Nomathemba Ketelo's openness puts many at ease as she confidently invites community members into her world. A 30-year-old woman, her life has been impacted by HIV, but by no means ruined.
Within moments, Thembsie, as she is often called, effortlessly shifts at a community gathering from serving food to sharing her heartfelt testimonial that touches the hearts of middle-aged and elderly women, invoking tears in many, while not shedding a single one herself. Next, she plays a light-hearted role in a poignant skit about HIV/AIDS disclosure, followed by leading prayers and remembrances for those lost to the pandemic. She then gracefully puts on her apron and serves again. Her work must continue.
As a proud Service Corps Volunteer with Africare's [3] Hewu Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Project in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, Thembsie has many lives to change.
Launched in 2002, Africare's [4] HIV/AIDS Service Corps Volunteer (SCV) Initiative uses effective community-based strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention education and service provision in Africa. It aims to match Africans as volunteers, in their own communities, with locally identified needs. Building on existing programs, Africare [5] developed this initiative with indigenous volunteers, supported by very modest stipends, who were willing and able to help confront the HIV/AIDS scourge. These volunteers are attempting to bring about social change through the provision of services.
The HIV/AIDS SCV pilot project was initiated in 10 countries and has been expanded into seven additional countries. Through the activities of the SCVs, Africare [6] has been instrumental in bringing HIV/AIDS and other related services to remote areas, as well as strengthening weak healthcare infrastructures and expanding HIV/AIDS services where utilization is low.
Under the Hewu project in rural Eastern Cape, the SCVs like Thembsie, are the bridges between health services and the community, where unemployment is greater than 70 percent and HIV prevalence raters hover around 24 percent. The SCVs play a pivotal role in the training and supervision of community caregivers and providing prevention, palliative care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), including the patients on ARV services.
Volunteers are also instrumental in following up with households where children reside, collecting data on household status, and offering referrals to appropriate services. The SCVs are stationed in health facilities, in this case, the Hewu Hospital and its 17 primary health care satellite clinics.
Thembsie is part of a team of four SCVs that support he nursing staff and their clients at the Wellness center, Hewu Hospital's HIV/AIDS out-patient facility. They ensure that clients are cared for holistically: provided with pre- and post-test counseling and moral support and are linked to a community caregiver, who provides the follow-up visits. The volunteers have helped to lighten the workload of the nurses enough time to provide quality services to their patients.
Before becoming a Service Corps Volunteer in November 2004, Thembsie worked as an HIV-positive volunteer for National Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS. "At that time, I did not have the formal training that I have now, but I wanted to help people," she said.
Today, she not only helps people; she is self-empowered. She recalls the days when being HIV positive meant a death sentence, and people literally waited to die. Since her recruitment as a SCV, she now has access to the essential care and support she needs, a stipend to defray some of her living expenses, and at the same time is able to do what she does best -- provide much needed training in the community for activities that promote positive living, wellness, prevention education and reduce stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
Hewu Project Treatment Specialist Dr. Ndili Buhlungu has watched Nomathemba grow over the past year. "She is brave and tough, inspiring others," said Dr. Buhlungu. "They watch her being so strong and positive that they begin to think that 'if she can do it, so can I.' She has a way of helping other volunteers with their assignments; she's a real leader."
As a SCV, Thembsie participates in a group of community members trained by the Hewu project to support infected and affected families establish home-based permaculture gardens. The gardens help PLWHAs to build healthy eating habits, improve food security in the home, and maintain their quality of life.
And Thembsie leaves an enduring impression with people across the globe. Dr. Kechi Anah, one of Africare's [7] Health and HIV/AIDS Technical Specialists based in Washington and Technical Manager of the Hewu Project, exuberantly remarked: "Despite the sometimes overwhelming health problems and socioeconomic challenges she faces, I'm constantly amazed by her resilience, strength, passion and willingness to serve her people. Her seemingly simple prevention, care and support efforts have gone a long way to relieve ill health and suffering in the community."
Dr. Anah said Thembsie effortlessly multitasks, noting that she shares a song or dance with community members, assists nurses in providing voluntary counseling and testing services to clients, and monitors and supervises the caregivers to provide quality home-based care services. "Her Impact on the community is truly remarkable," said Anah.
"I make a great impact on my community because even if times are hard, I have to motivate people to fact their challenges and believe in themselves," said Thembsie. "They come to me for advice. My own status motivated me to work even harder — you can do something small and it becomes big to other people."
According to Joan Littlefield, Africare [8] Hewu Project Chief of Party, "Thembsie helps other become stronger, more self-confident, until they come out of their shells. She stands straight and tall with a relaxed presence, taking everything in stride. I can see the faces of old women sparkling, as they listen to her — she helps to defrost everyone."
Thembsie embodies leadership and does more than reach people, she inspires them. Within herself she finds strength and purpose, and within others she sees the future, and refuses to accept that such communities constitute dying generations. In the spirit of Africare's Service Corps approach, she is an avid believer in advocating for others.
Interview led by Martina Forgwe of Africare [9]. This article orinally appeared in the April 3, 2006, issue of Monday Developments, a magazine of InterAction [10].