Clinic offers health care for Durban’s forgotten community

“NO matter the situation, I have been amazed by the humanity and love I have encountered. Coming out from an area like this I have become hopeful of how far our country can go.” So says Ruth Birtwhistle, a clinic coordinator at the Dalton Container Clinic.

The clinic is a project driven by the Denis Hurley Centre. The centre’s clinic team has been offering healthcare at Dalton for 2 years.

Initially, before moving their operation into a container, the team worked from under a gazebo or from a bakkie, providing the only source of healthcare accessed by many local people, including those with TB and HIV.

Over 400 patients are seen at the Dalton clinic in addition to the 600 they already see on the streets of the city, and the 2000 they see at Denis Hurley Centre clinic.

“Our patients are primarily from the homeless community. Many are whoonga addicts, there are mothers and babies from the shacks inside the beer hall, and also a small community of Tanzanian men who live here.”

“Because of their addiction to heroin, our biggest challenge is that most of our patients’ priorities is not their health or food, shelter and clothes. The withdrawal symptoms are very intense and even if they are on their deathbed they would rather crawl from King Edward Hospital, to get to their next fix. Fortunately, the patients do respond, but you cannot rely on them to come through, you have to do follow-ups,” said Birtwhistle.

The clinic has been a partnership of the Denis Hurley Centre, working closely with benefactors Container World who generously donated and converted a container to create a new clinic where people can be treated in a clean, safe and private environment in August last year.

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“We are here five days a week. This is because most patients have to take treatment daily and a lot of them battle to even know where they are going to sleep tonight. What we do is keep medication with us and also provide a basic meal to patients every day. What we have realized is that the answer to all of this is not to take the drugs away from them and remove them from this place, but to develop them as humans holistically,” she said.

Another initiative by the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) is the Dalton playgroup.

Although most of the Dalton residents are single men, there is a surprising number of women and young children who live in shacks and derelict buildings. Some are malnourished and many suffer from respiratory tract infections. As a result, a priority was the establishment of a safe and stimulating playgroup.

Food is provided through the clinic and the feeding programme at the DHC. A qualified early childhood development teacher is being sponsored to run the playgroup three mornings a week. About 18 children attend the playgroup.

Charity Motaung who works as a teacher at the Dalton playgroup says her passion for teaching young children makes her come back every day.

“I have always loved teaching and wanted to be a teacher. When I was young I used “teach” other kids. I always pictured myself teaching at this big school with lots of children but I love what I am doing here and the kids are amazing,” said Motaung.

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