Dr Niall has now returned to England but he has left us fully trained in administering pain relief through syringe drivers and, although we have lost a patient this month, at least she was able to pass on with the least pain possible. Niall has also approached the local GPs to assist with acquiring the vials for the syringe drivers and out of hours advice, which they have agreed to do. This is absolutely fantastic.
This month we’ve also been out in the community with our Mobile HIV Voluntary Counselling andT esting Unit. We visited farms, supermarkets and fruit distribution centres. We are thankful for the diligent assistance of our Counsellors and Staff Nurse Cathy, who is currently locuming for ThembaCare.
We are very much enjoying our new car to assist in taking TB patients back and forth to appointments, however we were very worried about it getting damaged in the riots that happened recently here in Grabouw. There was a lot of unrest a couple of weeks ago and ThembaCare was caught in the thick of it because of its location. The widespread protests and political riots erupted this month iagain and this time over the lack of sufficient school classrooms. All roads into and out of Grabouw were blocked, with a heavy police presence everywhere and teargas being fired to try and disperse the huge crowds. A number of community members were beaten and hospitalised. Due to all the unrest and tension in the community, our Home Based Care Staff were unable to safely conduct their home visits in the community in order to see their patients. The situation is now calmer, but remains tense with sporadic random racial attacks. Our Staff are being advised to keep their eyes open and ears to the ground as they continue to cautiously offer their services in the community. Our prayer is that there can be resolutions found and implemented by the Government, serving Municipality, local political parties involved as the riots adversely affect everyone negatively.
Finally we are sad to say goodbye to Christa Titus (HBC Care Worker) who has left ThembaCare in order to pursue a career in Child Care Development. We wish her every success… and for a bit of good news; Sr Joyce & Johan are now official foster parents to their daughter, Anovuyo. A process that has taken over two years!
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