Last Day in Capetown

Arm in Arm in Africa: Wednesday, February 26th, 2003

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; not so much to be understood, as to understand; not so much to be loved, as to love.

Capetown and cloudy Table Mountain from Robben Island

Today is our last day in Cape Town. For many of us it was the day we hit the wall emotionally. We have seen so much poverty and illness; it is difficult sometimes not to despair. The conditions under which so many live are so completely out of the realm of our experience as Americans, that it feels like I'm not even on the same planet. I feel like I've been on the wildest rollercoaster ride in the park. We'll spend a few hours walking around a township, then we'll be 5 miles away in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the harbor eating lunch. It's almost too much to bear.

Then I look at the people who live here who continue to fight, who continue to push for something better, who refuse to give up. They just will not lay down and die quietly. We met one such man today named Zackie Achmat. He is an activist in a group called TAC - Treatment Action Committee which is trying, through intense lobbying and civil disobedience, to force the government to provide medicine and treatment programs for those with HIV/AIDS . The statistics he threw at us were overwhelming: A private health care system that treats 7 million, mostly white, South Africans and a public health care system that treats the remaining 58 million, mostly black and poor. The funding for private and public health care is essentially the reverse, with nearly 80% of money spent for health care in the private sector and the remaining 20% for the public.

We were flabbergasted to hear of the concerns of some South Africans of an invasion by the United States. Once President Bush has captured the oil fields of the Mideast, so the reasoning goes, he will next come for the rich mineral deposits of South Africa. Hard to believe, but this fear is being used by some in the South African government to justify the shifting of funds that could be used for health care to military preparedness. Honestly... my jaw was on the floor.

How does an action committee such as TAC even address such a thing? Apparently, they just pick themselves up off the floor and push on. There has been intense lobbying in the past 6 months as the national budget was being prepared. The government had made promises to provide funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, but had refused to sign any kind of agreement. TAC was prepared to begin a large civil disobedience campaign at the beginning of March if funding wasn't there when the budget was released. Today we were blessed to be with Zackie when the good news finally came through. The Health Minister announced today the appropriation of 2.2 billion Rand for AIDS treatment (approximately 275 million dollars), a huge success for TAC and for those who so desperately need the aid.

Tomorrow we begin our long drive to Malengeni, a small traditional village in the Transkie in the Eastern Cape. Our 1,000 mile journey will be stretched over three days, and will be, I am told, through some of the prettiest countryside yet. Access to the internet may be sporadic, so we'll sign off for now and update you later when we are able. Editors Note: The ever thoughtful Nohners have sent 2 unpublished stories they have written in the first days that we will publish if we do not hear from them on a daily basis. So, check back each day!

Please, remember in your prayers the people of Guguletu. And keep those prayers coming for our band of travelers - we feel them all they way over here and they really help keep us going when things get tough. God Bless you all.

Jeff and Rita Nohner have volunteered to act as scribe and shutterbug for this journey to South Africa. Jeff is also the designer of the www.ArmInArmInAfrica.org website which we encourage you to visit.