29 Mar Bambanani Home-Based Care Centre and Crèche
In 1994, after witnessing the poverty and strife surrounding her community in the informal settlement of Dukathole, in Germiston South, Nomsa Sikhwari made the selfless and compassionate decision to assist and uplift people in the area.
With assistance from the local council and the Germiston Anglican Church Nomsa established the home -based care centre, ‘Bambanani’ – a non-profit organisation that provides various services to the community.
Among the beneficiaries of this charity, are visiting patients who do not have caregivers at home to wash and feed them, as well as provide some much needed encouragement and counselling.
Bambanani also helps to ease the burden for its members living with HIV/AIDS, by ensuring that they receive the necessary medical attention.
Due to the blight of poverty in the area, many families do not have any food. Through various contributions, Bambanani packs food parcels for these families.
In 2001, the need arose to take care of children who had been orphaned by AIDS. Today, Bambanani runs a crèche for 36 of these children at the day care centre. Two ladies have been employed to run the day care centre, as well as an assistant that prepares lunch for the children.
Bambanani sets objectives each year, their short term goal currently is to achieve the following:
- Strengthen Home Based Care in Dukathole and ensure Anti-Retroviral Therapy adherence and reduce re-infections of people living with HIV and
- Increase awareness of the prevention of new HIV infections, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups and high transmission
- Consolidate support to orphans and vulnerable children in
Melco assists Bambanani on a monthly basis with groceries that are used for meals at the crèche, and also re-packed and delivered to families in need. A number of medical supplies are also contributed by Melco for the Care Centre.
One of the areas that Bambanani struggles with on an ongoing basis is the transport required to get patients to and from hospitals. Melco has negotiated a transport assistance scheme and pays the transport provider on a monthly basis.