Stebo Fund Information

Me Mateboho's Story
I want to tell you a story about an extraordinary woman named 'M'e Mateboho. She is the most incredible mosotho I know, and definitely one of the best humans on the face of the Earth. Stebo (her nickname) is about 47 years old, not quite sure because she doesn't have a copy of her birth certificate and remembers only her birthday month, not the day or year. She speaks very little English but understands my butchered Sesotho very well. We have learned each other's mannerisms so well, we can tell when one is upset, happy, frustrated, or hungry just by looking at each other. She is one of my mothers here and also my best Basotho friend. She's about 5'4, maybe 170lbs, with a smile extending from ear to ear. She is constantly singing, laughing, or cracking jokes. She has a thing with my name. She finds it so funny my English name has so many parts (4) and my Sesotho name is just as long (Ausi Bophelo Manele Khoarai.) She walks around the Center doing various things just saying my name over and over again, chuckling to herself.

This woman works so hard. She comes to the Center Monday-Friday, usually the first one here in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. She gives whole new meaning to "busy as a bee". She is constantly doing something: sewing, knitting, cleaning the Center, gardening, counseling, taking patients to the clinic, taking care of her home-based patients, etc.! She has even taken in an orphan from her village named Kalebe. He is 9 years old and in Standard 2. They both live in her one room apartment and sleep in the same bed. He receives school fees from the Center and we like to think of him as our mascot. He is HIV+ just like Stebo, on ARVs, and is a shy but energetic young boy. He calls her mom and she thinks of him as her son.

For income, she makes and sells joala, traditional Basotho beer, but never touches it herself. She explained to me once, "Ke batla ho lula cau feela, na ha ke noa joala," she wants to live forever, so she cannot drink joala. She takes care of her personal garden which provides her with fresh vegetables year round. She also takes care of multiple patient's gardens to ensure they too have healthy diets. She has helped construct more than 20 keyhole gardens and taught nutrition and gardening to over 50 people in her village. She goes to church every Sunday (which lasts for 2.5 hours!) and is a Sister of Mary, a catholic support group for women. In addition, she also cleans my house, does my laundry, and eats lunch with me every Monday. I like to cook her American food to see what she likes. So far, anything with beef is a huge hit. (Not a fan of tuna though- bummer.)

She shines with optimism, determination, and everlasting compassion. She is never too busy to counsel someone, stopping whatever she is doing to help someone struggling with HIV, a spouse, rent, school fees, etc. For me, she has been a friend and comfort in the good and bad times. She was told about Teboho (my little guy that died) before I was, and immediately came to me with his aunt, Limpho. She took my hand, led me to the office, sat beside me and put her arms around me. Then nodded to Limpho to tell me the news. She held me while I cried. She was with me the entire way through his hospital stay, funeral, and during the weeks afterward, was always close by. We can't communicate in complex language, like discussions on God, but when it comes to how each other are feeling, we are right on target. She reminds me of the good stuff and I love making her jiggle with laughter. She will reside in my heart for the rest of my life.

I pray for her daily and hope she will live forever, or at least until she feels ready to go. Earlier this year, we had a scare concerning her health. She religiously takes her ARVs, a model patient in the best sense. When she went to the clinic to get her next round of ARVs, the clinic told her they were not in yet. She was surprised, the clinic orders these ARVs every month as they have hundreds of people waiting for these incredibly important pills. She walked back to the Center and never said a word. The next day she didn't show up at the Center and then two days passed without her. Sis J and I went to her house to see what was up. She was laying in bed, her face was swollen to double its normal size and bright red. She could barely open her eyes, her face was so puffy, and she was in obvious pain. She said she had pain in her eyes and it hurt to open them. When we lifted her out of bed to see how weak she was and she wobbled, not able to stand on her own. I took her health book (like a medical passport of sorts), and Sis J and I went to the clinic to get her ARVs. We literally were storming to the clinic, ranting the whole way about the irresponsibility of the clinic.

Upon arrival in the clinic, we entered a sea of humanity. There must have been a hundred people there. We sat for about an hour and I was getting VERY angry with this entire situation. So- I have to admit, I pulled the race card. I walked up to the doctor, explained I was a Peace Corps volunteer and would like to take 5 minutes of his time to see if I could get my very sick friend her ARVs. He smiled and took me and Sis J right into his office. He gave me her ARVs and apologized for "any inconvenience", then got up to escort us to the door. I was so taken aback by how fast the entire process was I got really angry. I asked him why the ARVs weren't here 3 days ago. He said, "We accidentally forgot the order on our last trip to Maseru and so had to drive back the next day to place it. The supplier wasn't able to give us our supply until the next day because he had to fill the regular orders first." He said all of this through a smile I quite frankly wanted to smack off his face. I know this man does an invaluable service to Lesotho and the Basotho, but forgetting his order was plain inexcusable. I asked him if he forsaw that happening again as it might mean my friend dying next time. He looked at me and said, "I certainly hope not." Sis J grabbed my hand at that point and we left. She was fuming as well. He wasn't taking responsibility, and since my skin color is light, we got in and out of there faster than anyone else. "You don't have HIV, why do you get it fast?" It wasn't a comment against me, she was mad at her people and at her country, for not loving themselves enough to take care of each other. She said she was glad I was there to get the pills but it shouldn't be like that. She's right!

We brought the pills to Stebo and in 2 days she was fully recovered, except for general weakness that lasted about a week. If she had gone any longer, she could have died, or built up an immunity to the 1st cycle of ARVs, leaving her with only one other option. (Once you become immune to an ARV cycle, you must start another and there are only 2 therapy tracks available in Lesotho. In the US there are 5.) When she came back to the Center, she told her story to everyone over and over again, and it actually brought people closer together by sharing her experience. The country however, is still faulting on their promise to support their HIV+ population. Just last month, the ENTIRE country was incapable of providing CD4 counts for anyone. Not one of the CD4 machines could work without the catalyst solution supplied by the Lesotho government. The government stopped supplying this catalyst because they placed the order late AND hadn't paid their remaining balance to the South African supplier. Absolutely disgusting!

Anyway- back to Stebo. She is a marvelous, courageous, extraordinary person who I would really love to help. She helps me so much already, I would like to return the love with a specific gift. She has been trying for years to save her meager earnings to buy a house. When she started helping me with the house, she asked me to keep half of every payment, like a mini-bank account. We keep a paper record of it and she can pull out money when she needs. This helps her because banks charge you for every withdrawal transaction. With joala and vegetable sales, combined with my weekly payment, she's never going to make enough for a house. It's just not possible. This is truly one of those situations that one cannot just "pull themselves up by their bootstraps". She is a strong, hard working woman who needs a break. Any takers?

Since she works hard and it's impossible for her to save up enough money, I want to build her a house. I have a friend in the camptown who owns the hardware store and will give me supplies at wholesale price. I have a PCV who is a trained architect and will draught the plans for me. I have PCVs in country willing to come down and build it. I have a chief who works with me often and will give me a fair price on a piece of land. I have a Bishop who will probably supply her with a stove, couch, and gas tank. (She gets pretty everything in my house when I leave: dishes, pictures, bed, mosquito net, etc.) What I don.t have is the funding for the supplies and land.

I am asking for your help. This is not for the Center. This is for one person. I cannot raise this kind money by myself or in Lesotho. According to the chief, the land would be R4,000 (about $600.00). The supplies will probably take about $1,400.00 or so. I can ensure everyone is updated on the progress with pictures, stories, etc. I can make vouchers for people who want to donate to the "Stebo Fund" as a present to someone else for holidays or birthdays. People could buy individual bricks and have their names written on the outside the brick, and each name will be blessed by the Bishop. I can provide anything you may want.

What do you guys think? Could you donate $20 to the Stebo Fund this year? Or if you wanna come out and help build it, feel free- you got a free place to stay! Right now, I think the best way is to send checks to my mother, Grace Malley. Make the checks payable to Zoe Malley, and in the subject line put Stebo Fund. Then she can make copies of these checks before she deposits them, so we can keep track of the funds. If you can think of a better way, let me know. (Unfortunately despositing checks here cost R100 per check (about $14 dollars right now, so we'd lose money if we deposited the checks directly into the bank in Lesotho.) Please email me at stcamilluscenter@gmail.com to get Grace's address.

Thank you all for your support in this endeavour. I only have 6 months left, so it's crunch time. We need to start building NOW!

Zoe Malley, US Peace Corps Volunteer, Lesotho