iKhaya Lobomi - House of Life

iKhaya Lobomi is a hospice centre based in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu-Natal and founded by two community members, Patience and Zimele Mavata. With an HIV prevalence of one in two being observed by staff at the nearby Botha's Hill Clinic, such a hospice is an essential facility in this community.

Patience, a staff nurse, and Zimele approached their Chief's wife to obtain permission to use an abandoned tavern as a care centre for terminally ill patients, and were able to secure beds and linen for the project.

Not only do they look after their own patients, but they also run a growing home-based care organisation, with 47 volunteers coming from families in which both breadwinners are unemployed. The incentive is the possibility of food for their own families, so Patience is inundated with hopeful volunteers; however, in order to maintain a high standard of care, the project is strictly monitored, with each volunteer being trained by the nearby Hillcrest AIDS Centre, and recording every aspect of their home-based care practice.

An important task is to monitor deaths in families and the possibility of orphans being left to fend for themselves. Patience tries to help where she can with food and also by reporting their circumstances to Child and Family Welfare. Usually, such children do not have any documentation, such as parental death certificates, that would enable them to apply for grants from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

iKhaya Lobomi also provides counselling on HIV/AIDS and drug abuse: the sessions are held on Fridays for youths of 13 years and older, and on Saturdays children under 12 are counselled on family values. Leaders of families are also given support and they meet twice a week for prayers. The very poor in the community are provided with food if the hospice has sufficient supplies to distribute. The hospice staff have devised a five-year plan for the rescue of orphaned children and the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The hospice is in desperate need of:
plastic gloves (disposable or not); disinfectant; footstools for patients; rubbish bags; medicine for pain; linen-savers; disposable nappies for adults; washing powder; electricity cards; a tumble dryer; a fridge; nutritional foods, especially soya mince and fresh vegetables; transport; screens between beds; sheets and blankets; large pots.

If you can help, please contact:
- PATIENCE or ZIMELE by cellphone on 082 834 5956
- Hillcrest AIDS Centre by telephone on (031) 765 5866
-Liz Palmer on (031) 309 8538
- Wendy Moulton at Biosphere by telephone on (031) 764 3336

(Biosphere, a locally published monthly environmental newspaper, donated 50 cents from every issue sold towards iKhaya Lobomi, and from the sales of their March issue, was able to give R2 121-00 to the hospice, as well as linen and blankets handed in by readers.)