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Home Based Care - Dingaanstat

The local town of Denny Dalton suffers from a 33% AIDS prevalence rate. The number of orphans in the region has increased dramatically as parents die due to AIDS. Zulus love children, yet many young men and women have children outside of any permanent or long-term relationship. One of the barriers to marriage is the high bridal price that Zulu custom demands. Very few men can afford the 13 cows that must be paid to the bride's family.

Volunteer committees organize and train new home based care workers. The network of dedicated volunteers not only provides material help, they also bring the hope of the Gospel on their home visits. They are advocates for change in their communities, speaking out on behalf of AIDS patients, who are often shunned and denied the care and support they need. They seek help on behalf of orphans in their communities, and do not turn a blind eye to reports of orphans steeling from their grandparents or elderly caregivers.

Delivering Hope Training Volunteers

THE BACKGROUND:

In KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa, the city of Dingaanstat is the home of the Zisize Care Centre. This Centre is an organization jointly run by the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and Uniting Reformed Churches (URC) of South Africa with board members drawn from the diaconal commissions of both. Funds go to support three home based care (HBC) projects in neighbouring areas. The projects are Ithembalethu, Mkhiweni, Ophindweni. Each of these draws volunteers from the local URC members. These groups operate in order to raise funds for the project. Financial reports are provided every three months by Fannie Volschenk, the manager of Zisize Care Centre.

In 2000, Konnie Peet, along with her son Neil, spent a year in Dingaanstat (also call KwaDingane in the Zulu language). Konnie worked with local leaders in the town of Denny Dalton to help organize volunteers to start a Home Based Care project in order to respond to the growing problems associated with AIDS. In 2004 they returned to the area for three months to monitor the project. While there was sorrow due to many AIDS deaths there was also cause for celebration. The Home Based Care project had expanded from one to three communities, where 45 dedicated volunteers visit several hundred homes each week. In 2007 the Peets returned to Dingaanstat again to find all three projects operating with a strong volunteer base, and functioning well with a budget supported by the CRWRF.

THE FUTURE:

In the fall of 2007, the Home Based Care Committees met to discuss future needs, prioritize a strategy and develop an action plan for their work. The problems they identified were:

  • Ongoing silence about AIDS in rural communities that keeps patients isolated, and families without support

  • Ongoing reluctance to get tested for AIDS and receive anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), even though those who are taking ARVs are benefiting.

  • Plight of orphans who do not have financial resources, and who cause problems by stealing from their caregivers

  • Teen pregnancies 

  • Drug and alcohol abuse

  • High rates of family violence and sexual abuse 

  • Inadequate Supplies for home visits

  • Need for uniforms to gain visibility and credibility in their work

  • Struggle of the volunteers who themselves have AIDS and have their own financial challenges

ONGOING PRAYER CONCERNS:

Pray for the Executive Committees of the Home Based Care Programs that they would have wisdom and be effective in responding to the complex and difficult social issues surrounding AIDS. Pray also that CRWRF funds would be effectively used to address the problems the volunteers have identified. 
For reports on Konnie Peet's visits to Dingaanstat, click here to go to her blog site.

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