Book Corner

For September I have chosen a true and inspiring story of one woman's fight for some of the world's most vulnerable AIDS orphans, God's Golden Acre, a biography of Heather Reynolds by Dale le Vack.

I heard Heather speaking on Radio 4's Woman's Hour and was both astounded and appalled at the difficulties she and her husband had faced in trying to help the children. This book tells her incredible story.

A stark paragraph on the inner cover reads:

'The boy was lying on a mat in the hut. He had probably less than a day to live. His body was covered in a dirty cloth; I stared long and hard into his big, sad eyes, for we had no common language. I finally broke the silence. "God from this day on I will help every child in need, every child that needs a home, every child that crosses my path".'

That was in 1993 during a trip to Uganda. Heather had stopped at a small settlement to obtain water from a spring and encountered a group of children, the orphaned victims of AIDS. Heather had been waiting for the call to serve God and, at that moment, she knew that this was his call.

One slightly confusing aspect is the way the book jumps back and forth timewise. The book then flashes back to 1965 where we find Heather driving herself and her brother Basil home after breaking up from school. Their Father, drunk and oblivious to anything, lies sprawled next to Basil. Heather is just fourteen and has not driven before but she negotiates one of the Transkei's most dangerous roads to get them all home safely. The next chapter jumps to a conversation at the breakfast table between Heather and her second husband, Patrick, covering her request to go to Mpolweni, a place that was not considered safe for white people. She did go, not without incident, and there is a moving encounter with the nkosi (chief).

The book recalls many touching anecdotes. Like fourteen year old Andile, a talented singer. The choir was being recorded for a CD album. He was missing choir practice, as he had to collect water and wood for his grandmother. He then had to walk the three miles to God's Golden Acre but arrived too late to take part. The Producer and two Rotarians from England offered him a bicycle to assist but Andile replied that he would rather have a school uniform, as without one he could not go to school. He received a school uniform and a bicycle.

'God's Golden Acre' is the name of the sanctuary in South Africa providing community care for orphaned and abandoned children. The very sick can die with dignity and for many dying mothers Heather is their only hope for their children.

Very well retold. Highly recommended.

God's Golden Acre, A Biography of Heather Reynolds by Dale le Vack. (Monarch Books). ISBN 1-85424-706-9). £8.99

Lynn Winter