Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 26, 2002
Thabo Mohlala
Women's Voice is a non-profit organisation that provides home-based care to people with all sorts of ailments, including tuberculosis, diabetes and HIV/Aids.
According to Lutu the organisation comprises a group of volunteers who dedicate themselves to helping members of the community in need of assistance. The volunteers pay daily visits to the elderly and the bed-ridden - to feed and wash them, and provide them with medication. Women's Voice also provides administrative assistance to people who want to apply for identity documents and birth certificates.
Lutu says the project started a feeding scheme to provide nutrition-rich meals to people suffering from chronic diseases. Tikkun came on board by providing an assortment of catering ware including a gas stove, a freezer, a sink and cutlery.
The feeding scheme is housed in a modest corrugated-iron shack in Lutu's yard.
"I volunteered to provide space for the building of the shack in my yard because the local clinic does not have sufficient space."
Lutu says Women's Voice plans to have as many of these kitchens in the four wards of Orange Farm as possible so that they can make a visible impact on poverty and its associated diseases.
Adding value to the feeding scheme is an organic food garden that supplies fresh vegetables. At the launch of the kitchen project Lutu said the facility would provide healthy meals to 60 HIV/Aids patients daily.
Speaking during the opening of the kitchen, Tikkun's CEO for projects Nono Ntlhane said the idea of the kitchen represents a small way in which the organisation can contribute to the community of Orange Farm. "We hope the kitchen will flourish so that in future we can get more funds to get it really going." She says Tikkun was also motivated by the commitment and selflessness shown by the community.
Ntlhane welcomed Lutu's decision to accommodate the kitchen in her yard. "We didn't just want to build it in the middle of nowhere because that would have meant hiring a security guard who would inevitably have to be paid." She said her greatest wish is to have the project replicated all over the area and even beyond Orange Farm.
Ntlhane commended the idea of the garden and said this would enable the community to cultivate "organically grown vegetables, with no chemicals used" to feed HIV/Aids patients.
She said Tikkun would continue supporting the garden with seedlings and teach caregivers how to grow different kinds of vegetables. "For a start they would focus on spinach and cabbage, because these are affordable and contain the nutrients needed by people with HIV/Aids, in particular. There is also a learning centre to teach caregivers about nutrition and essential nutrients required in an Aids patient's diet, and how to prepare meals."
Galit Cohen, who originally comes from Israel and has a background in helping HIV/Aids patients in Ethiopia, will assist in training volunteers to run workshops on HIV awareness on their own. Two women have already undergone training on home-based care and she hopes the number will grow to 350.
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