Still one of South Africa's toughest challenges

South Africa, according to a United Nations report, has the fifth highest prevalence of HIV in the world with an estimated 21.5% of its population infected. In 2003, between 270,000 and 520,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. Some consider the country to have the most severe HIV epidemic in the world and still years from peaking in terms of AIDS-related deaths.

Bishops Joe Potocnak and Evert Baaj are both active in ministry to the sick and dying in South Africa.

Bishop Joseph Potocnak, SCJ, bishop of DeAar, lists HIV/AIDS as one of the top three problems the people of his diocese face (the other two are poverty and unemployment). "One of the first things that I hoped to do after being named bishop was to establish a hospice to help the terminally ill poor who had no where else to go," he said. "But I was so naïve, I had no idea how great the needs really were."

Teaming up with a religious sister who had an extensive background in health care, the bishop opened that first hospice. Now with government funds, and support from Catholic Relief Services and sources, hospices in the diocese serve over 40 towns with hospices, home caregivers and counselors. Fr. John Strittmatter, another SCJ originally from the United States, has been chairman of the hospice committee for ten years.

Nightingale Hospice is one of two hospices in the town of DeAar. Unlike hospices with which most people are familiar in the United States, Nightingale (as do others in the diocese) generally serves the terminally ill by going to them. Sharing information about Nightingale from its recent year-end report, Bishop Joe said that the hospice now has 126 caregivers in 20 towns and 73 counselors in 25 towns serving the needs of those infected with HIV/AIDS.

Almost 10,000 home visits are made by these caregivers each month.

A family from the Diocese of DeAar in South Africa.

Besides meeting their basic medical needs, the center also addresses the emotional well-being of their clients. There is a support group that meets twice a week at the hospice's day care center. "There, they are relaxed, share their problems with one another and then are treated to a healthy meal," said the bishop. The meals are courtesy of the Department of Social Services, which has done much to assist the drop-in center.

There are many tragedies in the HIV/AIDS story, but one of the saddest is the children left behind. Many in South Africa have lost both parents to the disease. Currently, 560 orphans are registered at Nightingale. The hospice regularly monitors the children in their foster home placements, ensuring that they have adequate care. Keeping in mind that the other two major problems of the diocese are poverty and unemployment, the hospice helps foster families with food, as well as clothing and school supplies for the children. The Department of Welfare and Health has been instrumental in supporting this program.

The work of the hospices is essential in the diocese's on-going struggle with HIV/AIDS, but Bishop Potocnak emphasizes that it is just as important for the Church to be present to people. "The spiritual aspect of people's lives can't be ignored, even when they are physically very ill," he said. "It is important for me, and for our Church, to be concerned with people's spiritual well-being... You need to see the person, not just treat the illness. We must let people know what wherever they are in life, we care about them."