Today we were with, Oscar, one of two owners of the Lemon3Lodge in the townships around Kirkwood. The region thrives on the parks but in particular the cultivation of lemons and oranges. The percentage of black population is very high. They are mostly farm workers who do the harvesting work for a salary equivalent to € 5 a day. Harvest time is from April to October. In the other half of the year there is no work for the black farm workers. Actually there are for this time of employment. But somewhere the money drained in the administration, so that when the workers arrive at the end nothing. Poverty and hunger is the result, because the money from the harvest time is not enough for the other half year. Compounding this situation by blacks, here come from poorer regions such as the harvest season in Zimbabwe and press the wages further. The two owners of B & B support for two years, since they are here, the blacks with a soup kitchen and direct assistance to an orphan's mother and her children. The townships in the Addo region are in a better situation than around Cape Town or Port Elizabeth. From the N2, we could see the border of the townships. What we have seen, can imagine the worst. There is a program of the Government, the tents by brick houses with electricity and water replaced. Thus we see everywhere settlements grow from the soil consisting of these small houses uniforms. We visited the soup kitchen and a 63-year-old nursing mother who takes care of orphans. Only at Christmas it is an approximately year-old child were laid before the house. The mother died of AIDS, the father of the child is not interested. There is a whole cocktail of problems, consisting of unemployment, AIDS, alcoholism and corruption. There is a state program for AIDS patients, under which are free of AIDS drugs made available. But the treatment is often too late. The blacks are going to used it to their healer. As a treatment against AIDS is about garlic then prescribed or in the worst case, the myth holds that the rape of a young boy helps against the disease. A boy with such a fate is in the care of Mama. He should receive psychological treatment, but the parents are either drunk or arguing, so that Oscar goes to him. Alcoholism is a widespread problem that escalates to the weekly or monthly payment dates. Who can afford any alcohol, is brewing his own devil's burning then determined from the last brain turns. The mortality rate is dramatically high, so that jobs are occupied two or three times, for the AIDS death of employees. Dramatic is the situation of orphans and semi orphans who were infected by the mother with AIDS. The hopelessness of the situation connected with the mental quality leads to disaster. Now one would think that the farm and shop owners help this situation to change. Yet another clash heir apparent two worlds that do as little to do with each other. For South Africa it will be for the further development of key importance to get these situations in the handle. Because of the many problems and challenges, there is no simple solution for this. More important are the small initiatives such as this, the owner of Lemon3Lodge .
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