LABOUR
At 06:30 in the morning I received a call - a grandmother told me that a client of mine was in labour and her water had broken but she refused to go to hospital. The grandmother was concerned. She asked me to come to their home to talk to this client.
Within an hour, I was at their home. I managed to convince the client to go to the hospital. I went with her myself.
She gave birth to a healthy baby at midday. I called the grandmother and told her that she had given birth and all went well. The grandmother was very thankful and is always happy when she sees me.
SUPPORTING A TEENAGER
We met a young girl, Noma*, aged 16, while doing house-to-house visits. She had a 9-month-old baby, weighing 5.9 kg. Both her parents had died, the father in 2003 and the mother in 2007. Her parents were married and had 5 children. Noma is the first born and is now looking after her own child and her siblings. They have family – uncles and aunts – but they do not care for the kids. Two of Noma’s siblings have moved to Eastern Cape to stay with an old granny. The mother had an income from the father’s work pension after he died. A friend of the mother is now the ...
JUNE 2020 NEWSLETTER
View our June 2020 newsletter.
MANDLA’S STORY
During house to house visits, a mentor mother met a little boy called Mandla*. He was 3 years old. The mentor mother noticed that Mandla was vomiting and had diarrhoea. She made him oral rehydration solution (ORS) and referred him to the clinic. After a few days, Mandla was not improving. The mentor mother arranged transport money for the mother and Mandla and sent them straight to the hospital.
Tests were done in hospital and Mandla was found to be HIV positive. He was started on ARVs. The mentor mother opened a Philani folder as she knew Mandla would need to be ...
DECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER
View our December 2019 newsletter.
A DESPERATE FAMILY’S STORY
“It had rained the night before and although the sun was up it was the beginning of winter and cold. We were asked by an outreach worker, to visit a desperate family with her. After knocking on the door for a while it was eventually opened and the heartbreaking cry of a hungry baby greeted us. The mother, who did not look well, was sitting on the bed trying to calm the baby with a bottle of water. A 5-year-old boy, who looked small for his age, was standing next to his mother asking for bread.
We noticed that the mother had enlarged glands behind her ears and looked ...
JULY 2019 NEWSLETTER
View our July 2019 newsletter.
A FAMILY IN NEED
Zolelwa* is a 25-year old mother of 5. She is now pregnant with her 6th child. She was admitted into the Mentor Mother Programme. The weight of her 4 children was fine and the 5th was living with her father. On our visits we discovered that none of her children were receiving Child Support Grants (CSG). This was because she herself did not have an identity (ID) book and therefore could not apply for birth certificates for them, making it impossible for them to apply for CSG. All her children were delivered at home; she did not know their birthdays. We asked the neighbours ...
APRIL 2019 NEWSLETTER
View our April 2019 newsletter.
THE STORY OF AYANDA
Ayanda* was 2 years and five months when she was admitted on the Philani Programme. At our first visit she was severely underweight. We noticed that she was due to start ARVs the previous year. However, Ayanda’s mother passed away and never disclosed her status to the grandmother.
Ayanda’s mentor mother accompanied her and her grandmother to the clinic. At the clinic a few tests were done and Ayanda was diagnosed with TB. She was immediately initiated on medication for both TB and HIV. They also entered Ayanda onto the Nutrition Therapeutic Programme (NTP) due to ...
