Who Cares for. . . ?

Abstract

Seven of us drove through the far Northern Transvaal on a visit to the health services in what is said to be some of the poorest areas of our country. With the very favorable rains that we have had, the poverty is largely hidden by lush grass and trees looking more healthy than I have ever seen in my lifetime. At a Mozambiquan refugee camp with reportedly 27 000 refugees only about 20 huts were visible through he lush growth from the edge of the camp. You have to get closer to the villages to see the lack of a safe water supply, of access to health care, the trachoma, malnutrition and typhoid endemicity. And that is not in the refugee camps but in the South African community.