![]() Gérard explains, the Brotherhood of the Blessed Gérard works closely with partners such as the Department of Health and of Social Development that has delivered disinfectant and face masks “that we are very grateful for.” It is a different way of bringing the Good News that God is there for us, and especially in a difficult situation He is there for us, and that the Church finds ways of approaching the faithful and being there for them in different ways.” But I look into the screen of the computer and I know that there are many people actually watching, and in my mind, those people are here (…). Gérard says, “I thought it would be very lonely saying Mass on my own. Gérard agrees that most South Africans have trust in the Catholic church, especially when it comes to social care, healthcare and education, because it has always been at the side of the under-privileged and was a strong partner in the fight against injustice and apartheid.Īlso, in the liturgical sense, he says people are now asking us, “at a time in which we cannot have public services, to broadcast them through streaming on the internet. Gérard is especially keen to express his gratitude and admiration for his staff: “I am so happy about our personnel! They have been told that if they stay at home they can help prevent infection spreading,” but he says, they are all true to their mission as health-care workers and are faithfully coming to look after their patients and the children.įr. The Brotherhood also runs a large children's in-patient home which currently hosts 55 children, many of them with previous conditions that make them especially vulnerable.įr. And they are safe so far.”Ī similar strategy was chosen for the Malnutrition Clinic where baby food was distributed to those in need for the whole of the lockdown period.Īnd, he says, the same was done for the Order’s Home Care Programme, leaving health care workers free to attend to emergencies and strengthen the ranks of the in-patient hospice personnel. Gérard, patients were given their medication for two months in advance “so they don't have to come here. ![]() ![]() In preparation for the lockdown, explains Fr. “We have close to 700 patients on Aids treatment in a very large treatment programme,” he adds. “The hospice is full of immuno-compromised and frail geriatric patients,” the very people who are most in danger of dying from the disease. “We are running the largest in-patient hospice in the whole of South Africa,” he says. Gérard describes the assistance and support he and his personnel manage to provide. Noting that 80% of the people served by the Brotherhood of the Blessed Gérard in Mandeni live under the poverty line, Fr. Order of Malta healthcare facilities and Covid-19 “These people are particularly vulnerable,” he says. Thankfully, the government decided to treat even those with no registered South African identity documentation. He recalls it is a problem the country already dealt with when it started extensive campaigns to treat HIV. Gérard says he is extremely worried about them “because they are in hiding and they don't want to be detected at all.” They are afraid of being identified as illegal immigrants and sent home, thus endangering the policy to test, track and treat infected persons. Most of them are poor people from other African nations who come in search of work. “That is actually a deadly danger that we are in,” he adds.Ī recent United Nations estimate calculated the number of foreigners living illegally in South Africa as high as 10% to 15% of the population. Gérard says he is afraid people might avoid them, “because they are afraid of being diagnosed they are afraid to be taken away from home, and they think that if they run away they might avoid the whole situation.” Gérard also pinpoints a cultural issue that has to do with stigma and fear: “Many people don't even want to be tested or diagnosed, they don’t want to be treated,” just as it happened with HIV-Aids.Īlthough the government has rolled out mobile testing units and set up clinics in the townships, Fr. Furthermore, he says, in informal settlements and in slum-like townships, people have no means of washing their hands or following the rules for good hygiene: “If you have to walk hundreds of meters to the river to fetch water, then you can't wash your hands and you have no means to disinfect yourself with chemical disinfectant: this is a major problem.”įr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |