Deeply honored… a very humbling experience and a lot of unexpected tears….

Thursday I went with Lindikaya Ntshinga, Executive director, Zazi Foundation to a hospital in one of the townships. At Guguletu Health Clinic, we met with the director Ntombomzi Mabusela. She is a very passionate woman about health care and education for her community.

Lindikaya had pre-arranged a TeachAIDS session for the patients. 30+ people attended this session. Learning from my last session I had picked up speakers for my net book, but unfortunately they didn’t help much. Lindikaya asked me to talk through the CD and explain the animations. I started and all I saw was blank looks. It was as if Lindikaya and I had been working together for years…. He jumped in and started talking through the animations in their dialect. I was able to document the session via video and still photography. We had reminded ourselves to pick up some sweets for the attendees and totally ran out of time. During the question and answer session I ran outside the heavily guarded gates to the women I remembered selling food items when we came in. I think I bought almost all they had. I was able to buy cold juices and sweet cakes. One woman approached me and said “dear little girl you need to hold onto your purse (I only had my wallet). The boys like to be mischievous.” It was very sweet. I ran back in with my shoes clicking on the hospital hallway with all the treats. Lindikaya had a full page of questions and thoughts about the session from the participants. I went to interview Ntombomzi Mabusela. What an angel.

We started passing out the juices and sweet cakes. The people were very appreciative. One woman said something very sweet to me that I told myself I would ask Lindikaya later about. We wrapped up the session and the director walked us around the hospital so I could take pictures.

After the session we were delighted with the results. As we were being driven to the next location I saw the woman who told me to hold onto my purse walking down the street, I stuck my head out of the car and waved. She looked up at me and stated waving and sending kisses! Lindikaya took me to the place to eat in Guguletu called Mzolis. This is an outdoor restaurant place of all kinds of BBQ meat and socializing. We ended up spending the afternoon with a few of his friends that he told me later were very high powered in the Parliament. Who knew? I was spending time with the big fancy government guys. I almost died. When we were sitting at the table a car drove by and one of the guys said, “The cougars are on the prowl”. I had no idea that “cougars” were worldwide! I found this so funny I had to text a few of my friends from home and they got a laugh out of it to. (FYI – a cougar is also known as an urban cougar, older woman dating younger men. Think Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher) Due to the fact that I had given up red meat for lent Lindikaya ordered us chicken. You will never guess what I ate…. Chicken wings…. For those of you who know me well, I NEVER eat chicken wings. I had a few and they were really good. This will not become a habit. I’ll continue eating my grilled skinless, boneless, chicken breast. People keep asking me what I think about Cape Town. I tell them I am in LOVE with this town and the people and wonder how I can stay longer. I get the same answer every time: “You should find a nice South African man and you can stay; he will give your parents a dowry for you”. It cracks me up that this is the usual response to a woman wanting to stay in Cape Town.

On the way to take me back to the hotel Lindikaya told me that all the people who attended the session this afternoon were HIV positive. He didn’t know if I was going to be bothered by this. I told him I wasn’t at all. I asked him what the lady said to me. He explained it to me and I was so touched I started crying in the car…. This is what I had asked him, and this is his response in an email he sent to Piya about our day:

“ I hope this find you well. I hope that what I type reflects the excitement and joy I am feeling at the moment. I planned a TeachAids workshop at one of the hospitals in the township. This was attended by a group of 30 HIV/AIDS women and children. It was one of the best experiences of my life, it’s amazing how with such limited resources we can be able to make an impact on the lives of others.

The women were particularly fond of Bethany as I am. Her passion and her drive reflects on how she takes what we do seriously and understands its impact on others. I don’t know how to explain this in English but I will try. At the end of the session one of the women came up to her and said "Enkosi Kakhulu Mamma". This is rare form of thanksgiving reserved for great women in society. I was quite moved and comforted by that. It showed that the people understand the sacrifices we make in order impact their lives positively”.

It still brings me to tears… I have had a few women during my trip this far say to me "Enkosi Kakhulu Mamma" I have smiled and have been gracious but did not know what an honor this truly was…. It took me a few days to wrap my hands around this day and write about it. This is one of the days that I will remember for the rest of my life.