Summer’s here – August Update I

Home Based Care


The volunteers have been helping clean Christopher’s house, who is doing well – his eyesight is much better and at the end of the month he was able to run an errand and walk to the store, something many volunteers will be happy to know after he has been quite ill for a number of weeks now. Veronica’s condition remains very much the same – moving her remains a very painful experience, though she has been seeing the doctor so he can monitor her condition. 


It was a bit of a tough month for those volunteers on Home Based Care, as three of our new patients passed away, all three having only been seen once by our volunteers. We were also asked to transport a young boy who had been severely burned to the clinic so he could be taken to hospital – the boy’s condition is stable though he continues to stay in hospital. On the positive side, Thulani, who had been taken to the hospital with abscesses on his hip, had a skin graft done and is doing very well. 




10 Families 


It’s been a bit of a sad month for our Mthembu II family, as we have discovered that Gugu has been battling with alcohol abuse and leaving the boys at home by themselves. The four boys don’t have much to eat and are struggling with going to school as their youngest brother needs to be cared for and often their school uniforms are left unwashed. The volunteers have been going and playing with the boys, cleaning the house, dishes and clothes for them. 

We have also been providing them with food parcels each week and have been in discussions with the Induna’s son (as the Induna recently passed away) to see what can be done for the boys, whose grandmother wishes to take them in. Gogo Joyce also had her youngest grandson pass away. Volunteers paid their respects to her by bringing a food parcel of bread, tea and sugar. She was also very happy to receive the hoe we donated to her, so she can now tend to her own garden without having to borrow tools from her neighbours. On the subject of gardens, the Mavundla garden is doing very well with some help from the volunteers this month. Clothing donations and food parcels were also given out to the Mhkwanazi and Ntibane families. 



HIV Education


HIV education at Ubuhlebemvelo continues to go well, with our August volunteers coming up with new and innovative ways to teach and review the lessons with the kids. Getting them up off their feet playing games and doing quizzes proved to be a great strategy, as 15 of the 17 learners in the last class passed the course’s test. By learning from one another and creating improved teaching strategies, this month’s volunteers have really developed the program in different ways, and the students are certainly seeing the benefits.