Alexandra’s own Mama Afrika: Portia Mongake
One of the Alexandra Renewal Project's early capacity building
initiatives was to train members of the community as home-based
care workers. A critical need for effective community caregivers arose
from the limited capacity within the professional health services in
Alexandra at the time, the escalating rate of the HIV infections, and
the number of old and young and physically or mentally challenged
members of the community in need of assistance.
Was this training initiative a success?
One of the first Home-based
Caregivers trained by St John's under the auspices of the ARP was
Portia Mongake. Some of the ARP team recently visited Portia at her
home in 16th Avenue and was astounded by what she has achieved.
"Mama Portia" runs an organisation called Abangani eNkosini,
which she founded in 1997 to serve her local community. She has been
chosen as Alexandra's "Mama Afrika" by Clover, and recently won the
"Unsung Hero of Alexandra” award - and it's easy to see why.
Through a rough opening from the street, in a rubble-strewn
clearing behind the ramshackle buildings fronting this section of 16th
Avenue, can be found one of the great hearts and havens of Alex. Here,
from two hopelessly inadequate structures, Mama Portia and her
dedicated group of 20 volunteers provide constant care, nourishment,
shelter and hope to some of the most vulnerable members of the
community.
Through a narrow gap between the two, one enters the sturdier of
the two buildings, a single room that is office and kitchen and home
to Portia, 10 orphaned children who live with her, and 2 of the
volunteers. Piles of mattresses are neatly stacked in a corner to be
pulled out and arranged on the floor at night, converting office space
to sleeping quarters. Donated computer and kitchen equipment essential
to the running of Abangani eNkosini compete with sacks of
mealie meal for space.
In a tiny corridor outside is a cooking and washing-up area, barely
large enough to hold two adults, and from which Portia and her
volunteers produce 3 meals every day, seven days a week, for 300+
children in need. Totally reliant on donations, and with such
inadequate amenities, it is astounding that the constant supply of
tasty and nutritious meals never falters.
A multi-purpose tin shelter stores donated provisions, a
bread-making machine and more mattresses. It also serves as a meeting
place for an HIV Support Group that Mama Portia has started for local
woman affected by the disease, where they can meet in an atmosphere of
calm and total acceptance, finding the support and practical help they
need to cope with their illness.
Mama Portia's care is not limited to her live-in orphans, her
feeding scheme and her HIV support group. This indomitable woman and
her loyal helpers also go out into the community to care for the
elderly and the sick, taking them meals and providing them with basic
health care.
Despite the chronic lack of space, the children who stream through
the gap from 16th Avenue for their meals three times a day, are also
helped with their homework, play sport, sing and dance. The sense of
caring for each individual is heartwarming, and Mama seems somehow to
find time to have a word with each of them.
None of this would be possible without help, and Abangani
eNkosini is supported by Alexander Forbes, Fruit & Veg, and Clover
Mama Afrika, a national corporate social investment programme. But the
need is relentless and if Mama Portia is going to continue serving the
community, she needs all the help that she can get.
This energetic woman, with a passion to care for the vulnerable in
her community, a determination to overcome every obstacle, and an
indefatigable cheerfulness in the face of the never-ending needs to be
met, is inspirational. She is a truly the heroic "Mama" of Alexandra.
If you can assist Abangani eNkosini in any way please
contact:
Mama Portia Mongake
62 16th Avenue
Alexandra
Call: 072 609 4444
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