South Africa

Community caregivers: a lifeline of support to people with TB, HIV and AIDS

I love caring for others. It is amazing to see someone who was bedridden and unable to do anything go back to work. It is a joy seeing someone I’ve helped leading a healthy good life again.

– Community caregiver

In KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, we partner with Embo Clinic and Community Church to provide vital clinic-based medical care and home-based care for people with HIV, TB and other chronic illnesses.

The clinic and church are in Embo, an informal settlement in KwaZulu Natal, where rates of poverty and HIV and TB are shockingly high. Families often have a ‘missing generation’, with children orphaned by AIDS left in the care of their grandparents.

Many people with HIV go on to develop TB. Without the right treatment, this can leave them extremely ill and unable to earn an income. As they grow weaker, many end up isolated and hopeless.

But Embo’s amazing community caregiver team are specially trained to find and support people in urgent need like this. By showing them how to access and manage essential medication, giving health advice and practical support such as bed baths, food parcels and daily encouragement, the caregivers help bring people back from the brink. As they feel stronger, patients can then hold down jobs and resume care of family members – and the whole community benefits.

The caregivers work closely with staff at Embo Clinic, built in 2014 thanks to the generosity of many MAI supporters. It is now helping to transform health outcomes in the area, with over 100 patient appointments a day.

This combination of home and clinic-based care gives people with HIV and TB in Embo the medical, practical, emotional and spiritual support they need to manage their conditions and live well and active lives.

£14 could fund one month’s support for a patient living with HIV

Support this life-changing work with a gift today.

Watch our interview with Pastor Leonard Gcabashe, Embo clinic and caregivers…

Support this life-changing work with a gift today

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