Brief Encounters
I don't really feel like blogging today so I'll just share two small, entirely unrelated points:
1) Two men entered the Sinikithemba Clinic this afternoon, armed with guns and smoke bombs(?). They were looking to empty the meager register that the clinic keeps on hand for the patients who pay a small (R140, or approximately $20) monthly access fee to use the clinic. Fortunately, the guys showed up after the main register had been emptied by the armed guards several hours before - so they only got away with the few thousand Rands the clinic keeps on hand for 'emergencies'. Luckily, I was safely hidden away in the upstairs Monitoring and Evaluation office until the guys left, setting off a smoke bomb as they departed from the scene. The security guards weren't able to catch up with them and they eventually got away. It was quite a scary experience, and I'm still a bit shaken up. But - most importantly, I guess - no one was hurt, and the patients were eventually able to be seen after a brief police investigation of the Crime Scene. I am and will continue to be baffled by the fact that are people in SA disparate enough for cash that they would terrorize a clinic full of sick HIV patients.
2) The Smarter Than the Average Bearnot readership is now up to 32 countries. I'd like to welcome to the new readers in:
Swaziland
Vietnam
Dominican Republic
Ireland
Austria
Taiwan
Netherlands
Labels:
HIV,
Sinikithemba,
social issues,
technical
2 comments:
Sorry to hear it bro. It's an absolutely appalling state of affairs!
Where's the African "ubuntu"? Where is the humanity? Where is the government? The police?
At least now you can say you're one step closer to the authentic South African experience! Only when you've been shot at a few times, you get the full honour.
Sorry that was cynical.
Hope the incident doesn't dissuade you from continuing your work!
I suspect they think of themselves as stealing from the doctors, and not the patients. If it is any consolation, we had 4 shot in a pizza parlor at McDougal St. in the village.
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