Keep a Child Alive

KCA College PSA Winners to South Africa!

Do you remember the KCA College PSA Competition that Keep a Child Alive held last year? The KCA College Program held a competition for students to enter a 60-second commercial advertising our ‘Text ALIVE to 90999’campaign. After 6 months of entries and online voting, our winners: Jessica Rebeiro and Dan Bakst were announced! You can check out their winning PSAs here. For the past 6 months, we’ve been planning this trip and now we’re finally here! Jess, Dan and I met in NYC at the airport on Friday and after hours of movies, getting to know each other and attempting to sleep - we arrived in South Africa.

South Africa is home to 4 of Keep a Child Alive’s sites: The Blue Roof Clinic, Agape Care center, Bobbi Bear and Ikageng Itireleng Ministry, and we are so excited to be visiting all of them in the next 9 days. This trip is designed to show our two winners exactly how Keep a Child Alive works on the ground providing ARV treatment along with nutrition, counselling and a whole variety of care that you will find nowhere else!

Today is our first full day in Durban, SA and I think it is fair to say that all 3 of us could not wait to get the day started. We arrived at the Blue Roof Clinic early this morning just as patients began streaming in the front doors. The last time I came to the Blue Roof a year and a half ago, the whole clinic consisted of rooms off of one hallway. The Clinic has since transformed and expanded and I cannot begin to explain my excitment when I walked in this time to see this incredible new space! Coming through the gates, the first thing you notice is the beautiful garden that spans the whole side of the building. This way we are able to grow vegetables and herbs that can be used to cook patient meals and it gives patients an opportunity to help and give back by working in the garden. As soon as you enter the Blue Roof, you know you are in a place of care. From the beautiful smiles of the receptionists,to the big ‘hellos’ from the counsellors and the loving care from the nurses/doctors - everyone that comes here knows this is a safe place to receive treatment and care. Not only does the Blue Roof provide ARV treatment but there is HIV testing, adherence classes,counsellors, doctors, hospice day care, a media room and a full dining hall where patients can receive a meal! Keep a Child Alive is beyond proud of the nutrition program here at the Blue Roof where all patients receive a meal after their appointments before receiving their medications. We understand how necessary it is for patients on anti-retroviral therapy to have food in their stomachs with this treatment. Watching the patients happily eat a meal and being able to sit and interact is so powerful.

It is the first day back at the Blue Roof Clinic after the New Year so it is very busy but amazing to see so many people coming into the Clinic! From home-based care visits to patients that are too ill to make it to the Clinic, from those who come in for appointments and some that are here for the first time to be tested- the number of people in the Wentworth community touched by the Blue Roof Clinic is incredible. I just found out from Wendy, our receptionist that we have 1331 patients on anti-retrovirals here at the Blue Roof Clinic! What a way to start off the New Year for the Blue Roof Clinic!

Tomorrow Jess, Dan and I will spend another day at the Blue Roof Clinic and venture out on a home-based care visit. We can’t wait to spend another day interacting with patients here at the Clinic and see the lifechanging work Keep a Child Alive is making possible. Stay posted for more updates here in South Africa!

xo Louise

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