“Mama, tell me what is your typical working day as a caregiver look like” I didn’t expect to be surprised when I asked.
She is a home visit caregiver for terminally ill in Site B, Khayelitsha. The situations that some of her patients are in are heartbreaking. She said many have HIV, TB and cancer, and most of them are bedridden. Sometimes they live alone and don’t have anything to eat, so she uses her own money to cook and feed them.
I suspected that she was a strong women but not to such extent. She used to run away from the patients but now she enjoys it. “I love helping people”, she said. Her employer is an NGO meaning she doesn’t do it for the financial reward.
When I asked her how she copes with the work-related stress, she didn’t seem interested to answer me.
This is Yanelisa’s mother.
Sometime we think we go into their lives and do good work when they don’t deserve it. Sometimes they make us feel we are not doing enough for these good people. #OLIALifestyleECD