Kutlwano Olifant AND Fundiswe Maseko
“I DO NOT want money. All I want is food to feed the needy.”
Nthabiseng Keroane, the founder of a home-based care organisation in Green Village, Soweto, is appealing to the community to help her with food for needy patients who they visit daily. She also needs wheelchairs.
The organisation, with 20 nurses, helps patients from neighbouring townships like Dobsonville, Doornkop, Lufhereng and Bramfisherville.
“We face situations which are really painful. Some patients are being neglected and do not receive proper support from their families,” she said.
Other patients failed to take their medication on time because they might not have eaten, while some live alone and are bedridden.
Keroane said the nurses received a stipend from the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development.
“We do get funds, which last for a while, and sometimes we have to prepare light meals when food is in short supply.”
Keroane said the nurses bathed patients, prepared food and, once they had eaten, gave them medication daily.
And once the patients have recovered, Keroane doesn’t simply forget them. She becomes a mother, a teacher and a mentor to them.
Keroane said she had a passion for what she does.
Every morning after 9am, she meets with her patients and shares her talent for sewing and beadwork with them. They then make shoes and handbags, which keeps them busy for two hours. She has been sewing and doing beadwork for 10 years, and this brings nothing but joy to her.
Matshidiso Phali, an auxiliary nurse, has been working with Keroane for six years.
She starts her daily routine at 8am, visiting patients at their homes.
“After running them a bath, we wash their blankets and stay with them until we have finished with their bedding,” said Phali.
She says her job has taught her humanity and to humble herself to all types of people, whether rich or poor.
“It is hurtful when we see them in those conditions. But we smile when we see them recover,” she said.