Some stories from the Bwafwano volunteers
"We saw that the quality of life of the people in Chipata catchment area was undesirable. People were dying from TB in their homes because they could not afford the travel costs to the clinic. So we agreed that we should mobilise others to work together and visit the patients and find ways in which to help them” Bertha Chikwili |
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| Mary Kwenda has been a caregiver in Lusaska, Zambia for 10 years, since the Bwafwano community care project first began. Her sister had TB and HIV and was divorced by her husband when she was sick. This is a common problem faced by female TB sufferers, as the stigma surrounding the disease is still a huge issue in many communities, often leading to sufferers being too scared to seek proper treatment and advice. Mary admits this is one of the reasons she volunteered to be a caregiver, to help to reduce the stigma of TB in the community, as well as to help others. Her sister’s TB has now been cured and she is able to live a normal life with the help of Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for her HIV. Mary believes the work she and the other volunteers have done in the last ten years has led to many positive changes in the area. People are now more open to talking about TB, and have access to free ARVs. However, even to get diagnosed patients must still travel to the Chipata clinic and often wait all day, resulting in a loss of valuable time and energy for subsistence workers. |
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The reason I started this work was because I know how it feels – I once nursed my elder sister’s child. That gave me a clear knowledge and understanding that some people die for lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS or TB” Vainess Tembo |
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Eunice Musanshik is 39 years old and has been a caregiver for 5 years in Ngwerere, a rural area north of Lusaka. She first joined out of interest and stayed as she felt she wanted to look after the patients. She now has seven patients that she visits three times a week, daily if necessary, and two of whom have TB/HIV. Her husband died of TB 9 years ago and she supports herself and four children with the little money she makes from subsistence farming, collecting mushrooms and firewood and selling on.
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“Where we live in the community we see so many people suffering, others neglected or rejected because people still think anyone who loses weight has AIDS” [many people with TB are assumed to have AIDS and don’t get the treatment which could save their life] “I had to do something to help others and through this community work I had an opportunity to fulfil my wish. When people get healed there can be nothing more gratifying than that! I also educate my children about the issues” Joyce Nyirenda |
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Mary Mulazi works supervising 10 caregivers in Chazanga, an urban shanty town in the north of Lusaka. A 54 year old grandmother of 9, she lost both her husband and daughter to TB, and two more of her children to other diseases. She joined the project as a caregiver four years ago because ‘it’s so sad to see the suffering in the community so I decided to help them this way.’ Her team now handles twenty TB patients and she comes in daily for supervisory functions, as well as care giving for three days a week. In addition to this she earns her living by working as a stonecrusher. |
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"I was nursing a lady called Judy who had TB. She told me she was married – but her husband wasn’t around. When I asked where he was she said he had left because she had TB. She thought he might have a new girlfriend now. I was angry – how could he leave her just because she was ill? So I found out where he was. I asked him to meet me and I asked him why he had done this to her. He said he didn’t want to be infected – that she would probably die and that he had to save himself and get on with his life – it was no use both of them dying. I talked to him for a long time – helping him to understand TB and explaining that now she was getting the proper treatment she would not die. She would be better soon and now she was taking the tablets regularly she was not infectious. If he was ill wouldn’t he want her to stand by him through it all? I thought he would just go away and ignore me – but he didn’t. He came back the next day and told me he was going home. I saw Judy recently and her husband is still there. That made me very happy!” Stellah |
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Midnight Habeenzui is 38 years old and a caregiver supervisor in the Ngwereere and Chikaumbi areas. A caregiver for five years she is now responsible for 11 others in the region and enjoys seeing her patients improve with treatment. Viewing her work as an important part of her Christian duty, Midnight joined in order to help others and stayed after being encouraged by the project’s work and the appreciation they received from the patients. She and her team now look after 19 patients including two children. Her work takes her two hours, three times a week but requires 5-6 hours of travelling on foot each time she does it. Despite this Midnight tells us “I have mercy in my heart to help stop deaths from these diseases”. In the rest of her time she farms the sparsely fertile land in the village to support her 8 children and 3 orphans (from a brother who died of TB), that she looks after together with her husband. |
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Gertrude Pandara has been a caregiver for one year and now looks after 15 patients. She was also a TB patient herself during 2007 but started care giving before she was aware she had the disease. Although the disease was not contracted through her volunteering, her work meant she was able to identify her symptoms and seek proper treatment straightaway. This has also given her an important insight into what her patients are going through and enables her to adequately address their needs. Gertrude is 29 years old, married and has four healthy daughters. She works together with her husband visiting and care giving, as well as running their own small business cooking and selling fritters in the market.
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