Weekend at Tshelenyemba

We just got back from our 4 day trip to Tshelenyemba. Tshelenyemba is in the far south of the country - about 2 and 1/2 hours from Bulawayo (the second largest city in Zimbabwe). It took us about 10 hours to get there. We spent the weekend with a legend - Dr. Dawn Howse. She is a Canadian doctor (and Salvation Army officer) who has been in Zimbabwe for almost 20 years. What an incredible woman! She is the only doctor within hours, and she shows great passion, commitment, humour, "spark" and love. It was a blessing to spend time with her.

Monday we did rounds of the hospital with Dawn. There was no electricity and no water on Monday. They do have a generator, but the diesel is rare and expensive. Can you imagine - no water nor electricity for a hospital. I felt so badly for patients shivering in the cold, and patients who were told to wait for their x-rays or surgeries until power was available. Some of the patients who looked extremely sick were trying to say that they were feeling much better so they could be discharged (because of difficulties paying hospital fees). Life is so harsh for people.

There is quite an extensive HIV/AIDS programme at Tshelenyemba - from a voluntary counselling and testing centre to youth prevention programmes to home-based care. We met one family at their home. It was a profoundly moving experience. There are 4 orphans in the family - the oldest being 14. She heads the family, although their 110 year old, blind grand-mother recently moved in with them. My heart broke to see this grandmother. She just kept saying how hungry she was, how there was no food, how desperate she was. The 2 oldest kids are being sponsored (by Canadians) to be in school, but that means that they can only farm on the weekends/holidays, so their harvest was not good this year, and they are scrounging for food. My being was shattered by meeting this family, and it just left me with so many unsettling questions. Of course, I wanted to help and "fix" everything, but how can you "fix" something so big? And what's really our role (as outsiders) to "fix" anyway? Of course, we went and bought them some food, but it felt empty - because what will happen when it runs out? It also felt wrong to give a hand-out/to create dependency, but how is this family going to be self-sustaining? How are four kids and an old woman supposed to make ends meet? Orphans are at-risk - of dropping out of school (that is, if somehow they can find fees to actually be in school), or of abuse of "friendly" neighbours/passers-by who want to exchange food for sex. The situation seemed so desperately sad, and yet there was also strength. I was really impressed by the 2 oldest girls. I was impressed at the way they are taking care of their siblings. I was impressed by the way they are looking after their grandmother. I was impressed that they make the 4km trip (walking) to school every day, and manage to learn things despite the stress of their lives. I was challenged by the way they don't just sit and grieve and wish things were different, but simply continue on living and trying to make things better. I was impressed and challenged... and just kept thinking how young they are.