Poverty Kills

Yesterday I was in another module of my bereavement course. One lady in the class talked about an NGO that goes into the rural areas to test people for HIV/AIDS and then gives out ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy) and supplements to those who test positive. The problem is that the people then go on to sell the medications in order to buy basic foods, or to pay for funerals or to pay for school fees. So, people die of HIV/AIDS. Another lady made a plea for her aunt. Her aunt has been told that she has a heart problem, and will die before the end of the year if she doesn't have surgery. But, of course, the familiy doesn't have the money for surgery. And so the kids are watching their mom die. It would have almost been better if the doctors had said, "there's nothing you can do" because there is something they can do - but they can't save their mom's life because of poverty. Another lady shared about her friends. They had a baby who was born with an enlarged heart. They couldn't perform any surgeries here in Zim and so the family spent all of their savings on taking him down to South Africa. 6 months later there were complications, and they couldn't afford another trip to South Africa, so their baby died.

Sometimes we get this fuzzy picture of poverty - we admire people who live simply; who don't get caught up in material things; who know what real life is about because they are poor. But poverty is also killing people. Sometimes life is harsh.