Bishop Simeon Trust

IMBIZA DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

Profile

Imbiza Development Services is a small community initiative in a poor township on the outskirts of a former gold mining town called Orkney, in South Africa. Most of the mines have now closed and unemployment in the area is high. As a consequence, most residents of the township live in poverty, and at the last count, the prevalence of HIV was a massive 39% of adults.

Imbiza was started by a group of unemployed women and now has about 20 members, most of whom act as unpaid carers for people in the neighbourhood with HIV or TB or both (the two often go hand in hand). The women are not formally trained but have great enthusiasm for their work, which includes making patients as comfortable as possible, ensuring they take their medication, taking them to the clinic, or helping around the house. They often provide a listening ear for anxious patients or family members, and if a patient dies, can be seen helping with the funeral arrangements or providing counselling to the family left behind.

In 2007 Imbiza took part in “STI Awareness Week” which involved going to the local taxi rank and shopping malls and talking to people about sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. The group now does this sort of thing on a regular basis.

Some of the Imbiza women have recently started an informal pre-school for 30 vulnerable children in the locality, aged up to six years. These may be children who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS, or whose carers may be too sick to look after them during the day. The pre-school operates from the small house that the Bishop Simeon Trust bought for Imbiza (for the grand sum of £800), which has subsequently been extended and equipped with donor funds. The next step is to acquire toys and teaching aids, and improve the food given to the children, which is rather basic.

Resources

The Bishop Simeon Trust first came across Imbiza in 2005. At that time, the group was reeling from the fatal shooting of its founder a few weeks before, and requested help on a number of fronts. Their most urgent need was for premises, because they were occupying a run-down house with no water or electricity and without any security of tenure. The Trust was able to respond fairly quickly and with the help of a church in Leeds, enabled Imbiza to purchase a small house to use as a base, for which they now proudly hold the title deeds.

Imbiza receives occasional training from the local Department of Labour, for example in group management techniques and basic book-keeping. But they receive no government funding and rely heavily on donations sourced by the Bishop Simeon Trust. As a mark of their commitment, each member of Imbiza contributes 10 Rands (about 70p) from their own pocket towards running costs, even though they are unemployed.

The Bishop Simeon Trust also works with a project run by disabled people nearby, called Tecford, which provides training and work opportunities for its 60 disabled members. Tecford were able to supply Imbiza with new uniforms for their caregivers to wear when visiting patients, which enhanced their status and self-confidence greatly. The next challenge is to overcome the problem of lack of money for things like telephone, stipends for the caregivers, and transport to get patients to clinics, etc. Imbiza have applied to the local AIDS Council and the Department of Health without success, so there is still a long way to go before Imbiza will be self-sufficient.

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