Seeking help for hospice

Bishop Kevin Dowling would like people to think about a little girl named Anna.

He is visiting the Albany Diocese to raise money for a hospice in his AIDS-riddled diocese of Rustenberg, South Africa. To demonstrate the great need, he has brought along a picture of Anna.

Her mother died of AIDS. Her grandmother was caring for her but had to look for work, so the little girl was left unsupervised. A woman religious who runs a nearby clinic found Anna one day. She'd been raped -- how many times, no one could tell. She was three years old. Soon afterward, Anna became ill. She tested positive for AIDS. Now she's dying.

Hope and frustration

"I've felt so frustrated for the past 18 months," Bishop Dowling told The Evangelist. "We were hoping to begin construction of the hospice last January, in 2002."

Bureaucratic red tape got in the way, but, at last, construction is about to start.

The bishop's diocese is located north of Johannesburg. The northeast province of South Africa is home to about 250,000 people; when the one clinic that exists in the area developed a comprehensive AIDS-testing program, 60 percent of patients tested positive for HIV.

Church's role

The local population is concentrated in Freedom Park, a squatter's camp of shacks where platinum miners and refugees live.

The clinic run by Bishop Dowling's diocese has managed to develop an early learning center for children and a primary school, but their "buildings" are converted shipping containers; because the squatter's camp is illegal, no permanent structures can be built there. The bishop has been working on improving care for the dying.

"End-stage care is quite horrendous. People are dying in appalling conditions," he said. "Now we have 115 trained home-care attendants -- retired professional nurses who have come out of retirement -- to care for these people."

Home care, however, is not enough. Bishop Dowling wants to bring people to a hospice to die. Through partnering with The Community Hospice, which is sponsored by St. Peter's Hospital in the Albany Diocese, he has raised enough funds to build the hospice and got government approval for it. The partnership is called the "Tapologo HIV-AIDS Project."

He hopes to have a hospice program for adults and a daycare program "for the little kiddies -- preschool education for as long as they can live."

Progress

Since his last visit to the U.S. two years ago (profiled in The Evangelist's June 7, 2001 issue), Bishop Dowling has seen some improvements in the cultural stigma that is the biggest barrier to AIDS care in South Africa.

Not long ago, he said, people would be shunned if neighbors saw home-care nurses visiting their houses. Now, "we are noticing a gradual acceptance of people living with and dying of AIDS."

"It's becoming such a massive problem that people are beginning to realize it's a community problem and we have to deal with it together. We must make the difference. Our home-care nurses are able to work with much more freedom and acceptance now."

Help from here

Bishop Dowling believes that his time in the Albany Diocese will bear fruit, raising both awareness of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa and donations to help run the new hospice.

"I've got a video of the whole background that tells why it's so important, information on how much to pay a professional nurse in the hospice," he said; "so if someone wanted to even contribute $25, they'd know where that money was going."

The bishop has faith in the generosity of the people he has met through The Community Hospice, calling them "wonderful friends who have been so supportive. There are so many wonderful, generous and caring people here that if I can just tell the story, I believe people will respond. I believe God will work through that."

SCHEDULE

Bishop Dowling slated for four appearances

Bishop Kevin Dowling will make several stops in the Albany Diocese, from a meeting with Bishop Howard J. Hubbard to a luncheon with Catholic Charities staff. Events open to the public include:

* May 16, 7 p.m., a talk at the First Reformed Church in Schenectady;

* May 17, 5 p.m., Mass at St. Bridget's Church in Copake Falls, followed by an adult education session;

* May 18, 2:30 p.m., a screening of the AIDS documentary "A Closer Walk" with a presentation and reception following at Time and Space Ltd. in Hudson (tickets for this event are $25); and

* May 19, 6 p.m., a free fund-raising reception at The Community Hospice of Rensselaer.

For information, call The Community Hospice at 285-8150.

(5/15/03) [[In-content Ad]]