A nurse should be a caring and loving person with good listening and communication skills say student nurses at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Gauteng. It also takes hard work and dedication. Thandeka Teyise joined the first year students on their rounds at Chris Hani Baragwanath and found out what motivated them in their chosen profession.
To be a nurse is a wonderful thing say Lerato Mntuyedwa a Primary Health Care Nursing Sister at Khayamandi Clinic in Stellenbosch. She says young as she was when she qualified, she had one mission: to be able to help the sick. Although demanding attitudes from patients make it hard for nurses to do their jobs, she remains committed to her task. She says in Khayamandi, the influx of people from rural areas seeking better health services adds to the pressure under which clinic nurses find themselves.
Midwives at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital who work at the Termination of Pregnancy Unit live under threat from certain colleagues and community members who oppose their right to offer a legitimate service to women who wish to have abortions. Elizabeth Serobe who started working at the unit in 1996 says she and fellow midwives who assist with terminations of pregnancy are often called "child killers" or "murderers" by their colleagues. Serobe says such antagonism will not deter her from doing her job.
Although the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act was passed in 1996, its taken a long time for the message to reach many women, especially those in rural areas. Despite resistance from certain social workers, nurses and doctors, the Act gives women the choice whether or not they wish to have an abortion. In this audio report, Pamela Rubushe a Senior Social Worker at Dora Nginza Hospital in Port Elizabeth says before the Act was passed there were many tragic cases of women resorting to back street abortions where they would use extreme measures to abort their unborn babies. This resulted in many women losing their wombs or even dying from infections or loss of blood.
In many communities around the country, it is volunteers who are the backbone in helping care for those who are sick with AIDS-related illnesses. Bambisanani is one such non-governmental organisation based in the Eastern Cape. Through the efforts of its volunteer caregivers in Umzimkhulu, Lusikisiki and Bizana, it offers free HIV counseling and helps care for those who are sick at home. The project was formed in 1999 in conjuction with the private sector and the Eastern Cape Department of Health. This audio report is in isiXhosa.
The South African National Council for Child Welfare has urged parents and communities to take full responsibility for their children's safety and to prevent crimes of abuse against their children. In this audio report, the national director of the Council Andre Kalis says children have the right to be cared for, well looked after and protected from injury and harm.
International research shows that between 50% and 65% of adult sex offenders commit their first sexual offences as children aged between 13 and 17 years.This is according to a report tabled at the parliamentary hearing on Sexual Abuse of Children last week by Buyi Mbambo, a United Nations representative for the Child Justice Project in South Africa. In sharp contrast to these grim statistics are three teenagers who work as volunteers at Molo Songololo, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting the rights of children and their general wellbeing. In this audio report in isiXhosa and English the three volunteers speak about the cases they witness and the work they do.
In the Umzimkhulu district of the Eastern Cape, the widow of the late Chief of the AmaBhaca, Zaineth Bly and a few elderly women have taken it upon themselves to look after orphans whose parents have died of AIDS-related illnesses. Bly says this group of elderly women felt that there was a need to help the children who are living alone without parents or relatives. Poverty and hunger are the most pressing issues, leading some of the children to steal food to stay alive.
A report on sexual offences against children by the South African Human Rights Commission is due to be released this month. Entitled "Sexual Offences Against Children - Does the Criminal Justice System Protect Children?", the report concludes that the justice system is failing.
TB can be cured - so long as there is sufficient commitment to take the treatment from start to finish. Thandeka Teyise spent a morning at the TB Clinic at NY 1 Gugulethu Clinic talking to health workers and those on TB medication and filed this report in isiXhosa.
On a Tuesday early in February, Bulelwa Maqana arrived at the Gugulethu Community Day Clinic at 8.30am with her son, Mihlali, who had an ear infection.
In this audio report HIV/AIDS specialist Dr Clive Evian, outlines how poverty contributes to certain ailments and impacts on people's lives. However, he makes it clear that poverty itself does not cause AIDS.
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