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AIDS and poverty cut a swathe through Zululand
Chris Jenkins - Sunday Tribune, 14 July 2002. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Not far off the N2 tourist route to Zululand's famous coastal resorts and game reserves, and only a few kilometres from Richards Bay - the region's industrial hub - people are burying their dead in their back gardens.
Nseleni, a township in the greater uMhlathuze Municipality which incorporates the industrial and commercial centres of Richards Bay and Empangeni, is one of scores of densely populated rural settlements in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal, where people are dying in growing numbers from AIDS and starvation.
Here, orphans are left to fend for themselves and even take charge of some households. HIV/AIDS and extreme proverty are now endemic in the region and assuming alarming proportions. These silent killers are decimating whole communities.
At the same time, the death toll is placing increasing pressure on volunteer welfare organisations, such as the South African Red Cross Society, which, with limited resources and little State funding, is struggling to meet the needs of many thousands of sick and desperately poor people - from babies to the elderly.
"Our people are dying the most horrible deaths. Many others don't know where their next meal will come from," said Mrs Joba Gibson, Unit Co-ordinator of the Society's Community-based Healthcare Programme in Zululand. "Relatives do not have money for food, or for funerals, therefore their dead are wrapped in blankets and buried in graves next to their homes." Graves are covered with thorn bushes or stones to stop animals digging up the remains. "In some instances, as many as four graves can be seen next to one house," Gibson said.
Red Cross workers' greatest joy, she said, was to witness the recovery of nearly 400 people. "Many of them have been able to go and look for work. This is what keeps each of going - no matter all the poverty, sickness and pain that surrounds us daily. However, AIDS is here to stay, and we will need millions of Rands in local, national and international funding if we are to carry on caring for these people in their time of need."
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KZN - Uthungulu-DC28(Melmouth, Empangeni, R-Bay, Eshowe)
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