Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - September 9, 2005
Varaidzo Dongozi, Information Officer, Zimbabwe Red Cross
Like Mary, dozens of Red Cross care facilitators visit people living with HIV/AIDS every week, exercising their essential first aid skills. Their aim is to support the families with some basic medical supplies, sometimes food, and teach them how to nurse the patient at home.
The supervisor of the Chitungwiza home-based care project, Loveness Samugadza explains that home nursing constitutes a major component of the support that the Zimbabwe Red Cross gives to families affected by HIV and AIDS. "We demonstrate to family members how to treat sores, bathe and feed the client," she explains.
Before Mary leaves the client's house, she inspects her kit to ensure that all the medicines are in place. She also inspects her uniform, made up of a blue dress, blue jersey and brown shoes, to check it is as immaculate as when she put it on earlier in the day, before mounting her bicycle to do her rounds.
"Hygiene is very important in caring for the sick. If you are not careful about hygiene, you risk infecting the client or the client infecting you. It is the first lesson taught in our community-based first aid," explains Loveness. Before assuming her current position, Loveness was a first aid instructor with the Zimbabwe Red Cross for 11 years.
The HIV/AIDS home-based care programme of the Zimbabwe Red Cross has, from its inception in 1992, regarded first aid as the first line of training for its care facilitators, because of the centrality of home nursing in caring for the clients. Its knowledge is a prerequisite among the volunteers selected as care facilitators, because first aid, which is the initial step in training people in home nursing, reinforces compassion for the client, teaches hygiene and other practical ways to care for a patient. Loveness sums it up this way: "First aid opens a person's mind about the needs of people and how to care for them."
The Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, Emma Kundishora, explains the essential role of first aid. "The country is facing the daunting task of addressing some of the challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. We have identified home-based care, among other interventions, as an integral part of responding to the disease, and our first aid expertise has been a natural stepping stone to developing the programme," she says.
The Zimbabwe Red Cross has been conducting training in first aid since 1981 in all the ten provinces of the country, with, as its main objective, to minimise disasters and accidents in communities, by imparting life-saving skills. More than 100 Zimbabwe Red Cross instructors offer a variety of courses including basic to advanced first aid, specialized training in industrial and mining contexts, accident prevention, home nursing and training of trainers. The Red Cross first aid certificate is a determining credential to obtain general nurse aide work at government health institutions.
The Zimbabwe Red Cross has made a deliberate effort to target vulnerable communities for first aid training, where needed. Courses are offered to these communities free of charge, for example, where there is no clinic within a considerable radius. About 25 000 people are trained through the community-oriented project, on an annual basis. The Red Cross also conducts first aid training in the private sector, particularly with companies involved in heavy industrial activities such as mining, for a fee. Some 60 000 people in the corporate sector are trained each year.
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