Boitekong Health Assessment Clinic

Boitekong is a squatter village, similar to Freedom Park. It is located near the Thembalani platinum mine. Tapologo has an OVC program here. Today we helped in the children’s health assessment clinic. The clinic was held today because the children are on school holiday. The women who run the OVC program went around to each home earlier in the week to announce the clinic.

Around 50 children came to the clinic today. Each child’s first stop was Lebby and my room. If they had already participated in an OVC clinic, they had a file. If it was there first time, a file was created for them. Lebby and I took each child’s weight and height measurements and recorded it in the child’s file. When we were evaluating the children, I got many grins. I believe this may have been related to the fact that I was the only white person in the entire clinic (out of all the children, parents, and staff). When a child would give me a grin, I would smile back. This would usually lead to an even bigger grin, a shy look, or an enthusiastic wave. Some children seemed happier to be here than others. Some children seemed curious and proud of their measurements. Others cried and struggled to get on the scale. I would say that about half of the children understood English, and the other half solely understood Setswana. For the children who did not understand English, a lot of gestures were required. I would point to my shoes and motion for them to take theirs off. Next I would use my hands to usher them onto the scale.

We saw toddlers through teenagers. Most, however, were primary school aged. We used a baby scale and tape measurer for the littlest ones. There was one child who was not by any means a baby, but did not have the ability to walk or stand. For this boy, we put him on the baby scale. To take his height, we laid him on the table and used a tape measurer.

Because Boitekong is a squatter village, Tapologo is not allowed to put up any permanent structures. The quality of the trailers we worked in was very apparent. The children walked barefoot on the splintered wood floor onto the ant-covered scale. Each child left sweaty footprints on the scale.

The children’s’ next stop was the waiting benches. The children waited to be seen by the nurses. There were two examining rooms. Each had a nurse and a counselor. Each child’s health was assessed. If they had not been previously tested for HIV, and they had parental consent, they were given a blood test to test for HIV. They found out the results immediately. They were provided counseling to help handle the results. I watched as some of the children came out of the examining rooms. Some children had a large smile on their face, others looked depressed and left quickly. I assumed the different moods related to their health status, but I am certainly not sure.

The purpose of this clinic was to assess each child’s health and HIV status. The OVC program has a separate clinic once a month to distribute ARV drugs to the children who are HIV positive. However, some do not take advantage of the treatments offered. Hilda, the head nurse, explained how the treatment of children who are HIV positive, is ultimately up to their caretakers. Hilda expressed her frustrations about children who came to the clinic today in very poor health. She explained that some of these children were much healthier at the previous clinic. She believes that the caretakers of these children stopped giving the ARV treatment, which takes a very detrimental toll on a child’s health. I was very puzzled by this. I could not figure out why someone would stop giving their child life saving and free medicine. One of Hilda’s first explanations was the belief in traditional medicine instead of the ARVs. Another reason is that the caretakers are overwhelmed by the sickness and death they have experienced due to this disease. This leaves the caretaker unable to care take properly because of their emotional state. Hilda believes that Tapologo is lacking in bereavement support. Hilda believes that if these caretakers, who have lost so many family members, had better post-death counseling, they would be better able to take care of their children.