COMMUNITY

Marcelle Theresa Bendile

Marcelle Theresa Bendile is passionate about the health service and community work. In fact she is so passionate that instead of enjoying her retirement, at 76-years of age she is still involved in the sector doing what she loves most. Having entered the health services as a staff nurse at the Amelia Home for Crippled Children in 1953, Bendile formally retired in 1993.

"I chose nursing above the only other alternative namely teaching, because of my deep-rooted interest in the welfare of people. The fact that I was an only child probably encouragedme to reach out to the needs of others," she says.

Bendile believes that from a health services perspective, the country has a lot to celebrate: "In particular, the removal of the separate and unequal ethos of the pre-1994 era, especially with regard to unjust salary disparities and apartheid-enforced inequities in health-care facilities, have had a major positive impact in the work environment of nurses.”

Her career is colourful. After a one-year stint at the Amelia Home, she served as a Teaching Sister at Bloemfontein's National Hospital (10 years) and at the Pelonomi Hospital (1965-1968). In 1969 she became a tutor at PelonomiHospital and, four years later, the hospital's senior tutor.

Bendile became the principal of Pelonomi Hospital in 1980, before assuming the principal-ship at the Mangaung NursingCollege in 1986, a post which she held until 1992.

Presently, Bendile's expertise is utilised in various health department provincial projects and she also sits on the Board of the Universitas Hospital. Proficient in 6 different languages, Bendile empowered herself academically in order to meet the challenges of her professional career. Having acquired nursing diplomas in General Nursing and Midwifery, a Nursing Education Diploma as well as a Nursing Administration Diploma, she obtained her masters in Social Science (Sociology) from the former University of OFS in 1989.

Over the years, Bendile has pro-actively promoted the interests of nursing in particular and of the health service in general. Bendile was a member of the Central Board of the South African Nursing Association as well as the SA Nursing Council. Her membership of the latter organisation extended from 1984 to 1994, during which time she also served on their Education and DisciplinaryCommittees.

Bendile also has an impressive history of involvement in community, NGO and formal academic structures. The indefatigable pensioner has, inter alia, enjoyed membership to the Academic Children's Trust (UFS); the Bloemwater Board; Unique Training Solutions Board; and, the UniversitasHospital Board and the Joint AdvisoryCommittee.

She currently serves as a Councillor in the Mangaung LocalMunicipality. According to Bendile, it was the limited opportunities available to black women who wanted to advance themselves academically that saw her enter the nursing profession.

Bendile says she looks forward to the day when medical aid becomes more affordable to a greater number of South Africans and primary health care is entrenched as a basic right accessible to everyone.

Patti Lorraine Joshua

A former hairdresser, Patti Lorraine Joshua has been a long-serving member and ex-chairperson of the Eshowe ChildWelfare Society and a co-ordinator of theNorthernNatalWomen'sDevelopment Forum.

Her post-school studies range from Reflexology to Peace Research; International Relations and Foreign Policy; training in district health systems; and, training in Behaviour Change Programmes (BCP) for HIV and AIDS. These qualifications were obtained in a diverse array of countries that include South Africa, theUSA, Switzerland, Zimbabwe,Norway, Kenya and Tanzania.

Joshua has also rendered Trojan service to several CBOs, school and church committees.

For example, in 1997 she represented the KwaZulu-Natal CBO Network on the provincial TB forum which introduced theManagement of Integrated Support for Health Direct Observed Treatment (MISHDOT) programme. She also played a key role in a pilot programme for HIV and AIDS, TB and STIs for the KZN CBO Network which was sponsored by the National Health Ministry. The pilot was presented as a case study to theWorld Health Organisation / AMREFConference at Arusha in 1997.

Between 1996 to 2003 she conducted over 126 workshops on an integrated HIV and AIDS provincial programme.

Presently, she is involved in the management of human resource development at the Senzokuhle CBO network. In addition to facilitating training in development and orphan management for the NPA in Rwanda, in 2002 she also co-ordinated an exchange programme between Rwandan and Senzokuhle members.

"The kind of work I do involves the integrated development of the whole person. When someone comes to us with a problem we try and solve it by working in an integrated way through the network," she explains.

According to Joshua, most of her skills have been obtained from short courses, workshops and practical experience.

"I have learned a lot from rural communities where I spend my time being enriched by their wisdom, while sharing my skills. I support a holistic approach to life, working towards creating balance with all living energies in the community," she says, adding that the Community Internship and Development Centre at theUniversity of Natal (Durban) has played amajor mentoring and support role in her work.

She regards the past ten years as the most exciting in her life. "It has been a confidence-building decade where more people are committing themselves to volunteering their services so that they can domore for themselves and our country.”

Joshua perceives the need for wealth creation and acquiring the necessary tools and resources for economic transformation of all communities as the greatest challenge of the next ten years.

Modiegi Rebecca Mapheto

Retired nurse Modiegi Rebecca Mapheto gave up a research position atWits University in 1989 to start a much-needed community project in the Badiegile community.

Exposed to a dire community need while researching teenage pregnancies, Mapheto identified a lack of resources for pupils, a growing scourge of rape and the growing number of HIV and AIDS infections as a reason to start acting immediately.

She used her pension money to start the Badiegile Community Project and today the project has expanded to include home based care, counselling, dealing with domestic violence, all forms of abuse and care for orphans.

A qualified nurse and nursing manager at two hospitals,Mapheto began training nurses after receiving a diploma in nursing education. She taught nurses and assisted the South African Nursing Council in marking papers.

In August 1997 she went on pension and soon found herself assisting with research at Wits University's adolescent programme looking at the reasons for teenage pregnancies.

"We realised that most of the children were sexually active.We found their parents were not there and they were left with their grandmothers. We found some of them were being raped… and with the scourge of AIDS, I decided that this would be best contribution I can make. I took my pension money and started

Badiegile Community Project," Mapheto recalls.

Mapheto says she would not have been able to have started the project without the help of her retired colleagues, Flora Ndlovu who was also a matron at the hospital, Georgina Mangwakwane and ReverendDavid Bekwa.

Initially, she operated from home providing physical and emotional support to victims of abuse and their families. The workload soon increased and she was joined by volunteers who assisted with the home care.

The project is based in Lenyenye, just outside Tzaneen in the Limpopo province.

"We are now doing home based care, dealing with issues of domestic violence, all abuse, counselling and care of orphans," says Mapheto.

“How do I care for them? We are just volunteers doing voluntary work," says Mapheto, adding that Coca-Cola has assisted with support for the project.

I decided that this would be best contribution I can make. I took my pension money and started Badiegile Community Project,” Modiegi Rebecca Mapheto

Mpho Judith Sebanyoni- Motlhasedi

In the next ten years people should be knowledgeable about health care issues and be able to care about the people around them. This is the view of community leaderMpho Judith Sebanyoni-Motlhasedi. Her parents motivated her to become a nurse and the death of her husband from leukemia inspired her to help those around her.

In 1983 she applied to the Jubilee Community Hospital to become a nurse and worked there for eight years. Since then she acquired a B-tech degree in Oncology and is currently studying for herMasters from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).

A professional nurse, Sebanyoni-Motlhasedi founded the Moretele Sunrise Hospice, based in Temba in the NorthWest, in 1997. In 2000, received a diploma in Palliative Care from the Hospice Association of South.

Today Moretele Sunrise Hospice is used by tertiary institutions to conduct workshops and gather information for research purposes. Attracting visitors from around the world, the centre offers facilities for training support group meetings, voluntary counselling and testing, orphan and vulnerable children's programmes, respite care and homegrown medicinal herbs. She helps with producing foods like oil, tea, ointments and poultices for those who are affected by HIV.

"During the last ten years of being in the health environment, I have seen tremendous change.

Government has supported the Hospice and its developments," said Sebanyoni-Motlhasedi.

Sebanyoni-Motlhasedi has also received many awards. In 2000 Elle magazine recognized her as 'The Woman who makes a visible difference'. In 2002 she was recognized by the Shoprite Checkers "Woman of the Year" Award, she received a "'Hero of the month" award from Marie Claire Magazine in London and the "Volunteer of the Year" award from Tshwane Municipality.

In January 2003 she received the "Mpumelelo Award" from the Department of Health and in October she also received the "International Award in Nursing Ethics and Human Rights" in Amsterdam from the International Center for Nursing Ethics University of Surrey UK.

“During the last ten years of being in the health environment, I have seen tremendous change. Government has supported the Hospice and its developments,”

Elaine Maane

Being diagnosed in 1997 as HIV-positive provided Elaine Maane with a Damascene conversion.

Today, Maane is at the forefront of providing mentorship, counselling and support for pregnant women who are HIV-positive. This new life is a far from the glamour life of the fashion industry where she worked for three years but it is more fulfilling...

After working on the Sizophila Project in Gugulethu (1999-2000),Maane became an integral member of the Mothers To Mothers To Be (MTMTB) programme at the Groote Schuur hospital in 2000. She has worked forNAPWA (National Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS) since 2001.

To help her with her work, Maane has equipped herself with Therapeutic Counselling and HIV and AIDS Management course. Her patients mainly mothers-to-be who are HIV positive view her as their counsellor, mentor and source of inspiration. The passion with which she renders assistance, care and support to women in her situation sees her supervising the Mowbray Maternity Hospital's MTMTB initiative.

"I am extremely grateful for this opportunity as it enables me to make a tremendous difference and a huge impact in the lives of my patients," saysMaane.

She is actively involved in championing HIV and AIDS issues at community, provincial and national level. She has also been involved in theHealth Department's "Tool Kit" project. In 2002, Maane represented the MTMTB programme at the International Aids Conference in Barcelona.

"It is extremely heartening to note that theMTMTB programme is spreading around Cape Town as well as to other centres such as Kimberley, Mpumalanga and possibly KwaZulu-Natal. I am also buoyed by the positive changes I have witnessed over the past years in the treatment and care of HIV positive people.” The greatest change among doctors and health care-givers, she says, has been attitudinal. Maane is regularly invited into staff-meetings by doctors at Mowbray, indicating that her efforts on the MTMTB programme are widely recognised and that her contributions are highly valued.

She states that the biggest high-point of her work is when HIV positive mothers return to her after giving birth to inform her that their baby has tested negative. For Maane, this means that all the counselling, advice and care given to such mothers during their pregnancy have been beneficial.

Over the next decade, Maane looks forward to a total de-stigmatisation of HIV and AIDS, an entirely accepting environment by the health-care sector, greater HIV and AIDS preventative programmes and the roll-out of the Comprehensive Plan on the Management of HIV and AIDS which includes treatment, support, care and nutrition.

There is no doubt Maane will be instrumental in ensuring that the environment she dreams of will become a reality.

Margaret Mashele

Working as a nurse for three decades inspired Margeret Mashele to forgo her retirement and instead, work for the community.

In 1999, she established a home-based care project in Thembelihle, Mpumalanga to serve a dire community need.

"I saw how people were ill and how they were left alone while their families went to work. I approached the district health manager who said we should look at how many such ill people were at home. When we started the home based care, we had to go to the chief, the councillors and we had to get support from the community," she recalled. The community response was overwhelming and many volunteers came forward. The region was divided into 10 zones with two to three volunteers assisting in each zone.

"We go into the villages and help those sick people who have nobody to take care of them. We identify orphans and refer them to the social workers who make the decision on their care.We take care of those who are chronically ill with TB, strokes and HIV and AIDS," Mashele explains.

Mashele started training as a nurse at Shongwe Mission Hospital in 1959 at the age of 18. Over the years she worked at various hospitals in the region, receiving a diploma in general nursing in 1975 and one in community nursing science in 1988. In May, 1999 she completed a "Trainer of Trainers in Home Based Care".

“Because of the suffering of the people in the village, I am still able to go on. I am passionate about people," she says, adding that the nursing clinics need help as they are often short-staffed. Mashele will not rest until every sick person in her community is well looked after.

“We go into the villages and help those sick people who have nobody to take care of them. We identify orphans and refer them to the social workers who make the decision on their care.We take care of those who are chronically ill with sicknesses such as TB, strokes and HIV and AIDS” Margaret Mashele

Rebecca Tsiane

In a city of diamonds, Rebecca Tsiane stands out as a true gem. She studied dress design after matriculating but the sight of a pre-school age child begging on the streets in 1994 changed her life forever.

"I thought something was very wrong. I started to go out to visit them and take them food. Then I realised that they did not only need food they needed a home and shelter, they needed parents," she recalls. A year later, Tsiane received a house from Public Works and agreed with her husband Martin that she would live with the children for a year. Ten years later and there are now four such homes in the Kimberley area which cater not only for street children but also for abused, abandoned and neglected children.

And the school operates an Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) centre with two teaches paid for by government. Today the Khusong Children's Shelter has over 151 children and she tries hard to make their lives happy relying on donations and striving to buy them at least one new outfit a year at Christmas. Through the years, she has taken in 193 children and more than 300 babies for short-term care. "I have a two-year-old baby who was brought to me when she was just seven days old," says Tsiane with pride. The children attend 25 schools in the region and many have completedmatric and gone on to tertiary institutions, including university.

"You see the progress and that little progress encourages you to go on," she says pragmatically. Tsiane's life-story is an embodiment of community outreach and self-improvement. Apart from a fashion designing and dress making diploma from Moremogolo College, she has completed various courses ranging from bread making to business skills. A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa, her community involvement includes the Rina's Women's Club, and the Manna Community Skills for Unemployed Women. She has been honoured by a range of awards including the Eskom/Sowetan Woman of the Year Award in 1997, the Sowetan Old Mutual Simunye 1 Community Building of the Year Award in 1999, a 2001 Community Builder of theDecade Award in 2001, the 2002 Kimberlite of the Year award and a Human RightsNational Award in 2003.

In the early nineties, she was awarded the highest international Rotary accolade, the Paul Harris Fellowship, an award in honour of the Rotary Club founder.

“In the next ten years I wish that people will stop abusing their children … and that these children can be accepted by the community. I definitely think people should get involved in caring for our children. I think its not just my problem it's a business problem, it's a community problem.”

Charlotte Ntshebo Mtetwa

At 74, Charlotte Mtetwa continues to serve her community as the project manager of the Phaphamani Home Based Care centre.

She started her nursing training five decades ago and was a general nurse at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto - the biggest hospital in the Southern hemisphere - in 1951. In 1955 she trained in midwifery at the Edenvale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. Over the years, she worked at several hospitals including Germiston hospital, Natalspruit hospital and Vereeniging hospital. She returned home to work at the Themba hospital in Kabokweni. In 1975 she attended classes in Ward administration and clinical teaching at the Kalafong hospital in Pretoria and the next year was tasked with starting the clinical department at ThembaHospital.

For ten years she served as a chief professional Nurse at the Themba hospital in Kabokweni. During this time she continued to study and received her diploma in community and nursing administration through UNISA in 1982 and in 1992, she obtained her BCur through the same institution. In 1990, she was promoted to nursing service manager at Themba hospital a position she held until she retired in 1994.

Mtetwa and two colleagues established the Phaphamani Home Based Care centre in 1997. Based in Kabokweni, a semi-rural area in Mpumalanga, the organization provides support to HIV and AIDS infected and affected persons. It supports them by visiting them at their homes, training home care givers in health, helping the patients by referring clients to hospitals, working together with social workers in helping the orphans and also helping the needy to survive.

They conduct HIV and AIDS awareness campaigns and, in order to overcome illiteracy, have started a drama group to spread the message.

Mtetwa has received many accolades for her work including Impumelo Silver award in 2004. She was the runner up in the Sowetan Community Builder of the Year competition.

She has travelled and spoken widely on HIV and AIDS issues including sharing a platform with former President Nelson Mandela during 1994.

"The apartheid regime used to hold people back and we can challenge issues and we can work closely together too.

“In the next ten years there should not be a shortage of doctors and nurses if we keep on helping and educating people around us. Primary health issues should decrease," saysMtetwa.

Glory Molebogeng Ndinisa

It was Glory Molebogeng Ndinisa's active and tireless involvement in alleviating the plight of the indigent in her poverty-stricken Eerstehoek community that attracted the attention of a matron from the Embhuleni Hospital inMpumulanga.

She was encouraged by the hospital to submit a business plan to the provincial Department of Health and, since 1999, has been involved with the department as a home-based caregiver. Glory Molebogeng Ndinisa is a co-ordinator with the Elikwatini Nhlazatshe Community Home Based Care in Mpumalanga province.

She attended a three-year Home Nursing course at the Mpumalanga Province Health District as well as a seven-month Home Based Training Course for Care Workers at the Gugulethu Home for the Aged. Ndinisa says that she has witnessed various positive changes within her work environment over the past five years.

"In particular, people are becoming increasingly aware that AIDS is a killer disease," she says, adding that people were now more open to disclosing their HIV and AIDS status. With poverty levels exacerbating the HIV and AIDS crisis, Ndinisa is instrumental in facilitating community vegetable gardens to ease the suffering induced by hunger and starvation. "We have started many such gardens which are tended by AIDS orphans as well as people affected by HIV and AIDS," says Ndinisa.

The start of support groups, coupled with a greater willingness to adopt preventative measures, count as highlights in her career. "The communities are becoming really afraid of AIDS and are being very careful when it comes to their sexual behaviour and condom use," she emphasises. In addition to more government support for home-based care-givers over the next ten years, Ndinisa is optimistic that the following decade will see a significant decline in the prevalence ofHIV and AIDS.

“With the high levels of awareness about the diseases, the incidence of HIV and AIDS will drop significantly," she concludes.

Marie Wilmans

Kimberley Hospital Complex Board chairperson Marie Wilmans has served her community since 1974 when she was nominated by the Cape Women's Agricultural Association to serve on the KHC board. From 1991 to 1993, she served as vice-chairperson.

During the last 10 years, she has had a bird's-eye view of transformation as she was promoted to chairperson of the Board in 1994, bringing community input and insight into a public service .

"The standard of service has changed. The hospital complex has been upgraded with all the services. It's been a wonderful experience for us.

"We recently installed a CAT Scan machine that is the best in Africa. This means a lot for Kimberley and the Northern Cape as our patients used to have to go to Bloemfontein and now they can have this check-up done in a fewminutes," she says with pride.

"The building has been upgraded. Four new operating theatres with state-of-the art equipment were taken delivery of. It's a pleasure for patients and a much better place to work at. Another positive thing that has happened in the last 10 years is the introduction of the CEO awards which is done by surveying patients on the service they receive. This gives the hospital staff much-needed recognition and is good for morale," says Wilmans.

"I can see how they blossom because of the recognition. They do their best to ensure service delivery."

Wilmans says the hospital complex used to get lots of complaints and these have decreased substantially.

As branch chairperson of the Kimberley West Women's Agricultural Association, Wilmans has always been an active member of the Kimberley community. In 1994, she was a nominee in the Kimberlite of the Year Competition and in 1996 was an adjudicator for the award. Before that, from 1980 and 1984 as well as from 1988 to 1989 she organised fouryearly charity functions as Mayoress.

As chairperson of the KHC board, she oversees the finance committee and represents the board at hospital functions such as the Kimberley Hospital's 127 year anniversary celebrations.

“For me, the highlight of the last 10 years would have to be the upgrading project, the CEO awards and the CAT scan machine. It's been wonderful to be a part of that."