The end of the world
Catholic nun, Sister Sally Duigan has seen much suffering, but when she visited the Chabalala household in the far Northern Province village of Radoo earlier this year, she was shocked.
She describes her first visit to the family. “We drove for about 90 minutes through the mountains and along very rouge roads. There we found Eric aimlessly cutting the long grass next to his house.
“Eric was devastated and clearly weak from hunger. He had lost his wife to AIDS in December, he had just been informed that he was HIV positive and his baby daughter, Goodness (2) was clearly very ill and malnourished.
“A terrified Theresa (13) was trying to care for her and was feeding her water with a teaspoon when we arrived. There was no sign of food in the house,” Sr Sally describes.
Theresa was staying at home during the day to care for Goodness while her brothers Jock and Freddy went to school. Foster (5) stayed at home with his father.
Sr Sally intervened and delivered food parcels. Sadly, Goodness passed away in April.
“I considered suicide and killing the children as well,” says Eric when interviewed recently.
“I was very angry at the world, but Sister Sally forced me to eat and slowly, but surely I regained some of my strength,” says Eric.
He is sitting in the shade of an outbuilding painting wooden rainbows, which he sells to people who visit the Catholic Centre in Tzaneen.
“The church has become my family. When I was retrenched from the gold mines in Carletonville I got a small payout, but that went into the medicine to keep my wife and Goodness alive,” he says.
Breaking rank with the high levels of denial in the area, Eric has opted to tell his children about his HIV status. “I am dying, but at least I can tell them how that can get AIDS.
“I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that my wife has died. It is like losing an arm or a leg. There is nobody I can turn to.
“I constantly worry about what will happen to my children when I die. Theresa will have to take care of them. There is nobody in the community and no family that will help them.
“All I can teach them is how to avoid becoming infected. I have told them to get an education. Education should be their husband, their wife and their father.”
Eric says he had taken a conscious decision to bury Goodness in the backyard. “I need to feel her near me. Every morning when I wake up, I go to the sight where I buried my baby.”
Theresa was too emotional to be interviewed, but managed to say that she was very worried about her father.
“If he dies, I will be very sad and worried,” she says through her tears.
“I am worried about them, but this is a clear example of why it is important to keep the parents alive and healthy,” says Sr Sally.
“If Eric dies, the other family members who have shunned them will definitely try and take the house away from the children. Who is going to stop them? Theresa?”
*Duigan can be reached on 015-307-4233.
– Health-e News Service
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Health-e News is South Africa's dedicated health news service and home to OurHealth citizen journalism. Follow us on Twitter @HealtheNews
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The end of the world
by healthe, Health-e News
October 19, 2001