We have been so uplifted and impressed with the amazing response that people have had to the email we sent on Friday, asking for support for the people in the hall. We have been able to purchase a lot of essential items (food, medicine, baby stuff, urns, heaters, blankets, gas stoves and bottles), which is helping to make things a lot easier.
The main problem we're facing at the moment, is that many of the people in the hall are sick. Yesterday, we had to take a 25 year old woman to the hospital, as she had a miscarriage two months into her pregnancy. She was in a very bad state, and the ambulance didn't pitch, so we took her to Karl Bremer at about 12:00pm. At 6pm yesterday, the ambulance called to say they were on their way. Luckily for the woman, who had an operation last night and is still in hospital, we did the Department of Health's job for them.
Today, James Porter, a medic intern who received my email via my sister Ryley, has come to help out at the hall. Yesterday, Simphiwe and Thando put together a list of ailments (it's long, and ranges from coughs and diarrhoea to asthma and diabetes), which James is hopefully going to be able to make some progress with today.
The way things are at the moment is really unsustainable, and so we're really pleased (and relieved!) to have a group of interns who are joining us to help. We're going to interview all the people in the hall, and find out where they want to go next -- it seems that some people want to go back to their homes in Khayelitsha (some already have); others need new homes; and others want to move back to their own countries. (Most of the people in our hall are from Zimbabwe).
We're hoping that funds keep flowing into our account, so that we can continue to do our best to meet the basic needs of the people in the hall, and help them to re-build their lives. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped thus far!
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