February News

Well, we are very happy bunnies here at ThembaCare Grabouw because this month we have become proud owners of a brand new car!

We have been in desperate need for some new wheels seeing as our other vehicles are on their last legs and have been spending more time being fixed in the garage than out. It was part funded by the lovely people at the Gerald Wright Foundation (from whom we rent the building that is our In Patient Unit). It is a seven seater so will give us lots of flexibility and allow us to continue to transport our TB patients who are often too weak to walk to the clinic when they first start their medication. It also makes it so much easier for our palliative carers to check up on our outpatients who live in the more remote areas of our community.

We were also treated very well on Valentines Day by the staff of Elgin Free Range Chicken who gave each of us a homemade chocolate heart. Sister Joyce and her team continued to spoiled the patients and staff by grilling boerewors rolls for them at lunch whilst Sister Thandi, Sister Portia and Rozell had their first NACOSA audit.

our mobile counselling and testing unit on tour

This month the mobile counselling and testing unit has been on tour travelling out to farms and around town. It is great to have this facility which makes it easier for members of the community and farm workers to get tested without having to make time to travel into town (this could sometimes take half a day to do if they don’t have easy access to transport). It’s also a good way to spread awareness of ThembaCare and the services we offer.

Finally, we are SO pleased to welcome Dr Niall from the UK. He has arrived to volunteer with us for five weeks and has brought syringe drivers to ensure that both our inpatients and outpatients remain pain free. He will be providing all the necessary administration training whilst he is with us and has also been making himself useful helping to transport outpatient carers and patients. These syringe drivers are groundbreaking for us here at ThembaCare. Until now the only method of pain relief for our patients has been oral. This makes it very difficult when a patient doesn’t have the ability to swallow and we used to have to use music to distract the patients whilst we gave them their meds. Now it will mean that patients who are suffering can have more consistent pain relief. Thank you Niall for making our lives a little easier! – However we do have some challenges in this department. To be able to administer pain relief with the drivers we are reliant upon special vials of morphine which are not always readily available. We have a meeting next week with doctors and pharmacists to try and convey to them the desperate need we have for a reliable supply for this treatment. Please pray that they will be sympathetic to our request.

January News

Grabouw has experienced very hot weather this New Year. Temperatures soared to over 38 degrees celsius and has made it very challenging for all ThembaCare Grabouw staff to work. The In Patient Unit’s fans did little to relieve the patients and the staff of their discomfort, as only extremely hot air was being circulated. The Palliative Community Care Workers suffered the most as they had to walk to their patients in the blistering heat!! Despite this the community team managed to reach their NACOSA patient home visit targets. Well done to them for their hard work and endurance!!

ThembaCare Grabouw had its final Hospice Palliative Care Association (HPCA) Phase 2 Audit on the 1st December 2011 and achieved an overall rating of 94%. Thus ThembaCare Grabouw is now a proud “2 Star “ rated hospice!!!! For those of you who don’t know, this is not an easy level to reach and involves us having to maintain a very high standard of care to be recognised as such. All the ‘I’s have to be dotted and ‘T’s crossed. Many thanks are given to all those involved who worked so hard to help achieve this difficult task and process!!!!

ThembaCare Grabouw’s staff hope that 2012 will be an even better year than 2011 and that we can continue offering Palliative Nursing Care & hope, to all our terminally ill, HIV, TB, Cancer & Chronic patients in the community of Grabouw.

December News

Well the end of year is creeping up on us and a mission team from Infocus Church, Augusta in America blessed us with an early Christmas present! They have completely tiled our day room. It was looking very tired before and now, with two days hard work from them, the place looks great. Thank you guys!
Last month our inpatient unit was very quiet but now we are one hundred percent full. We were sad to lose one patient in his fight against cancer. It's always tough when this happens but we pride ourselves in giving the best possible care to these people in their last days.

The past few weeks we have been busy  preparing for our HPCA audit. We are trying to get everything in line so that we might possibly achieve a 2-star status for our project. Our Outpatient carers have been battling with Grabouw’s weather elements. The rain and stormy weather makes it very difficult for them to get out and see all their patients, but they are dedicated as always.

October News

We ended September with a generous donation from one of our local companies, Elgin Free Range Chicken, who’ve sponsored us, with the help of other companies, stationary for R500 a month until February as well as two fly zappers to keep the bugs at bay. Thank you girls, Linka and the rest of the team.

It’s also with sadness that we had to say farewell to one of our members. Staff nurse Suzette Le Roux decided that her season has ended here at ThembaCare. Thank you for you hard and dedicated work in the HCT unit. We will miss you greatly.

This month wasthe inpatient unit was filled with the happy sound of children’s’ laughter whilst a 13 month old boy and his four year old sister spent a couple of days with us alongside their Mom in the unit. They are now back at home doing well.

We are also very excited to welcome Sr Portia to the Out Patient Unit. Her responsibility will be to us and the childrens’ unit at the Village of Hope. It is fantastic to have some more skilled hands on the team to share the load. Good luck sister and a blessed, long service.

September News

This month we would really love to thank Froggie shoes.

As any South African will tell you, 'local is lekker' and so a heartfelt THANK YOU must be said!

We were able to bless some of our staff at Thembacare Grabouw with a comfortable pair of working shoes as a result of a generous donation from Sarah Gedye and Jane Moodley from Froggie Shoes in Durban.

A few staff are going to test out the shoes on their out patient rounds in the community and if they are up to the terrain then there will be a pair for every staff member!  Our carers cover most of the town on foot every week so comfortable footwear is very much appreciated.

One of the ladies to receive a pair burst into tears. She was so happy to get new shoes when her old pair we worn and she had no money to replace them. Who would have thought such a simple gift could make such an amazing difference?

It was a truly special moment to witness.

August News

This month the Inpatient Unit (IPU) has cared for a lot more Cancer patients than usual and we were sad to lose three patients to the battle. Losing any patient is always sad and this was quite disheartening for the staff. However, it has also been rewarding to see that one cancer patient, who was referred to us to die, is still with us and doing much better. Her family never thought that they would see her reach her next birthday! But it was her birthday this month and so the whole family came to celebrate with her in the IPU. It was encouraging to see the family’s hope restored as they decorated the lounge for the party.

We also received quite an influx of visitors on Mandela Day who brought blessings of goodwill and reminded our staff of what amazing care and support they provide for the community of Grabouw. Of those who visited us were the Caledon Correctional Services Staff and some Parliamentarians from Namibia. We also had a former patient, who had been very ill and admitted to the IPU last year, come to bring drinks and eats for the staff and to say thank you. It was wonderful to see how well he is………All thanks to the care that the staff had provided. It reminded us to keep on doing what we do no matter how hard it gets!!

May News

On The Road Again!



Great news this month! We have finally received our newly branded caravan from Appletiser, with the new Thembalitsha Logo on it. The caravan is a generous donation from Appletiser who’s offices are based nearby. It is worth over R100, 000 and will be used by the HIV Counselling Testing Team as a mobile screening clinic to test for HIV, TB and other diseases. This new caravan enables us to get out to the farms and more rural communities in the valley and ensure that more people are screened and know their status.





Last month the HCT had more than 400 clients who were tested voluntarily and now, thanks to the caravan, we will be able to test a lot more people! A gold star goes to Staff Nurse le Roux and her team of counsellors who work tirelessly to ensure that the community is served in this area. 





We will have an official final handover ceremony to thank Appletiser for their support very soon.