The beginning of The Year So Far

Looking back on the year so far it has been a good’un...lots of great volunteers, lots of enthusiasm, and lots of happy people. 

Here’s our update from January to April, including snippets from the guest book.



We'll begin the update with Home Based Care and add project updates throughout the week. 



“I can tell you a lot about the great time and the fun I had here. How much you’ll fall in love with Home Based Care, the people that you’ll visit and your life here, but I won’t. Just experience everything yourself and I hope you have, just like me, the time of your life.” Claire


Home Based Care has seen an amazing 129 patients so far this year! It’s great that the volunteers have been able to reach out to so many people in need, and in some cases urgent care. The work on HBC has ranged from seeing a baby with an iron burn to taking amputees to the diabetes clinic to making regular checkups on patients with TB. The patients and families really appreciate the support the African Impact volunteers provide through first aid, food parcels, emotional support and clinic transfers. 

A few updates on some of our regular patients. 

• When we first saw Gogo Breast Cancer she had recently had a mastectomy. The wound was sore and dirty, but with regular visits from our volunteers the wound is completely healed. Both Gogo Breast Cancer and her hubby are doing well – the cutest old couple imaginable! 


• Christopher lives by himself and has sporadic support from his friends and family. He has been suffering from TB for some time, and has recently been diagnosed with a rare form that’s really resistant to treatment. At times he has been so sick that he can hardly move, and that’s when African Impact became involved. Volunteers have regularly helped him into the car to take him to the clinic for treatment. He’s not doing a lot better, but hopefully new treatment from the hospital will help him onto the road of recovery.

 
• Mr Chip’s had been doing well but unfortunately he has developed a chest swelling that the clinic have said is related to TB. Hopefully with a new course of medication he will feel better soon.

- Bheki has received some very good news; he’ll be going to hospital at the end of the month to have some treatment for the kaposi sarcoma that covers his leg. We are and will be in regular contact with him, and we just hope that the treatment gives him some pain relief. 


• Gogo Snake is appropriately named after her frequent unwelcomed snake visitors into her holey stick hut in Eswenelisha. We first met her in April; she’s bed ridden with arthritis. Our contact with Gogo Snake extended outside of HBC due to her need for house repair. The volunteers patched up the holes and in some places had to rebuild the stick structure. In recent news, the Government have granted her with a house; building work will be starting in the very near future! Gogo Snake's story became very close to the hearts of recent volunteers that they even composed a song for her.

 

So, that is the year so far for Home Based Care. We'll finish the update on a singing note with Gogo Snake's song.

 (Lyrics sung to ‘Music’, by Madonna)

“Hey Missy Jojo, put your visor on,
We’re going to cement Gogo Snake’s House.
And when the cement starts to roll,
It feels good in my soul,
We’re going to plug some holes.” – Zara, April