Lesotho Aids diary: Nurse

The BBC, in conjunction with Medecins Sans Frontieres, is following the lives of seven people from the community of St Rodrigue, in Lesotho, who will share their hopes and fears as they each struggle to live with and work through the country's HIV/Aids crisis.

Thakane Motete | Nurse | St Rodrigue

The last few months, we have had a number of patients coming from far away - from outside our catchment area - for all those HIV- or Aids-related illnesses.

Coming to St Rodrigue, they think they are going to get better. They have hope in St Rodrigue's health centre.

They think it's doing better than other health centres.

They also come here because it's reachable by foot. To get to other clinics you need to take a taxi and that costs money.

Some walk four or five hours, or even further. Some come on horseback.

When they are too sick to come on their own, MSF will come and get them on a stretcher that's put into the back of the 4x4 truck, and drive the patient to the clinic.

Even to cook is very difficult. I feel tired

Lesotho Aids diary: main page

People who live in this area have got better. Those who were bed-ridden are up, and doing their normal duties.

We feel that we are blessed. It's a task that has been granted to us by God, to bring a healing to his people.

Work overload has increased. We serve so many people in one day. Even those who are HIV-negative, and have other diseases, also come from faraway places.

Even those ladies who have to start ANC, (anti-natal care), even they come from outside the catchment area. They say that they prefer our services.

Every day when we knock off; we don't want to do anything; we just want to rest.

Even to cook is very difficult. I feel tired.

I spent Christmas resting. It was only for four days before we returned to work again.

I was at home with my brother and my sister, and we also saw my grandmother.

For the New Year, I wish for our salaries to be increased.

There is a lot of work to do.

And I wish that our patients who are now doing better could be funded with a project to help themselves make a living.

Some of them lost their jobs because of the illness.

I want to encourage people who don't know their status to be tested because HIV does not mean death, and so that they can get treatment in time, so that they don't lose their jobs because of the illness.