Many of us agree with Bob Geldof when he sings “I don’t like Mondays”. What do we not like? Well, a whole plethora of irritations – back to work/school, the weather, the car breaks down, or worst of all our iPhone goes on the blink.
I was having an OK Monday. Nothing specially bad, but nothing specially good either. Then I went to see Ayanda (not her real name). Ayanda is three. She has been in hospital for the last 5 months. She is HIV+, has TB, is partially blind and deaf, can’t sit up, move her legs or right arm, does not eat solid food, cannot talk or play. Ayanda has had an extended stay in hospital during each of her 3 short years. Her mother is unmarried, unemployed and cannot get any government assistance because she has no ID book. Her mother has not been in to see Ayanda for the last 6 weeks. Ayanda is profoundly on her own in a way I have never been alone.
What a nerve I have to complain about Mondays or indeed any other day.
Zanini Bantwana 