Sponsor A Mother and Child: The Hoko Family Story
The Hoko’s were blessed with girls: five daughters and a granddaughter. Beauty, mother to five, is HIV positive. Lacking consistent care and treatment prior to coming to The Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre (Witkoppen), two of her daughters were born infected with HIV; Lillian, age 14, and Anelisa, age 8.
The family of eight lives in a small one-bedroom shack in the township of Kya Sands. It is built from metal scraps they were able to gather, with a tin roof that does little to keep out the rains that are frequent during the summer months. There is no running water, no plumbing or sewage, and no electricity. The family survives on very modest child support grants, and the meager earnings Tapson, the father, brings in from his recycling cart. But it is not nearly enough to sustain them. The family must pay for food, clothing, education, transportation, and perhaps most importantly their clinic visits to Witkoppen, where they receive comprehensive HIV care and life-saving ARVs. With so few resources at their disposal and having suffered a devastating fire and losing everything but the clothing on their backs, the family was at great risk of dropping out of care at Witkoppen and defaulting from their ARVs, putting their health and their future in jeopardy.
Thankfully Witkoppen’s dedicated pediatric HIV specialist identified the Hoko family as being at risk and referred them to be enrolled in The Gift of Hope’s program to sponsor an HIV positive mother and child. This program, provides a safety net to our most vulnerable patients, ensuring they remain in care and and stay healthy.
This program was literally a life-saver for Beauty and her daughters, who now get all of their clinic fees and transportation costs covered, giving them access to a holistic package of care, all their medications, nutritional supplements and psycho social support services.
Beauty, Lillian, and Anelisa now come to Witkoppen for regular clinic visits without worrying about how to cover transportation or clinic fees, or trading that off against a nutritious meal for the family. Their overall health is monitored and managed, and they are given their ARV medication to take every day. Lillian is also treated for her cerebral palsy, which developed as a complication due to her HIV. Thanks to the Sponsor a Mother and Child program, today the three are managing their HIV like any other chronic condition, and are happy, healthy, and thriving. Lillian is attending the Witkoppen School and Anelisa will be on her way there shortly.
When asked what this sponsorship program has meant for his family, Tapson could not contain his smile or his gratitude: “They have given us everything we need… Food, clinic visits, and tablets for my wife and my girls. We are really grateful for everything.”
On behalf of the Hoko family and so many other families in need, thank you for making a difference in the life of someone in need. You have given the greatest gift of all: the gift of hope.