siyabonga: thank you

Many thanks to all for the words of support, and offers to send cameras; with such a long journey, I am afraid of when/if it might arrive, and if it would arrive in one piece! And Gwen, your words of comfort went a long way. Pat, I reformatted everything, reset everything, and the cam has been more on than off; let's hope it will take some photos of the traditional healers' conference coming up. We're planning a quick trip to Pietermaritzburg, so I will buy another camera there...From now on, I will try to be more like my tech-wise friend Fusco and buy the latest model and ebay it as soon as a newer one comes out, to cut my losses! I wish I could write all of you, but internet is limited; if we come across a wireless joint sometime during our travels, I will go correspondence-crazy, I promise...

Friday went significantly better than the last posting, with some eye opening testimonials from the Home Based Carers (HBCs), unpaid holy women who travel many kilometers on foot to care for the sick in their homes. She presented us with a sweet-smelling grass basket, because Zulu tradition dictates that a gift must be given when a new baby arrives, as it is our first time here. Vusi is an incredibly eloquent translator and excellent driver who saves our lives on a daily basis; he is a pastor and musician, which adds to his sensitivity in these hard to bear situations. Phumzile is essential as always, and we will be sad to see this heroine leave at the end of June to attend a community development course in Canada; but also informative to hear the grassroots solutions being implemented around the world...I wish all governments were humble enough to admit the wrongdoings and try out each other's successful programs in health care, education, waste management, etc...

The CD4 counts of the patients arrived, with a shock: our healthiest-seeming patient had a count of 20. You can never tell with HIV; so the HBC will accompany her to the clinic tomorrow morning, so that she can start ARV training asap. Our intervention has been a big dilemma in our minds; we met a doctor from the north during a hike (pictured...wow), who was supportive but also questioned the sustainability of it; once we, and our car, leave, will the patients be able to continue getting timely refills on the pills, or go off of them and risk becoming drug-resistant and not be able to continue? The best that we can do is continue to provide taxi fare to the HBCs and keep in contact from afar. This film, which began on the narrower premise of observing the ARVs effects on the patient's body, now encompasses the myriad social obstacles that prevent people from getting the care that's there. We can't waste time and energy fretting over the things we can't control, but do the best we can with what we can offer now, and with what we hope that the film can do.