Being a Neighbor

Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers.…”
Luke 10:29-30


Bridging Program
We are so grateful for the funds we received as a grant from the UPC Caring Community for an extension of our HIV/AIDS outreach in what we call the ‘bridging program.’ Through the funding we are able to work together with local doctor and chairman of our board, Dr. Johan Düring, to provide access to the much more efficient private channels of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, and then ‘bridge’ patients over to the government ARV program. This program is envisioned to save valuable time in accessing treatment for the patients, who otherwise wait up to six or eight weeks in accessing the life-saving treatment. As this is a new initiative, we continue to learn more about how to make this happen.

Also to discuss the level of support required to make this happen: from Xoli and myself, to the Home-Based Caregivers, and the patients and their family.

In the process of figuring all this out, the key question has arisen in my mind of how far an individual, a community would be willing to go to care for their neighbor. How far would you be willing to go? How far would I be willing to go in caring for my neighbor? I can’t help but think of Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, and how far he went out of his way to ‘help his neighbor’ and how Jesus demonstrates not just what loving your neighbor means, but who is included in the neighbor bit. Individuals, home-based caregivers do this every day. For them it’s a way of life. But given the vast extent of HIV/AIDS illness and orphans in the Zulu community, how far can local individual action be taken? Just how much sickness, and desperate need can a community provide assistance to?

The reality is there is not a family untouched by HIV/AIDS. Not an individual in KwaZulu-Natal who has not lost someone they love.

I am really beginning to believe that, despite the Zulu people’s broad definition of family and family responsibility, the vast level of need that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has brought on demands beyond the absolute maximum of what a people can give. When their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and children are getting sick and needing their care, how can they be expected to be free to help their neighbor in his moment of need? I have gone through seasons with one wedding every weekend, but that was only a brief period, an exceptional summer. Here people have become accustomed to attending a funeral monthly, or in some seasons, weekly. It’s unbelievably sad to see the reality of what AIDS has done to this community.

Yet, the Home-Based Caregivers are an exception to the norm of giving to not only their immediate and extended family, but also to their entire neighborhood. But how much can we expect of them? The hardships of poverty are difficult enough already: fetching water at the pump, fetching wood in the forest or up the mountain, running a business for extra cash, walking, walking everywhere; looking after grandchildren… the list could go on. And then there’s the emotional and spiritual resources required to keep going, to continue to help others amidst the deaths, the desperation, the destitution of the children and families left behind after their breadwinner has passed away.

How much, how far can a community be expected to give? This question has been rolling around in my mind in recent weeks, I have come to the realization that despite the best efforts of people like the Home-Based Caregivers in the community, the need is too great for them to cope on their own. To be able to deal with the level of need in the community, they really need help. From people like me and you. Thank you for your support of them, of the Amangwe community.

I pray that God will give us all increasing amounts of strength to continue to love our neighbors, wherever they may be.

Blessings and love to you,

Betsy

Qedi & Lindo's House Back Like New!

BEFORE & AFTER


Qedi and Lindo have their house back! We found a very efficient, highly competent builder who rebuilt the walls of their house and reattached the roof. This time the girls tell me that the roof doesn't lift or make excessive noise when winds come, and it keeps the rain out. Thanks to those of you who gave to help fix up their house! If anyone else is interested in helping, we could still use some funds to reimburse the expenses of housing for these two girls.

Becoming a Social Worker

I never expected to become a social worker. But it’s such an integral part of serving in the community here. And there is a desperate shortage of social workers, and an even more desperate situation affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty. While starting to write this, I have two young kids (13 and 5 years) from the Winterton area sitting at my kitchen table, doing ‘school work’ I’ve given them.
I transported their mother about a month ago to the Philanjalo hospice because of her health and lack of care at home. She has meningitis TB and a recent CAT scan indicates she has severe swelling in her brain and therefore her outlook is very poor. Please pray for this patient, and her young kids, Nondethelelo and Lindokuhle (girl 13, boy 5) who, on the doctor’s recommendation, are staying with Eugene and I while they pay one last visit to their dying mother. Meanwhile, colleagues in Winterton are helping to sort out the children’s living situation, which will be with the families of the children’s fathers.

Another case came up about two weeks ago as I was driving to Loskop/Winterton for a meeting, I got a call from a colleague with the municipality about a young girl that needed help. Her name is Mpume, she’s 17 or 18 years old (no birth certificate, so a lack of consensus about this), orphaned and has a six month old baby. Her older brother fetched her April last year from the orphanage where she had been living since 2003 and she never went back. Then she ‘fell pregnant’ as they say here, and since defaulted on her ARV treatment. And, even worst, was kicked out of her brother’s house because of a fight with her sister-in-law. We found her a temporary place to live, but as they continue to remind us, it is only a temporary situation. While the social workers committed to help us initially, their supervisor reneged this commitment, and now it’s only us looking out for Mpume. It looks like she’ll be able to move into a three-month temporary Christian haven where she’ll be loved, Hope will be conveyed, and she’ll get some skills training. At that point, we’ll have to see where she goes next, though it might be a place up in Johannesberg for HIV positive mothers and their children. Prayers for her and her baby Aphiwe would be greatly appreciated as well.

While on the issue of social workers, a God provided a GREAT answer to prayers not long ago in the answering of Xoli’s prayers and the saving of the Loskop social work office. Social workers in Loskop work primarily with orphaned and vulnerable children, the majority of whom are helped to access foster care documents and birth certificates through their appeals in the office. Their office was located at the Department of Agriculture complex (Xoli lives next door) and when she arrived home one evening, she saw a great column of smoke. As she realized that it was the DoA complex, she started praying for the saving of the Social work office since so much of the assistance to the community’s most vulnerable rests upon the files in that office. She and her husband proceeded to remove all they could save from the social work office, while she continued praying that nothing would be lost. And GOD is GOOD! When I went to see the DoA office a week after the fires, I was impressed by how marvelously God answered. The entire building is a burnt wreck, but the social work offices, while undoubtedly damaged some by smoke and water, were untouched by fire. The fire brigade arrived from Estcourt just in time to save the office. The social workers confirmed that not a single file was lost. Thank God for this protection of the interest of the community’s most vulnerable!