Philanthrocapitalism_ How Giving Can Save the World - Matthew Bishop [19]
My name is Tsepang Setaka. I am twenty-three years old and am an expert patient in Lesotho, Africa. I am pleased to be here tonight to share my story and to tell you about the work that I am doing for the Clinton Foundation in Lesotho. October hasn’t always been a good month for me. In October 2001, I was walking home from high school with a friend, and we were kidnapped. I was held hostage in a small house without windows and kept without food and water. The first day, the men said that we should sleep with them, and we refused. They threatened to kill us if we did not sleep with them. My hands were then tied with a rope, and I was repeatedly raped. The third day, a man came to check on the house and left the door open, allowing us to escape. We slept outside without blankets in the dark. The next morning we found a coin and called for help. My sister came to collect me and report our case to the police. The police accused us of lying and they refused to look into our case, even until today. When I came home, Dr. [Mphu] Ramatlapeng, a friend of my grandmother’s who now runs the Clinton Foundation’s program in Lesotho, tested me for many things, including STIs and pregnancy, but not HIV.
The next year, in October 2002, I was coming home from a school function and waiting for a taxi. Four boys approached me and asked me to go with them, and I declined. They forced me to go with them and beat me with sticks. They wanted to rape me. Luckily they did not succeed. The villagers came to assist me. They took me to the hospital, where Dr. Ramatlapeng once again cared for my injuries. She stitched my cuts, and I am now okay.
In October 2003, I went for my first HIV test. This was my last year of high school, and I was afraid that learning I was positive would interrupt my studies. I didn’t collect the results of my test but intended to go back once school was over. Months later, after my exams, I visited the clinic to learn the results of the test. I went alone to meet the counselor, and she told me I was positive. For all of August 2004, I was coughing. I went to the hospital, and I was diagnosed with TB. I was treated for TB, and my doctor asked that I test for HIV. He didn’t know that I already knew my status, and so I retested, and the test was positive.
My doctor sent me to Karabong Clinic for my HIV care. The word Karabong means “an answer,” and people come to the Clinton Foundation knowing they will get answers. In March, my CD4 was 122, and I was started on ARVs purchased under Clinton Foundation agreements. Today my CD4 is 292. I was sick before, and now that I have started the ARVs I have become better. They have saved my life.
Before, I had bad memories about October and each year it was a month that I did not look forward to, but that has changed. Now that I am here with you in October, this is a very happy night.
In April of this year, I volunteered myself to help the other patients in Karabong Clinic. I was working in the pharmacy office and reception area. I encouraged others to test, assisted with adherence counseling and pre-ART care. I was chosen to work with the “Know Your Status” campaign, a national program that encourages people to test for HIV. I was taught how to do testing and counseling house-to-house. I continued assisting the clinic with pill counting, documentation, and adherence counseling.
I now work in Karabong Clinic as an expert patient. I am supported with a monthly stipend from the Clinton Foundation for my clinic work. I am responsible for monitoring patients who stop taking their medicine and others who need follow-up care. I am responsible for those