true dimensions of the disease. This wave is being driven by the highly contagious Delta variant which recently devastated India.

Covid-19 has struck everywhere in the world, yet the effects are felt very unevenly. In a normal western sized home, a sick family member can be isolated and treated. In a two -room shack housing eight people, it is impossible to prevent the spread to other family members. Often lacking electricity, and where running water is, literally, a pipe dream, there is little treatment or relief for suffering victims. Our politicians and world leaders remind us “we are all in this pandemic together”.

But in Botshibelo, these comments ring hollow. We are not “together” in any true sense; it is every one for themselves. As of this writing (late June 2021) under 4% of the population have had even one vaccine shot, and less than 1% are fully vaccinated. The national vaccination rollout has been slow for a variety of reasons, including lack of vaccine supply, and vaccine hesitancy. Whatever the reasons, no vaccine cavalry will be riding to our rescue anytime soon. The memory, and the ramifications, of the 1990’s – 2000’s scourge of AIDS/HIV still hangs heavy in the air. The youth grew up burying their mothers, fathers, grandparents, and siblings every week for almost eight years. Now many have a sense of “deja-vu all over again”, as they see this new pandemic bearing down on the village, with no help in sight. Others remain almost indifferent to Covid-19, having suffered through what was argua bly even worse mortality due to AIDS.

Botshabelo Update

Here at Botshibelo, a village of about 900, just 2 villagers have been vaccinated thus far. Our mitigation efforts have included locking down the community centre, forcing everyone to wear masks, and taking temperatures at the front entrance. We have been fortunate thus far to have experienced a low covid-19 mortality rate , which we attribute to these measures. We do know one mother of four children in the village died of Covid, but she had been living off the village prior to dying. Beyond that, numbers are difficult to come by. We are not sure whether several other deaths in the village were Covid related or not. All workers from Botshibelo are low wage labourers, so they cannot afford to miss work. There is a huge stigma around having Covid, so many will not readily admit even having had a relative or friend with Covid. High schools in the area have been locked down for a few days when teachers or students became infected. Our staff are trying to limit our exposure to the students whom we grew up with. Another problem is the large number of villagers and children who are on antiretroviral for AIDS/HIV. Not to lie, we are scared!

The disease itself is but the tip of the iceberg. Poverty has intensified; hunger stalks the land. Botshibelo’s fragile pre-Covid-19 economy, always hovering somewhere below the poverty line, has all but evaporated. Anything that is not literally tied down is for sale. Theft, previously a minor irritation, has become the new normal. So has hunger, unemployment, disillusionment, depression and frustration. Previously, the sight of children and adults carrying bowls of mealie-meal and sauce (the cheapest of foods) was an indicator of poverty. Now such a sight is viewed with relief, since it shows the people have something, anything, to eat.

Please continue supporting our Botshibelo soup kitchen. It has become a survival imperative for many. We understand that it may look as if the donation disappears into a bottomless black hole, but that is not the reality at all. Your gift of money for the soup kitchen is a silent investment in the survival of an unnamed child, mother or grandmother. Your gift leaves an indelible mark on the world.

Trying to explain quarantine to a grandchild through a window

By the Numbers:

Our Winter soup kitchen. Meals are provided to vulnerable residents on a daily basis, dependent on funding for food supplies

There is a great deal of work to be done in South Africa. Covid-19 has dominated the headlines, but many of the old social ills remain just as prevalent as before. Women and children are not safe; crime statistics show seven women and three children are killed daily in South Africa. And now due to Covid, 426 children per day are at risk of death from hunger and malnutrition. As the cities have adapted to the pandemic, the rural poor have been left even further behind. News reports of conspicuous consumption, such as a woman spending R220,000 ($15,500 USD) on a used handbag, or luxury retailers whose businesses are booming, are hard to comprehend, as viewed from Botshibelo. Small wonder the youth here are not only hungry, but restless, disempowered, and frustrated.

Accidental baby deaths:

A young mother who survived the most horrific abuse as a child has been struggling to cope with her three-month old baby boy. After administering an unknown substance to her new-born, she panicked and ran away, leaving the new born in the care of a village teenager. We tracked the mother down, and sent the baby to hospital. Stressed parents often use a popularized traditional concoction intended to help fussy babies sleep. The mixture’s true purpose is to treat adult kidney problems; in children, it can cause a painful, lingering death. The village cemetery contains many such babies’ graves. In keeping with tradition, the last medicines and personal items used by the deceased are often placed on their graves. Empty bottles of this particular medicine are on many graves; a silent testament to ignorance and lack of support. The baby had begun to vomit up copious amounts of blood and was in mortal danger. Nicole was dispatched with money for food and transport for mother and baby, as she went from hospital to hospital until she found one that had capacity. We are still not sure whether the child will survive or not, but we remain hopeful. Due to the tsunami of Covid-19 patients, many hospitals are beyond capacity, with (remaining) staff stretched to the breaking point. In fact, a nurse scolded Nicole when she phoned to inquire after the baby, as the nurse simply had no time to follow up on patients.

A patient wearing an oxygen mask is treated in a makeshift emergency unit at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, which is battling an ever-increasing number of Covid-19 patients.

Our beleaguered utility provider - Eskom

The South African Bill of Rights and municipal legislation acknowledges that electricity is important for survival. Citizens therefore have a right to access to electricity, but like anywhere else, they must still pay for it, and many simply can’t. Furthermore, during this past month, fierce electrical storms and maintenance problems have left us without power for up to six hours a day. Needless to say, this has hindered the villagers and us in so many ways.

Animal tales at Botshibelo

One of the greatest gifts of living in a village is becoming ‘a Jack of all trades but master of none’. Bush veterinary is a normal activity here. We assisted the delivery of a healthy lamb, and one premature kid which died. Two calves: one healthy, one died; the vet instructed us to ‘go in and pull out’ the dead one, which we did. Two puppy factories, two moms with 11 puppies were closed down in the village, despite the owners levelling the usual torrent of verbal abuse and threats on our management team. Non-vaccinated village dogs normally die young from distemper and biliary. Traps set for the buck and zebra in the adjoining farm remain a constant problem because they also catch the jackals and porcupines crossing the village.

Snake Wars and The Environment

Wildlife conservation, and the balance of nature, are almost alien concepts in the village, and much education is required. Wildlife is widely viewed by the villagers as either a food source or a threat, particularly when one’s own nutritional needs are barely being met. Thus it is a difficult sell to convince the villagers not to hack to death a deadly spitting cobra, but rather to rescue and relocate it. In fact, snakes are an excellent natural control against disease-carrying rat and mouse infestations. Infants and children in the village are often bitten by rats and mice, so this is a real problem. Thus allowing our ‘snake catcher’ group to risk their lives to catch, relocate and release an obnoxious, angry snake seems slightly absurd to many. Catching the snake is both a group activity, and an exciting spectator sport. Four hapless catchers are criticized, coached, and sometimes jeered by thirty or so village ‘experts’, all looking on from a safe distance. Even after near-miss cobra strikes, to the accompanying cacophony of shrieks and gasps, it is a satisfying sight to watch a cobra slither to freedom amongst the rocks, and provides a small respite from the ongoing wildlife extinction in our area.

The scourge of corruption

Corruption is tolerated and almost expected from government officials and those in power. In reality it has devastating consequences for poor people. A new trend at the clinic is reporting that there are no antibiotics available and that it needs to be bought from a private outlet. The hospital, a free facility, [our health system is made up of private and public, 20% use private and 80% use public, 30% of doctors work in the public government hospitals]. Medication is normally free in the public hospitals. A new worrying trend experienced by villagers from Botshibelo is that public hospital pharmacists are insisting on payment of supposedly free medications. Choni, a manager was told to pay for her son’s anti-seizure medication. When she refused and began to complain, the pharmacist excused herself and did not reappear. Perhaps more concerning is that, in some instances, anyone with the access and ability to corruptly skim the system is seen as lucky or clever, rather than amoral. This trend will never change until the government present a unified front to fight corruption. South Africa is ranked 71 out of 180 countries on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.

The Tipping Point

This week we saw how a ‘tipping point’, can manifest itself in Botshibelo specifically or in poverty generally. A woman lost her husband [Pule] to a senseless, unsolved murder and had to face her future with two young children. In a desolate landscape of poverty and scarcity, this future did not look bright. Her mother arrived to support and comfort her and the grandchildren, bringing a small ray of hope and encouragement. She provided the love and comfort only a mother can give her daughter in her darkest hour, plus practical advice on moving forward after such a tragedy. Management facilitated the process of confirming the death of the villager, organizing the police and mortuary, calling a pastor for prayers for family and deceased, and supporting the children and family in their grief. Shortly thereafter, that grandmother shared a supper, went to bed, put her head on her arm and… died. The managers called me [Marion] to come and assist. I found the grandchildren lying in their beds next to their deceased grandmother. Her daughter was sitting on the bed staring blankly at the shack wall, motionless. The poor woman was done, nothing left, no resources, every shred of security gone. The managers moved the children to the community centre, I confirmed the grandmother’s death, closed her eyes and covered her. There is no easy way to break such news other than breaking it. ‘I’m so sorry your mother has died’. We sent for the village pastor to do a prayer and song for her before the police and medics arrived.

We learned that twenty-four years earlier, the grandmother had been shot ‘accidently’, one bullet in her chest, one in her arm. Her ‘boss’ was apparently shooting at animals and she was in the way. Considering the appalling apartheid conditions at the time, she would have received minimal medical treatment. She has lived in constant pain since the shooting incident, the same pain that she complained about the day before her death. Pule’s wife had reached her ‘tipping point’, and her mother had reached hers.

This is our mid-winter report, we hope that you all are safe and healthy. If you have lost someone and are in grieving, we hold your heart and hope you find healing. Thank you for partnering with us, and helping to share the milk of human kindness, in this small corner of our crazy, beautiful planet.