Rob's Blog

Botshabelo

Botshabelo Community Development Trust is a "safe haven" for the victims, mostly women and children, of the ravages of HIV-AIDS, violence, poverty and disintegration of the family.

 

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in this cell on Robben Island  Robben Island Museum off the coast of beautiful Capetown, South Africa.

A farmer in Shantytown

This young man was a farmer in Transkei   when he found out he contracted HIV-AIDS.

Life and Death

It is odd that from the poverty and close-up of life and death in SA, you should come home to a raw version of life at your end.

(Adriana)

Ghoulish but necessary

This morning we visited the Burn Unit for children at Baragwanath Hospital. The Burn Unit is supported by contributions of funds and equipment from the Medical Devices and Diagnostics companies of Johnson & Johnson in South Africa. WARNING: Pictures are not for faint of heart.

75 Years in South Africa

Humanity is amazingly persevering under the worst of circumstances. You see these shanty towns with no running water or toilets, little or no electricity and paraffin lamps and open fires inside the shacks, which is why there are so many burn victims in S. Africa.

 

Goosebumps

The business is interesting, but the best interviews we are getting are the "random" unplanned ones. We talked to this wonderful black South African woman who is working on AIDS research and feels strongly committed to helping HIV-AIDS sufferers.

She said the pandemic changes the very fabric of ordinary existence. On Saturdays instead of going shopping or doing your laundry you go to funerals. That was so profound it gave me goosebumps, still does. People can be so moving and sincere sometimes.

Botshabelo

Botshabelo Community Development Trust, about 2 1/2 hours outside of Johannesburg represents a haven for a population of mostly women and children who have been subjected to violence, disease and sub-standard living conditions.