Guess Who Made it Home Safe?

Just to let everyone know, I made it back to the States safely. I will post more when I return to Kansas City. I have posts about my last days in Mozambique and I will post them soon. I just had a minute to post a quick update and wanted everyone to know that I made it back to the U.S. of A.

Also, my phone was stolen as I went through a security checkpoint in Johannesburg, South Africa. If I haven't been able to call you as I promised that I would, then I sincerely appologize. I bought a new phone yesterday and was able to keep my same phone number. Give me a call if you care to chat. More to come soon, please continue to check back for more updates.

A New Baby in the House

When Luis and I were at the Social Welfare office last week, working on Aninha’s passport, we were told that they had an abandon baby that was in desperate need of a home. While I was in South Africa, Pieter and Rika decided that we would take the little girl in at the baby house.

Yesterday, I had the chance to go and visit the little girl at the central hospital. As I walked up the many flights of stairs of the Malnourishment Ward of the hospital, I was somewhat nervous about what I might see when I entered the room of children. Skin and Bones. The little room had six children lying in five beds and all of them had an IV-like valve in their arm or in their neck.

The little girl sat there with bones exposed through her skin, but she is beautiful. Her name is Thelma. We are not exactly sure when she will be able to come home with us, but our guesses are some time this next week. Pieter said that they probably would have sent her home with us yesterday, but she had diarrhea, which sat her back in her process of being re-hydrated.

As we sat there in the hospital room, I wanted to pick her up, hold her, and love her, but she looked so fragile that I was afraid to make an attempt. Brittany was the brave soul that finally made the attempt to pick her up. As she approached the bed with her hands held out to pick Thelma up from the bed, Thelma’s arms raised up to show that she longed to be held and loved.
It is exciting to be able to see a new life that is going to be changed and touched by the work that is done by the baby house. I am so glad that I am able to be a part of what is happening here in Mozambique.


Checkout the new All Nations Mozambique website @ www.allnationsmozambique.com. Pieter and I have been working to get a website up and running for the baby house, so that people can have a more regular update of what is happening in Mozambique.

Disappointment

After the crazy trip to Aninha’s village with the social worker from the Social Welfare Office, I had high hopes entering their office the following day. I sat down in front of the desk that I had was becoming very familiar with because of our many visits to this same office at Social Welfare. We sat and waited patiently for Adolpho to come in and continue to help us with the process that we had started of getting a little girl’s passport. As we waited the other employees in the office told us about a little girl that had been abandon and needed a place. They wanted me to say that we would take her in, but I knew that this was ultimately Pieter and Rika’s decision, on whether or not we had the room for another child.

After much time had passed, he finally sauntered into the office and takes a seat in front of us. I’m sure that he could tell that we were anxious to receive whatever it was that he had to give us in order to be on our way to getting the girl’s passport.

After all, he had made this promise that we needed a birth certificate. When we got the birth certificate he said it was not enough, that we now needed documented sources stating Aninha’s condition when she was taken from the streets. He also said we needed permission from her father who had already claimed to abandon her (making her property of the social welfare office who ultimately had to give permission). It all just didn’t make a lot of since, but we were relentless in our pursuit and travel to her village to meet with the officials and other people who had taken care of her. The social worker heard first hand from these people of how Aninha was before she had come to the baby house. He also heard first hand from the father that he gave his permission for any medical treatment that his little girl, who he no longer had any ties to, needed to receive in Mozambique of South Africa. We had jumped through every hoop and now were ready to receive the document saying that she had the Social Welfare Office’s permission to receive a passport and the ability to travel to an Ear Specialist in South Africa.

Sitting across the desk fro Adolpho, it was obvious that he was not yet done with his attempt to work bribe money out of us. He told us we had to take her to a doctor in Mozambique to look at her ears. If the doctor gave permission to travel to South Africa, then she would be able to go. I pulled her many medical records from her file, which I had in my bag, and showed him the repeated visits to the doctor with no results of her ears improving. I asked him if he needed anymore proof that the doctor was unable to fix her ears. He told me that I had to have an official letter signed from her doctor.

I was very frustrated with this man, who claimed to do his job in order to help children. It would be very easy for him to sit and write this short paragraph of a letter, sign his name to it, and send us on our way to get Aninha’s passport. He however sat across the desk from me with a smug look on his face, waiting for my response.

I looked at Luis and then at Adolpho and said, “We sit here in your office and the others here in this office say that there is an emergency case and a little girl needs a place to live. You want us to continue to help, by taking in more and more children. We love to help in this way, but we have a little girl who already lives in our house, and she has an emergency of her own, and it is that she is going to be deaf if we don’t get her to the doctor in South Africa. When are you going to start helping us take care of the children that we already have in our house?”

Adolpho sat across the desk from me and hung his head. It was obvious that Luis’ translation of my message had been a heavy blow to this man. He sat speechless and realized that he had no response to my question. He finally raised his head and called his supervisor over to the desk. I believe that he explained what our situation was, and that he didn’t know what to do next.

I asked his supervisor if I could have a list of everything that needed to be done in order to get a passport for this little girl.

Without understanding a word that she said, it was obvious in her tone that she was upset with me and insulted. It was also clear that there was no list of what had to be done.

I asked her if she could write me a list of what needs to be done in order to accomplish this task, because it seems to me that there is no procedure of how to go about accomplishing this task.
Her reply was short and to the point, “no.”

I told her, that I was told all I needed was a birth certificate and returned with it in my hand, but it wasn’t enough. I told her we had traveled with Adolpho to meet the people in Aninha’s village because it was said that we only need her story and permission from her father, we had done that, but now that wasn’t enough. I told her I didn’t think that there was an end to all of the things that Adolpho was going to make us complete in order to get the Social Welfare Office’s permission. I told her I wanted to know if Adolpho knew what he was doing and if there was a rhyme and reason to everything that he was having us do, or was he just wasting our time.

Her reply was long and drawn out. I didn’t understand any of it and didn’t even ask Luis to translate. It was apparent that she was upset with me and Luis told me that she said that we were finish today and that she had asked us to leave. I stood to leave the office with nothing to show for our last three days of work. The only thing I carried with me was feelings of anger and disappointment.

Love @ the Market

Today was very eventful. We woke up early and made sure that Aninha was bathed, had eaten breakfast, and was dressed in some of her best clothes. Luis, Aninha, and I had a meeting with the social worker that tried to bribe me the day before. We met him in the city because we were traveling together to meet the chief of the area where Aninha was born.

After much winding and meandering back through narrow walkways, filled with trash, we had finally arrived at our destination. The chief immediately recognized Aninha, but Aninha also recognized him and seemed to be very afraid of him. She started to cry when he attempted to take her from my safe arms. I think she was afraid that we had come to drop her off. After sitting with the chief and having him explain Aninha’s story to the social worker, he had us follow him to his home.

When we entered his home, a lady that also immediately recognized Aninha greeted us. She told the social worker everything she knew about Aninha’s story. She explained how she had helped take care of her when her father had abandoned her.

Soon many more people had come into the chief’s house, all wanting to see the little girl that had returned to her village. Everyone was so happy to see how healthy and well taken care of she was now. All of the stories shared with the social worker, told of how they had found her with nothing but a pair of her father’s underwear on her body and wandering the streets. They had done their best to help her, but now they had a hard time believing that this could be the same little girl that was so malnourished just over a year ago.

It was neat for me to see these people and their reactions to the work that the baby house is doing in each of the little ones lives. These people knew the little girl at her worst and were now blown away at how good she was now doing. I’m glad that I was a part of maybe bring these few people a little bit of hope.

After we left the chief at his house with the many visitors, we went to the house where Aninha’s father was now living. He wasn’t home, but we talked to someone that also lived at the house who told us he was at work. We realized that the number her father had given to Luis and me, when we had tracked him down at his job, was not the correct number. We were now able to get the correct number from the lady that had told us he was at work.

The social worker also took the number and was going to try and meet the father later that day. The social worker told us to stop by the Social Welfare Office tomorrow and I think we will get what we need to apply for the Aninha’s passport. This makes me excited! Our day was however not over.

With Aninha in my arms, we walked a long distance to where we could catch a chappa to the market to pick up food for the two families that receive groceries from the baby house every week. I have started to build somewhat of a friendship with the 26-year-old lady that we buy all of the vegetables and other food from every week. Luis and I actually ran into her last week at a bus/chappa stop and she went out of her way to say hello and try to have a conversation with me. Keep in mind she speaks very little English, so our friendship is based on the soul fact that I spend a lot of money at her market store every Thursday.

As she started to gather all of the food for the two families, Luis is talking to her in Shangon(sp) [Shangon is the language of the locals here in South Mozambique]. I am waiting patiently and minding my own business, when in the middle of their conversation, she stops and smiles at me and says, “You – Love – Me?”

I immediately glare at Luis. He just starts laughing hysterically and says, “That is what you told me!”

I retorted with, “You asked me if I thought she was beautiful after we had seen her at the bus stop! I said yes, her face is pretty. That doesn’t mean that I love her or even that I like her!”

He just stood there laughing, while the girl continued to stand there with longing in her eyes as she put the carrots that I was purchasing into a bag. I demanded that he tell her what I really said, but he just shook his head and continued to laugh.

After all the groceries were bought, she followed us out of the market and helped us carry our many bags of food all the way to the bus/chappa stop. She stood there and waited with us, and she told Luis that she wanted to come with us to see the families that we buy the food for every week, and then she wanted to come and see all the babies at the baby house. This is obviously all happening because she thinks that I am interested in her and Luis is just laughing thinking that this whole situation is great. I told him that I didn’t mind if she came along with us. Luis just continued to laugh at me, and told her that we were in a hurry and had many more things to do today.

Using the little bit of English that she knows, she told me that she would see me tomorrow. I corrected her and said that I would see her next week. She smiled and waved down a chappa, we climb on, and were on our way to deliver the food to the families.

While at the Grandparent’s house, I measured the distance of pipe that we need so that we can get the water installed at their house. Hopefully, I can get that all worked out and hooked up in the next few weeks. It is just 2:00 in the afternoon here, but with a busy day like this, I am ready for a short nap while the babies take their afternoon nap at the house.

Soccer Games in 3rd World Countries

The road was covered with big potholes full of muddy water that our chappa splashed and crashed through, as we took back roads to avoid the foot-traffic that dominated the roads to the soccer game. As we zigzagged our way through the villages, I finally saw the lightless light towers of the stadium (When they filmed the movie Ali at the stadium the production studio told the government that they needed to put in stadium lighting. The government installed the light towers, but pocketed the rest of the money and never installed the lights). The actual stadium is very old and sets out in the middle of a large field of tall grass, red sandy dirt, and piles of trash that would impress any garbage man in the United States.

The chappa driver pulled up and let us out as close as he could get which was a few blocks away from the entrance gate. As we climbed out, energy and excitement were in the air. I walked ahead and tried to take in the sight of people coming from all directions on foot as far as my eyes could see. People of all ages with Mozambique flags draped over their shoulders, blowing horn-like noisemakers, and some with their faces had been painted. We all climbed and weaved through the weeds and piles of trash to the entrance gates.

As we got closer to the entrance, the energy in the air grew more intense. Guards and police with machine guns stopped us, as they checked bags and tried to stop people from bringing in boxed wine and weapons. It was obvious that many were paying the guards, so that they could bring in cases of boxed wine. We continued through the actual entrance, it was then that I noticed the razor edged barbwire on the top of the stadium accompanied by armed soldiers posted all along the upper walls. Other men were also standing atop the wall, shouting at people below in attempts to purchase the boxes of wine (pictures a small cardboard milk carton, the type that was sold at lunch in grade school, but a little bit bigger and full of cheap wine. This potent beverage priced at just 25 cents a box). The armed guards with their vicious attack dogs would catch someone trying to make a transaction up over the wall, the dog would bark ferociously and the guard would come over stop the sale. More boxes of wine were being passed over the wall, than were being stopped. I already was sensing that this was going to be a chaotic experience, but also was definitely up for the adventure.

Over two hours early, our group of 17 people filed in through the gate, and was greeted by the sight of easily 40,000 Africans attempting to find seats. In attempts to help the reader better understand what this chaos looked like, imagine a stadium that only seats 30,000 with 40,000 fans present, no assigned seats causing everyone to push and shove for a place to sit, and everyone is staring at you because you are the only group of white people in the entire stadium.

We were quickly pushed in to a stairway that leads down towards the field. No more than five minutes had passed when I heard Ashley, just ahead of me; shout that someone had taken her phone and wallet from her pocket. I felt a man grab for my camera in my pocket, but quickly grab his hand and stopped him as I tried to push my way up through the crowd to get to Ashley to help her. By the time I was able to reach her, the pickpocket was long gone. I rounded up the 11 friends from Oklahoma and got them to a safe spot out of the way while Ashley tried to spot the man who had taken her things. We were unable to spot him, and the police were no help.

After trying to come up with plan of what to do about Ashley’s missing things, and what to do about seats, we finally decided to walk around to the far side of the stadium where it appeared that there might be open seats. As we snaked our way through the mob of people it was obvious that most of the crowd had partaken in a few too many boxes of this cheap wine. There were shouts of joy as people realized that we were at the game to cheer for their Mozambican soccer club. Everyone wanted high-fives from the Americans, and game score predictions, it was quite overwhelming and was obvious that many of the girls in our group already didn’t feel comfortable with our situation.

As we neared the other side of the stadium we decided that we needed to work our way down into the stands and find seats. All of the sections of the stadium looked full, but we needed to get into the stands or we weren’t going to be able to see any of the game. As we started walking into the stairway, people started cramming in behind us and pushing. There were no seats available anywhere, and the locals sitting around us told everyone to just sit on the steps where we were standing. This may sound like a wonderful idea when written down on paper, but when the people in front of me sat down, everyone behind me started to push forward, trying to get down into the stands for a place to sit. A couple of guys from the Oklahoma team and I stood there trying to hold back hundreds of crazy drunk African soccer fans. If we lost our footing all of the girls from our group, and the other fans sitting on the steps in front of us were going to be trampled and smashed. I remember thinking, “I have heard of people dying in this manner at sporting events and concerts.”

We finally got to sit down, after I hit a gigantic African man in the stomach, who had stood on my flip-flop covered foot, while trying to push me down the steps. When I hit him, he was so drunk that he just laughed at me. We were sitting on top of each other, and the whole situation continued to escalate around us. Fights continued to break out around us over boxes of alcohol and places to sit. One of the girls from Oklahoma, was just picked up and passed above the crowd against her will, while Ashley yelled at other men who couldn’t keep their hands off the girls that came with us to the game. It was possibly the most unorganized chaotic situation I have ever witnessed, and the soccer game hadn’t even started yet.

After the game started, the commotion settled down a bit. We sat squished together with a few of us sitting on the laps of others, and enjoyed the first half of the soccer game. Mozambique seemed to be on the attack for the majority of the half, but never seemed to have much of a strategy of how they were going to score. Senegal’s goalkeeper seemed to be much more talented and had many great saves and stops on the ball. The teams retired for the half, with the score tied at zero.

As soon as the game clock stopped for the half, people were up and trying to climb over the people around them in leaps and bounds to get to the top of the stands. No matter where you are from, if you get a foot in the face, stepped on by someone else, or a box of wine spilt on you, it is going to make you quite upset. This happened to many of the people sitting around us, and it quickly turned into a riot-like atmosphere. I could do nothing but laugh at the situation, and yell to Ashley, “T.I.A.” (This is Africa)! She just laughed at me and repeated, “T.I.A., Justin!”

As the pushing and shoving continued, I suddenly had a sleeping baby in my arms, that a mother handed to me in efforts to try and protect her child. I took the baby and rocked it as mass chaos ensued all around me. It was quickly evident that all of the girls from Oklahoma were ready to leave the game as many of them were crying. I sat there with a baby in my hands, not exactly sure where the mother had been pushed. After the crowd created a path for people to exit to the top of the stadium where many were purchasing more boxed wine, the mother luckily returned for her baby. I quickly exited with my group of friends and attempted to protect and shield the girls from men’s hand who were trying to grab the girls as we passed. As they cried and we pushed through the crowd, we finally found an exit gate. The second half hadn’t even started, but we had seen enough action for the day and decided to head back to the baby house.

After we left, I heard that the police and military closed all the gates and searched all the fans as the exited the stadium. Three officers were beaten up and their machineguns stolen. The guards were attempting to find the missing weapons. The crowd was the largest that national team had ever seen at it’s games. Mozambique and Senegal ended the game in a tie. It was a cultural experience, which I am glad to have had now that we are all home safe. We returned home safe, with only a few bruises, one missing shoe, and a little bit of innocence lost.

Mozambican Headhunter

I have also been working on trying to figure out how to get a passport for an orphan. One of the little girls at the house is having serious problems with her ears. She needs to go to an ear specialist in South Africa. The problem is she must have a passport in order to cross the border into South Africa. Her father is still living, but isn’t willing to help us in the process to get her passport.
Yesterday, I left the house with Luis and searched the city for her father. When we finally found him, he was at work. He works for a government warehouse that handles all imported rice, grains, and things of that nature. As we approached the gates to this warehouse, we were greeted by a government police officer with a machine gun, that I saw as a little bit of an overkill. We talked and asked 4-5 people at the warehouse and finally found someone who took us to meet the girl’s dad.
Her father didn’t seem to want to help us with the process. I finally convinced him to give us the information that we needed, by telling him that his little girl is going to end up deaf, if we don’t get her to a doctor in South Africa. He gave us the information that we needed, but he still needs to get a new government identification card. This card can take almost a year to receive from the government office. The process can be hurried along if bribed are paid to the government. Aninha needs to see a doctor soon, please pray that we can figure out a way to get her passport quickly, so that she can get medical assistance for her ears.

Newborn Baby

Imagine that you are walking down a dusty red-sand road. The smell of campfire smoke is in the air from homes that are cooking, the sun is high in the sky, and you are the minority of in the population. People are standing in front of their grass huts, holding their children. Some people are working in their gardens, watering vegetables. They hope to sell these vegetables at the market to support their families. All around seem to temporarily stop and watch as you walk down the road in front of their homes. The low chatter of a whispered foreign language murmurs in your ear. It seems that they may be talking about you, as they point and talk to the others around them.
As you walk, children smile and wave as you pass by where they are playing with old tires and kites made from potato sacks. A parade starts to form behind you including the neighborhood children of all ages as you continue on toward your destination.
This was my day yesterday. I was on my way to check in with the Mary and Jacobi (The grandparents that we are trying to help). I was on my way to see if they were able to get some of the paperwork completed, that is need to get water to their property.

As I neared their house a boy that was maybe seven or eight years old saw me from half a block away. I smiled and waved at him, and he instantly sprinted toward me. As he neared I could see that his skin was very dry and scaly. It was apparent that he hadn’t bathed for a really long time. He stopped in front of me and wanted me to hold him, but he was way to big for me to pick up and hold. I took his hand and he seemed to be content with walking along side of me as I continued to the grandparent’s house. He stayed with me and continued to stare at me the entire time that I was talking through my translator to Mary and Jocobi about their water situation.
After I was finished talking to Mary and Jacobi, I asked Mary if she knew where the boy lived. Mary said that he lived just down the street, and added that his mother was really sick. The boy led a few of my teammates and myself to his mother. Their house was back and off the road, and through field of tall grasses. As we weaved through the grasses, I wasn’t really sure that the boy understood that he was supposed to take us to see his mother. We all just blindly followed him, and finally arrived at a fence that was made out of tall reeds, sticks, and rusty pieces of metal. We slowly walked to the rusty metal door that was hanging by only half of it’s hinges. He shouted that he was home in the family’s language, and his father came out of their cinder block house to greet us.
We were quickly invited into sit with the family, and I realized that the mother was more than sick, she had just given birth to a new baby boy. Luckily, the three people that were with me from Oklahoma were all nurses. What a Godsend! After taking her pulse, other vitals, and assessing the situation, we decided that she was severely dehydrated and had lost a bunch of blood during the birth.
The baby had been born on Sunday, and two days later still hadn’t been able to drink any milk. His mother was not producing milk because of the lack of food and her severe dehydration. After talking with the family we decided that we would return with a re-hydrate water mixture, baby formula, and bread for the family.
After talking with Pieter and Rika at the baby house, we also were able to offer to help the family by taking care of the baby for the 2-3 weeks. We hope to be able assist them with baby formula and teaching the baby how to eat. It would give the baby’s mom a chance to recuperate and get her health back, and give the baby a chance to learn to eat and become stronger.
The father took all of the families food money, and spent it on baby formula, so they didn’t have food for the rest of the 8-9 people that were living in the house.
Today, the father came by the baby house, as we were headed out to deliver food to families and stop by to give more re-hydrate to the mother. He had a nice visit with Rika, and needed to go home to discuss their options with his family. I hope that we can help them with the baby. It is beautiful and needs to start eating soon or else it will pass away. The father said that he would let us know their decision later today.

Unexploded Weapons in Mozambique

The following article is from the New York Times. I think that it is good for us to be aware of what is going on around the world, and this happening close to the Maputo, where I will be living for the next two months.
For those of you that are not aware, Mozambique had a civil war being fought for close to 20 years, and the two sides finally signed a peace treaty in 1994. The government is still working to clean the country of the after effects of having a war fought on their homeland over 10 years after the war has ended.

Fears Linger in Mozambique Over Unexploded Weapons

MAPUTO, Mozambique — One recent steamy morning, in a field on the outskirts of this capital, seven soldiers under the watchful eye of a military engineer took turns digging a hole deep enough to stand in. A suspicious depression in the sand suggested that a rocket or artillery shell might be buried there.
The team’s only tools were spades and shovels. They had no protective clothing, no special training, no metal or weapon detectors. One soldier worked in blue flip-flops; another puffed on an occasional cigarette.
They uncovered a 330-pound, five-foot-long, unexploded artillery shell, hauled it out of the ground with a chain and loaded it into the back of a four-by-four, cushioning it on a bed of sand. Then, feet propped on the shell’s exterior, they headed back along a bumpy dirt road to a military base. To read more ...

The Simple Things in Life

As the time draws near for me to leave, I continue to prepare and take care of those last minute details. I have been finishing up final grades for my 5th graders for this last quarter, packing up my classroom, and trying to keep my sanity while working with 30 children, who are just as ready for the summer as their teacher.

In the midst of all of these things, I have been in contact with Pieter in Mozambique. I sent an email a couple of weeks ago, asking if there were any comfort foods/items from the U.S. that they would like me to bring to them. I thought that this would be something fun to do for them, and was really excited about being able to bring them over things to enjoy.

In the reply email I received from Pieter was a short list, some of the things that were included: WE LOVE MEXICAN FOOD!, peanut butter cups, and maybe a soccer ball if you can fit it in your bag.

This list was a reminder to me, that joy can be found in the simple things in life. A burrito is something to be enjoyed, and not taken for granted. The taste of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup can bring joy to a person's life, when they are not always available. This isn't about finding joy or happiness through eating, that is not my point at all. I am simply realizing that I take so many things for granted in my life, and this American mentality of more is better, has made it difficult to find joy in the simple things of life.

This lesson has given me some things to work on, and I am slowly finding joy and amusement in the simple things around me. This morning I woke up to the sound of bird chirping outside of my open bedroom window. I just sat there in bed and enjoyed the sound. The sound of nature is beautiful! I have been at a leadership retreat all weekend, and on Saturday morning, I woke really early and couldn't get back to sleep. Instead of being upset at my lack of sleep, i got up, showered, and went outside to sit with a good book and enjoy the sun coming up over the horizon. These are things that are available to us everyday, but are often overlooked as things to be joyful about. I could go on and on about simple things that are great (swedish fish candy), but I think that I have said enough and my point has been made.

My challenge for those that are reading this, and those that are in my life, is to find things that are small and often overlooked and enjoy them. Find joy in them, take note of them, and realize that we are so fortunate to be alive, and able to enjoy creation.

Also, I just found out that the baby house in Mozambique just received a new baby boy. They think that he is about one year old, he has no papers, they are not sure if either of his parents are living. They have named him Paulo.

South Africa Running Out of Burial Plots

The following is an article from CNN.com that a friend sent to me:


AIDS-hit South Africa running out of burial plots

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- AIDS-hit South Africa is running short of cemetery space and residents of its main city, Johannesburg, need to consider "nontraditional" burials, including cremation, Mayor Amos Masondo said on Wednesday.
Masondo said 24 of the city's 35 cemeteries were already at full capacity and, although enough spaces remain for the foreseeable future, other options must now be considered.
"The city would like to make an appeal to residents to consider amongst other options, stack burials and cremations," the SAPA news agency quoted Masondo as saying at the opening of a new cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
South African officials have repeatedly warned in recent years of a looming shortage of burial plots, attributed in part to rapid urbanization and a cultural reluctance among African families to consider options such as cremation.
Masondo suggested that families could begin to double up with "stack burials" at existing, family-held gravesites.
Masondo did not explicitly mention South Africa's HIV/AIDS crisis, which infects about one in nine of the country's adults, but analysts say the epidemic is directly to blame for rising mortality rates in the country.
Masondo urged Johannesburg residents to respect existing graveyards and not to take them over for ramshackle temporary housing.
"Respecting those who are no more can add so much meaning to the land of the living," he said.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


I don't want to rant about politics, but "When is America going to wake up and realize that there is a problem that we need to assist in that doesn't include the Persian Gulf?" Africa needs help!
It baffles my mind to think that so many people are dying of AIDs, that an entire country is concerned about running out of graveyard plots to buried their dead.
I don't have a simple answer to this major problem, but I do know that I have the power to raise awareness. I need to share the issues that concern the people of Africa, with the people that I come in contact with in my daily life. Enough with the soap box. It has now been put back away in the closet. But consider yourself informed. Thanks.

jb