HIV AIDS

INTERVIEW WITH OUR PROJECT COORDINATOR IN THE EASTERN CAPE

“It is my mission in life to care for people”

Sister Nonkosi Ndalasi is a nurse. In 2005, she started working on the One to One ART Support Programme as Project Coordinator.

Nonkosi spends most of her time working in the local community, giving adherence counselling to the families of HIV positive children and running a gardening programme to reduce malnutrition among HIV positive children.

THE OUTREACH PROGRAMME

When she first started over 5 years ago, Nonkosi’s main responsibility was to chase up children on anti-retroviral treatment (ART) who were not turning up for their appointment at the local clinics.

“If they didn’t come, I went to visit their families to find out what the problem was.”
explains Nonkosi.

“I found out that the main reason why they didn’t turn up was poverty. Often the mother would tell me that her child still had antiretroviral tablets and when I asked why she hadn’t given her child all the tablets, she would say, “I’m afraid to give my child tablets on an empty stomach.” This is why we came up with gardening project - so the HIV positive children would have something to eat.”

When asked about how successful the outreach programme is, Nonkosi proudly replies:

“The hospitals I work with have a very low default rate. People from other areas ask how we do it. I think it’s important to communicate on people’s level. I don’t put on a nurse’s uniform and high heels when I visit people who are living in poverty. Instead I put on my jeans and tackies [trainers]. It’s also important to take a holistic approach. When a person has defaulted [from their ART regime] and you go to their house, you shouldn’t just look after the defaulter. If someone is in a wheelchair, or is pregnant, they may need help too.”

THE GARDENING PROGRAMME

An HIV positive child needs nearly 30% more nutritious food than a child without HIV. Also the anti-retroviral drugs need to be taken with substantial food. Therefore, the ART Support Programme provides nutritional support to families affected by HIV.

In September, Nonkosi reported that as many as 243 home and community (in schools and churches) gardens have been growing in the Port Elizabeth area. Nonkosi tells us how the gardening project starts for each family:

“We ask the caregiver to prepare a small area of land. Often this may just be a small space between the tin shacks in a township. One to One provides various seedlings to the family, such as spinach, cabbage, beetroot, onions and cauliflower. When I go around delivering seedlings, they call me “Mama Wegadi”, which means Mother of the Garden in Xhosa.”

“We often find that once the family have got a small garden and see it’s working, they extend it. This means they end up with extra vegetables which they can sell to get a small income. We try to only give seedlings once, so we can help as many people as possible. The gardening project has been a great success - it has improved adherence and has reduced malnutrition.”

When asked about what she enjoys most about her work, Nonkosi replies with her amazing contagious energy:

“It’s amazing when you see a child who has been very sick come into hospital and after six months you see them running around playing.”

Nonkosi is now 69 years old but she tells us:

“I can’t retire, at least not from helping people. I don’t see this as a job, I feel it is my mission in life to care for people.”

“It’s important to take a holistic approach. When a person has defaulted [from their ART regime] and you go to their house, you shouldn’t just look after the defaulter.”

Lucia Matshoba, Counsellor, Groote Shuur Clinic