Aidshospice South Africa
Once again I am well overdue for a newletter…………………
Dominique and Billi two Australian volunteers came and went, they helped enormously, between acting as taxi driver to the multitudes needing to got to hospital and such like, writing sponsorship letters for a vehicle, typing and designing numerous CVs for youth and running madly round the valley asking the local businesses to assist with donations of any types of resources.
To that end we were donated a huge amount of crockery and towels from one hotel and 3 beautiful marked rugs from a local weaving business for the creche…..no doubt more will come as time goes on.
Mbongi’s: Still in the waiting period re the land but it is now with Pretoria for setting a court date to make the final decision as to exact rights and possible agreement to create separate title deeds for the piece Mbongi lives on.
The Amaswazi group of home based carers are flying, we meet weekly to discuss any problems they are having for themselves and their patients. Often community members come to raise issues they are facing regarding dealing with government departments, grants, food, health, fraudulent pension funds, fostering of orphans, the list is endless………
We are working less formally with two other groups in local areas.
Step by step we are making in-roads into workable systems with these government departments but like all things in this world people who have perceived positions of power like to lord it over the meek…………………
There is also the promise from a local company to start supplying food for up to 30 orphans that are in desperate need until they are organised with a more long term sustainable set up, then roll over to another 30, in Amaswazi alone we have 120+ orphans. The local white community are also starting to assist with the donations of clothes for these families.
We are also looking at how we can not only support, on a grass roots level, but also at district and provincial level as the gap is so huge and the need is not recognised outside of the community.
I am currently working on a campaign to involve and inform the white community as to the real situation in the surrounding communities we live in, needless to say not always the most popular person around town, but hey!
The health department is trying to respond to the need of people eating when they take their tablets, which is imperative if the tablets are to work for TB and HIV especially. To this end they have created a box of high protein, fortified food for one month at a time, the only downside is that the patients have to pick this up from the hospital and or clinics which can be 40km away with lots of walking in between, the average weight of the sick person is around 35-40kg and the box weighs in excess of 15kg……………………
So still plenty of issues around all of this and no doubt plenty of answers…………………..
One of the local churches has offered to supply food parcels through the Amaswazi home base carers to needy orphans and other sick and needy.
On to brighter news two more volunteers are due in May for up to 6 weeks, experienced masseurs and reflexologists. Hoping to get some training for the home based carers in basic pain relief and preventing bed sores etc through massage along with plenty of patients who need on going massage and physio type of treatment.
We also have a farm creche based in the volunteer block for 8 children from the adjacent farm run by Dudu who I have known for years. She has an amazing way with children and although uneducated herself is teaching them what basic English she knows, painting, drawing and gardening. She co-runs this with my 18 month old daughter Miya who already has the controlling personality of her mother………..
John who has been managing the funding that supports me is due for a week in May so hopefully he will get me refocused and organised again.
Again thank you all for your support, any questions or ideas you may have, please email me.
Regards
Sofi Cogley
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