‘when she came back, she told me what to look for and i checked all of them. there are different types of mites and ticks and lice that affect chickens. grandma says i should go with her to the meeting next time because she can’t remember everything.’ ‘look, there’s zanele fighting with our little brother mandla again! zanele wants everything he touches!’ ‘she seems to be doing fine now she has got used to the family. she is very good about taking her medicine. she tells mandla she is going to get her sweets when mom calls her to take her arvs and her vitamins.’ ‘uncle is still not happy about zanele being here. yesterday she cut her lip and the blood went on uncle’s foot. he said it would be mom’s fault if he got hiv and died. aunt said everyone knows that you can’t get hiv from someone else’s blood unless it gets inside your body.’ ‘sipho, why do you think people get so frightened by hiv? i mean, there are so many things that can kill you – like having a heart attack or a taxi accident, or being shot, or bitten by a snake, or drowning in the river, or cancer!’ ‘i don’t know, nosipho. perhaps it’s because no one knows if they will have a heart attack or a taxi accident. once you are told you have hiv, everyone knows you will die.’ ‘but that’s not true any more. you can get arvs to keep you alive, even here in the rural areas. and the traditional healers know a lot about treating illnesses caused by hiv.’ ‘i suppose so but a lot of people refuse to believe they have aids, or they are too scared to get tested. think about all the men who come back from joburg when they are too sick to work. when they die, no one ever says it was aids.’ ‘that’s because they get it from having so many girlfriends! but i don’t see how anyone can blame a small child for spreading hiv.’ ‘that’s true, nosipho. i’m sure uncle will get over it.’ ‘i hope so!’