Included in Dole South Africa’s CSR portfolio is the area to focus on our poor communities. One such community is in the Eastern Cape – in the Sundays River Valley where most of South Africa’s citrus is produced.
It is a fact that the HIV and Aids pandemic has reached proportions beyond the scope of government and NGOs in South Africa. It is also a fact that Southern Africa has the highest Aids related death rate in the world. And it is also a fact that the Eastern Cape has the second highest Aids infected population in the country.
Given all these facts, it is obvious that we at Dole South Africa felt compelled to contribute. So, when we were approached by Natalie Hansen of the Sundays River Valley in 2005 to assist with her programme, we did not hesitate to do so.
The Sunday’s River Valley is the largest citrus producing area in South Africa. One of the problems facing the local community is that of seasonal labour and unemployment. The result is a community struggling with poverty and its associated social evils.
The community under discussion is the Nomathamsanqa Community - near the Addo National Elephant Park, approximately 65 km from Port Elizabeth. It has a population of around 30 000 Xhosa-speaking residents.
In this community, there is one clinic, serviced only by three qualified nursing sisters and more recently five part-time volunteer workers. There is no full-time government funded doctor for this community.
This small clinic sees up to 150 patients a day. Many of those who visit the clinic are TB patients receiving daily treatments. There is no separate centre for HIV patients in this community. Because of the lack of resources, the waiting list is long, and most times patients are turned away and must return again on another day for treatment. Many are too ill to walk the distance, and so are left at home to quietly fade away.
When Dole was approached by the Thembalethu Trust (Thembalethu means ‘our hope’) in 2005 to be of assistance, we jumped at the opportunity to be of help. The main purpose of the Trust was to offer Aids patients home-based care and education.
Working under the auspices of the trust is the Themba Lokuphila project. The team of home-based caregivers visits patients in their shacks on a weekly basis, distributing nutritional supplements, vitamin boosted porridge, immune boosting tablets, anti-viral ointments, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
The primary objective of the team is to offer the love, hope and spiritual counseling to patients and their families.
The funds received from Dole enable the project to continue weekly visits and employing full-time caregivers to continue the most needed counseling to the residents of Namathamsanqa.
Most recently we have incorporated the local school library into the programme. By providing literature for secondary school children we are able to keep them informed and educated on all aspects of their daily lives. Programmes are also run during the school holidays, and all this is conducted on a voluntary basis by those who work for the Trust.