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Corporate Social Responsibility
Lapeng Lighthouse
Most NGOs in South Africa depend on local financial assistance to continue serving the communities in which they operate. With so many causes worthy of support, it is always difficult for companies wishing to contribute financially and materially to social improvement projects to decide which organisation best displays a convergence of interests and where their investments will be used to the greatest advantage.
An old but true adage is that if you don’t have health you have nothing. Access Health (SA) is in the business of preventing disease and enhancing wellness. Because HIV / AIDS, with all its serious ramifications has insidiously pervaded every aspect of our lives, combating its spread and supporting those who are infected and affected by it has become increasingly central to Access Health (SA)’s daily activities. Another organisation determined to uplift an almost forgotten community struggling to survive and fighting the onslaught of HIV is Lapeng Lighthouse in Noordgesig.
With both Access Health (SA) and Lapeng Lighthouse, so likeminded in their efforts to reverse the tide of HIV / AIDS, it was a relatively easy decision where to direct investment and where it would make a tangible difference to advance health and help a community in need.
Lapeng Lighthouse was founded in 2004 in the township of Noordgesig which is situated adjacent to Soweto and one of the poorest in the area. Economic development was largely curtailed and it is only within the last three years that there have been signs of improvement. The area comprises approximately 1 140 households each with between 10 and 14 occupants. Levels of poverty and unemployment are exceptionally high with alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancies fuelling hardship. There are many children who have been orphaned by AIDS and most residents are unemployed and depend entirely upon state grants for survival.
The brainchild of Dr Marlin McKay, Lapeng Lighthouse is a beacon of hope and a haven for between 30 - 40 HIV affected households and provides Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) as an entry point for prevention, treatment, care and support. Its community services include home-based and palliative care, assisting orphans and vulnerable children and enabling community members to obtain grants and pensions. Apart from arranging knowledge and educational programmes to encourage healthy lifestyles, it is also involved in condom distribution, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted and opportunistic infections and access to appropriate, affordable and sustainable anti-retroviral therapy when clinically indicated. Campaigns regularly highlight the need for community members to establish their HIV status and recognise and act against stigma and discrimination, alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence.
The impact of volunteerism is powerfully evident in Noordgesig and is driven by the popular slogan “for the people and by the people”. Dr McKay’s tireless team of voluntary workers, all members of the neighbourhood and staff of Access Health (SA), assist him at the clinic and encourage the community to take advantage of the voluntary counselling and testing. Their help extends beyond patient care, so on cold mornings, using veggies donated by a number of community members, they offer patients hot delicious soup – to some, their only meal that day. Should there be donations of food or clothing, the volunteers also steer the dispensing and distribution drives.