Lindiwe

I met Lindiwe late one morning in the Home-Based Caregiver’s home. She was sitting on a Zulu mat on the floor, covered in a blanket to keep the winter chill away. She was clearly sick, and had spoken with the home based caregiver for assistance. The symptoms of TB were evident and upon our advice, 34 year old Lindiwe, the mother of three, went to the clinic to get the sputum bottles to check for tuberculosis and to get an HIV test. As it became obvious that her finances were keeping her from fetching her TB results and doing the two day ARV adherence training to treat her HIV, we assisted her with the transport to get to the clinic. As predicted, her results came back positive for TB, and after time we found her CD4 count to be 142 – low enough for her to need quick ARV access, but this wasn’t to be.

The June public strikes interrupted Lindiwe’s access to treatment, starting just as she most needed the ARVs.

As the strikes dragged on into their final days, Lindiwe developed meningitis and was admitted into the hospital. At that point, the meningitis was too strong and her immune system to weak to start the ARVs. She never made it out of the hospital, leaving her two daughters, aged 14 and 20, without their mother, staying alone without any income. The last time I saw her, she asked me to look out for her girls. Fortunately, their father is working in Durban and thus can provide maintenance to care for the younger, schooling daughter. Accessing this support, however, has not been expedient: for three months, the girls got food vouchers from the social workers. Those three months have just come to an end, and their case is still no closer to being resolved. I’ll be bringing them food again to ensure they don’t go hungry, while urging the social workers to work through their case quickly.

In case after case with HBC patients, there is the bitter-sweet heartache and joy of assisting patients sick with HIV/AIDS. For some, like Lindiwe, our assistance has left a mark of love and care while not succeeding in lengthening their life, still leaving orphaned children behind to look after. Although increasing numbers of patients are accessing life-saving treatment, Home Based Care for the sick and orphans too often go hand in hand.

The beautiful thing about working with Thembalethu is being able to be with both situations in their greatest need – to share love, care, prayers, resources and health advocacy. On the behalf of all of those whose lives we have touched, THANK YOU for making this work possible!