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In the second part of this two-part series, CommonAge ambassador for Zambia Anderson Simfukwe, shares some of the work his organisation, Aged Care and Service Centre, carries out. Through our scholarship to attend the 2015 ACSA/IAHSA conference in Perth, Anderson met Hilary Lee from Dementia Care Australia, and this year he and a colleague attended its innovative Spark for Life Master course.
Aged Care and Service Centre helps Daviness Namusukuma who lives with dementia and her family.
“This is Daviness Namusukuma, she lives in Nakonde district. She is 92 years old and is living with her son John Ng’andu. Daviness had ten children and of all the children only the last born, John is alive today. John is a brick layer with a low income job which falls short of minimum standard of living for an ordinary Zambian. John is a passionate man as this is evidence in the manner he cares for the mother who hardly walks. The wife is pregnant and all the care needs of his mother are dependent on him as the only surviving son. The day to day activities of John include carrying Daviness, the mother from the house to sunbathe in the sun and taking her back in the house. The wife is equally an excellent carer to the mother-in-law as she too prepares meals for her and takes care of her incontinence and other sanitary chores.
The house that John lives in is another drawback as the rainy season approaches it will be uninhabitable and will collapse if no major repairs are done to the house. John strives to make ends meet as he faces double misfortune in his life coupled with economic woes he is experiencing. The house in question is not something to talk about as it is in a deplorable and dilapidated condition not befitting mention in this modern world. It is equally worrying that John’s wife is an expectant mother and the innocent baby will have to be born and live in the same house exposing the child to a miserable life.
John’s wife Gift Nakazwe at their house
The poor expectant mother is equally living in a double misfortune that seems unbearable for her in this world of abundance. She does not know what to expect tomorrow as there is literally nothing to lay hands on as the husband traverses the town to look for food for the family. Daviness recounts her old days and recalls very well all the names of her children and their ordeals. Tears roll down her skinny face as she narrates the misfortunes that befell her children. Her narrative is so emotional that hardly any one holds tears in the eyes when she emotionally bursts into tears.
The low spirit in Daviness is not as a result of old age but is more so due to the abject poverty her son John is wallowing in. The spirit in her eyes shows the signs of life and can be reignited and rekindled by employing focused attention of unconditional love coupled with more improved health and dietary needs.
Aged Care and Service Centre is taking keen interest in Daviness by providing both the dietary and compassionate needs through routine visits by the Spark of Life- Trained volunteers from the Centre. The period the Centre engaged with Daviness, indicated improvement in her appearance and looks as she is now able to look up and there is life in her eyes as can be seen in the picture on the next page. This proves that with focused attention of unconditional love, life can be revived in our aged people at a minimal cost of care.
Aged Care and Service Centre is currently courting Community Development and Social Welfare Departments to see how best we can engage as many older people as possible in the same situation as Daviness. The two departments have shown keen interest in collaborating in this area and have pledged to render support to this cause. However, the two departments were quick to mention that they were receiving erratic funding from government and urged Aged Care and Service Centre to complement the effort through identification and support of needy older people in the communities as the Centre has a good working relationship with older people through its volunteer outreach programmes in the communities.
My recent encounter with the District Social Welfare Officer, Mr William Phiri was very positive as the officer pledged support to Daviness and the family carers through collaboration with Aged Care and Service Centre. Aged Care and Service Centre is currently running a Spark of Life Programme in the community which has proved effective and pragmatic approach to reigniting and rekindling the spirit in older people through the Spark of Life Philosophy.
With this Philosophy, focused attention of Unconditional love coupled with the power of emotional support and healthy nutrition are the centre stage of the philosophy that is proving to work well with older people in the communities in bring back low-spirited and broken-down spirit.
As defined by Spark of Life CEO and Founder, Jane Verity “Unconditional love is to look behind disease, disability, difficulty behaviour and differences into the heart and soul of the other person – connecting heart to heart and soul to soul”. Daviness spirit is enriched through the Spark of Life Philosophy. According to Jane Verity, “Spark of Life is the genuine emotional connection that ignites the human spirit”. Daviness’ spiritis ignited through the emotional connection informed by Spark of Life Philosophy.
Daviness with her son John Ng’andu
The Spark of Life Philosophy is turning challenges into opportunity by removing guilty, shame, embarrassment and bad feeling. This has automatically helped in the case of Daviness by shifting our perspective of the situation and transform an action that was going to cause bruising or breaking of the spirit to actions that uplift the person’s spirit.
Daviness was unable to speak and look at people before our Spark of Life Trained volunteers engaged her in the Spark of Life Journey. After two of week of active engagement with the volunteers, Daviness was able to talk and recount some of the past stories in her life. She is much happier and healthier than she was at first encounter with the volunteers, remarks one of the Aged Care and Service Centre volunteers. Another volunteer observed that there was indeed life assurance in the Spark of Life Philosophy and was quick to mention that the philosophy demanded unconditional love, compassion, commitment, passionate, diligence and hard work.
The daily minimal basic needs in Daviness life are barely equivalent to US$ 5 a day to survive her old age. That is inclusive of John’s family who are curently surviving on less than a dollar per day. What is currently obtaining on the ground is unbearable and makes you distinguish issues from the other side of the world in a more comprehensive and realistic approach.
Aged Care and Service Centre has currently embarked on an ambitious fundraising venture for the construction of a Geriatrics Centre that will cater for and look into issues affecting the elderly people in the community such as Daviness. With a Geriatrics Centre in place, Daviness predicament can easily be attended to at the Centre with the expertise it deserves. One of the fundraising activities include “Sponsor a Granny” with any bill US$ 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and over to raise more funds for the construction of a Geriatrics Centre housing 50 bed spaces. Daviness should have been healthier and well taken care of in the Centre than at his son’s home. However, the Geriatrics Centre will not be a Residential Facility for the elderly people but a Day Care Centre that will treat and admit older persons with special cases. We believe in integrating older people into their families and live within their families as extended families.
The Centre also empowers carers like John and his wife, Gift with life skills to sustain their livelihood in the communities as they equally take care of their aged family members.
We equally request for support in this sector from development partners to offer the life skills to carers of older people including older people living with dementia within their family arrangements.
In conclusion, we would be very happy to receive any form of donation from you our development partners and hope that the story of Daviness will appeal to you and find space in your philanthropic heart to generously donate to this cause.”
Thank you for taking time to read.
Anderson Simfukwe
Executive Director/ Spark of Life Master Practitioner
Aged Care and Service Centre
P.O. Box 430211
Nakonde
Zambia
Email: andersimfu@yahoo.com
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