Ikhwezi Support Group
Kwa-Nonqubela Township, South Africa
Ikhwezi is a grassroots project involving a team of seven volunteers who work from the caretaker's cottage in a local primary school. They offer counselling and home-based care, run gardening and sewing projects, and have a significant HIV prevention programme, which includes work in local schools, on farms and at nearby truck stops as well as condom distribution. The team also works closely with the local clinic, providing support to HIV-positive people who are taking antiretroviral medication. iThemba supports the vast majority of the running costs, including stipends for volunteers, nursing supplies and volunteer training.
Home visiting
Home care visitors help people who are unable to feed themselves and have no one at home to help. It’s about showing people respect and preserving their dignity. For people who are bedridden, simple actions like washing them and changing their bed, make them feel comfortable, loved and cared for.
Bringing hope to young people
The schools work is growing and volunteers give weekly Life Orientation classes on HIV and AIDS. The older children complained that when regular school teachers taught about abstinence, alcohol and other issues, their lives didn't match up. Now that Ikhwezi volunteers teach these lessons the children have new role models who live out what they teach. Four abstinence groups have started at local schools to encourage young people to change their lifestyles. Bulelwa is just one of those young people.
Encouraging and counselling
Not infrequently HIV-positive people are driven out of their homes when they disclose their status or their status has been guessed. The counselling service helps people deal with this and other issues. Bandile is just one of many who has been helped.
> Bulelwa’s story – thanks to Ikhwezi, she’s now using her gifts to tell others about abstinence
> Bandile’s story – a miraculous recovery and example to others
> South Africa country profile
> More about home-based care
> More about prevention
