Things of this World (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

How do patients in rural South Africa, where HIV is rampant, imagine their disease? Why would doctors be willing to work in this community? What is the long-term potential for change in fighting AIDS and for community development? These are the questions that lie at the centre of "Things of this World," which was written as a senior thesis project at Princeton University (but without the highfalutin language that often makes social science inaccessible).Zithulele is a small rural hospital on the Wild Coast of South Africa. "Things of this World" tells the story of a group of doctors who have dedicated their lives to transforming this hospital, and explores the dreams and challenges of the surrounding community that these doctors seek to help. Using the Soccer World Cup as a portal, it places these local challenges within the context of the challenges that the country faces as a whole. One of the greatest tragedies at Zithulele is that even the AIDS counsellors, who spend their days giving HIV tests, are so afraid of getting tested themselves that they don't find out in time if they have contracted it, and die before there is a chance for treatment. At the core of this book is an attempt to understand the meaning of this disease and why even those who are closest to the means of treating it are so afraid of testing that they would rather risk dying than know their status.By tiptoeing between extremes--the specific challenges in confronting HIV and the longterm dreams and aspirations of the medical team; the lives of individuals at Zithulele and the national political debates that constrain them--"Things of this World" paints a picture of the harsh realities of poverty and disease and the power of individuals, using both discipline and imagination, to transform these realities into something better.