A Good Man in Byrne Valley

Goodman Madondo is no stranger to challenges. From a young age, he has witnessed illness, death, poverty and struggle, both in his own family and across the communities within which he lives and works, but this quiet, determined man chooses to look for positive solutions to burdens and problems.

The town of Richmond is situated 50 kms from Pietermaritzburg in a rural area resourced mainly by the farming, forestry and fishing industries. Goodman moved there from Donnybrook at the age of seven to live with his aunt after his mother passed away. After completing Standard 7 schooling, he worked as a gardener in Byrne and then as a waiter at the local restaurant, but he always wanted to achieve more in life. Having a sister who is disabled and an elderly father, he also needed to support his family financially.

When a wave of crime swept through the Byrne Valley during the late 1990s, Goodman saw an opportunity for self-employment, and with encouragement from property-owners in the area, he set up his own security business. In 1997 he gathered and trained a team of guards to patrol and protect properties in and around Byrne Village and other points in the Valley. When a larger security firm tried to take over the operation, arguing that his was an ?informal enterprise?, Goodman responded by registering his organisation as a business, called ?Abavikele? or ?people in control?. He now provides stable employment for seven men.

Goodman has always interacted closely with residents in every sector of the communities in Richmond and the surrounding areas, and has observed how HIV/AIDS has steadily caused increasing levels of suffering amongst them, with the hungry, the homeless and the hopeless being especially vulnerable. "Although many people have been falling ill and dying, no-one has much information about the epidemic or how to deal with it. The healthcare workers at the local clinics are too busy to do much more than treat symptoms," he says.

He assembled a group of concerned citizens and formed a community-based HIV/AIDS volunteer committee, and together they have been trying to acquire and pass on skills-training to the unemployed, while providing ongoing home-based care for their ailing fellow residents. "The problem is that some income-generating training has not served its purpose, because the trainees are just too weak and sick to follow through with it," explains Goodman.

Although death has taken several of the volunteers and the committee has lost much of its structure, Goodman has a group of 26 dedicated comrades who continue to empower themselves and care for their neighbours. In October, Sondela met with the group as they took part in a day's HIV/AIDS training kindly sponsored by Sappi Limited, one of the major employers in the region. Gathering on a cold, rainy day in Richmond?s Old Court House, and with Goodman facilitating and translating, they shared their experiences of the epidemic with trainer Renato Palmi, who provided them with free resource materials and condoms.

The training programme included guidance, demonstrations and role-play on HIV transmission, Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), condom usage, discrimination (social and legal rights of PLWAs), as well as stigma in general and women?s vulnerability. The volunteers confirmed that poverty, inequality and stigma were fuelling the epidemic and that, in turn, AIDS was rapidly depriving their communities of breadwinners and caregivers.

The group pleaded for further training and information, and one new volunteer offered vacant premises in the main road for use as a drop-in centre for HIV/AIDS resources, counselling and referrals. Goodman, ever the mobiliser, was pleased with the day's work, and plans are being made for follow-up sessions.

He declared as a parting message: "I'm HIV-negative, and I'm going to stay that way. I wish everyone could be HIV-negative, which is why I'm trying to bring knowledge to our communities, while helping those who are infected as much as I can." With that, he left to go to the three orphans he schools and cares for.

A good man, indeed.

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