Being a care worker is not easy

I am a senior enrolled nurse at Tlokweng main clinic with a responsibility of Community Home-Based Care Programmes. I am also widowed. In 1998 I suffered a severe stroke and had no choice but to opt for early retirement.

After recovered I rejoined government with a view to putting food on the table and also to support government initiatives in reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Working in the area of care is not easy and is very heavy, particularly for me as a woman. It often feels like I work for 48 hours around the clock as opposed to 24 hours. I am faced with so many challenges which include convincing families to use protective clothing when handling HIV/AIDS patients.

 

Stigma and denial is still very rife among residents in most communities. Also, many families are against the use of protective clothing and claim that it does not show love and compassion from a mother, if she is the one who is providing the care. To make matters worse, husbands, who are supposedly the heads of the household most often do not come near the patient let alone share the responsibility of care. It thus becomes extremely difficult to counsel family members around the acceptance of the disease.

I have observed that female-headed households often face the most challenging situations. Many are trapped in abject poverty and their households are characterised by large families, grandchildren and orphans. The food basket which is considered as a safety net, is far from being adequate to feed these large numbers.

 

People working in community home-based care need a particular set of skills and caring and compassionate attitudes. They need to be committed health care workers who are ready to answer the call of people asking for help at any time. I have a strong message to those who control the economic purse strings:

"Those working in community home-based care have inadequate resources, such as transport and protective clothing. Volunteers walk very long distances in the hot tsun o do home visits and provide support to the ailing. Without transport this is a living nightmare. At the end of the day the patients are left alone by their working relatives, with no care at all. This means that some of people living with HIV and AIDS are left alone with no help or support. Unless the government finds ways to increase the stipend for volunteers, who are mainly women, the epidemic will not be halted.

These women care workers could very well find other ways of earning, but for their desire to help people living with HIV and AIDS. I for one am widow still in the process of recuperating from my stroke yet I receive no incentive whatsoever from the government to continue with my care work. What then are the benefits, motivation and inspiration to continue working in the area of care work?