- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- On Thursday morning it was bitterly cold in Marondera.
Through thick mist and an icy wind, a friend and I went visiting in a high
density suburb just behind Marondera town. In two long, thin buildings
that face each other and had once been pink but were now dirty brown, there
were twenty four doors, and we stood outside one waiting to go in. I looked
around, not so that I could soak in the sight but to force my brain to
accept what my eyes would not believe. There was one leaking tap in a muddy
hollow in the barren yard. This is the water supply for twenty four families
- for washing, cooking, cleaning and bathing. There was one outside concrete
sink in which people do all their washing. It does not have a drain and
the dirty water simply pours out onto the ground and sits in filthy, slimy
puddles in front of the block of communal toilets.
-
- When the door opened we saw Christopher. He is dying
of Aids and being nursed through his last days and weeks by his wife. Christopher
was too weak to even raise his head from the bed but he tried to smile
and greeted us in a whisper, leaving his wife to do the talking. This one
room, perhaps 3 metres square, is their entire home. It does not have water
or a bathroom or toilet and has only one small window in the back wall.
At the bottom of the bed was a huge pile of soiled bedclothes, waiting
to be washed in the outside concrete sink. In a bucket of cold water by
the bed were Christopher's soiled clothes, also waiting to be washed outside.
There was no spare linen to put back on the bed and no plastic sheeting
with which to protect the mattress and so Christopher lay on top of a folded
cloth, rags wrapped around his waist, a thin blue blanket on top of his
20 kg body. On the floor was a small tin baby bath into which Christopher's
wife would lift her husband when we had gone and try and bath him.
-
- She has only one disposable glove and carefully took
it off as we stood talking. Christopher is 36 years old and is the father
of five children, four of whom have been sent to live in the rural areas
with their grandparents so that they do not have to see their father dying
like this. Christopher does not take anti retro virals, he could never
afford them and now his body is too weak to be able to handle them. He
used to support his wife and children and worked as a security guard until
he became too sick to continue. Then his wife supported the family by selling
tomatoes and bananas on the road-side, but now all day, every day she is
at home, caring for her husband, watching him die. They have no income,
no drugs, no support and only the food given to them by well wishers.
-
- It is tragic to know that Christopher is one of the lucky
ones in Marondera because he has someone to care for him. There are thousands
more like him, lying in their own faeces and vomit behind filthy doors
in freezing, dark rooms, alone, unseen and waiting to die. I visited one,
and frankly the sight was so appalling that I cannot find the words to
describe the hell I saw. When I got home from visiting Christopher I knew
that I had to do something, anything, to help the Aids victims and their
carers and families in my home town - it would be criminal not to.
-
- Together with a lawyer, a doctor and a small group of
friends we have started the Christopher Campaign in Marondera. We know
that it is probably too late for Christopher but it is not for thousands
of others like him. People who ask for nothing but whose eyes plead for
a little comfort and dignity. Anything you can do to help us will be appreciated,
nothing will be wasted, diverted or sold. If you can spare one pair of
disposable gloves, one bar of soap or one tube of antiseptic, please contact
me. If you can put this letter up in your church, office or club, we will
be so grateful. If you would like to help in any way at all, please email
me at cbuckle@mango.zw . If you would like to donate even one dollar, the
Christopher Campaign wants and needs your help. The Rotary Club of Marondera
have very kindly agreed to receive donations for the Christopher Campaign
through their registered charity and their banking details are at the end
of this letter. Nelson Mandela recently said that "millions of people
are in danger of being reduced to mere numbers," because of Aids.
Christopher is no longer a number to me and this letter is for him.
-
- Until next week,
-
- with love, cathy.
-
- The Christopher Campaign Rotary Club of Marondera, Barclays
Bank Marondera, Zimbabwe Account Number: 1534957
-
- Copyright cathy buckle 17th July 2003.http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books on the Zimbabwean crisis, "African Tears" and "Beyond
Tears" are available outside Africa from: orders@africabookcentre.com
; www.africabookcentre.com ; www.amazon.co.uk ; in Australia and New Zealand:
johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa: www.kalahari.net www.exclusivebooks.com
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