st. mary's hospital

St. Mary’s Hospital based in Marionhill, close to Westmead in Durban provides invaluable support to the residents of the surrounding poverty stricken townships and rural areas, and in particular to the high number of people who are HIV positive and living with AIDS. St. Mary’s is clearly not able to offer in-patient care to the large numbers in need of help, and have therefore introduced their community outreach centre which provides home-based care to those in need. Local volunteers are trained to render qualitative holistic and compassionate home based care, nursing and counselling to patients in the area.

Some 1,500 patients and their families benefit from this project which receives funding from AVI.

Resulting from the alarming numbers of adult deaths due to AIDS in the township area, many children are left orphaned, and child-headed households are increasing at an alarming rate. Children heading up these households are predominantly of school-going age, and have younger siblings.

AVI now sponsor one of 7 drop-in centres established in the area where children too young to attend school are dropped off in the care of a volunteer day mother. The older siblings are then able to attend school and collect the younger children in the afternoon. The children are provided with a place of safety, nourishing meals and basic educational stimulation.

Our annual sponsorship for the drop-in centre and home-based care offering is R415,000.