A rough statistic about South Africa in general: about 90 percent of the population here is black or colored, with the other 10 percent being whites. For a long time, the whites dominated the country, leading to Apartheid, the legalized segregation and racism policy from the late 1940s to 1994. Many of you may be familiar with Apartheid and Nelson Mandela as the face of its end. Essentially it was originated to separate the racial groups to keep them from fighting each other but led to horrible policies based in racism. Blacks and colored people were not allowed to vote and relegated to poorer areas and general living conditions. Even since the end of Apartheid though things have not fully improved. Due to longstanding inequality , blacks are still socioeconomically crippled and poverty is rampant. The ANC (African National Congress) is the party of the blacks which has been in power since 1994, but despite their promises of change the country is still in poor shape and the party is known to be full of corruption. In addition, it is common practice and policy to hire blacks before whites, regardless of qualifications. Just by observing the healthcare, education, and other areas it is clear that things are not being run well, but I certainly don’t agree with the prior regime either. This country still has a long way to go politically.
As for culture, there are many ethnic groups making up this country and 11 official languages. Generally, each province (similar to our states) has its primary black ethnicities with their own language. Afrikaans is spoken amongst the whites and taught in most schools, and English is also very common amongst whites and many of the blacks. I’ve mentioned before that Christianity is the major religion of South Africa, but tribal religions are also so embedded into the culture that most “Christians” have additional beliefs added in such as ancestor worship, demonic activity, and various other superstition or false teachings for the sake of money. Suffice to say, the depth of Christianity here is lacking and a solid Christian is fairly difficult to find. Superstition and tradition are very deeply rooted into the black culture and beliefs are very hard to change in the people. For example, even in the hospitals the doctors struggle with patients that take herbal remedies or methods of treatment from “traditional healers” which do more harm than good. Many also believe in the mythical Tokoloshe, which is more or less an evil gremlin which torments people, usually while they are sleeping. Some churches will capitalize on this and tell people that they have to give a certain amount of money to have it removed. Not to say the culture is entirely negative (they have beautiful music) but the presence of such immorality and depravity has really dragged them down. Now only the gospel can truly save these people, but education is another key to lifting them out of the lifestyle. The problem is that schools take time, money, and effort from children and families who cannot or are not willing to commit that much, which in poorer areas such as Thabong creates a viscious cycle shown by the 60% unemployment rate in SA and nearly 80% in Welkom alone. These people are hurting because they are in a place and condition that is bad enough to not allow them to leave it.
Statistics will probably tell you that the HIV prevalence in SA is somewhere near 10-15%, but this is a gross underestimation. Due to the huge social stigma, people almost never get tested unless they are pregnant or very sick. Doctors wouldn’t hesitate to tell you they believe its more like 30-50%. This prevalence coupled with their unwillingness to face it or even talk about it creates a huge problem in attempting to treat it. When patients are admitted to hospitals with TB, pneumonia, wasting, meningitis, and other various conditions they are often tested, but must have counseling just to take the test. Most doctors know based on the patient’s condition but because of the stigma they must jump through hurdles and use words like “retroviral-infected” or “immunosuppressed”. AIDS is only a word used on government scare tactic posters and has lost its true medical meaning. Still, once they are placed on treatment (ARVs) and receive counseling, they almost always drastically improve and are able to live a more normal life. I can’t tell you a lot about general health other than that it is mostly not good, especially when it comes to nutrition. What I can tell you about is the entirely different atmosphere of medicine here as opposed to a developed country. With so many immunocompromised patients, which make up the majority of admissions, you see such a whole new and more potent set of conditions than anywhere else. Starting with TB, 70% of HIV-positive individuals will contract TB in their lifetime. Slightly under half of the patients I see have confirmed or suspected TB, and I see it in a variety of ways. There’s not time to cover all of them but meningitis, pneumonia, stroke, lung infection, Kaposi sarcoma, and so many more conditions relating to infectious diseases are common here at an unparalleled level. The government healthcare here is affordable for the hordes of poor, and though it is not top notch and waits may be long, it is effective for treating the flood of potent diseases mostly resulting from HIV and the conditions I’ve already mentioned. It seems cliché to come to South Africa and focus on HIV, but its not really avoidable. And I’ll be the first to tell you about the loads of other issues, but most roads will lead you back there.
Restoring Hope has taken an interesting angle on addressing the situation. They know they can’t come in and fix this country’s problems. So they have come to fix the lives of the victims of those problems. They are building a community of children’s homes for orphaned kids affected by the AIDS crisis. They are rescuing the kids from poor futures either alone in the township or with elderly grandmothers, uncles, and cousins who are often unable or unwilling to raise them in a proper, healthy manner. If it was just that though it wouldn’t be enough. They place the kids in a family environment with a housemother as well as older Christian mentors. They recognize that all the world, in poverty or not, is lost and in need of saving. After they have rescued these kids physically they show them the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for their sins to save them. They teach and disciple these kids with spiritual truth and do this in a loving environment. As I mentioned earlier, it is so hard to find a solid believer here due to the conditions and the culture. But they are bringing them up so that they can be a light to the people and influence those around them in order to change the heart of the culture. In addition to Restoring Hope Village, they are actively engaging the culture by making connections with people in Thabong and doing outreach. Several Bible studies have been done and a number of young men, now at university are living testaments to the power of God and the influence that personal discipleship has had on them. They hold church in a schoolroom in Thabong and are looking to purchase land and build nearby. These people have a passion for loving the children and people and are seeking to begun change on a personal level and through the most powerful tool available- the Gospel.
The missionaries serving here are Brian & Lois Niehoff and Louis & Amber O'Tool. You can learn more about their ministry here: http://restoringhopeint.org/
If you feel led to support them you can contact them through that page. Any other questions, you can come to me- I highly recommend and support this ministry having seen and experienced it firsthand
Brian, Lois, Lindie, and Liam
Louis, Amber, Drake, and Meredith
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