South Africa’s Tears

The Faces of AIDS

 

September 2009

 

A film by Marion Mayer-Hohdahl

Camera: Marion Mayer-Hohdahl

Editing: Hermann Winklhofer

 

Music:

Maikani Impressions of Africa

CD BS/10 A -01

Nr. 4 Mama 1:35 min.

 

Thembi Mtshali INS-001

Nr. 1 Opening Song – A woman in waiting

(36 sec. and 25 sec.)   1:01 min.

 

Cavendish Africa CAV CD 57

Nr. 13 Female by Peter Howell  1 min.

 

Cavendish Africa CAV CD 57

Nr. 38 African Village Life 2 by Richard Attree

54 sec.

 

TEXT:

 

0:00

Opening credits

 

0:37

Title: South Africa’s Tears

 

1:02

Subtitle: The Faces of AIDS

 

1:21

A film by Marion Mayer-Hohdahl

 

1:27

5:30 am in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

 

1:37

Thembi is having trouble getting up this morning. She and her 11 siblings go to different schools and have to get out of the house early.

 

2:01

The children are not actually related, but they all have one thing in common: no parents.

 

2:10

They live with a foster mother in the Baphumelele orphanage, in one of the largest townships – or black neighborhoods – near Cape Town.

 

2:21

Princess Marethabile is 28 years old. It takes a lot of time until her foster children are all taken care of in the morning.

 

2:29

Princess shares the work with another foster mother. She spent the night with the children. In the morning, she is responsible for breakfast and cleaning up the house.

 

2:47

The 6 to 13-year-old children cover the range from kindergarten to high school.

 

2:58

Many have to take medication every morning and evening. They are HIV positive. In some areas of South Africa, every fifth person is infected with HIV. Every year in South Africa, some 350,000 people die of the disease.

 

3:18

Princess keeps records for every child. The medication dose needed to fight off the AIDS disease is carefully recorded. It is the only way for the HIV-infected children to have an almost normal life.

 

3:35

Before the 28-year-old can go home, she has to do the laundry for her flock of children. There are a total of 7 houses with foster mothers at Baphumelele. Another 4 are under construction. Now, only the youngest is left at home. She is waiting for Princess to bring her to the kindergarten, which is in the same street as the orphanage.

 

4:15

This kindergarten cares for 300 children ranging from 3 months to 5 years old. All can find a spot here, not just the orphans from Baphumelele. It is a Xhosa word that means progress.

 

4:45

In house number 3, Princess finally has time for a coffee with the founder of Baphumelele, Rosalia Mashale – Rosie for short. She established Baphumelele in 1989. For her employees, the work is more than just a job.

 

5:08

Interview (in off and on)

Princess Marethabile

Baphumelele foster mother

(IN ENGLISH????)

The work here is more than a job for me. It is my life. With everything I do, I think of the children. Even when I’m sick and have to stay home, I think of the children. Who will take care of them? This is not a job, it’s my life and I love it.

 

5:31

182 children have found a home here. Many have to share a bed, because money for more dormitories still has to be found.

 

5:52

Rosie is not only the founder, but the soul of Baphumelele. When she moved to the black neighborhood of Khayelitsha 20 years ago, she couldn’t understand how mothers could simply leave their children alone at home without any supervision. She wanted to find a remedy. That was the start of the kindergarten. She didn’t stop there.

 

6:29

Interview

Rosie Mashale

Founder of Baphumelele orphanage

(IN ENGLISH????)

In 2001, I found a child outside my door. In the middle of the night, the police then brought another child to me. I went to the court with the children the next day, but people there had no time and told me I should take care of the children.

 

6:52

I was completely surprised and even thought of leaving the children somewhere on the street. But then God came to me. I closed my eyes and thought: if you God want me to take care of the children, then you must help me. And he has always done so since and given me strength.

 

7:18

It wasn’t always easy to raise funds for the children. In the beginning, Rosie had only herself to rely on. Today, 45 percent of her budget comes from the state and donations arrive not only from within South Africa, but also from Europe. Everyone who visits Baphumelele is welcome – especially from the children’s perspective. They look for warmth and affection.

 

7:56

They learn to share from an early age – food too. Many of the children are infected with HIV, but that is irrelevant here. Everyone is welcome at Baphumelele.

 

(Leave music free)

 

8:42

Many newborns have been found at garbage dumps in black neighborhoods. For them, help came too late.

 

8:52

At Baphumelele, meanwhile, the first baby hatch has been installed. An employee shows us what she saw with her own eyes.

 

9:26

Interview

Rosie Mashale

Baphumelele founder

(IN ENGLISH????)

In Khayelitsha, children are abandoned almost daily. Some have internal injuries, others bruises. Some have been choked. It scares me, it hurts me and I always think about how those children would be dead if they didn’t have a place to go. Children having to suffer like this so early in their lives, for me it is intolerable.

 

10:12

Rosie wanted to help adults too. She built a clinic. Almost daily, relatives carry sick people on their back to the facility. Aides care for those who have reached the final stages of AIDS. They give advice, medication, food. They do everything to help the patients back onto their feet. The anti-retroviral medication helps only if you take it regularly and have a balanced diet. In Khayelitsha, only few can afford that.

 

10:57

Vuyani Jacobs is infected with HIV and an AIDS activist. He meets with the head of the Baphumelele clinic. He is not only looking for information. This is personal too. Vuyani became severely ill twice with tuberculosis and almost died a few months ago because he stopped taking his anti-retroviral medicine. He is feeling better today, has his appetite back and has a purpose in life.

 

11:37

Interview (in off and on)

Vuyani Jacobs

AIDS activist

(IN ENGLISH????)

The virus causes a lot of psychological problems. You have to think about a lot of things – for example how long you will survive. Do I still want to have a child, finish my education, take out a loan? And then you think: why bother? You are going to die anyway.

 

If you understand what the virus means, that you can live longer with the anti-retroviral medication, then you can make plans and have dreams again.

 

The medication makes you feel better. It controls or suppresses the virus in your body. You have energy again, want to do things. You have pain, but you’re happy. If AIDS breaks out completely, then you’re unhappy. So that is the problem. Quality of life is important.

 

12:42

A look back at the AIDS policies of South Africa: demonstrators with the non-governmental organization Treatment Action Plan – TAC for short – protest against the policies of former president Thabo Mbeki and against the pharmaceutical industry, which had objected to the import of cheaper, unpatented AIDS medication.

 

13:10

TAC sued the government and won. All pregnant women would now receive nevirapine before they gave birth, the country’s highest court ruled. The then-health minister complied. She had originally wanted to deny pregnant HIV-infected women the drug, which lowers the risk of infection at birth.

 

13:35

Then-president Mbeki went a step further: he saw no link between HIV and AIDS. According to studies by Harvard University, 330,000 people thus suffered an untimely death during his time in power. Since then, the illness has killed several million people in South Africa.

 

14:00

I will never again be the same, they sing – referring to those who must live with the virus.

 

14:24

They sing in honor of the former presidents Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton, who both champion the fight against AIDS – including the policies of the government.

 

14:39

President Jacob Zuma had to confess in court that he had sex with an HIV-infected woman. Afterwards, he said, he took a shower. Such a trivialization of AIDS can prove dangerous for many.

 

14:56

Almost 23 million people live with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS leads to endless suffering. Those who are ill are often expelled from their villages, rejected by their families.

 

15:20

Many have tuberculosis. Despite medication, some come too late to the clinic.

 

15:31

70 percent of the people in this funeral home have died of the disease. Some 2.1 million people died of AIDS worldwide in 2007.

 

15:51

To become a member here, you have to bring proof of an AIDS death in your family. This is the association of Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS.

 

16:09

They come together to help each other overcome their grief. Every single one of them has had to bury one to four children because of AIDS.

 

16:20

In their center, they receive a meal. Depending on how much has been donated, it will occasionally include meat. This week, there was only enough money for spinach and maize meal.

 

16:35

Interview

Emma Xhego

Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids member

(IN ENGLISH????)

Before, I knew nothing about AIDS, until my niece got sick. After her death, I thought that maybe I had also become infected. Only at our GAPA association did I learn more about the disease. Here I am no longer depressed, because I can talk.

 

16:53

Interview

Goldie Qayiya

Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids member

(IN ENGLISH????)

I have 2 grandsons. When my daughter died, I told my granddaughter about HIV and AIDS and asked her never to have unprotected sex with a man and to always insist that a condom be used.

 

17:19

My grandson is 10 years old. Even with him I talk about AIDS and that he should never rape later, like others do in school without a condom, because you otherwise come in contact with the disease.

 

17:39

Vivienne Budaza has been the executive director of GAPA, the Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS, for two years. The organization has existed since 2001. There are 24 groups and every group’s grandmother looks out for 10 other grandmas who can become members due to their children’s deaths.

 

18:05

Interview

Vivienne Budaza

Executive director of Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS

(IN ENGLISH????)

Their stories are moving, make you sad and dispirited. But GAPA does not allow any self-pity. The women can do something with their hands here or sing. During the 4 or 5 hours at GAPA, you forget your problems and stress. Because you come together with others who have experienced similar things and you can talk with them about how they dealt with it.

 

18:39

Volunteers spend time with the grandmas. Gymnastics is good for them and fun.

 

18:56

Most of the grandmothers are overweight because they subsist for the most part on only maize flour-based dishes. It is filling and cheap. GAPA tries to provide them with balanced meals.

 

19:13

The grandmas appear to be like different people at GAPA and forget their grief for a few hours.

 

19:35

Interview (in off and on)

Vivienne Budaza

Executive director of Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS

(IN ENGLISH????)

Unemployment is our biggest problem. It leads to poverty and makes young people vulnerable. Girls let themselves be kept by older men or become sexually active before their time to earn their food. As long as we have such high unemployment, I don’t see how we can effectively fight HIV and AIDS.

 

20:07

The grandmothers earn a little money by watching children in the neighborhood after school. Their pensions barely amount to the equivalent of 100 euros a month. If they take care of orphans and foster children, they get an extra 20 euros a month. That is very little even for South African standards.

 

20:31

Eunice Mases has 5 children. Two of her daughters died of AIDS. The 62-year-old has to figure out how to care for a 9-member family on her meager pension.

 

20:46

Interview (in off and on)

Eunice Mase

Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids member

(IN ENGLISH????)

I had a problem, but when I came to GAPA, I saw that many more other grandmothers had more difficulties than I did. One had lost 3 children, the other 4, but me only 2. So I ask myself why I was so sad.

 

21:09

Sometimes we eat meat on Sundays. We can’t afford it during the week. Sometimes we only have bread and tea. Others don’t even have that.

 

21:21

South Africa is a rich country, but the black population has not profited. During 48 years of apartheid, blacks were treated like second-class humans. If they had work, they did not earn more than the minimum. That is why people like Dr. Norma van Niekerk are so important. She cares for people with AIDS through her organization HOPE.

 

21:48

Interview

Zamikaya Mtete

AIDS patient

(IN ENGLISH????)

When I found out that I was infected with HIV, my world collapsed. How was I going to feed my family? For the last year, the government hasn’t even paid the assistance anymore that I’m supposed to get because of my illness. Now I only get money for the children and we have to make due with that.

 

22:10

Since last year, the HOPE organization has been handing out groceries to the poorest of the poor. For many, it is the only hope left. This family has almost nothing. The 31-year-old has infected his wife with HIV. His children have yet to be tested.

 

22:45

In the little village of Hogsback in the Eastern Cape, the HIV rate is very high. Many of the men work in cities and use prostitutes. Back home, they then spread the virus.

 

22:58

Bukelwa Sobuza educates people about AIDS. She knows her patients. This HIV patient has not picked up her medication, which she gets for free from HOPE, in months. And she is once again pregnant – despite her illness.

 

23:14

Interview

AIDS patient

(no name)

(IN ENGLISH????)

My boyfriend died in 2003. My current boyfriend knows that I’m HIV positive, but otherwise no one does. The family would kick me out and his parents would no longer take care of us, because I’m HIV positive.

 

23:32

The doctor gets the anti-retroviral medication from sponsors in the United States. Fifty HIV patients are registered here to receive help.

 

23:45

Many hospitals in rural areas are supposed to get anti-retroviral medication for AIDS patients from the government, but often don’t. That leads to death, like it almost did for Khululekilo. But a balanced nutrition is also a piece of the puzzle. That is why HOPE sponsors a vegetable garden for the community.

 

24:10

Khululekilo Gubevu is a driving force. The 31-year-old has gotten training as an AIDS educator to break the stigma of the disease. Millions continue to be infected with the immune deficiency virus. In South Africa, it is an estimated 1,600 new infections every day.

 

24:36

Interview

Norma van Niekerk

Doctor

(IN ENGLISH????)

I have seen so much sadness in the lives of poor people. It changes their existence when you educate them, give them medication and clarity about their illness.

 

24:56

Khululekilo’s family has set up a little store. They realize that they cannot depend on support from the government – also when it comes to the distribution of medication.

 

25:08

Interview

Norma van Niekerk

Doctor

(IN ENGLISH????)

 

On paper, the government has wonderful plans. The bigger hospitals have the anti-retroviral medication – some regional hospitals too. But for the rural population, it is difficult to visit those hospitals and the transportation costs are high.

 

25:27

Three generations live together here. There is no paid work in the villages. Those who don’t want to migrate to the cities have to care for themselves.

 

25:38

Every day, maize meal is cooked for them all. It fills the stomachs, but those who are ill should have a more balanced diet because of the medication’s side effects. Many HIV patients stop taking their pills so that they get sick again, in order to get new help from the government. But there also is another challenge. 

 

26:04

Interview

Khululekilo Gubevu

AIDS patient

(IN ENGLISH????)

There is the stigma. People don’t want to talk to you, be with you, take anything from you, touch you or use your plate. You have to do something, explain the disease. You have to tell them that if you haven’t gotten tested, you won’t even know if you’re infected.

 

26:42

Since 1981, when the illness was first described, AIDS has spread like a wildfire. It has not just taken lives, but also destroyed family structures. That is why young people have joined forces, to draw attention to the disease through theatre and songs.

(Leave free)

 

27:18

Interview

Nomava Mafika

AIDS educator

(IN ENGLISH????)

If a person wants to know where they stand, I encourage them to do an HIV test with Dr. Norma. If they’re scared to go alone, then I help them.

 

27:33

Norma van Niekerk’s work doesn’t stop. She is one of the few doctors here who understands the AIDS-infected black population and takes care of them. Once a month, she delivers medication with her staff and groceries too, when they’re needed.

 

27:57

Akhona is 16 years old and has been responsible for her household for the last three years. Her mother has been diagnosed with tuberculosis and has lost the use of her legs. In South Africa, hundreds of thousands of teenagers have to care for their households and their younger siblings. Often, they also have to depend on help from neighbors.

 

28:32

Interview

Caroline Dukumbana

TB patient

(IN ENGLISH????)

In this country, there are too few doctors. If you’re sick, you have a long way to the clinic. When you go there, they don’t have any pills. They have nothing. It is important that Norma takes care of people with HIV and TB, because there is nobody else here.

 

29:05

Sometimes, just human warmth and a listening ear go a long way in helping the patients.

 

29:16

Many South Africans seek advice from the sangomas, the traditional and spiritual healers.

(Leave free)

 

29:47

They give the HIV patients remedies that are supposed to help with symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. Some sangomas even claim that they can cure AIDS.

 

30:00

In the major cities, there are enormous markets for traditional medicine. Here, those who are ill can buy “muti” or magic remedies. Snake skins and monkey heads are offered here alongside tree bark and special soil.

 

30:22

But in most cases, the natural remedies do not help and the HIV patients have to visit a clinic. Often, they are too late. They have infected their wives and girlfriends in the meantime and fathered HIV-positive children. That is what happened to this AIDS patient. South African men object to the use of condoms. You don’t suck on a candy with its wrapper on either, they argue, even though they know that they are sick.

 

31:00

Interview

Kekeletso Lebata

AIDS educator

(IN ENGLISH????)

Many people come too late. They don’t want to be seen at the clinic where anti-retroviral medication is distributed. Their families know nothing of their condition. They don’t want to be seen getting the medicine.

 

31:21

The two educators from the AIDS program HOPE in Cape Town also work closely with the sangomas.

 

31:33

Nombuso Keme is 61 years old. She says she knew through dreams and from her ancestors that she had to become a sangoma. The HOPE staff wants the healers to direct AIDS patients to the clinics, instead of sending them home with natural remedies.

 

31:52

Interview

Nombuso Keme

Healer

(IN ENGLISH????)

I see 5 to 10 patients every day with lesions on their bodies. Now I know that I have to wear gloves when I treat them. Otherwise I could also be infected. Some of the healers say that they can cure AIDS. I can’t, or otherwise there wouldn’t be so many dying.

 

32:14

The healer has given 10 foster children a home. The youngest is the 2-year-old orphan Asenam. She must have experienced terrible things. Her back has welts and her ear is constantly infected – probably because of the blows she received as an infant.

 

32:44

Many children fall victim to HIV patients. They rape them in the belief that their blood can cleanse them of the disease. The Austrian consul general in Cape Town, Ingrid Koehn-Dursy, has tried to help financially. The money was used to set up a room at the court where children can calmly wait for their appointments before the judge. Anatomically correct dolls help the children to describe the unspeakable.

 

33:18

Claire Binnemann works for the non-government organization Patch, which assists sexually abused children.

 

33:30

Interview

Ingrid Koehn

Consul General

(IN GERMAN)

 

34:03

These two children are supposed to testify against a friend of the family. They have been prepared – as much as possible – for the court proceedings.

 

34:12

Over the last year, 438 children have walked this path because of rape. Normally, they should have been examined at a hospital. They are spared from that here, where they receive support from trained therapists and doctors. The children have to go through a lot even after the rape. Samples are taken from their intimate parts, their skin and their hair to gather evidence and identify the sexual offender.

 

34:47

Interview

Claire Binneman

Patch worker

(IN ENGLISH????)

If a child and a Patch worker are seen together, at the hospital they can put two and two together. Then the child is labeled and its secret is known. We want to protect the identity of the children and make the whole procedure as tolerable as possible. We try to create a harmonious atmosphere, so that they have the feeling of being protected and getting help.

 

35:15

South Africa has the highest child rape ratio in the world. Non-governmental organizations say that every third child is abused. The five social workers who are employed by the Patch organization must show a lot of empathy to gain the children’s trust.

 

35:45

Elaine Jacobs

Trauma therapist

(IN ENGLISH????)

The worst experience I had was with a girl of 18 months. The hospital called and said she had been sexually abused. I have a boy who is almost the same age and that is why it was so terrible for me.

36:03

I am most worried about our teenagers, because so many become pregnant. They are not only raped, but also have to undergo an abortion. The perpetrator often is someone whom they know. They have to deal with all of that, also with rejection from their family and the community because they are rape victims.

 

36:25

Naomi Sinden

Mother

We felt abused by the offender and his family. They intimidated us. We tried to involve the police, but nobody could help us. Support is simply missing in such cases.

 

36:41

The 6-year-old and her mother have filed a complaint against their neighbor. They have already been in court three times. The proceeding kept getting postponed. The girl had to receive therapy for the first three months after the sexual abuse. She didn’t want to talk anymore and wouldn’t trust anyone.

 

37:03

Interview

Naomi Sinden

Mother

(IN ENGLISH????)

I don’t think that he will ever be convicted. For me, this never had to do with winning the trial, but with my daughter talking openly about what happened and not keeping silent. That is the most important. It will help her to process the traumatic experience. I support her 100 percent in that.

 

37:33

In black areas such as Khayelitsha, the rate of sexual abuse and HIV infections are especially high. AIDS educators visit those who are ill so they have access to medication. They themselves are HIV positive and are familiar with the disease. Puleng is 24 years old and just had a seizure. She has been receiving AIDS medication for a few days and is already feeling better.

 

38:11

Millions of people live like Puleng. They have left their tribal homes to try their luck in the cities. The educators from Yabonga, an AIDS support organization, take care of the township residents whenever possible.

 

38:35

Here, 100 women and men infected with the AIDS virus gather to show their solidarity for those who are ill with drums and songs. They all work for the organization Yabonga, which means „Thank you“ in the Zulu language.

 

38:53

Two women brought Yabonga into being 11 years ago: the South African Ulpha Robertsen and the German Ursel Berlin-Barnes.

 

39:10

Interview (in off and on)

Ursel Berlin-Barnes

Founder

(IN GERMAN)

 

39:31

South Africa has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. More than 5.7 million people are infected with the HIV virus.

(Leave free)

 

39:56

Once a year, there is a big party for the Yabonga staff – as a thank you for their commitment.

(Leave free)

 

40:15

Some of the 110 educators receive certificates after having completed a training course or for their good work. All of the staff members have to participate in an initial four-month training course. Three hundred women and 10 men have taken part. The AIDS support organization depends on donations. For three years, they received financial help from the Austrian Development Cooperation, among others.

 

40:43

The AIDS educators also like to call themselves AIDS ambassadors. Yabonga has opened 13 centers next to clinics. That way, they can immediately reach out to those who are ill after they have been told that they are HIV positive.

 

41:02

Interview

Zoliswa Komani

AIDS educator

(IN ENGLISH????)

There are just too many stigmas around AIDS. They don’t want to talk about AIDS. The patients are scared of other people and what they will say. They don’t talk. They just die and say that it was tuberculosis – they don’t say AIDS.

 

41:31

Zoliswa Komani und Pheliswa Faltein have to have some courage to talk freely about their HIV-positive status, AIDS, condoms and sexually transmitted diseases in clinics.

 

41:50

The biggest problem is the men’s sexual conduct. Because of their inferior social rank, women cannot yet insist on safe sex.

 

42:06

The South African government has committed itself to distributing free condoms. But often, the clinics are not available. The two AIDS educators play it safe. They distribute condoms to all who want them.