Molweni!
I have been informed by my new South African friends at loveLife that "molweni" means "hello" in Xhosa, one of the three languages spoken in Cape Town. Xhosa combines clicks and noises, and needless to say everyone at loveLife has had a good laugh at my expense when trying to pronounce some of the words!
Anyway, today was an incredible experience that began with meeting the loveLife trainer who I would be spending the day with, a South African Rasta man named Buleleni. Rasta men in South Africa are a minority so the combination of a rasta man walking around with a white woman was more than a lot of people in the townships could handle. We were followed by gaggles of little kids pointing and screaming "Rasta Man!" or "loongu!" which means "white woman".
Our day started at the Cliproad clinic that treats HIV and TB patients in the local black township. LoveLife groundBreakers in these clinics provide information to patients about sexual health and how to prevent spreading HIV. Children as young as a couple of months sat in the waiting room, their bodies ravaged by HIV. It was a scene we have all heard about but either choose to not believe it actually exists or do not believe it can happen to such innocence.
After the Cliproad clinic, Buleleni and I continued on to Nyanga where we visited the local primary school to meet with the principal and teachers to finalize plans for students to perform the next day at our loveLife events around Cape Town. Nyanga is the most dangerous of the townships in Cape Town and it has been devasted by extreme poverty. Huts made of aluminum cans and plywood scatter the muddy ground and hair salons occupy empty metal shipping containers. Although living in such poverty, the kids in the schools were excited by loveLife's presence and were more than willing to perform for us (that is, after they got over the sight of a rasta man and white woman!).
Feeling relieved that we had made it safely through Nyanga, we headed to Phillipi, a neighboring black township that is only slightly better off than Nyanga. After visiting with the primary school in Phillipi, Buleleni's alma mater, we headed to Mfuleni Clinic where the sight was even more upsetting than at the Cliproad clinic. People were lined up out the door to receive their ART's (anti-retrovirals used for treating HIV). Some people looked just like you and me while others were covered in sores and some even in wheelchairs.
By the time we returned to the Langa Y-Center, I was emotionally drained and felt incredibly humbled. The people I had met with today were full of life and spirit, regardless of their living situations or even their health.
At the Langa Y-Center, the local kids were practicing for their performances the next day. It was great fun to watch these little children dance with incredible passion and talent at such a young age. On the drive home, Buleleni and some of the other loveLife workers talked me about their aspirations to come to the US to see how HIV programs are run in the States and to learn from the programs and policies in our country. They each expressed their dreams of studying in the United States, even for just a semester, and hoped to find scholarship programs to help them achieve this goal. The people at loveLife are driven beyond any ambition I have ever experienced. I am inspired each day by their stories and their passion for life and for ending the HIV pandemic.
I have been informed by my new South African friends at loveLife that "molweni" means "hello" in Xhosa, one of the three languages spoken in Cape Town. Xhosa combines clicks and noises, and needless to say everyone at loveLife has had a good laugh at my expense when trying to pronounce some of the words!
Anyway, today was an incredible experience that began with meeting the loveLife trainer who I would be spending the day with, a South African Rasta man named Buleleni. Rasta men in South Africa are a minority so the combination of a rasta man walking around with a white woman was more than a lot of people in the townships could handle. We were followed by gaggles of little kids pointing and screaming "Rasta Man!" or "loongu!" which means "white woman".
Our day started at the Cliproad clinic that treats HIV and TB patients in the local black township. LoveLife groundBreakers in these clinics provide information to patients about sexual health and how to prevent spreading HIV. Children as young as a couple of months sat in the waiting room, their bodies ravaged by HIV. It was a scene we have all heard about but either choose to not believe it actually exists or do not believe it can happen to such innocence.
After the Cliproad clinic, Buleleni and I continued on to Nyanga where we visited the local primary school to meet with the principal and teachers to finalize plans for students to perform the next day at our loveLife events around Cape Town. Nyanga is the most dangerous of the townships in Cape Town and it has been devasted by extreme poverty. Huts made of aluminum cans and plywood scatter the muddy ground and hair salons occupy empty metal shipping containers. Although living in such poverty, the kids in the schools were excited by loveLife's presence and were more than willing to perform for us (that is, after they got over the sight of a rasta man and white woman!).
Feeling relieved that we had made it safely through Nyanga, we headed to Phillipi, a neighboring black township that is only slightly better off than Nyanga. After visiting with the primary school in Phillipi, Buleleni's alma mater, we headed to Mfuleni Clinic where the sight was even more upsetting than at the Cliproad clinic. People were lined up out the door to receive their ART's (anti-retrovirals used for treating HIV). Some people looked just like you and me while others were covered in sores and some even in wheelchairs.
By the time we returned to the Langa Y-Center, I was emotionally drained and felt incredibly humbled. The people I had met with today were full of life and spirit, regardless of their living situations or even their health.
At the Langa Y-Center, the local kids were practicing for their performances the next day. It was great fun to watch these little children dance with incredible passion and talent at such a young age. On the drive home, Buleleni and some of the other loveLife workers talked me about their aspirations to come to the US to see how HIV programs are run in the States and to learn from the programs and policies in our country. They each expressed their dreams of studying in the United States, even for just a semester, and hoped to find scholarship programs to help them achieve this goal. The people at loveLife are driven beyond any ambition I have ever experienced. I am inspired each day by their stories and their passion for life and for ending the HIV pandemic.
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