We just received an email from Toby's dad about his trip. It sounds like he's been able to help a lot of folks that are suffering. I've copied the email below so that you can read it for yourselves.
Hello Toby,
Nice to get your message. It has all been a bit confusing to start with but is getting better now. I am normaly based in Johannesburg but at the moment I am up at the Zimbabwe border in a small town called Musina. This is where the refugees come to when they get out of Zim and we have set up a medical centre and also help out with sorting the water supply and sanitation at the "show ground" where they all congregate to be processed by the authorities. They have quite a tough time - first they have to cross the Limpopo river which is huge, fast flowing and full of crocs! Then they have to go through like a no mans land which is full of robbers who jump on them and steal anything they have, then they have to get through the South African border fence which consists of several layers of curled razor wire which is also electrified! Then they have to get into town without being picked up by the police. Once in the show ground they then wait to be processed - if they get through that (sometimes taking several weeks) they can then travel on into the rest of SA and look for work - if they get rejected they get sent back! Because the SA government doesn't accept that they are refugees they do not get any help - they are classed as economic migrants and therefore get nothing. I suppose they are economic migrants but only because Zim no longer has anything and what there is cost a fortune (1$ is now worth several trillian Zim shillings!!). Added to all this a lot are infected with cholera which is what we are helping with as well as those with AIDS and those that have been beaten up and raped - so all pretty grim stuff. A lot of them go to Johannesburg, the largest city, to look for work but of course there is not much around and then they end up either in this big Central Methodist Church or in other places run by the mafia types who then exploit them. My job in Joburg is to sort out the sanitation in the Church which now holds about 2000 with only about 8 toilets!! The problem is that the church is right in the middle of the city so no room to do anything.It has been nice to get out of the city and into the country - I had to drive a 4x4 up here (6hours) for sending over into Zim for one of the sections working over there. It was a good drive and I was surprised to see so much green - it is the rainy season - later it will all turn brown as one tends to imagine it. Although it is only about 560Km north of Joburg, it is much hotter - up in the 30C's but it is a dry heat so OK for me.Well better go and get on with writing my visit report - late start this morning after quite a heavy night last night - we got some steaks and had a barbe - fantastic steaks and so cheap.Cheers for now. Love, Dad.
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