JANUARY 2019 NEWSLETTER

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PROVIDING SUPPORT

Thando* was admitted into Philani’s programme as he was severely underweight at 2 years. Thando and his mother are originally from the Eastern Cape but arrived in Cape Town as he was referred to Red Cross Hospital. He was diagnosed with a nephroblastoma (kidney cancer) and was referred for chemotherapy, as his cancer was advanced. On the first visit, stress was written all over the mother’s face. She was 21 years old and was struggling to cope on her own. Her mother died a long time ago and she didn’t have anyone to support her or a shoulder to cry on. We started ...

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OCTOBER 2018 NEWSLETTER

View our October 2018 newsletter.  

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A STORY FROM THE EASTERN CAPE

22-year old Owethu* was admitted into the Mentor Mother Program when she was 5 months pregnant. As of Xhosa tradition a mother should be in the care of her own mother during pregnancy. In her case she moved back home to Tsolo. This meant that we could not attend to her since we do not have mentor mothers in that area. She came back when the baby was 3 weeks old. When still under our care prior to her leaving, Owethu would not tell us whether she was HIV+ or not. When she came back with the baby we picked it up from the baby’s Road to Health Booklet that she was indeed ...

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JULY 2018 NEWSLETTER

View our July 2018 newsletter.

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BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

Thandiswa Mhe, a Philani mentor mother, met a client Nomasango* in Site B, Khayelitsha, who is 49 years old, has one child and was separated from her husband. The client was separated from her husband for 4 years when Thandiswa met her. The husband came back after 4 years to reconcile with his wife. 6 months after his return Nomasango fell sick with shingles. She went to the clinic and was diagnosed with HIV. The client became traumatised and would hear voices, she struggled to accept her condition. The mentor mother, Thandiswa, offered her counselling and encouraged her ...

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November 2015 Newsletter

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Our May Newsletter

View Philani's May 2015 newsletter is now available!

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A new mother supported

This story is from Thembisa Njomana, one of our Mentor Mothers. Thembisa found a 23 year old new mother-to-be in her area who was very close to delivery. She was new to the area and had only recently found out that she was HIV positive. Thembisa visited her regularly to help her come to terms with her HIV status and prepare her for the birth of her first child. Her baby was born in April 2014 and weighed just 1310g. Thembisa visited her often to help her exclusively breastfeed her child, and to speak to her about the importance of kangaroo mother care, and the ...

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Going back to school

Philani Stacy-Leigh
Last year, our OVC team identified a 16 year old orphaned girl, Emihle Yola, who is currently living with her older brother. She was previously attending school in Mitchell’s Plain but since her mother’s death, she had been unable to pay the transport fees to go to school and had also not paid school fees. As a result, she dropped out of school when she was 14. She was too fearful to speak to her teachers about her situation and scared that they would be angry that she couldn’t pay her school fees. Nomvuzo, one of our OVC fieldworkers, spent time with her, ...

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