Aids patients care centre looks for supporters
Above: Dedicated staff at Thembelihle Home.
BULAWAYO – When visiting Thembelihle Home, located in the sprawling, low income Mpopoma Township, one is immediately impressed with the air of professionalism prevailing at the Home.
Buildings are well kept and tidy, inside and outside, while swept walkways criss-cross the main yard that features carefully cropped grass. Staff members go about their tasks in a no-nonsense manner which speaks of competency.
Dedicated to the care of very ill Aids patients, the health centre was established in the early nineteen eighties by a group of concerned health practitioners.
Set in spacious wooded grounds, it sits next to the renowned Mpopoma Secondary School, whose students provide a wealth of assistance through voluntary work on the premises or by sourcing essentials needed by patients.
Sister-in-charge at Thembelihle House is Mrs. Ethel Sibanda, who several years ago retired from main-stream nursing, but willingly took up the post at the institution, due to her love of the profession and dedication to the sick. Sr. Sibanda over-sees a staff complement numbering twenty one, who in turn are augmented by several voluntary workers.
There are currently twelve patients at the centre which is, however, able to accommodate a greater number. The larger percentage of patients is made up of local people who fell ill while working in the Diaspora. Others are referred to Thembelihle by the city’s bigger health institutions, most of these referees being in the advanced stages of illness.
Saddest of all however, is the practice by some members from surrounding communities who “dump” their sick at the institution and never return.
Sr. Sibanda explains that such behaviour usually arises from ignorance or the inability, on the part of relatives, to cope with very ill family members. Besides this she says, there is the aspect of hygiene related considerations that normally present a considerable challenge for the sick person’s kin.
Yet in spite of the air of proficiency about the place, all is not well. The institution is faced with a serious crisis because its main donor who took care of the patients’ sustenance needs, including staff support requirements, recently decided to discontinue these forms of assistance.
Sr. Sibanda explains the dilemma faced by those at the centre, including their families off site:
“Staff members, me included, have gone months without pay since our major donor pulled out. We have families and some of us used to be sole bread winners.
Without salaries, we are finding it very difficult to make ends meet. Bills are not being paid. School fees cannot be met and we are unable to provide essentials for our homes. Voluntary workers no longer receive the twenty dollars allowance they used to receive from another former well-wisher, while security is being compromised because we now have a single security guard to care for these large premises. He also receives no pay.”
Sr. Sibanda however mentioned that in spite of these difficulties, most of her staff has opted to remain with Thembelihle, saying that this was due to their dedication to duty and concern for the welfare of patients.
Giving an account of the raft of challenges the institution has to contend with due to the lack of a donor, Sr. Sibanda remarked; “It is by the sheer grace of Almighty God that patients are being adequately fed. Although we are most grateful for this, we also thank the children from Mpopoma High, churches and members of the public for their kind contributions in cash and kind.” Other hardships she made mention of are the inconsistent availability of clean water required for the centre’s various essential needs. The single bore-hole that met those needs has since broken down. Besides other inconveniences that have been a consequence of this, produce from the nutritional garden, which supplemented patients’ and staff food supplies, is now sadly inadequate. The City Council assists by occasionally providing a full water-bowser.
Because of insufficient security, the institution has suffered a spate of thefts resulting in the loss of television sets computers, kitchen utensils, crockery and food-stuffs, among other things.
In the laundry, the automatic washing machine and electric iron have given up the ghost and consequently, staff now hand wash linen and clothing and use and iron heated on a stove. Due to lack of protective gloves washing is done with bare hands that present a precarious situation, to which may be added the risk of handling patients in the wards with inadequate protective equipment.
Kitchen workers have to find ingenious means in order to cook meals with leaking and insufficient utensils, while lack of appropriate chemicals make washing up and keeping pests at bay, a truly up hill task.
In spite of their burden, Sr. Sibanda, her dedicated staff and voluntary workers still find the time and will to report for work without fail, even though each day their clothes may appear slightly more threadbare and their cheeks a little less full.
Making comment that aptly captured the sheer commitment of these remarkable human beings, the Sister said; “As long as there are patients at Thembelihle we will be here for them. Their well-being means more to us than our own.”
The institution’s wards are tidy and spotless, yet one could not help noticing the fraying mattresses and worn blankets.
Thembelihle Home has four wards but only two of these are being utilised, one for male patients and another accommodates females. Most of the patients seemed to be cheerful and in surprisingly good shape. All those spoken to commended the staff for treating them well.
Councillor for Ward nine, in which the Home is located, Elmon Mpofu, has taken a keen interest in its plight. He is a frequent visitor and is engaged in several activities that are meant to assist. At present Cllr. Mpofu is engaged in organising his ward’s HIV/AIDS Work Group to clear the insitution’s outer yard of brush and long grass.
Well-wishers willing to assist Thembelihle House are invited to use the following contact details:
The Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust,
12a Park Road, Suburbs. Bulawayo. Zimbabwe.
Telephone: +263 – 9 – 232616. Mobile: +263 – o774 313840.
Email: