Soweto homemakers restore dignity,
ease suffering
By Marian Lucas Jefferies
A year ago the 40-something-year-old mother seated in the photo below volunteered at the Soweto Home Based Care Givers Co-op. She was dedicated to teaching people about HIV and AIDS prevention. Her husband brought the disease home to her and left when she was diagnosed. When I saw her in
December, the Soweto homemakers were caring for her, her six children and her mother. She was emaciated and needed crutches as well as two people to help her get to the living/dining room of the two-bedroom home where she wanted to talk to me. The week before I met her she was hospitalized for treatment of a foot infected with gangrene. As a former nurse I was surprised her foot was not amputated before her release. Upon further reflection I understood why scarce and valuable health care resources would not be used on an end-stage AIDS patient. Her health problems will be resolved soon enough.
December 2007 was my third trip to Soweto, South Africa, one of the black townships in the greater Johannesburg area. Although I thought I was aware of the HIV/AIDS crisis on my other two visits, I realize now that I am only just beginning to understand the immensity of the situation. An article I read in a newspaper at the Johannesburg airport told me there are now more than 500,000 –– that’s half a million –– CHILDREN infected with HIV in that country alone. Who can imagine that much suffering?
Members of the Soweto Home Care Givers Co-op work with people who could never afford to pay for care. The co-op’s funding comes from the Canadian Co-operative Association's Co-op Development Fund (CDF), a fund supported by local co-ops and credit unions and individual co-op and credit union members. The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) of the Anglican Church of Canada is also a supporter.
I visited the Soweto Co-op on behalf of the CDF to evaluate the project and perhaps offer suggestions for the future. I found the number of co-op workers had grown to 22 and continues to grow. I found they were blessed by the contributions of 15 volunteers, and that they continue to care for more than 500 families. I also found, however, that the workers and their patients continue to live in abject poverty with no clean (let alone running) water, no toilets or sanitation systems, and not enough food. Yet they still remain committed to their mission –– to restore dignity, ease suffering and provide quality health care to those who are living with and dying of HIV/AIDS.
The mother of the 40-something-year-old woman with the gangrenous foot lies in bed at night afraid to check on her daughter, in case she finds her dead under the covers. She is also terrified she will not be able to care for her six grandchildren –– four school age, one two years old, and a four month old baby who needs regular physiotherapy for a mysterious joint problem. I pray with God’s help as well as the help of the Soweto homemakers, she will cope.
As I said, the Soweto homemakers are poor themselves, so they do not have cars. In order to visit their patients they must either walk great distances or take public transportation (14 passenger vans with 20 people crammed inside). One morning I walked with homemakers Gloria and Mabel for about 15 minutes to a small fenced-in yard that held four homes. When we walked in the door of one of those homes we were overcome by the smell of urine. Gloria quickly opened all the doors and windows. Then this five-foot tall woman maneuvered an emaciated man (see photo above) who was at least six-feet tall into the house’s only bedroom. There she settled him onto the bed, undressed him, washed him, applied a new nappy (diaper) and dressed him in clean clothes.
This man is in his mid 30s. Not only is he HIV positive, he has cardiac problems and last year suffered a stroke that left him with little use of the left side of his body and with no speech. His mother is in hospital slowly dying with from disease that is causing her brain to "shrink." His 17-year-old sister is his main caregiver; she also visits their mother every Sunday and attends high school during the week. She is in her last year and, despite the odds against her, aspires to be a chemical engineer. Without the support of the Soweto homemakers she would not be able to attend school at all.
While Gloria gave the man a bed-bath, Mabel made porridge like Cream of Wheat and passed the small bag of food that we had brought with us to the sister. She placed the food items in a bare cupboard that still looked pretty bare when she was finished. The kitchen in this house has huge pieces missing from the countertop and the cupboard doors hang from broken hinges. In the distant past someone pieced together a sink from scraps of ceramic tile. The kitchen does, however, have some luxuries: a single cold water tap, working stove and fridge, but there is no room for a table.
Gloria returned the refreshed patient to the living room and settled him with the porridge, bowl and spoon. His lack of coordination made feeding himself a hit and miss effort, but he persevered. We excused ourselves and returned to the cramped shipping container the Co-op homemakers use for their headquarters.
My time in Soweto was brief, just five days on the ground with two days travel each way. I was able to help them with the reports they send to their funding agencies and we got a few things started. I’m not sure we finished much, but I am certain funding from the CDF and PRDF (both of which are supported by many of you and by the federal government through CIDA) enable the Soweto Homemakers to truly care for their patients. They are truly grateful for the support.
The Rev. Marian Lucas Jefferies is onen of two priests in charge in the parishes of Upper Kennebecasis, Central Kings and Upham.
