Tirisanommoggo Home Based Care
Meet Keamogetse Kodisang, a home-based care worker from Ga-Shubane Village, outside Kuruman in the Northern Cape with a population of about 500.
Keamogetse is a member of Tirisanommoggo Home Based Care organisation. This organisation was formed during the AIDS pandemic, to provide care to the many people who returned to their villages to die; over the years, this organisation has not only encouraged treatment adherence among women and men in the villages; they have also encouraged men to seek treatment and care; the mortality rate has decreased, and mothers are now accessing pre-and post-natal care, thereby decreasing the infant mortality rate. Currently the organisation also works to advocate for an end to GBV and substance abuse that has become rife in the villages.
As a caregiver, Keamogetse visits people living with chronic illnesses on a regular basis, to monitor and ensure that these patients have access to and takes their treatment as prescribed. Without caregivers such as Keamogetse, elderly and sick patients in the village would have to travel more than 80kms to get to the nearest clinic.
Keamogetse wants women to know that, despite all the challenges they face, they must find support from organisations such as theirs, and stand up for their rights. Young women are our future, and we must encourage women and girls to study, to find work and become financially independent from men.
Keamogetse says that she finds inspiration in the way that women in the community support her organisation, its campaigns, and the work that they do. “
“I want women to get all the happiness they deserve; GBV happens every second and minute of every day; the needs of women and girls in Kuruman that must be addressed. Women must stand up and speak out on GBV, during this women’s month we are doing door-to-door visits, to teach women about their rights, and to encourage them to leave abusive relationships, through seeking support.”
“I want women to get all the happiness they deserve”
Keamogetse Kodisang