Nurse Yvonne takes her profession home

Mackenzie Park resident Yvonne Maseko is a nurse by profession, but takes her caring ways further than the call of duty.

Yvonne Maseko is a Mackenzie Park resident who distributes food parcels on a monthly basis to those in need.

BCT: What is your designation and where do you work?

YM: I’ve been a qualified nurse since 1991 after obtaining my diploma in nursing from the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Nursing College.

I work at the Phillip Moyo Clinic which is on the outskirts of Daveyton.

BCT: What motivated you to become a nurse?

YM: In 2009 a family member was diagnosed with HIV and treatment was initiated.

Unfortunately the loved one developed complications and ended up at Tambo Memorial Hospital, but doctors went on strike and I had to nurse him at home which is how I fell in love with HIV management.

BCT: Apart from being a nurse at work, why did you choose to open your home to needy residents on Christmas day in 2016?

YM: I provided lunch to more than 50 residents from Etwatwa, Emaphupheni and Mandela informal settlements.

The residents were also provided with food parcels worth R1 600 each.

It was that time of the year and it felt like the good thing to do.

BCT: Why do you choose to help people in need even when you’re not at work?

YM: I embarked on this journey because of the type of patients I was working with (HIV/Aids positive) who were taking treatment, but defaulted treatment because they couldn’t take treatment on an empty stomach.

As a result, I gave out food parcels in 2011 when I was still stationed at Daveyton Main Clinic on December 1 (World Aids Day).

It started as me wanting to make sure that the patients had something to smile about over the Christmas period in terms of food.

I now distribute food to 50 people at a time on a monthly basis.

BCT: Why did you choose to stay in Benoni?

YM: I was born in Wattville in 1967 and lived here for two years until my grandfather, Kleinboi Maseko, gave me away to my mother’s sister, Elizabeth Cilo and her husband, Richard Cilo (late) parented me at Alexandra township.

However, due to the June 16 riots in 1976, in 1977, I returned to Wattville and then moved to Mackenzie Park in 1992.

BCT: What are your dreams and goals?

YM: My hopes and dreams are to establish an HIV/Aids wellness foundation which focuses on the needs of the patients in totality.