Helping Patients to understand their Conditions

Here below is a wonderful post from our own Lindelwa Myali, the Patient Liaison Officer at the HOPE Center Clinic in Zandspruit South Africa and a testimony to the great job she does from one of our patients.   Hi I’m Lindelwa Myali, the Patient Liaison Officer. I joined Project HOPE in September 2012. I am certified in HIV testing and counselling but have been working in the area of diabetes and hypertension since I joined Project HOPE....

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Reflecting on the Past Year

Looking back over the past year, it has been amazing to look at the road well-travelled that Project HOPE South Africa has been on. Our clinic celebrated its one year anniversary this month and has gone through some remarkable changes. What we were doing, whilst so good a year ago seems so amateur compared how we run the clinic now! As I reflect back, it makes me so proud to see how our staff have learnt new skills with limited education and...

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Village Savings and Loans takes off in Zandspruit

In the past I have talked a lot about our Village Savings and Loans (VSL) groups which I have been involved with for the last few years both here in South Africa and in Mozambique. I truly believe that if we are going to make a dent in the prolific spread of NCDs such as diabetes and hypertension we are going to have to start addressing the drivers of the epidemic. Household disposable income plays a significant role in peoples ability to eat healthy, exercise and undertake preventative health checks. Project HOPE has launched the VSL concept...

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The HOPE Centre film

During May this year, 10 volunteers from Eli Lily & Co. came to Project HOPE South Africa to share their skills and expertise with the project. The volunteers brought with them a camera crew who spent time in Zandspruit, observing and filming the day-to-day work of The HOPE Centre, the result of which can be viewed on the youtube link above....

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Training VSL health activists

Last week Lindsay and I conducted a two-day training course for the VSL health activists.  Thirteen women participated, representing several different VSL groups.  The first day included lessons on diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer, nutrition, tuberculosis, and sanitation and infection control.  The second day covered HIV/AIDS, tobacco related illnesses, maternal health, diarrhoea, worms, and children’s health.  Each lesson...

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Volunteers Britta Harman & Lindsay Johnson boost the VSL program in Zandspruit

Lindsay and I arrived in Johannesburg on May 12th and will be working for Project HOPE until June 7th.  We are classmates at the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and have been looking forward to coming here since December.   Britta, Tsholo, and Lindsay During our first week here we got our feet wet by observing and participated in the many components of this Project HOPE site. ...

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Improving patients knowledge about how medications work

Most of our patients are on chronic, long term medication for their diabetes and hypertension and many of them have to take multiple tablets per day.   Adherence rates to these medications is very poor, often because patients are not empowered to understand what hypertension or diabetes is and what the medicine does to help them manage it. We often find that once a patient feels better, they stop taking the medication which can cause...

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Be Open

Like a lot of volunteers, I did my research ahead of time. On the history, the climate, the healthcare system, the greatest challenges facing the poor.“I came open,” said one of my fellow volunteers. “Open to help, to do what I need to do, open to the experience.”Now that I’ve been at the HOPE Centre healthcare clinic located in Zandspruit, an informal settlement in Johannesburg, South Africa, I see that as the better approach. The HOPE Centre provides...

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So different – or so the same?

I came to the Project HOPE Centre in South Africa thinking that I would not have much in common with the people I would meet here.  How could I?  We live half a world and an equator apart.  In less than a week on the ground, everything’s changed.For example, I noticed the young 20-something guys who have been working with our team are congenial and chatty, willing to tease and be teased.  They get along well with each other and...

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Press Release - Project HOPE Welcomes Volunteers from Eli Lilly and Company for Two-Week Assignment at the HOPE Centre in South Africa

Project HOPE, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, yesterday welcomed ten employees from the global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company  for a two-week volunteer assignment at  the HOPE Centre in South Africa.  The volunteers will provide assistance to the staff at the HOPE Centre in a variety of capacities, all in an effort to improve the quality of care at the clinic.   ...

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Familiar healthcare challenges in a rewarding new environment

When I moved to South Africa a few months ago, I knew that I wanted to get involved as a volunteer with one of the many wonderful organizations promoting health in this country where so many people face enormous barriers to health and wellness.  I am so happy to have found Project Hope where I’ve been able to take part in the wonderful work they are doing in the Zandspruit township near Johannesburg. The project I began when I started working at...

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South Africa experience by Jo Burt

It’s hard to believe that our two months in South Africa have already ended.  The time went so fast and I am sure that is because we were so busy all the time.  Jo busy in the Hope Clinic Working with Project Hope is a life changing experience and exposes one to a cultural exchange that provides insight and understanding at a level unparalleled.  Being able to walk in another person’s shoes and see what life is like...

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Screening week at Project Hope

From 11th - 15th  March it is screening week at Project Hope. Every month here a week long screening exercise is conducted by volunteers in Zandspruit or nearby Cosmo City to detect high blood pressure and diabetes among the local residents, so those suffering from these chronic conditions can be referred to the Hope Centre clinic for on-going care.  In 2013 a door-to-door  screening programme has been established to maximise...

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Anne

The Hope Centre Clinic opens on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays here in Zandspruit. It is a one-stop-shop for people with chronic illness in the community to get treated for either hypertension or diabetes alongside other day to day illness. Recently I had an opportunity to catch up with a few people in the clinic as they waited to be seen by the nurses and will be reporting back via this blog on the individual experiences of these people:   The...

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Rachel Miller's reflections on volunteering and VSL in Zandspruit

It’s hard for me to believe that my two weeks in South Africa have come to a close so quickly. The saying “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” has never seemed more valid. This trip has made me think very soulfully about life and our purpose on earth. Life is a blessing; it is a confusing gift we must all sort out. At the end of the day, I always return to a phrase I was raised with: tikkun olam (pronounced tee-koon...

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