The Hospice

(Photos to be added).
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There are parts of this countryside in the Free State that remind us of the plains of Colorado. The vast open yellow grasslands await the spring rains. Twenty millimeters will turn yellow to green. There are mere pockets of trees and one can see to the distant horizon in every direction. The two lane roads in this farming area are straightaway. As we drove south from Potch to Viljoenskroon the spring winds picked up the dust. The haze was as thick as smoke.

The makukus appeared on the left. At first they appeared to be a long row of sheds, perhaps for storage of farm implements. As we approached I could see that these shacks were human shelters - no higher than eight or nine feet and made of corrugated metal. Hundreds of them (I learned later thousands of them) flat-roofed with fencing between. Huddled against one another they create a patchwork of metal.
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This is Rammulotsi, the township a couple of "kilos" (kilometers) outside of Viljoenskroon. The township is a settlement of 120,000 blacks, primarily Sotho. The last census, four years ago, put the number crammed into the township at 105,000. Dr. Shahim, born and raised here in Viljoenskroon, as was his father, tells us that the unemployment rate in Rammalotsi is estimated to be 95%. No one we asked could tell us what the unemployed do all day.
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Electricity is present, as is television. The makukus (shacks) do not have running water. There are neighborhood spigots and water is hand carried home for drinking, cooking and bathing. Toilets are very primitive out houses. Newer neighborhoods in Rammulotsi boast homes of brick with city provided water and sewer.
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The roads to Viljoenskroon, as well as the roads in town, are surprisingly empty. Traffic is so sparse that we travelers from America must remind ourselves to look carefully at intersections, as the occasional approaching car seems to certainly be on the wrong side.
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Black women employed as domestics travel by private kombis (vans) to drop-off spots and then walk to their employment. There they will spend the day cleaning, washing, and ironing. The men walk to jobs as gardeners. The more fortunate are employed in the few shops, as teachers, nurses, and government administrators, on the farms or in the maize meal and feed factories.

Many businesses in town habe closed. Where Viljoenskroon once supported three automobile dealerships, there is now one. And that one is now selling Chinese bakkies (pickups) with Toyota engines and drive train. The local market is well stocked and has the small town ambiance that allows locals to take the time to visit with old friends on chance meeting while shopping.
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The distinction between blacks employed in the shops and in technical positions at the factory and those we see walking the roads or sitting on curbs is obvious – poverty is dusty, frayed about the edges, slow walking and for the most part black. Although on a quick visit to Klerksdorp, a major city of over 2 million, we drove through poor white neighborhoods where the incidence of poverty among whites was evident, but still not to the extent of the township.
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The Rotary Club here is strong. It has a heritage of community service dating back to 1959. The local golf course clubhouse wall sports an oak board proudly displaying the gold lettered names of past presidents, Paul Harris fellows – including legendary golfer, Gary Player.
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Rotarians took turns showing us the sights. The days we spent with our hosts were at times poignant as we viewed the result of life’s cruelties and uplifting when we realized the good works Rotary does here.
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Our first stop on Monday, September 10, was the Viljoenskroon Hospice. This is a 1992 Rotary project. It serves over 450 adults and 350 children, primarily from the township.
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While the hospice care takes place in homes, we visited the daycare center. The center cares for 74 children the day we visited. These children range in age from birth to 7 years old. All are either affected by AIDS (parents dead or dying) or infected with HIV. The center provides a clean, safe place to play and serves nutritious meals - the first and perhaps only one of the day for some.
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Volunteers play with, care for and just plain show love for the children. It didn’t take long for the younger ones to approach us with out-stretched arms. Before long we were giving out hugs and handshakes and entertaining young and old alike with glimpses into the LCD screens of our cameras. We were told that the toys are disinfected daily.
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We heard stories of how family and friends will shun a person known to be sick with AIDS; how the children are sometimes abandoned. The incidence of HIV being passed from infected mother to child during childbirth is 30%. Another 30% become infected during breastfeeding. We also learned that antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) do save lives – provided the patient first continues to use them even after they are feeling better and secon, and lives a preventive lifestyle with adequate nutrition. Education is the key to prevention, of course, but we also learned of the support groups offered through the hospice for both those infected and family members – especially mothers of infected children.
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While there are laws preventing the testing of children for HIV without parental permission, we soon could see the more obvious cases. We learned that TB, tuberculosis, is common among those infected with HIV. We saw one little boy whose eyes were inflamed because of the smoke from the cooking fuel used by his family in the ill-ventilated makukus in the township.
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The Hospice has both local government and international support. Donations come from church groups in the Netherlands, the British government and Rotary and Hospice in America. However, funding is not always continuous and hospice manager Maggie van der Merwe is always looking for new sources. Mark and Annie Rose learned that balls, puzzles, soft stuffed-animal toys, art supplies, paper, bubble wands and squirt guns (the ultimate favorite!) are high on the list of wanted toys. The hospice also needs wool (yarn) for knitting and clothes for adolescents and teens.
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We visited a new building that will allow the youngest group of children to play in a bright clean area. This building will also allow the more sick children to stay overnight, if necessary.
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By law, death certificates in South Africa cannot indicate AIDS as a cause of death. Thus “Natural Causes” is the euphemism utilized to disguise the extent of the epidemic and prevent accuracy in measuring the rate of infection.
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We experienced an emotionally draining morning. One accented with the knowledge that people, through organizations such as Rotary, coupled with and love and money, can ease suffering.