About being rich...

Since I started earning a doctor's salary I've never been short of money, but neither have I ever felt truely rich. By that I mean that I have always found it hard to undestand how someone could spent £1,000 on a pair of sunglasses or £2,000 for a night in a hotel. It just seemed like a waste of money; could the expensive sunglasses really be that much better than a pair for £20 from the chemist for example?

South Africa has one of the largest income inequalities in the world. The average income of the richest 20% of South African households is 45 times more than the average income of the poorest 20% of households for example. Thus I find myself being in the former group while living in an area made up mostly of the later group. So while I earn something like 8 times the minimum wage, with the employment rate being under 10% in this area most families survive on far less than that.

I bought 12 bottles of wine today and it cost more than the monthly income for many families and I drove home in a car which for many is as far out of reach as a helicopter is to most people in the UK. I don't see why I should feel more guilty about that than if I had done the same thing in the UK but I do. And it has definatley opened my eyes to why people pay so much for their sunglasses.

Microfinance in the Transkei

The HIV unit could not run without it's 20 or so counsellors. They are all volunteers who do a great job supporting the programme. Their primary role is in educating patients about HIV/AIDS and about the drugs that can be used to tackle the infection.They run support groups and do individual counselling to prepare patients to start their lifelong therapy. They do many other vital things from translating for the doctors to filing and even cleaning the buildings. Although technically volunteers they should not be confused with people who have perhaps retired and have some free time on their hands. As there are very few employment opportunities around here most see it as a full-time job; it is skilled work and they work very hard. The problem is that the government does not recognise their vital role and therefore won't fund their positions, they are therefore paid a stipend through the charitable funding of the programme. It amounts to around 800-1000 Rand per month. To put it in context a loaf of bread costs 5 Rand and a hospital cleaner takes home around 3500 Rand per month. Quite understandably, when a cleaning position becomes available many of the counsellors apply for the post. I think I would consider becoming a hospital cleaning for a 4-fold pay increase!

This is where microfinance comes in. Most of the counsellors want to carry on with their job but really need to supplement their income and they often have an idea for a small business venture. My only knowledge of business it to try to make more money than you spend but I'm trying to help with simple advice and a little start-up capital in the form of an interest free unsecured loan. So far we have six ideas that are at various stages of development. Christina has a camera which she uses to take photos of local people, she makes a 4 hours round trip to Mthatha to print the pictures and then sells them on at a profit. Another idea is to use a sewing machine that was donated to the hospital to make linen and other items, a third is to simply buy basic items like paraffin and sell them on in a small shop in a village. It is early days but so far all the loan repayments have been made on time and although I am expecting to lose some of the money the hope is that as loans are repaid more loans can be given. I'm grateful to members of my family and some friends who have kindly offered to take on the financing of some of the projects.