See our latest updates on the new Thembalitsha Foundation blog!

Thank you for being a loyal supporter and friend of ThembaCare Grabouw and Thembalitsha Foundation! We have recently streamlined all of our blogs into a single website for all of the projects so you can keep up with all things Thembalitsha in one place: thembalitsha.blogspot.com. If you are interested in following our new combined stream, you can scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your up-to-date e-mail address in the "Follow By E-mail" field. And if you still want to view project-specific content, you can choose a project from the drop-down menu at the top! All of our old posts from this blog have also migrated there as well in a full archives.

We hope that this new platform will be incredibly easy for you to use and also show you the full scope of the exciting happenings here at Thembalitsha! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at any time - we love hearing from our supporters.

We look forward to sharing more of this journey with you!

xx
Team Themba

THEMBACARE GRABOUW: Hit the ground running in 2015!

ThembaCare Grabouw hit the ground running at the start of 2015 – all the departments were quite busy from the start of the New Year. The first quarter of every year is always busy, and TCG is bracing itself for a busy quarter in all projects!

We began the New Year at ThembaCare by waving an emotional goodbye to Tim and Maz, who had been the project managers at the Village of Hope for the last several years. We will miss the great impact they have made on the Grabouw community! We also shared the pleasure of meeting all the staff and volunteers of Thembalitsha at the interactive 2015 Staff Kick-Off at Paul Cluver Wine Estates.

Back in our unit, we have been making more improvements by revamping the in-patient sluice room and completing the kitchen used by our Home-Based Carers. Our staff also devoted some of their time to attending the Department of Health’s Compulsory 2015/2016 Funding & Briefing Meeting.

In-Patient Unit

Bed occupancy was 98% full during December 2014 and January 2015, which is unusual around this time as most patients normally migrate to the Eastern Cape to spend the Christmas and New Year with their families. Even with so much going on, we are delighted to report that we have successfully rehabilitated two patients during this holiday season!

Home Based Care:

Our dedicated team of caregivers supported a total of 357 patients who are living with HIV or TB during December and January. 16 of our carers were able to brush up their skills by attending the M Learning Child Health training facilitated by the Elgin Learning Foundation.

The carers also participated in the Department of Health’s Diarrhoea Campaign in the community – a collaboration between several non-profit organizations in Grabouw aimed at decreasing the deaths caused from diarrhoea-related dehydration which is particularluy prominent in the summer months due to the heat. By providing guidance, education, and practical solutions to stay hydrated, the campaign saw immediate results: whereas there had been several deaths caused by diarrheoa before Christmas in 2013, there had been zero deaths at the meeting just before Christmas in 2014. The campaign has been a victory for all the healthcare providers in our community so far.

HIV Counselling & Testing Unit:

The HCTU was able to mobilize the Caravan for assisting the Department of Health’s Vitamin A Campaign in the community. Our counsellors were on hand to provide guidance and smart nutrition tips for keeping healthy. The Mobile Unit also reached 187 clients with HIV testing and counselling in the past two months, and screened 182 clients for TB in the community. From this, 13 clients were referred to the Grabouw Day Hospital to commence TB treatment.