St. Nicholas Children's Hospice
Compassion and Care for Children with AIDS
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Background
The St Nicholas Children's Hospice was established in 1998 and currently serves the areas of Bloemfontein, Mangaung, Botshabelo and Smithfield in South Africa. It provides a specialized programme of palliative care for children with progressive and incurable conditions. Dedicated to taking care of a child's "body, mind and spirit", St. Nicholas has been recognized within South Africa and internationally for its pioneering work in responding to the complex needs of dying children.
The Project
Sunflower House, one of St. Nicholas' first projects, provides a haven for children who require pain and symptom management, and whose guardians need a period of respite or who have died or fallen ill. Based on the grounds of the National District Hospital in Bloemfontein, the Sunflower House is a small and cozy structure, with a playground and well-tended garden, and paintings of bright sunflowers decorating the front. In fact, the house is easy to mistake for a regular daycare centre, except for one room that makes its special function clear. Furnished with a cot, a child's bed, and a rocking chair, this simple room provides a warm and caring place where a family can gather to sit with a dying child. While some children do recover, Sunflower House sees an average of seven deaths per month. After each death, the child's life is commemorated by printing his or her name in the face of one of the sunflowers. Sadly, sunflowers now cover the front wall of the house.
St. Nicholas has expanded its programming to support Home-Based Care, Community Palliative Day Care Centres, Bereavement Support and Counselling for families and guardians, as well as the Sunflower House, all focusing on the physical and psycho-social needs of children and their guardians.
With the support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, St. Nicholas will:
- Provide transportation for a professional nurse to monitor and maintain high standards of care at six Community Palliative Daycare Centres;
- Procure a regular supply of disposables, including nappies, gloves and cleaning supplies to help prevent the spread of infections in immune-compromised children;
- Support the Bereavement Care program for children who are suffering from loss and grief by supporting and training six child caregivers to serve as social workers and bereavement counsellors;
- Support one auxiliary worker to oversee the Bereavement Care Programme and provide counselling tools such as special 'Memory Books' and 'Comfort Bags' to improve communication between children, families and counsellors;
- Continue to expand its community palliative care program by hiring a community trainer to provide further training at the grassroots level;
- Provide food parcels to children in the Sunflower House and Day Care Centres.
SLF Ref#: SNCH.06.16