Is there hope for South Africa??

My friend Gary works in rural developments in the Eastern Cape & Transkei, teaching people to farm, and to be a community, whilst using his engineering degree by putting in water pumps & systems so locals don't have to walk miles to collect a bucket of water.

He gets satisfaction from seeing faces glow with joy and excitement when he puts a tap up in a village to provide running water, and from watching the community working together and growing enough vegetables to even sell some of them. He's a special man with the biggest smile & greatest heart, who gave up his fantastically well paid engineering job to do something meaningful, something to make a difference to our beautiful country.

Of course he also takes the locals to a clinic to be tested for HIV & out of 10 of them 8 are HIV positive. South Africa does not have the same treatment as the UK(sorry, not clued up on the differences), but there are several funerals in these communities every weekend. One of the most shocking things he told me was this...on a HIV Awareness billboard there was a sentence that said something like "Legend: If you have sex with a virgin you will not get HIV". English is a second language for all of these people and when Gary asked them if they knew what Legend meant, they had no idea. But they knew exactly what the rest of the sentence meant. So you can see what message they were getting. "If you have sex with a virgin you will not get HIV" Legend remains the truth..for years now many of my fellow Africans have firmly believed that sleeping with a virgin will remove their risk of HIV. Now I ask you...WHY would the person in charge of the campaign not realise this blatant mistake?? Now we wonder at children being raped and at the rapid spread of HIV.

I love South Africa passionately and it saddens me when I see an article such as this one on BBc today....


SA's Zuma 'showered to avoid HIV'

South African ex-Deputy President Jacob Zuma said he showered after sex with an HIV-positive woman, thinking this would reduce his risk of being infected.

Mr Zuma - a veteran of the ANC struggle to end apartheid and a favourite of the party's left wing - was once thought a likely successor to Thabo Mbeki as South African president.
But the allegations of rape and corruption are thought by many to have ended that prospect.
A separate corruption trial is scheduled to begin in the Durban High Court in July. Mr Zuma denies the corruption charge.

Will things change? Are things changing? If the ex-deputy president of SA believes something like this, is there any hope of preventing the spread of HIV. Is the education not working? It's a shocker!!

However, on a more positive note....Gary is just one of a growing number of people making a change to many people's lives and touching many hearts with his magic hands, mind & soul and massive open heart, his ability to befriend, educate & debate, to work not for much money, but for the love of it. He gives me hope for a bright future. Cheers to your good work and angelic heart Gar!! The question remains...what can I do to help?

Jo & Gary in Hogsback.

Gary & I in Hogsback in Jan, after a mud fight!