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Cologne/Mandeni. On
the occasion of the World Aids Day on the 1st of December, the
Executive President of Malteser Germany, Johannes Freiherr Heereman,
has visited the Malteser hospice in Mandeni (South Africa).
Providing 40 beds for patients, it is the largest hospice in Africa.
On average, every second day a patient passes away, sometimes five
patients die on one day. “Thanks to numerous volunteers and medical
doctors specialized in palliative medicine, the patients here get
the chance to die in dignity; the staff members take perfect care
for them day and night. This hospice is an oasis of love and peace
amidst an environment of hardship and despair”, Heereman states.
The hospice has been established by Rev. Father Gerhard
Lagleder, member of the Order of Malta and Benedictine, who has been
working in the missionary field for nearly 20 years already. His
work in Mandeni is financially supported by Malteser groups from
different countries. Malteser Germany, for example, pays for the
medical drugs which will be re-quired for the patients in the
hospice in the year 2006. Heereman is shocked by the overall
situation in the city of Mandeni: “Death is omnipresent in this
city. This is not astounding since Mandeni holds the sad world
record of having an HIV-positive testing toll of 76 %. One third of
the total population of Mandeni is already infected with HIV.”
Hereman is filled with consternation in view of the fact that
also a high number of children suffer from the disease. “More than
200,000 children become infected every year.“ Half of the 40
children living in the Malteser children’s home in Mandeni are
infected. In the light of this hardship Heereman urgently asks for
donations in order to finance medical drugs. Since: “Every human
being in this world has the right to live and to die in dignity.”
Attention editorial offices! More information about the
Malteser hospice in Mandeni are available here: www.bbg.org.za
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer
and not of Reuters. ]
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