The audio is in isiZulu. See english summary below.

MABUTHO: UZinhle Gasa waseBhekulwandle ogwini oluseNingizimu neTheku noneminyaka engamashumi amabili nesikhombisa nophila negciwane lesandulelangculaza ungomunye wabantu abasebancane abanakekelwa iHospice emakhaya.   Indaba ka  Zinhle idabukisa kakhulu ngoba usanda kushonelwa ngumama wakhe ngonyaka owedlule ngenxa yegciwane lesandulelangculaza. Kanti udadewabo uPhumzile naye ophila nalo igciwane uke wagula kakhulu waze wangeniswa eKanya Hospice sekuvalwe amehlo. Njengamanje uZinhle ugulela ekhaya lapho ehlala khona nogogo nomkhulu wakhe nokho ngenxa yokuguga abangasakwazi ukumnakekela. Nakuba ekhuluma kanzima ngenxa yokuxinwa ukugula uthi usenethemba lokuthi usazophila.

ZINHLE GASA: Umuntu uma esezithola ukuthi uyagula angalilahli ithemba kodwa azitshele ukuthi uzophila. Nami ngike ngaba nakho lokho ukuthi mhlawumbe ngizofa, kube khona lokho. Kodwa ngiyabakhuthaza abantu abasha ukuthi uma sebethola ukuthi bayagula bangalahli ithemba bame njalo nje ethembeni.

MABUTHO: Ugogo ka  Zinhle uthi njengoba esemdala nomyeni wakhe ongumkhulu ka Thembi esekhulile kunzima ukuthi bamnakekele ngendlela efanelekile umzukulu wabo. Uthi nakuba ekhuluma kungenxa yabantu base Kanya Hospice athi bafika njalo bezombona umzukulu wakhe.

NTOMBILE NDLOVU: Bayasisiza (hospice) kakhulu ngoba basihambela njalo wonke amasonto bafike besiphathele  amanabukeni nokudla ngezinye izikhathi.

MABUTHO: Ihospice ayigcini nje ngokuba indawo lapho abantu abaningi bephelela khona, kepha bakhona abasindayo babuye baqhubeke nempilo. uZandile Mdlalose ungomunye walabo abangena eHospice kuvalwe amehlo, kepha namuhla usengomunye wamavolontiya asiza eHospice. Uthi waqala ukugula ngonyaka ka 1994 emva kokuzithola ukuthi unegciwane lesandulelangculaza.

ZANDILE: Ngineminyaka eyi12 nginegciwane lengculaza, ngaze ngafika kwi AIDS ngafull blown. Kepha ngiyambonga uNkulunkulu ukuthi manje sengiyaphila. UHospice wangenza ngikwazi ukuthi kumele ngenze njani ukuze ngiphile. Ukuze ngidle ama ARVs ibona abangisiza. Ngiphethwe iTB yobuchopho yibona abangisizayo bangisa eKing George Hospital ngingasakwazi ukuhamba sengigezwa ngiqukulwa. Sengizitshela ukuthi impilo yami iphelile ngoba bengazi ukuthi umuntu uma eseyiswa eHospice impilo yakhe isike seyiphelile kanti ngisazobuye ngiphile.

MABUTHO: UZandile uthi nakuba esenakho ukuhlala abe nokungaphatheki kahle emzimbeni ngezinye izikhathi kodwa uthi manje uzizwa engcono kakhulu kunakuqala, ngoba namasotsha ekhe omzimba enyukile negciwane lancipha egazini.

ZANDILE: Njengamanje angisazizwa izinto eziningi yiyona nje iTB meningitis ehlala ihlale ivuke ngizwe sengiphethwe ikhanda kepha alisenawo amandla ngoba iCD4 count yami ngesikhathi ngingakawaqali ama ARVs ibiwu 148. Kepha njengamanje isiwu 722 . Iviral load yayiwu 174 000 njengamanje isi less than 25 okusho ukuthi igciwane liya ngokuya linyamalala egazini.

MABUTHO: Usister Vickey Skhosana we Khanya hospice uthi nakuba kusekhona ukungabaza ngehospice kubantu kepha uthi ubona sengathi sekukhona ukuguquka kwemiqondo ngenxa yosizo abaluthola kuma hospice.

SISTER VICKEY SKHOSANA: UHospice lona babewuqhathanisa nezindaba zokuthi usuzoshona uma sewubona iHospice, kepha ngenxa yosizo esibanikeza lona abanye sebebuyele nasemsebenzini   ngenxa yosizo esibanikeza lona nokukhuthazeka esibakhuthaza ngakho ngoba esikhathini esiningi into ebulala abantu umzwangedwa ngokungaphumeli obala nokungazi izinto ezingaba usizo kubona.

MABUTHO: Njengoba izwe laseNingizimu Africa ngokombiko wophiko lwenhlangano yezizwe iWorld Health Organisation (WHO) linabantu abayizigidi ezinhlanu nengxenye abaphila negciwane lesandulelangculaza kuthi usuku nosuku kube khona abangenwa ilesisifo kusho ukuthi eminyakeni ezayo sizoya ngokwanda isibalo sabantu abayodinga ukunakekelwa zikhungo zezempilo ezifana ne Hospice uma sebeqala bengenwa ukugula okuhambisana negciwane lesandulelangculaza.

ENGLISH SUMMARY.  

Hospice gives hope to AIDS patients

The spread of HIV /AIDS, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal province, has seen an increase of patients who receive home-based care from different hospices in the province.

The province has the highest number of people living with the HI-virus in the country, with more than 30% of the population reported to be infected.

Zinhle Gasa from Bhekulwande, south of Durban is one of those  people  who receive home based-care from hospice. Hers is a very sad story because she recently lost her mother, who died of an AIDS-related illness. Her only sister was once admitted at a hospice due to AIDS-related conditions.  Thankfully, she is now better. The only HIV negative people around her are her grandparents, who are now too old to look after her. Although she can’€™t walk and struggles to speak due to illness, she feels the courage to tell other youngsters who may be in her situation not to give up hope.

‘€œIf you get sick you don’€™t have to loose hope. I remember that I also lost hope, thinking that perhaps I was going to die. But I encourage young people that when they get sick they must not lose hope,’€ said the bed-ridden Zinhle Gasa.

Her grandmother, Ntombile Ndlovu, says it is difficult for her and her old man to take care of Zinhle because of their age. However, she says she is grateful that people from the local Kanya hospice keep coming back every week to check on Zinhle. When they come, they “bring food and nappies for Zinhle, who at the moment can’€™t do anything on her own,” says the aged Mrs Ndlovu.

For many years, hospices have been associated with death. But recently, it has been proven that a hospice is not a place for the terminally ill to wait for their death, as many people tend to believe. Zandile Mdlalose from Nanda, north of Durban, is living proof that hospice can restore people’€™s lives. She was once a full blown AIDS patient at Highway hospice. Nobody expected her to come back. Today, after 12 years of living with HIV, she is working as a volunteer at a local hospice.

‘€œI thank God I am still alive because I had reached a full-blown stage, but I survived. Hospice helped me to know what to do with my sickness. When I was suffering from meningitis they took me to King George V hospital at a time when I could not walk,’€ she said.

Zandile says although she sometimes gets sick, she is now feeling much better than before. ‘€œI no longer get seriously sick as I used to before because my CD4 count has moved from 148 to 722 after starting taking ARVs. Even the viral load was once 174 000, but now it is less than 25, meaning that the virus is disappearing in my body,’€ said outspoken Zandile.

Sister Vicky Skhosana of Kanya Hospice says although there is still stigma surrounding hospice, people are slowly changing their perception about the work of hospice because of the care that many hospices are offering to their patients.

‘€œThe thing is that people used to associate hospice with death, but because they have seen some people getting better, others going back to work after spending some time at hospice, their mindset is also changing,’€ she said.

According to the United Nations’€™ World Health Organisation (WHO), South Africa has about 5 million people who are living with the HI virus, while many others are infected daily. This means that in few years to come there will be more people who would need care from institutions such as hospice when they become seriously ill.