With little support from the state, the residents of Kenneth Gardens have come to rely heavily on the clinic. If you look up the word “hero” in the dictionary, it is defined as an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Well….our country is filled with many heroes and heroines who do amazing things in their communities on a daily basis. They do not wait for government or the private sector for hand-outs, they take it upon themselves to change their situation despite the challenges they face. Living up to this standard is Khanyi Sibiya, a former nurse who is taking it upon herself to serve those who are in desperate need of health care at Kenneth Gardens in Umbilo.
After retiring from the nursing profession in 2009, Sibiya brought together a small band of women with basic healthcare experience to provide much-needed support for the community. The program developed into the Senzokuhle Home Based Care Organisation, which she then registered as an NPO in 2010.
“I started the organisation after I saw how the people of Kenneth Gardens suffered when they had to access health care. The closest health care facility for them is the King Edward Hospital which deals with emergency cases and for one to be treated there, you need to have a referral from a clinic which is in Wentworth, far from here. Before we could establish this centre, we had planning meetings with various stakeholders and finally launched it on the 12 September 2009. We carried out door-to-door campaigns jointly with student nurses from Natal Settlers, and the research we did revealed there was a need for a health care facility,” Sibiya said.
Despite the overwhelming burden of caring for multitudes of people, Sibiya who is a pensioner herself, persisted and with sheer determination overcame the many challenges she faced. “Because this is on a volunteer basis, people want to be compensated for the work they are doing here. There was a time when I was the only one remaining and I just had to persevere on my own until I met Zethu Jali in 2011 who joined me and we have worked together until today,” she said.
Khanyi Sibiya and Zethu Jali are the two women volunteering their time to help those in need of Healthcare.
Zethu Jali, who is also a pensioner, lives at Kenneth Gardens and says she joined the organisations because she understands the suffering that many people at Kenneth Gardens are faced with.
“We are both pensioners who are not paid for the work we do, but we could not just sit and wait for the government to do something for us. We have a couple projects that help cover our living costs like beadwork and sewing, but the challenge is getting the material and selling them,” Jali said.
Despite the fact that the centre, which is housed in a disused storeroom, has no electricity, the two women never fail to offer services to the poor. “On Monday we have homoeopathy doctors from the Durban University of Technology who are available to our patients. From Tuesday to Friday we do door-to-door visits to our patients, which includes checking on those who have to take their medication, dressing their wounds, massages, accompanying those who have appointments at the clinic, writing up reports for doctors, and ensuring they eat well,” Sibiya said.
With little support from the state, the residents of Kenneth Gardens have come to rely heavily on the clinic, which in turn is dependent on volunteers, but the community rests easy, knowing that Sibiya is guiding the ship. “This is simply a labour of love. I wake up determined to heal others,” she says. Her efforts earned her a Community Service Award from Rotary in 2013, but for the kindhearted nurse, it has only ever been about answering the call to serve.
INFO BLOCK
A short-film by Beautiful News of Khanyi Sibiya and her work was released online on Tuesday this week. Beautiful News unfolds the untold stories and generates positive conversations about South Africa, showcasing the extraordinary yet ordinary South Africans, their humanity, their ideas and their stories while celebrating the spirit and community of the South African people in an authentic way.
The multimedia platform is founded by photographer and filmmaker Adrian Steirn who was the visionary of the 21 Icons project that profiled the extraordinary men and women who led South Africa’s journey to democracy and helped to unite its communities. The experience of creating that project made it clear that South Africa has an abundance of people whose untold stories are worthy of celebration. View the film here: http://beautifulnews.news24.com/Beautiful-News/this-door-to-door-nurse-carries-her-communitys-only-lifeline-20170601
View the film here: http://beautifulnews.news24.com/Beautiful-News/this-door-to-door-nurse-carries-her-communitys-only-lifeline-20170601
Pictured: Khanyi Sibiya sitting with one of her patients Dean Burke.
Article from: the Berea Mail: http://bereamail.co.za/111710/answering-the-call-to-serve
