HACT helps HIV mom create new beginning
Palesa was admitted to HACT’s Respite Unit in October 2016, could barely walk and had an extremely low CD4 count. Click the link for more on her empowering story.
DIAGNOSED as HIV positive and on medication for TB, Palesa (name has been changed) was a recent patient at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust’s Respite Unit.
The Unit is a 24-bed facility that offers care, love, hope and a second chance at life to those suffering from AIDS-related illnesses.
Palesa knows what it is like to grow up in an atmosphere of fear, abuse and betrayal. “I was born in KwaZulu-Natal and grew up with my father because my parents divorced. I was very bright and also shy but from an early age I experienced a difficult time. I never experienced being a child – we were not allowed dolls or toys.”
She described her father as very strict, often angry and controlling. She remembered having to clean and iron for her parents as a child, and prepare their baths for them before school. “Once I had done the ironing and put it neatly on the cupboard, they would come and deliberately crumple it up and force me to iron it again. I was also beaten.”
Palesa matriculated and later looked after her mother who became sick. However, her father continued to exert his control and make her life difficult even when she married. Palesa experienced more betrayal as her husband had multiple affairs. Then her husband left her and took her children with him, leaving her alone.
Her husband later returned her children to her. “The only food I had I gave to my children so I became very weak. We ended up in a safe house for women and children. I no longer had a job but at least we had somewhere to stay. It was only my cousin’s gogo (grandmother) who took pity on us. She never tired of helping. Then I started coughing and felt ill. I thought it was the gas stove but I was diagnosed with TB,
“I wasn’t eating so the medication wasn’t working. It was when my spiritual sister from church found me that I got some help. She told me about HACT and the Respite Unit,” she said.
Palesa was admitted to HACT’s Respite Unit in October 2016 when she was struggling with diarrhoea, could barely walk, had a CD4 count (measure of the strength of the immune system) of just 54 and lost mobility in one of her arms.
“Within just four weeks I could walk freely. I could move my arms and was no longer dizzy. I could also help others there and made friends. The staff build a relationship with you and are warm and friendly.”
Following a total of six weeks in the Respite Unit, Palesa was discharged and she returned home to her children where her recovery continues to be monitored by HACT’s team. Before her discharge from the Unit, a smiling and strong Palesa said, “My dream is to have my own business, a mini boutique of new and second-hand clothing and to donate to places like this,” she said with excitement in her voice. “I want to give something back.”
How you can help:
If you would like to help HACT help people like Palesa, you can join HACT’s Hope Club campaign by donating R100 a month. The Club is open to anyone who would like to support the centre’s work from individuals and schools to churches and local businesses. For more information on HACT’s Hope Club, contact the Centre’s marketing and fundraising manager, Claire Hodgkinson, on 031 765 5866 or e-mail fundraising@hillaids.org.za.
