in South Africa

Listen to the Interview (Windows Media - 1.46 MB)

Transcript:

Mary Mabogoane: We have 160 children on ARVs; they are from 2 years to the oldest 14 years. Their parents had HIV/AIDS and they were infected and now they take the treatment. In actual fact the Global Fund has made a big impact in the community. We now have a car to go to the community where we couldn’t reach the people before the Global Fund, we have money for the carers, money to take the patients to the hospital and back home; to buy food for the patients, so that makes a big difference.

Q. Have the experiences of any of these children touched you personally? Do you have an example in mind?

Mary Mabogoane: It’s Nkosinathi, a two year-old child. He got the sickness from the mother during birth, the mother and father died, and now he is staying with the Granny. She is at the age of sixty-something.

Q. What support do children like Nkosinathi get from Philanjalo?

Mary Mabogoane: We make home visits; we give them food when we have, and clothes if people donate. Then we have a support group when they are coming to the doctor. We stay with them counseling them and we disclose to the children- they must know their status, and we also tell them that it’s not the fault of their mothers. They must understand it- it is painful. Some of them don’t understand what it is because it is only when a child grows – and then they start, maybe, to ask questions... For those who are attending school, we arrange with the teachers that if they don’t see a child they must know that she is in the hospital and we are giving them lessons for that day.

Q. Who takes care of Nkosinathi’s grandmother?

Mary Mabogoane: That is a very big problem that we have, because most of the children are staying with the Grandmothers at home, and the grandmothers are not working. They are earning a grant from the government, which is not enough to care for the children. They are earning 700 Rand a month. Sometimes the Granny is looking after 10 children

Q. What have you done in your care programme that other programmes around the world may learn from so that they can achieve better results?

Mary Mabogoane: What I can say especially is for nutritional support- with community gardens, whereby we take the patients who are now better, together with the community and make a garden, to prevent stigma. If we just take our patients only, they will say it is a ‘HIV/AIDS garden’- but now we work together with the community. On the other hand we are also helping the poor community to get good, balanced food.