Hospices connect across Atlantic

The answer she got was frighteningly typical for a land where the HIV virus has infected 70 percent of the population: There were seven children in the family, and the mother had AIDS. One child was ill with an undisclosed disease. The entire family was expected to die, so they had already begun digging graves.

The Hospice worker was one of nine people from The Community Hospice (which covers nine counties in the Albany Diocese) who recently visited South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The Community Hospice has partnered with African hospices to raise funds for the AIDS-stricken countries, most recently creating the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa to assist in their efforts.

Spiritual link

She wanted to visit African hospices -- which hope to start a spiritual care department of their own -- because she believes that no matter how great the physical needs of the people, their spiritual needs are just as important.

The physical struggles are staggering. In accompanying African hospice workers on home visits, "I never saw a nurse with a stethoscope," the chaplain said. "Our nurses go out with all sorts of equipment. These nurses had nothing to give except Chux," the small waterproof pads used on beds.

In another example, an HIV-infected woman was refused treatment for meningitis at a Cape Town hospital because it was against hospital policy to treat patients with both illnesses. The American visitors emptied their pockets to give enough money for 10 days of the intravenous medication the woman needed, saving her life.

Connections

During the trip, she found herself spending a lot of time doing what she called "creative loitering": sitting with her African counterparts, offering support and answers to questions like, "What do you do when a patient says, `I hate God for doing this to me?'"

"I went as another human being who cared about what's going on with my fellow hospice workers," she said. "We're a very small number of people; I really realized that when I was in Africa."

Meeting and learning

The American chaplain said that she learned the most on visits to people like "Nina," an eight-year-old girl with AIDS. Two of Nina's family members had already died of the disease, and the family hadn't eaten in a week. Still, they were thrilled to receive visitors.

"Some of these folks, the only support they have are those hospice workers," the chaplain said. "You see the joy in the faces of the people when the nurses visit."

Soul-to-soul

"They know in their heart that [spiritual care] is something they really need," she stated.

After such a trip, she said, it was difficult to come home. "My heart is wider with compassion than it was when I left," she told The Evangelist. "If I had an opportunity to spend a couple of months there, I'd hop on that."

(Send donations to the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, 19 Manning Blvd., Albany, NY 12203. Contributors to the most recent trip included Catholic Relief Services; Mercycare Mission Services; Assumption/St. Paul parish and the Augustinian community, Mechanicville; St. Peter's and St. Clement's parishes, Saratoga Springs; St. John the Evangelist, St. Helen's and St. Gabriel's parishes, Schenectady; St. Joseph's parish, Greenfield Center; St. Michael's parish, South Glens Falls; and the Joshua Foundation.)

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