A final opportunity for another project visit this morning. A community project run by members of the local Catholic Church. This group was incredibly well organised, from the detailed book keeping through to the scheduling of our visit. They provided a comprehensive service including a clinic, a user group, a volunteer group and a school. They had their own herb garden, a maize store and we had a chance to taste some of the fortified porridge that they serve to clients.
Again we learnt more about some of the extreme issues being faced. There are few machines and trained staff to perform CD4 counts. (These are the counts used to determine whether a person is to be provided with Anti Retroviral drugs.) Once a person is determined to be HIV positive they have to travel to the nearest equipped hospital - which can be a regional hospital and therefore many miles away - to get their CD4 count tested. We heard stories of people having to wait for a week outside these hospitals in order to get a test because of problems of supply and demand. Obviously this makes it much more difficult for people to get access to the services that they need, especially when they have families to support and may already be ill.
Optional Extension
Our 2 week challenge was officially over and it was time to say some goodbyes. Some of the group returned to the UK today, although most of us were able to take advantage of a couple of days optional extension to return to the Livingstonia Beach Hotel at Senga Bay. Here we were able to relax, recover and take the time to share our thoughts and feelings about the last fortnight together.
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