Week End

The end of another week. I have now been here in South Africa for 7 weeks. Not that I am counting…I just know when Friday’s come around and another week is wrapping up, I count many blessing for being able to be here.

Two weeks ago I was able to go to a factory (with the manager of the care centre and one of the counselors) where they make beautiful wood furniture and listen to the owners talk about how they want to take care of their employees when it comes to HIV/AIDS. They wanted to have the workers listen to a talk about how important it is to be tested, and allow them to ask questions and break the stigma that is so prevalent in the Zulu culture when it comes to HIV/AIDS. The counselor spoke with the workers for a good 40 minutes. Even though it would all be in Zulu and we wouldn’t be able to understand what she said or what the workers may ask her, she asked us to leave. It made it more private and comfortable for the workers to not have the bosses in the room.

Just yesterday the VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) crew went back to the same place for workers to be counseled and tested (pre-counseling, test, post-counseling). Today I asked the counselor how it went. She said “Oh it went well! Actually it was more than well. It was excellent!” She went on to say they all lined up and 28 of them were tested. Praise God. Now they are aware of their status and if any are HIV+ they can take action with ARV’s (anti-retro viral drugs), healthy diet and continue their lives. Two weeks ago, many were saying they didn’t have the time or the money to be tested. Now the VCT crew went to them, and it’s absolutely free to be tested. I was so happy to hear that they tested that many people, and that many people were willing to be tested. That’s huge here. There are still more to be tested and they will go back next week to do the process again.

Update: Phumlani continues to do better. This week he told me that when he first came to Genesis (about 6 weeks ago), he weighed 75 pounds. He now weighs 125 pounds. He’s able to eat well and regain his strength. Also this week, he talked about going home for the first time since I’ve come to know him. Of course I have prayed for him every day to get better and regain his strength, but not seeing him every day was not a thought that had crossed my mind. The Lord quickly put it on my heart that this is my answered prayer….that he become well enough to go home! Praise God! I don’t know when that will happen exactly as I don’t know anything about his medical treatment. But the fact that he’s working towards that goal is huge. He told me that some people that are in the care centre just give up on life. But he is not. He works hard in physical therapy, makes a ton of bead work, and is out of his bed as much as he can be. Today I walked in to talk with him and he was looking over at the man in the bed next to him with envy. A nurse was massaging his neighbors’ feet. I asked the nurse if I could massage Phumlani’s feet. She said ‘of course’. So today I was the hands of Jesus for a bit…helping with the burning that was coming along with the dry skin taking over his feet. He was in good spirits today- making jokes, laughing, but embedded in that is always the deep stuff…mentions of his illness, his children, his job, his FAITH. I left his bedside completely humbled. Praise God!