Currently in 8th grade at Ridgeway
College (an independent Secondery School), she continues to amaze us with her
kindness, inteligence and generousity.
Here is her story.
Vhuhwavho
Nevhungoni was born on Woman’s day 1999 in Siloam hospital, Limpopo Province.
Her mother worked as a domestic cleaner for the Holiday Inn in Johannesburg,
South Africa. In June 2002 she returned
to the village suffering from HIV/AIDS related diseases and in December 2002
she died leaving her 2 year old daughter in the care of her aging grandmother
who was staying in a hovel on the outskirts of Fondwe village.
In April
2002 the nursing sister from Fondwe clinic brought her to my mobile home where
a pre- school for orphans had been started at the beginning of that year. The sister was worried as the granny was too
old to care for her properly. Vhuhwavho (Woo)
was an unresponsive, sickly child, and after a while I took her to my own
doctor who first diagnosed Kwashiorkor (a chronic protein deficiency) and
T.B. She had weepy, smelly ears due to
infections, constant diarrhoea and would not walk as she was used to being
carried on her granny’s back. A few weeks later she was diagnosed HIV positive,
and the doctor said she would probably not live longer than a few months.
Before
going onto the ARV drug regime, she had to complete a 6 month T.B. regime, and
because the granny could not cope with the Monday to Friday medicine schedule, she
stayed with me during the week and then went home to her granny for the
weekends. At 4 years of age she started
the ARV drug regime which was paid for by a sponsor from England as the S.A.
government was not yet rolling the drugs out to the local hospitals. As the
health of her granny declined she spent more time with me, and when the granny
died in September 2005, I approached the family to ask if I could foster her on
a permanent basis.
From an
early age she learned to measure the daily ARV syrups and knew which pills to
take. As they had to be taken at the
same time twice daily she would take them when the 6 am and 6 pm news were on
the radio/T.V. Local doctors were
impressed with the rapid improvement in her health, and she was often called to
the local AIDS clinic to talk to youngsters who were defaulting on the strict
drug regime. We realised that if she could be so responsible for her own
regime, then it was possible to “empower”
other children to do likewise (essential as most of the children had
aging and traditional guardians who were not only suspicious of the modern
drugs but also afraid of the horrific stigma associated with HIV/AIDS). We therefore decided to start hosting regular
workshops for children on the ARV drug regime. Separate workshops are held for
the caregivers, and speakers from the hospital (nutritionist, social workers ,
doctors etc) would talk to them about all aspects of HIV/AIDS.
When I
first started spending time with this little girl, I noticed that she would
turn my head so she could read my lips, and that she often did not hear people
greeting her on the street. The first
time I mentioned my concerns the Dr. told me to leave it for the moment as his
main priority was improving her health and getting her stabilised on the ARV
drugs. In 2010 I took her to a specialist to have her hearing tested and I was
appalled to learn that because of the
chronic ear infections she had suffered as a toddler the ear drums were badly
perforated, and that she only had 38%
hearing in her right ear and 28% in the left. The Dr. was amazed that she had
coped so well at school. The Church of Scotland donated funding for the first
operation and a new ear drum was attached to her right ear. A few months later
the audiologist tested her hearing and I was ecstatic when he told me that she
now had 99.1% hearing in that ear. A year later the operation on her left ear
was unsuccessful as one of the inner bones, the anvil, had calcified and had to
be removed. He was hoping to replace it with a plastic one at a later stage,
but after the third operation the specialist told me that
there was nothing he could do to improve the hearing in that ear. I was
devastated but my child was unconcerned and even tried to console me by saying
it was not a big problem and that she still managed very well at school. Her
only worry was that for years she had had to be very careful not to get water
in her ears and wanted very badly to be able to swim. The specialist therefore
had a special earplug made which means
she can now swim.
In 2009 Woo was invited to the UK to talk to the
congregation of the Scottish Church in Greenock about her status and the ARV
workshops. She also appeared on La
familia, a local T.V. program, where she spoke openly about her status and
encouraged other children to live positively with HIV. In June 2011 she was featured in the Natal Sunday
Tribune as one of 9 inspirational South Africans under the age of 30 who are
making a positive impact on society. She was one of the members of the Vhutshilo
Children’ s ARV support group who participated in the October 2011 “Children
Say” Yezingane Network survey (Coordinating Civil Society Action on Children, HIV
and AIDS). Earlier this year Woo, with 3
other youngsters and caregivers, participated in a panel discussion organised
and facilitated by TVEP (Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Program) and attended
by health workers from three local Wellness clinics. They spoke about the
success of the VMS Children’s Support Group model and the possibility of
starting the workshops at other clinics. A step-by-step Children’s Support
Group Guide has since been produced and is ready to roll out to interested
parties.
Woo was one
of the main speakers at a celebration held at Siloam hospital on World AIDS Day
and is a main cast member in the drama produced by the children’s support group
which will be used as a tool to educate and encourage children from other
support groups.
This year
she was awarded a scholarship to attend Grade 8 at Ridgeway College (an
Independent Secondary School) in Louis Trichardt as part of their Sumbandila
Scholarship Trust which is for children from rural schools. Woo loves every
aspect of her new school and is a conscientious and diligent student. She is a weekly boarder as it is too far to
travel every day, and although a happy boarder, she cannot wait to get home on
a Friday. She would like to start an ARV
support group for children in Louis Trichardt but has been told to wait ‘til
next year. This first year is difficult
as she has to work extra hard to bridge the academic gap between her rural
government school and the Cambridge curriculum at Ridgeway.
Woo is
compassionate and kind, and never forgets that she was fortunate to break out
of the cycle of poverty and live positively with HIV. She regularly visits her
aunt, uncle and cousins in Fondwe village,
gives her old clothes to friends in need and often hands out her
delicious homemade biscuits Her favourite saying when seeing less
fortunate or sickly children is “there but for the grace of God go I.”
I, personally, count my blessings that I
decided (against the well meaning advice of friends and family!!) to foster
this amazing, well adjusted youngster, and know without a doubt that she will
continue to have a positive influence on the lives of her HIV positive
peers.
Suzi, Woo's mother.
