Rural Zululand Medical and Home Based Care Project

To Our African Impact Foundation Family,

I hope this message finds you healthy and happy. It is difficult to stay positive during these tough times, however I myself have gotten through this time by thinking about the incredible impact you have all made and will continue to make on the people and environment across the African continent.

For a lot of the communities we work with, there is unfortunately a lack of awareness around how contagious and serious the virus is, and everyone's susceptibility to it. A lot of lost jobs is leading to an increase in food insecurity, and little access to healthcare is concerning for many.

African Impact has had to go into a temporary hibernation due to travel bans, however the Foundation is committed to staying present in the communities by continuing critical activities and providing COVID-19 support - handing out disinfectant packages, setting up hand washing stations, continuing nutrition programs, translating information posters into local languages, and keeping in touch with beneficiaries via telephone where possible.

To better support organizations, GlobalGiving has recently modified their Terms and Conditions to allow us to use any unspent donations from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 on our most urgent needs during this difficult time. With a shift in priorities and situation, we hope to use the money raised to re-hire staff on the ground to carry out critical activities under the Foundation while African Impact is in hibernation.

Your support means so much to us and we look forward to continuing this journey with you. To say thank you, we wrote a little song for you: Watch the video here!

Kind regards,

Sarah Nielsen
African Impact Foundation
Impact Manager

PS – We’ve created a Foundation Facebook Group to stay connected, spread positivity, and share project updates. Come join the fun!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to the Rural Zululand Medical and Home Based Care Project in the St.Lucia area. Without your support, many people would not receive the lifesaving medical attention they need!   

In the last quarter of 2019 our medical project staff and volunteers were able to do 92 home-based care visits. They also held 3 workshops on gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, and sexual health, with a total attendance of 262. All of these workshops were requested from important stakeholders in our communities so we are delighted that they proved to be a success! 

Tim recently came to volunteer with a group of fellow nursing students, and wanted to share his experience: 

“Our goal is to provide medical services and health education to the local Zulu communities, while learning how the health care system operates in South Africa. 

With African Impact, we provide home care, wound care, physiotherapy, home assistance, support groups, and clinical transfers to the local villages. The care we provide is minimal, but the patients are ecstatic for the help we give. I have never seen such joy emitted from receiving something as simple as a small bag of Tylenol. Gradually, African Impact is building up education and health care opportunities that the local communities would otherwise not have access to. From my time volunteering for two weeks, the one word I would use to describe St Lucia's surrounding communities is beautiful - not just the land but mainly the people. They are so happy, welcoming, and hopeful. Their love for each other and visitors such as ourselves is enough to melt anyone's heart.”