Times follow-up visit to sickly beneficiaries
MBABANE – The Times of Eswatini did a follow-up visit to communities of Msunduza, who have an urgent need for palliative care and food supplies.
Previously, the Times had donated adult diapers to those terminally ill within the capital city’s largest informal township. In its second visit, the newspaper, through its corporate social responsibility (CSR), found that some of the members of the community were the elderly and those with disability, requiring basic food supplies, more adult diapers and food.
One of the beneficiaries, Mkhulu Juluka Makhanya, who has been confined to his bed after suffering a stroke late last year, is in dire need of assistance, as he lives in appalling conditions and does not have a caretaker. He also struggles to get basic amenities like food and medical care. Makhanya lives in a dilapidated structure, which can collapse on him anytime and is in need of a proper structure.
Meanwhile, Nqobile Mavuso, a volunteer who has dedicated her time to cater for people with disabilty and the elderly in Msunduza, shared that Makhanya only had a nephew who often checked up on him, but could not help much because he earned a living from odd jobs and lived in a separate house with that of Makhanya.
Among those revisited was Amahle Matsebula, a sevenyear-old boy who was born with a congenital disorder. According to his mother, Nombuso Dlamini, Amahle’s condition rendered him immobile; he also has speech and hearing impairment which meant she had to take care of him full-time, which is why she was unemployed. She mentioned that the child did not receive a disability grant and had gone to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office to seek financial aid in October last year. She
Mkhulu Juluka Makhanya, who suffered a stroke, lying on his bed under a dilapidated structure that might collapse on him anytime. (Inset) A packet of adult diapers that was given to Makhanya during the revisit. was told to go back home and await a phone call. She has been waiting ever since. “It is very difficult for me because I have four other children to take care of and their father does not assist with anything,” she lamented.
Dlamini appealed for any form of assistance from members of the public, as even the diapers donated by the Times were too big for him. Mavuso said they were faced with numerous challenges due to the unavailability of assistance. “A majority of the patients are in need of basic needs like shelter, clothing and food; most of these people are living in stickand-mud houses, which are on the brink of collapsing and posed danger to their lives”, she said.
She added that they sometimes struggled with transporting the patients to the hospital because they did not own any motor vehicle but relied on other volunteers. Mavuso also appealed to members of the public who were willing to assist with food parcels, clothes and wheelchairs to contact her on 7824 7756 or 7929 4441.