Uncategorized « Westside Family Church Missions Trips

Greetings,

The mission to South Africa was a huge success and exceeded all of my expectations. Each of the ten days moved like a freight train and I had a great sense of pride watching each individual on the team step up and out of their comfort zone to share informed and valuable information about HIV and AIDS. We stayed on the south coast near Port Elizabeth.

Every morning monkeys were outside my window, trying to get in to poop in my room. Fortunately, they only managed to get into the girls’ room to leave their smelly presents. I learned the excitement of driving on the left side of the road...with the steering wheel on the right side of the car. I still have nightmares about it. There were many other enjoyable experiences, such as nearly running over a sleeping male lion on safari, eating worms (grubs, actually), and allowing a huge millipede to crawl on my face. When I asked a waiter for a napkin, I discovered that “napkin” means “diaper.”

The trip focused on people affected by or infected with HIV. South Africa isn't just another developing country in poverty; it is a country that is literally being destroyed by a deadly virus that is spreading fast. The virus is decimating the population, killing most infected people in less than seven years and children in one to three years. The virus tricks the immune system into attacking and destroying itself, weakening it so 'opportunistic infections' (diseases the body can normally fight off) make a person deathly ill. There are four experiences I would personally like to share with you; the Community Health Worker training, teaching at the schools, vacation bible school (VBS), and lastly the Children’s Village orphanage.

After 36 hours of traveling, I was up early Saturday morning to leave for Mdengentonga
Primary School for the Community Health Worker training. It was immediately clear each of the 12 workers has been directly affected by the pandemic. In fact, two of them are HIV+ and all have seen loved ones and family members killed by the disease. Progressing through the curriculum I asked questions of the workers to gain an understanding of the plight facing those living in townships. Townships are suburban areas outside city centers, grossly underdeveloped, and rampant with poverty. They are where blacks were forced to live, segregated from whites, during the Apartheid era. Each trainee stood at least once and bravely articulated a personal story. One person talked about her husband’s death from AIDS and how his infidelity has transmitted the disease to her. Once her status was discovered she has since been ostracized by her family. It was deeply moving to see first hand how AIDS was affecting those I was teaching. Empathetic to the predicament the workers faced, I understood the imperative of helping them comprehend the disease and how to treat and work with others who are suffering. There were many Eureka moments for the trainees (myself included), revealing their wealth of knowledge, especially when discussing and looking at pictures related to opportunistic infections such as Oral Thrush and Kaposi Sarcoma, a type of cancer. Teresa (my teaching partner) and I presented the information in a relevant way hoping to maximize the time. Additionally, we took the new knowledge about local attitudes, from the Community Health Workers, to better prepare the team for teaching in the schools.

Flexibility was clutch as little about the initial itinerary for the trip was followed. I thought the team was teaching at three schools and it was four. I thought I would speak with 600 to 800 students, but some principles insisted the entire student body attend the general assembly. Nearly 1800 students heard about HIV and AIDS. It was a beautiful thing—really. Fluids and doors, the types of transmission and prevention (with a particular emphasis on abstinence), testing, and stigmas were all discussed. Following the assembly the American volunteers dispersed to their respective grade level to debunk the mythology surrounding the disease and learn about the challenges facing the students. We asked each child to write an anonymous letter so we could learn about their lives and directly address specific questions the second day. Below is a sample of what the children wrote (keep in mind the kids are between 8 and 15 years old):

Dear Mama, I am writing today to tell you about my story as it relates to HIV and AIDS.

AIDS has affected my life in this way:

“I have dropped weight because I did not accept my status. My family does not want to be with me anymore. Also, my friends do not want to play with me because I am HIV+ and they say I will infect them”

“I have AIDS. People look at me like I am a dog and rubbish. They say I wish she would die, or be killed, or get in an accident. My parents say they don't want me.”

“My boyfriend said he loved me and wanted to have sex. We had sex, but he didn't tell me he has AIDS. Now I have AIDS. I don't understand why he said he loved me but didn't tell me.”

“I am always hungry because we don't have any money to buy things. I give my food to my momma because she is very sick. I am scared that no one will take care of me when she dies.”

I wish I could change:

“The way people live. I wish people did not die from AIDS. I wish AIDS was not here in the world and my friend would come back to me.”

My greatest fear is:
“Being raped again. Men scare and taunt me all the time as they try to get me to sleep with them. I fear they will kill me. What do I do?”
“In 2006 AIDS killed my mom and my aunt. My brother is very sick too. I am afraid, because I love him and I don't want him to die.”

            The team anticipated these types of letters, but we did not expect the high frequency in which misinformation, molestation, rape, and HIV+ kids would come up. Rape is a huge problem in South Africa. Most kids are sexually abused by the time they are six years old and sexually active by the time they are seven. The abuse usually comes from family and even some school teachers. There is a commonly held belief that if a man has AIDS and sleeps with a virgin girl who does not have AIDS, it will cure him. As you can imagine, the men usually seek out the youngest girls to 'cure' themselves. The rate of transmission is devastating. Some of the police officers we talked to said they lose count of how many bodies they collect every week to incinerate.              Intervention and hope are essential to changing this disturbing trend. You can see from the responses above the need for trusted and knowledgeable Community Health Workers, support from churches, financial resources, and social/cultural reform. In many classrooms the kids skipped lunch and recess because they wanted to learn more. Before we left, we passed out brand new soccer uniforms and balls to the schools. In South Africa, sports and a free meal (one piece of buttered bread) are the main reasons the children stay in school. The social wounds I saw in the Markman and Motherwell townships are raw. Poverty, hunger, and despair are rife and these societal diseases became readily apparent during the VBS the team organized for the kids.
              Some 450 children turned out to hear stories about Jesus, play games, sing songs, and have a snack. It was at VBS I saw the most disturbing manifestation of poverty and hunger in my recent memory. With no hesitation a mother ripped a measly hotdog and juice box out of the hands of her own child—inhaling them quickly. It was frustrating, but we were not in a position to give out two hotdogs to a single child because we were running the risk of not having enough for others. I knew that child would go hungry and I saw this many times. Eventually, we cordoned off the children into the brick square designs located on the ground in the school courtyard. The Americans and trusted community volunteers protected the children-from their own parents-allowing something to get into their bellies. I realized that in life and in love there are no shortcuts and that the anger and pain I had in defense of the children must be felt. The alternative is much worse. But isn’t the anger and pain of love accompanied by something else? Hope. And that is where I am, somewhere between agony, optimism, and prayer. So, I am human and I am alive. In the human tragedy playing out before my eyes, I saw hope just as clearly.
             The Children’s Village is an orphanage for those infected or directly affected by HIV. It is an oasis that is thriving 30 minutes away from the Markman and Motherwell townships. Twice, the team got to play with children who were extracted from their relatively difficult (i.e. terrifying) circumstances in the townships. There the children get three square meals a day, education, and healthcare which are financed by American sponsors and Westside Family Church in Lenexa, Kansas. One African child at a time, hope is bringing genuine smiles back to the faces of children and giving life meaning to those providing care. The Village exudes a sense of family, right and wrong behavior, boundaries, and healthy living. At the orphanage I learned more about the character of God. God is someone who understands, loves, and gives me the feeling that I am not alone. That he is personal—enough to speak to me—on purpose! Doing it in a way that makes me feel human, prompting me to give thanks and continue fighting the good fight.
            This trip was immensely important to me (and the kids there), and even though the situation is desperate, I came away with a feeling of optimism. There are definitely positive operations happening in South Africa. I will never forget what I saw or experienced, and I know the kids won't either.          Lastly, I would like to speak about the American volunteers. So often in “Churchland” people shy away from issues that are destroying lives, either because of judgment, ignorance, societal/moral relativism, or fear. It was refreshing to see each of the 31 volunteers step out of their comfort zone to talk about the visceral nature of HIV/AIDS—particularly how it pertains to sex acts and body fluids. Teresa and I presented the disease to the volunteers in four pre-field meetings. After education most realized they can relate too those affected by HIV and the urgency of the situation in Africa. Personally, I was not going to miss an opportunity to share my life with Africans and I challenged each volunteer to “leave it all on the table” –so to speak. I warned that although the lists and information we would present about the disease are technically true, it is just not meaningful unless the students already understand the meaning inferred in the expression of those ideas. Ideas have to sink deeply into a person’s soul, into their being, before they can effect change. Lists rarely sink into a person’s soul, but information presented with a message of hope through a personal relationship with the Creator has universal appeal. One challenge I faced was not to beat myself up over the enormity of the HIV epidemic in Africa or the many individuals I spoke to who did not hear a word I said. I then remembered—one African child at a time. I hope to go back to South Africa to continuing building relationships in the communities I worked. Far more important than food, uniforms or education the team passed out is the message behind it – that God loves us more than we can possibly understand. Warmly,
Zachary Evan Panfili