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LESOTHO: Mojalefa Lee, "Everything is condemning us"
03 Feb 2009 17:20:39 GMT
 Source: IRIN

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•  AIDS in Africa

•  AIDS pandemic

•  Food and hunger

•  Health and diseases

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MOHALE'S HOEK, 3 February 2009 (IRIN) - Mojalefa Lee, 59, worked on South Africa's gold mines for 18 years before returning to his home in Mohale's Hoek in southwestern Lesotho. After a bout of tuberculosis in 2003, he tested positive for HIV.

He talked to IRIN/PlusNews about the difficulty of staying healthy when he can no longer afford to buy nutritious foods.

"I stopped working in 2002 when my contract ended; I haven't worked since then. In 2003 I got TB [tuberculosis]. I completed the treatment but I still had a rash and they advised me to go for [HIV] testing.

"My wife didn't understand how [HIV] came to me; she left. I don't know what happened to her. One of my daughters is attending school in Mafeteng [a neighbouring district]; the other is staying with me. My son died when he was 14; we don't know exactly why.

"I started on ARVs [antiretroviral drugs] when they became available from the government, but I can't afford to buy different food, like fruits and vegetables.

"Before, we used to get some food support from the World Food Programme but it ended last year [2008]. We have a small garden, but it's too dry. They ration the water during the dry season so I can't water the plants and they end up dying. My CD4 count [a test of immune system strength] is coming down.

"I'm not getting any help from family – it's not because they're stingy, but because they also have problems. Food, water, electricity – everything has gone up; everything is condemning us.

"On every job I did in the mines there was a lot of dust. I started as a clerk but the salaries were very good underground [so I moved]. We were always drilling, so it might be that [which caused the TB].

"This problem of ARVs - we go for check-ups every month, but some aren't attending because transport is expensive. People end up as defaulters because of not getting enough food.

"We realise [it] after they die, when we go to the house to prepare for the funeral and then we find the tablets - that's the problem with not getting support. Positive people need support, but there's no such thing here."

ks/he

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Last updated:Tue Feb 3 17:20:58 2009