Extra's for halfwayhouse for AIDS-patients
The percentage of people carrying the HIV-virus is high in Zimbabwe (ca. 20%). More than 2000 people a week die of aids-related diseases in this country.
From their commitment to the community and their belief in a better world, a group of people in Bulawayo took the initiative to found a so-called halfway house, where AIDS-patients that need special care can go to. In the two biggest hospitals in town (Mpilo and UBH) many bed are occupied by aids-patients that could also been taken care of elsewhere. These patients are sent back to their families for home-based care. The home-based care does not amount too much if they are taken in at all; in al lot of cases nobody wants them because of a (unjust) fear of contagion.
The initiators of the halfway house are headed by Dr. Alan Pugh, a respectable man far into his seventies, former Provincial Medical Director of Matabeleland and still active for the community. He has an excellent reputation in the whole from his letter: "The need was identified for an institution which could provide basic nursing care, good nutrition, counselling and comfort for these patients until they have recovered enough for home-based care. This Halfway House would also arrange for the family members to help their relatives in the institution and learn how to cater for their needs when at home. Also if a patient at home has an episode of severe illness she/he could be readmitted temporarily for treatment. But we must guard against the haven becoming a dumping ground".
The haven got some support from a.o. the Matabeleland Aids Council (MAC), the Rotary Club Bulawayo South and the Catholic Church. And the Association against Tuberculosis has offered them an old building. Compared to the costs however, this was not enough to get the haven of the ground. The building needed renovation, toilets and a kitchen had to be installed, it has to be furnished and ran by paid employees. A nurse that is employed by MAC will act as manager, one hopes the other personnel can be paid from a contribution by the AIDS-fund. Moments of Joy paid for an industrial freezer for food and medicines, games, six little portable radios and an electrical stove with oven.
The percentage of people carrying the HIV-virus is high in Zimbabwe (ca. 20%). More than 2000 people a week die of aids-related diseases in this country.
From their commitment to the community and their belief in a better world, a group of people in Bulawayo took the initiative to found a so-called halfway house, where AIDS-patients that need special care can go to. In the two biggest hospitals in town (Mpilo and UBH) many bed are occupied by aids-patients that could also been taken care of elsewhere. These patients are sent back to their families for home-based care. The home-based care does not amount too much if they are taken in at all; in al lot of cases nobody wants them because of a (unjust) fear of contagion.
The initiators of the halfway house are headed by Dr. Alan Pugh, a respectable man far into his seventies, former Provincial Medical Director of Matabeleland and still active for the community. He has an excellent reputation in the whole from his letter: "The need was identified for an institution which could provide basic nursing care, good nutrition, counselling and comfort for these patients until they have recovered enough for home-based care. This Halfway House would also arrange for the family members to help their relatives in the institution and learn how to cater for their needs when at home. Also if a patient at home has an episode of severe illness she/he could be readmitted temporarily for treatment. But we must guard against the haven becoming a dumping ground".
The haven got some support from a.o. the Matabeleland Aids Council (MAC), the Rotary Club Bulawayo South and the Catholic Church. And the Association against Tuberculosis has offered them an old building. Compared to the costs however, this was not enough to get the haven of the ground. The building needed renovation, toilets and a kitchen had to be installed, it has to be furnished and ran by paid employees. A nurse that is employed by MAC will act as manager, one hopes the other personnel can be paid from a contribution by the AIDS-fund. Moments of Joy paid for an industrial freezer for food and medicines, games, six little portable radios and an electrical stove with oven.
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+31 70 3241997 - IBAN: NL72 TRIO 0784 9315 69
+31 70 3241997 - IBAN: NL72 TRIO 0784 9315 69