Thursday July 31, 2008

History was made in Zonkizizwe today! VVOCF was able to get over 60 people in the community tested for HIV/AIDS at the two local clinics. At times the day was chaotic, but it ended up being a huge success in the end. Best of all—it was the start of what will become a greater community effort in the future between VVOCF and other people in the township.

In preparation for Zonke testing day, a team of people made signs and hung them up around the township at all the local businesses, the library, and the clinics. We also sent letters to all the schools letting them know we were coming to pick up our children in the morning. At 11am four teams of VVOCF interns and MSU study abroad students headed off to the schools to pick up our children for “Health Day.” We decided to call it health day so that the children on the list could escape some of the stigma that might be attached to the words “HIV testing.” Though part of the reason for even having Zonke Testing Day was to help reduce the stigma of getting tested, we didn’t want to run into any problems before we even got the kids to the clinic.

I was assigned to pick up the kids from Zonkizizwe Primary. When we go to the school, we were met with no problems whatsoever. One of the teachers helped us fetch all the kids from their various classrooms. I was even asked by the principal how they could refer more needy and vulnerable children to the center. It’s wonderful to know that there are people out there who care about the welfare of the kids. I hope that the relationship between the schools and VVOCF will continue to strengthen from things like the volunteer corps and Testing/Health Day. We walked back to the center with our group around 11:30am where they were supposed to have lunch and wait for the secondary school group. Those groups were to be tested first at the clinics.

Things didn’t go so smoothly at first. Some complications went down as soon as we brought our group to the center. The food wasn’t ready yet, so the younger kids had to sit around and wait for a few hours. The older group came back from testing and the little ones still hadn’t eaten yet, so things were slowed down a bit. Finally the food was ready and we ate quickly and loaded the little ones in the van. When we got to Clinic #2 they said there were running out of testing supplies. This was very frustrating as we had checked with the clinic multiple times before in the week and they assured us they would be prepared to handle the amount of people we were bringing. We were able to leave 3 children there with a few adults and then started to head to Clinic #1.

On our way to Clinic #1 we saw Sly in the other van and he said only send a few kids because 17 were already waiting, but we might be able to sneak a few in. We took another 3 from the van and put them in Sly’s van. I went with them. We met Alex, Jack, Christa, and Katie at the clinic and helped with the testing of the other kids. It was my job to hold the little ones down as the nurses pricked their fingers to take the blood samples. I even had to hold a few of the bigger ones as well. Now I know how painful it is to be a mother and watch one’s baby get poked with needles for their shots! Finally not everyone was needed at the clinic, so I walked a group of children back to the center to work on props for our play that we will be performing next month. As we were walking back we saw that another vanload of kids were heading over to Clinic #1 for testing. Success! That meant that all of our children present at the center that day were able to be tested!

Out of all the people we tested today only 3 tested positive! What a blessing, but at the same time, so surprising. I had expected a higher number to test positive because many of the children look somewhat sick. Problems like kids being too small for their age or having sores that come and go must be due to other health problems or malnourishment. We know that several of our children have had TB in their early years, and this could cause problems as well.

Two of the older women who tested positive were already suspicious of their status, but the third surprised us all. She’s already 14 years old and has had few health problems in the past. She will be taken to the hospital tomorrow to get a CD4 count and possibly tested again. Nobody would have ever guessed that she was positive. Wow, I still can’t believe it. She was very upset when she first came back, and so was I. I held her in my arms as she cried into my shirt, and then I found myself crying as well. When she left later on, however, everyone was all smiles. We all agreed that it’s better to know our status than not know, and now that we know we can give her the care she needs now—not when it’s too late. Now she has the opportunity to live a long and healthy life! One of the other women who tested positive was also very upset a first, but then she brightened up. She said she never wants to see her children watch her suffer and be sick to death—so it is better to know her status now.

How brave they all are! How would I react if I found out I was HIV+? How unfair for my friend who was born with it, not even given the chance to choose! Is she angry at her mother and father who passed away a few years ago? Is she angry at the world? …Would I be? I hope she’s not feeling any of these things. She is such a beautiful, strong, and intelligent girl who really understands the meaning of holding her future in her hands. With the help of the center, she will be able to make it. With the help of the center and the support of the family we’ve helped build here… we’ll all be able to make it.