The uNkulunkulu uNathi AIDS Project

The Hlabisa Magisterial District in the Republic of South Africa at one time had the world's highest HIV infection rate. Today, there is agreement that at least 33% of pregnant women are infected. The Servites initiated the uNkulunkulu uNathi AIDS Project to provide home based care and anti-retroviral treatment in this stricken area.

The origins of the project date to 2000 when a group of about thirty people in the Hlabisa District (covering the Hlabisa and Mtubatuba areas) initiated home visits to care for the sick. The following year, Johan Viljoen, the South African Catholic Bishops Conference field officer, visited the area and helped to draw up a project proposal. A budget of ca. $43,450 was granted to cover: training for the home based caregivers, food provisions, basic medicines, gas for the project vehicle (purchased by the Vicariate Apostolic of Ingwavuma under the late Bishop Michael M. O'Shea, O.S.M.) to transport the sick to local clinics and the Hlabisa Hospital. 2004 saw the establishment of a new anti-retroviral rollout project in collaboration with Hlabisa Hospital and the Africa Centre (a privately funded AIDS research center). This budget for this program covered blood tests, provision of anti-retroviral medicines, a full-time nurse, and a part-time doctor. By 2005, the program expanded so rapidly in the Mtubatuba area that patients were no longer referred to Hlabisa Hospital, but were diagnosed by two participating local doctors. In December of that same year, there were over 650 patients on anti-retroviral, making it the largest POS under the South African Catholic Bishops Conference AIDS Office.

The South African Catholic Bishops Conference (which in turn receives funding from Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Medical Missionary Board), the Vicariate Apostolic of Ingwavuma, and the Anglo-American Mining Corporation provide funding for the project.

The Vicariate Apostolic of Ingwavuma Orphan Project

In 2003, nine primary school principals in the Ndumu area of the Ingwavuma district of South Africa (bordering on Mozambique), approached the parish priest, Fr. Camillus McGrane, O.S.M., in order to set up an outreach program for children who lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. They identified 600 orphans in great need, many of them from peer-headed households, often an older sister forced to leave school. A strategy was planned in which 300 of the neediest orphans were identified and registered in school so they could receive access to the school feeding program.

A local store agreed to organize food parcels to help the orphan households through the weekends. The project proposal was approved by the South African Catholic Bishops Conference AIDS Office, and a budget of $50,000 was approved. It soon became clear that increasing demand rendered the project unsustainable. School holiday periods also posed a major problem. By 2004, Dominican sister Lydia was recognized as a social worker by the government and began home visits in the Hlabisa and Ingwavuma areas. She spends on week a month in the Ingwavuma environs and three weeks in the Hlabisa area. Her strategy is to first have the children registered for birth certificates and then applies for government welfare grants. Though time consuming, the process has been quite successful. Over the past two years she has covered over 89,500 miles. A sturdy vehicle is an absolute necessity as she often transports orphans and guardians to welfare offices and delivers food parcels to remote homes. In 2005, a workshop was organized and fifty volunteers were trained. They will help identify worthy causes, accompany social workers on home visits and help with the voluminous paperwork involved.

The area covered by the project includes the two Magisterial Districts of Ingwavuma and Hlabisa with an approximate area of nearly 5000 square miles. The Ingwavuma district is more rural than Hlabisa and was formerly a labor pool for mine workers. There are no large towns and only one surfaced road, the R 22, which runs through the district up to Mozambique. All other roads are gravel and clay. A government welfare office exists in Ingwavuma, but it is understaffed and under equipped and the social workers rarely get out into the district.

We are fortunate to be blessed with many concerned donors, however, assistance for these programs is always welcome. If you would like to assist us in bringing Christ to these people in need, please contact us through our Guestbook on the Home Page or through our Giving site which is linked above. God Bless you.