I’ll have updates soon and pix, too, but so far it’s been pretty hectic and I haven’t had a lot of access to the internet.
Monthly Archive for July, 2008
According to this article, immigrants and refugees have trouble getting access to health care in South Africa, and have been “unlawfully” denied access to HIV medicines and discriminated against. That’s a tragedy, no doubt, and something needs to be done–but the whole health care system in SA is overwhelmed, and citizens struggle to get adequate health care, too. Still, here’s an example of a true tragedy:
“MSF (Doctors Without Borders) has noted a number of cases where female refugees were ambushed and raped immediately after crossing the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa in the last few months. ‘We came across a young girl who was raped after crossing the border in Musina, for example. She went to the local clinic after the rape but was sent away. MSF found her five days later, but by then it was too late to provide her with post-exposure prophylaxis,’ says Whittall. Post-exposure prophylaxis decreases the risk of HIV infection if administered within 72 hours after the exposure to the virus.”
Recently, I was talking with a good friend of mine who has just become a doctor and started his residency. Because he’s Catholic and a doctor, I asked him whether he thinks people are ever healed miraculously.
“Doctors know that only about 20% of what we do is effective—and about 80% is luck,†he said. “I understand and believe that miracles can and do happen, that God works in mysterious ways.†Then he went on to say, “Miracles pertain to our environment.†He gave an example of a Bushman who is searching for days for water, and then finds it in an unexpected place after walking for days. That’s a miracle, he said, for the Bushman.
Though I like the idea that miracles pertain to our environment, this is actually no different than saying that miracles don’t exist. Miracles in this scenario are not works of God, they’re just something that we can’t explain yet. A geologist could probably explain why that Bushman found water where he did.
I actually don’t want to be a cynic, or a “science is everything†sort of person. But it bothers me that the diseases that get miraculously “curedâ€â€”like cancer—frequently have a legitimate scientific explanation for the cure. These healings are something science can track, can explain—cancer is healed through good nutrition or chemotherapy. Yet science has never discovered a cure for the diseases that also never get miraculously cured—like AIDS. Is this a nasty coincidence? Or does it point to something?
When I was in college, a Christian urban myth circulated among some of my friends that told the story about a young Christian woman who was walking to her car when two men tried to rob her. They took one look at her and took off running. Coincidentally, she volunteered at a prison or ran into her attackers in some other capacity (the details didn’t matter too much). She asked them why they took off running when she was clearly alone and vulnerable, it was dark, nobody was around. One of them said, “Are you kidding? This seven-foot tall muscular dude suddenly appeared right behind you and glared at me.†The woman concluded that God must have sent her guardian angel to protect her.
My instant response to this story was an overwhelming rejection of it. Great, something deep inside me cried. Good for her. But what about the rest of us who weren’t protected like that? Who were raped, or robbed, or attacked? What does that say about us? Or what does that say about God?
It doesn’t seem right to me that God will intervene, miraculously, for some favored persons—and not for the rest of us. I would have to say that this is not a God I think much of. And not a God from whom I would beg healing.
Here are some of the questions I’ll be asking in South Africa these next few weeks. Please let me know if you have suggestions!
What does healing look like for people with an incurable disease? Are the words “healing” or “health” even used or how would we use them or why? What do they mean in this context?
What does healing look like in a country ravaged by disease, where the death rate is high? How do people think about the topic and how do they approach healing and health care?
What rumors do people create about healing and disease, under these circumstances?
Why don’t scientific theories replace traditional beliefs about healing and disease?
In what way has the healing of psychological wounds from apartheid taken a back seat to the pure medical work of this crisis? Where do we see those psychological wounds seeping through?
How is the white community in South Africa reacting to the crisis? The black community? The colored (mixed race) community?
What alliances are being created in light of the crisis?
How do doctors feel about traditional healing? Historically? Now? How do healers feel about the medical system?
How are faith healing churches handling the crisis and what unusual alliances are they making as a result?
I have a ton more questions I need to ask, depending on who I talk to, but suggestions are always welcome!
