MOBILE CLINICS

Besides the 10 fixed residential clinics that serve the catchment population of Manguzi, there are also 3 Mobile Clinic Teams that go out from the hospital daily. They are staffed by nurses and perform a vital function of bringing health services as close as possible to the patients' homes. The National Department of Health guidelines are that there should be a clinic within 5 km of everyone's home but since our population is so sparsely spread, the Mobile clinics "fill the gaps" in areas where there are no fixed clinics. The 3 teams visit 30 different sites each month between them. Visits range from twice a week for the busier sites to once a month for the really far flung areas. Although the bulk of the patient load is at a Primary Care level, the nurses often refer more complicated cases to the doctor and they also see a large number of chronic conditions - particularly Hypertension, Diabetes and Arthritis - which need 6 monthly reviews by the doctors. The clinic sisters really appreciate having a doctor accompany them every now and again to fulfill these functions and for ongoing support and training. It also affords the doctor the opportunity of seeing more of the area and understanding the conditions under which our patients live (some Mobile sites require a 2 hour trip by 4x4 to reach and only have a reed/mud structures in which to examine the patients or occasionally patients are seen under the nearest tree). This is bush medicine at its most basic and yet a wonderful opportunity to bring health care as close as possible to where the patients are.

THOLULWAZI UZIVIKELE PROJECT

www.tuproject.org

Tholulwazi Uzivikele, meaning “get information to protect yourself” in Zulu was started to address the overwhelming HIV epidemic affecting 1 in 8 in the Manguzi community and leaving over 3,000 orphans in its wake. The organization was originally started by Manguzi Hospital but now operates independently. Tholulwazi has made giant strides in increasing the quality of life of patients living with and dying from AIDS and in looking after the children this disease has left behind. With a community home based care volunteer base of over 200, our home based care program empowers the people in the community with the skills necessary to care for those suffering from AIDS and the knowledge to protect those who are not already infected.

TU's orphan program provides food parcels, school breakfasts, assistance with identity documents and government grants, social welfare intervention, healthcare, emotional psyco-social workshops, school uniforms and support groups. These services aim to help children survive their childhood free from abuse, malnutrition, HIV and crippling emotional trauma. We also strive to give orphan children the tools necessary to build themselves up and the opportunitities to break free from the poverty cycle.