Sister Priscilla Dlamini, with her own two hands and a R10 000 grant, converted old stables into a haven for the rejected HIV patients dying as beggars in the vast sugar plantations constituting the KwaZulu-Natal hills. Dlamini, a Catholic nun since the age of 15, has since received international recognition for her Holy Cross Aids Hospice in eMoyeni near Gingindlovu, Eshowe.
With no funding for modern medicines, Dlamini combined traditional healers' home remedies to treat opportunistic infections among her Aids patients, and her herb garden is now so renowned that healers from the Eastern Cape and Swaziland are buying her remedies. Dlamini and her volunteer caregivers now receive funding from the Holy Cross Children's Trust in London to take care of an additional 453 child-headed households and 1 121 orphans, and provide home-based care for 2 011 people. Her hospice has become Spoornet's corporate social investment flagship in the region.
The Trust and, in particular, the children and the whole community are very fortunate to have Sister Priscilla running the Holy Cross Hospice. Sister is not only eminently qualified for the job, she is a person with enormous drive and determination and has well honed organizational skills. When Sister Priscilla arrived at the Holy Cross Hospice the only operative facility was a rudimentary clinic. The hospice, crèche and training centre and the many programmes that are now run at the Holy Cross Hospice were developed by Sister Priscilla.
{mosimage}The late Bishop Biyase chose Sister to establish a hospice and rejuvenate the clinic as she had gained similar experience and achieved success at two other clinics in KwaZulu-Natal. With his support and that of the Holy Cross Hospice governors and from the many donors who have been so touched and proud of her work, Sister has been able to create something very special. Her approach is a holistic, community based support system for a region that has been ravaged by AIDS.
Sister is a Roman Catholic nun (Benedictine Sisters of Twasana), a qualified nurse, has diplomas in General Nursing, Midwifery, Clinical Care and Administration, Advanced Psychiatry, Community Health Nursing and is currently doing her Masters in Psychiatry through the University of Natal. She has also attended many courses on AIDS and Family Planning related subjects in South Africa, West Africa, Germany, Italy, Austria and the UK. She has also presented papers at conferences throughout South Africa and in Europe.
Sister has received awards for her work from the Department of Welfare (“Community Builder of the Year”), Edith Venter Award (“The Woman who made it against all odds”), The Soul City Health and Development Worker of the Year (National Finalist) and the Pat McGregor Natural Family Planning Award (Highest Achieving Teacher and Supervisor in South Africa).
Sister has also featured in many newspapers articles in South Africa and throughout the world via a syndicated article on her work by the Washington Post. She has also appeared on SATV and local radio, on a BBC documentary on Alternative Medicines to treat AIDS sufferers and, in January 2007, appeared on a SATV programme to commemorate World AIDS Day.
She is a remarkable person who has achieved so much against such great odds.
Source: http://www.holycrosschildrenstrust.org;
Source: Women of the Year 2004 SA
Enter Ewuraba Fashion Gallery