Stories from South Africa...

...below is an excerpt from an email from a volunteer I respect and admire. I met her while in South Africa, and she has returned for her third time.

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the volunteer house has moved to makaputu township and its above a new baby home with 5 of the cutest babies youve ever seen. there are a lot of new projects since i went back last time. now theres the Tree Clinic near Durban, which is a massive tree in the middle of a random field where raped/abused women and children come once a week to receive counselling and donations. they sing religious songs and talk about their experiences. there are a lot of children there which is quite upsetting, including young boys who have been raped. a few weeks before i came there was a 6 year old girl there who had just been raped and her attacker walked past, and there was a chase to get him but apparently he managed to get away. this wednesday i was talking to a 12 year old girl who was gang-raped by 3 guys, aged 20-30, when she was 10, outside her school. it was so weird when she was describing it, so emotionlessly. but by massive luck, she managed to get support from the Tree Clinic, and she took the guys to court and they went to prison. there are about 100 raped woman there every week, and about 1 of them has managed to get a conviction so she was really lucky. there are a lot of really sick kids there, and the parents are so poor that they fight over empty plastic bags that donated bread was contained in. its a really good concept for a project, its run by the Bobby Bear foundation who also have an abused childrens home on the south coast. the amount of shit the women there have been put through and theyre still so strong and welcoming.the first week i went there, a woman was telling us how the night before, near her home in Umlazi, a 50 year old woman was gangraped and chucked in the river - she managed to climb out and then she found this woman lying naked by the river bank. when she took her to the hospital, the woman was too traumatised to talk and say exactly what happened, so they couldnt get a crime number, and therefore the doctors wouldnt treat her - thats how fucked up the medical system is here if youre black.
ell theres been a hell of a lot more Celine singing at the hospices, ALL the patients love her, got some wicked videos of them singing. ive also been doing a lot of makeovers at the hospices/mini-fashion shows which they seem to really enjoy.there are quite a few patients with AIDS dementia at the moment, mainly men. Mabongi is still at the Dream Centre hospice and she can now walk with a frame. she seemed to be doing really well, and was exactly the same, knitting and laughing.
in Ekhaya Lobomi hosipce the patients are dying really quicky, but theres one great bitchy white woman who was there last time i was here, who doenst seem ill at all, i think she just has nowhere else to go. Pinky has gone home, dont know if shes still alive but Jabu, the 8 year old boy was stayed there last year has died.
i met up with Piwe in Umlazi last week, and we drove past her twice cos i didnt recognise her from the emaciated girl in a wheelchair last year - now shes fatter than me and can walk and looked unbelievably healthy and shes starting school, standard 12, next year. it is completely a miracle, i never knew it was possible to 'recover' from the extent of AIDS that she had, just by going on ARV's and being able to go home. her stepdad has walked out on them, but shes happy about it cos he was abusing her mum. when i went to see her i was expecing to sit talking to her while she was in bed, but because she was so healthy i took her shopping and for a meal in the Pavillion. im going to see her again next week and going to take her to see Mabongi. AGAPE/other projects update - the main building looks awful after the fire, and all the kids are crammed into the container. Sne, Nokubonga, Naledi and Lungile are all sharing a bed, and Thembeka and Gogo Eunice left on thursday. at the moment the only adult really interacting with them is Sezo etc's mum who is completely crazy and has the mentality of a 6 year old. i stayed over on tuesday and she was letting simphiwe run around with a knife, and then Sezos mum threw her in a cupboard and was whacking her with a shoe and pretty much beating her up. none of the kids respect her, and always shout insults at her in english cos she never went to school and doesnt understand english. theres no sign of rebuilding yet. i met naledi's mum yesterday, she seemed pretty normal and nice, and she said she might take naledi back if her work contract ends in september. there was a burglary at agape the other week, they took some furniture, as at the moment there is no fence, a proper one is in the process of being built. the soccer field has been taken over by these white tents growing plants or something. i found out last week that nokubonga and simphiwe arent actually biologically sisters, but they have gone home for a couple of weeks, i dont know who they are staying with, simphiwe seems to believe that her mum is still alive, so it must have been nokubongas mum who was murdered. there are 2 new kids i think, thalent and the moyas older sister's child who's 4. sne has got so cute, and is dancing all the time. the older boys, the moya sisters, nomhlanhlas and nqobile's english is excellent now. peaceful is always talking about the NY trip. mtobis got a lot quieter since lots of volunteers stopped going and i think his english has gone downhill.
on sunday we took the agape kids to makaputu for a talk about drugs etc. they were so scared to go cos makaputus got such a reputation, but they were ok in the end. they performed some of their songs, the best ive ever heard them sing, and the makaputu children were joining in and really enjoying it. wandile was running around like a madman! i really think that he's deaf. when you shout in his ear or clap or put music in there he doesnt respond at all, so if its true its going to be a real problem when he's older. apart from that he's healthy for once at the moment.
there are also 2 new creches, Lethosizo, and Kulanikahle in Upper Molweni, with 80-100 kids. but theyve just closed for the holidays. i saw Siyajabula project in Lower Molweni yesterday and its looking great, but not finished, dont know when its going to open.

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Obviously, despite all the great work that LOM is constantly doing, there's so much more to be done.
Anyone wishing to donate anything -- money, clothes, time, anything -- please let me know. I will be sending a shipment of clothes/toys/money soon.