INJONGO YETHU...

Africare’s motto is that their “work begins where the road ends”. In a nutshell, that explains why they are based in Whittlesea, about a half hour drive southeast of Queenstown. The town center is nothing more than a short block, though it features a brand-new grocery store (!), a sprinkling of shops, and sidewalks packed with women selling produce and men hitching khombi rides (a mini-bus that is the primary method of transport in the area). This bustling strip is encircled by a vast landscape marked by scattered settlements. In fact, it is not uncommon to spot a herd of cattle or goats crossing the road as you make your way around town. Africare’s site is located on the outskirts at Hewu, the main hospital. I was accompanied there by Dr. Ketchi Anah (who could easily rival Mayor Fenty’s blackberry thumb with her ability to multi-task in the midst of juggling calls on dueling cell phones). Originally from Nigeria, Anah now calls Northwest Washington home, where she manages Africare’s HIV/AIDS projects in about a half dozen African countries.

“I really want to contribute to health disparities,” Anah said of Injongo Yethu, a multi-million dollar project which provides a range of community-based services including nutritional support, counseling, HIV/AIDS awareness training and peer-education. “The Eastern Cape province is one of the poorest in the country. When you think about the issue of poverty, in addition to HIV/AIDS, this was one of the provinces with the greatest need.”

That was evident when I met 27-year-old Xolena Dini, an unemployed single mother who was diagnosed with HIV last year. She was among a dozen people that had gathered inside of a small clinic room for an HIV/AIDS support group meeting. It was lunchtime…and the group was discussing how to prepare a healthy soup with ordinary garden vegetables. The recipe consisted of a stewed mix of spinach, potatoes, carrots, green pepper, brinjal (eggplant) and a hint of rosemary. (Of course, I had to try a sample…and it was quite tasty!)

Dini said that maintaining a healthy lifestyle along with a regular ARV regimen has done wonders for her wellbeing. In fact, she even pulled out a medical sheet to prove it, saying that she feels “healthy as a horse!” She showed me that her latest CD4 count had risen from 127 to 528, since she started treatment. (CD4 count measures a persons’ white blood cell count, which are the cells needed to fight off infection. A healthy HIV negative adult usually ranges between 500-1500 cells/mm).

“If you are HIV positive….no one is going to take care of your life,” she said. “Your life is in your hands.”