Doctors For Life - Home Based Care

DFL has identified the need to develop a Home Based Care program for terminally ill patients. The reason being that hospitals and clinics in some areas of the country are not able to cope with the increasing inpatient loads.

Some big referral hospitals are reluctant to accept transfers of AIDS patients. AIDS patients are reported to occupy up to 90% of beds in some hospitals. DFL has started the training of AIDS Home Based Careers. More than 500 candidates have completed the 5-day basic course, which has been presented in 4 provinces. DFL has also conducted Home Based Care courses in some provincial hospitals. About a thousand patients have already been treated through the program and the number is increasing all the time. We are in the process of training enough trainers to develop a network of available carers in SA and we plan to include Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland. The care kit required for one Home Carer costs about R200. Funds are needed to finance this program. DFL has been requested to provide training to provincial and national health departments in South Africa.

July 09, 2007 New Team for Harding Home Base Care and LifeChild Orphans By Stephen Pasquale I have returned to Harding with a new team of three interns from Mt. Zion School of Ministry in America and a volunteer from England. We are serving the Home Based Care project and the LifeChild orphan centre for this area. ...[more]
May 28, 2007 WAP: Pannar Seed (Pty) Ltd Invests In Its Workers Pannar Seed (Pty) Ltd, the internationally respected producer of hybrid seeds with operations on several continents, is actively implementing its HIV/AIDS policy. During November 2006 the first groups of Peer Educators were trained by Doctors For Life International. A few days later on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2006, the Managing Director of Pannar Seed in South Africa, Mr Deon van Rooyen, publicly signed a ...[more]
February 26, 2007 DFL starts new Home Based Care Project for patients dying at their homes!! Doctors for Life International started a brand new project to care for Terminal patients in the Lusikisiki-district of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The project is managed in partnership with the Uniting Reformed Church of Africa (formerly the Reformed Church in Africa, a sister church of the Dutch Reformed Church). ...[more]
September 22, 2006 Once Again Once again, I have returned to South Africa with a team of interns from Mt. Zion School of Ministry, serving DFL’s projects in Harding, KwaZulu Natal. ...[more]
September 22, 2006 Dr. Tachadi Visits Harding A team of volunteers from Times Square Church spent a couple weeks visiting several of DFL’s LifeChild centers in KwaZulu Natal. ...[more]
september 16, 2006 DFL Executive Attends HBC Meeting In Harding Dr Tseliso Nkuebe, member of DFL’s Executive Board, attended the two-monthly meeting of community volunteers at Deemount near Harding. He travelled to the small KwaZulu Natal hamlet in his private vehicle and was accompanied by his wife, Sophie and little daughter, Boh. ...[more]
september 15, 2006 Radio Pulpit's Blanket Donation To Project Care Radio Pulpit donated a few “bales“of blankets to DFL’s Project Care, the division of Doctors for Life International that cares for AIDS Orphans and Terminal patients. ...[more]
September 15, 2006 First Refresher Course For Home Based Caregivers A HUGE Success!! Some of the community volunteers who work as “Home Based Care-givers” in the Harding area were trained as far back as 1998! ...[more]
September 14, 2006 WAP…What’s THAT? DFL’s Workplace AIDS Project (WAP) attempts to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on the economy of a country by promoting sound values among the workforce. The knowledge, attitude and sexual practises of these workers are challenged by peer educators. These are leaders chosen by the workers themselves and then trained by DFL. ...[more]
June 27, 2006 An Invaluable Experience A team of international volunteers from Mt. Zion School of Ministry and Times Square Church spent two weeks assisting the DFL center in Mthaleni and Esifuleni ...[more]
January 25, 2006 Death: The untimely visitor By Mr. Heinrich Botes Every second month, a team from the DFL Head Office visits Deemount, a hamlet outside of Harding in the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa. This place is hardly found on maps…and not advertised on tourist brochures. The deadly HIV-virus, however, found this place and is causing absolute havoc in the homes of this warm and friendly community…people who live simple lives. ...more
July 28, 2005 HBC work in Mpumalanga: Oldest Person I know By Partick Hello again. So let me explain this photo. Everyday we have a different schedule. On tuesdays we would go to a village called ikwezi. It was there I would have meetings with all our home base carers. also at these meetings sick patients would come to me. most of our patients are hiv positive. and sad to say they die between the ages of 17-30's. They die as quick as 6 months from being infected. But we have a patient who amazes me. Her zeal and simple child like faith in God encourages me. she has become my friend. and she is a sign and wonder. When her nation is dieng she keeps living. when you look at the average age. It appears she has lived 5 life times.
June 10, 2005 Home Based Care Course at Mthaleni and Esifuleni On the week of the 10th of April we conducted a course at these places, which had a great impact in the community. The sad thing about this community, is that they are underdeveloped, and have no knowledge about AIDS; they deny that AIDS exists among them. ...[more]
April 29, 2005 Sundays River Valley Situated in the Eastern Cape, with a citrus industry as the driving force behind its economy this valley has 11 citrus packing operations boasting with the largest citrus packing and marketing operation of its kind in Southern Africa, namely the Sundays River Citrus Company.
March 7, 2005 Home Based Care Update: First Experience For Patrick In Harding I've been in this country for 6 months and I’ve never seen so much death. It’s very overwhelming. The sad thing is for the next 6 months the deaths will double. My name is Patrick Kucharski and my wife and I are missionaries helping DFL with there Home Base care project in Harding SA. ...[more]
November 23, 2004 HBC Update - Work at the Deemount Centre, Harding The following reports are written by 3 volunteers helping out at the DFL Home Based Care centre in Harding, Deemount.
August, 16 2004 Home Based Care update: Monthly visit to HBC centre in Harding... A team comprising of volunteers from Canada, Porto Rico and the USA accompanied the DFL staff members( Mr Petros Mtalane and Heinrich Botes) on the monthly visit to Harding in August 2004.