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Mary and her family. This picture says everything to me about what this story is about. When I look at this picture, I see shame and denial about the crisis of child rape and HIV/AIDS. I also see a child looking for answers. It breaks my heart that her rapes have also become a death sentence.

These children were playing across the street from Mary's house. While I waited for Mary I watched them play and I watched them bend over and each pick up a handful of dirt and eat it for lunch. This I had never heard about before � never seen. And it explained a piece of this crisis � poverty contributes to more than hunger, it leaves children vulnerable.

The sangomas, South Africa's faith healers, are both men and women and an integral part of the community. Many rely on them to cast out illness, bad luck and disease. They are part counselor, herbalist and witch doctor. Their belief is that ancestors cast darkness or illness and often they use a mix of herbs which they refer to as muti to heal.