May to June with Community Care
The Water Bucket Ministry
The Water Bucket Ministry has started with Community Care Patients who are all very grateful to have purified drinking water at their disposal. The convenience of having drinking water close at hand is indescribable. The team used this tool as a means of spreading The Word of God.
Baylor University students were the first team to do home visits with the Community Care staff. The students were taken into the deep rural area and given the opportunity to see our teams at work. 20 students from the Swiss Team spent a morning in the rural community with Care and helped deliver and plant grow bags for our patients, as well as assist with the assembling of water buckets.
The First Baptist Church of Barstow did rural community visits with our team and were deeply impacted by their time spent with the patients. They were very hands on by willing to serve in all capacities.
Spiritual Engagement with beneficiaries:
A gentleman aged 65 accepted Jesus as his saviour 2 weeks before passing away.
A woman aged 69 re-affirmed her relationship with the Lord.
Currently only Genesis Community Care is doing ministry in the rural areas, there are no churches which are easily accessible and there have been no pastoral visits for patients who attend the nearby local churches.
Psycho-social and Rehabilitation
Counselling was done for 13 patients and 28 family members totalling 113 counselling sessions, these took place in May. 19 Patients and 9 family members, totalling 64 counselling sessions, took place in June. The Community Care team also worked together in reuniting a mother who had not seen her daughter in 34 years. It was a very emotional reunion and the team is seeing an improvement in the mother’s health.
A total of 202 rehabilitation sessions were given in May and June. Speech-therapy, therapeutic exercises and balance control have been ongoing for the rehabilitation part of the program. However, a challenge is that family members do not assist with ongoing exercises when the GCC team are not on hand. The team are working hard to prepare 2 patients stumps for the fitment of artificial legs. They are hoping that the legs will be fitted by December.
Medical Challenges:
It is becoming apparent that patients have got more trust in the care given by the Genesis Community Care staff than they have in the care given by hospital staff. This is concerning because patients are waiting for direction from Care before calling an ambulance to be taken to hospital. The elderly patients are being left alone for long periods of time while family are at work. On one of our visits staff found an elderly bedridden patient lying on the floor next to the side of her bed. She had been there for a few hours as she had no-one to assist her in getting back into bed.
Patients are still not compliant with medication; however, our teams have started medication trays for certain patients and there has been a huge improvement in patient progress. Patients are being encouraged to ask for supplements at the hospitals and clinics. There is an increase in the number of people being diagnosed HIV/AIDs, as well as an increase in the number of defaulters, their ages are below 60.
Medical Achievements:
The finding is that many more patients are compliant with their medication due to the continued education and counselling given by staff. The CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION to the Genesis Community Care programme has been appreciated by all patients and prospective patients as well as family members. The food parcels handed out to patients have been extremely beneficial. Staff have all noticed a marked improvement in their health because of the nourishment received. The continuous support and quality care being given has seen more patients with chronic conditions and day to day ailments able to take control their health.
MAY STATISTICS:
NUMBER OF PATIENTS VISITED: 56
TOTAL VISITS: 417
TOTAL PSYCHOSOCIAL VISITS: 113
TOTAL REHABILITATION VISITS: 126
NEW PATIENTS: 7
DEATHS: 3
CANCER: 2
DIABETES: 26
HIV/AIDS: 7
STROKES: 15
TB: 1
WOUND CARE: 13
MEN: 19
WOMEN: 37
JUNE STATISTICS:
NUMBER OF PATIENTS VISITED: 63
TOTAL VISITS: 406
TOTAL PSYCHOSOCIAL VISITS: 64
TOTAL REHABILITATION VISITS: 76
NEW PATIENTS: 11
DEATHS: 1
CANCER: 4
DIABETES: 27
HIV/AIDS: 8
STROKES: 14
TB: 1
WOUND CARE: 13
MEN: 21
WOMEN: 42