The Sakhelwe Trust
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My father and I, both Trustees, were lucky enough to spend time holidaying in South Africa over the summer, which meant that we were able to visit Sakhelwe and gain an even greater, first-hand appreciation of the work which is being done to help the community there. The current situation Visits to several homes in the community brought the situation there into perspective. Families are living in very basic and cramped conditions, often with several people sharing a single bed, and deaths from HIV-related illnesses or TB are commonplace. The number of orphaned children increases daily, which means that there is a constant need for foster carers and support for vulnerable children. The one clinic in Sakhelwe (where, bizarrely, all the government health education notices are in English and therefore inaccessible to the majority of patients) works hard to deal with its vast workload. Many people in the community are unemployed and live on a variety of grants from the government. Anti-retroviral drugs are becoming more widely available but, due to anomalies in the benefits system, patients are sometimes refusing this treatment where the resulting improvement in their health will make them ineligible for the incapacity grant on which they depend. The Hospice Built as a result of your generous donations, the Hospice has been used by many local community groups, as well as the home-based care team, whilst registration as a NPO (the equivalent of a UK registered charity) and licensing from the Government is awaited. It is difficult for us in the UK to appreciate the difficulties faced when dealing with bureaucracy in South Africa; please be assured that the delays being experienced are in no way due to any lack of effort on the part of Susan Solesbury or FAMSA NM; indeed, responses satisfying each new request from the authorities for information to be amended or resubmitted have been dealt with swiftly and efficiently by Susan, who works tirelessly and without complaint, through all the frustrations. 
A very real need in the meantime is the provision of day care for those who are
too ill to look after themselves, but are often left at home unattended, and
sometimes even locked in. Immediate plans are to use half of the hospice – ie
seven beds – as a day care centre to provide company, food, and basic health
care to the most needy patients, and work to put this in place is already in
hand. The photo shows one of the six-bed rooms with a bed occupied not by a
patient, but by the training dummy!Once registration and licensing are achieved, the other seven beds will be brought into use very quickly, either as ‘step-down’ care, or full palliative care. Both are vitally important: step-down beds are needed when patients are discharged from the hospital in Belfast (15 miles from Sakhelwe) but are not well enough to manage in their own homes; full palliative care (which is currently not favoured by the government, and therefore not funded) is for patients with terminal illnesses, in the final stages of their lives. Home-based care Whilst this is being worked through, your money is being used for much vital work in the community. The home-based care teams, which are based at the Hospice, could not operate without funds from the Sakhelwe Trust to supplement the overstretched local resources, and their role is vital in ensuring that some of the most vulnerable patients are given basic medical care in their own homes. We were lucky enough to meet Carol, who manages the team of eight, and is funded through the Trust. Her work has impressed everyone and we hope that she will play a role in the future management of the hospice. The team is led by Sannie, a trainee nurse who is qualified in Ancillary Health Care. The death of two members of the Sakhelwe home-based care team just before our visit, highlighted the problems which are faced on a daily basis, but the team is enthusiastic and doing a very worthwhile job. We are very grateful to the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa for providing training and funding support.  Orphans and vulnerable children Sipho, Sarah and Francina, who are all trained social auxiliary workers, continue to support the OVC co-ordinators in five townships. The peer counselling programme continues, run by Francina. Sipho and Sarah are running much needed courses on parenting in the community. The photograph shows children aged 5-6, in the top class at the Sakhelwe Creche. They were very pleased to see us, and even gave an impromptu concert of songs, some in English! Thank you Your donations make a huge difference to the lives of the people of Sakhelwe and everyone is enormously grateful for your continuing support. We will, of course, keep you updated with progress on the Hospice; we are all naturally very keen to see it fully occupied by those that need it most. With all good wishes Katharine Richman, Trustee |
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