News

Celebrating World Health Day – local Urban Health Champions part two

7 April 2010

The Bigshoes Foundation

The Bigshoes Foundation offers training courses to lay child and youth care practitioners working both in children's homes and the community.

The theme of World Health Day 2010 is urbanization and health.  Through the campaign “œ1000 cities – 1000 lives“œ, events are being organised worldwide, calling on cities to open up streets for health activities and stories of urban health champions are being gathered to illustrate what people are doing to improve health in their cities.

Tshikululu is commemorating World Health Day by profiling South African urban health champions – people and projects making a difference across the spectrum of this sector.

Bigshoes is all about medical interventions that assist orphaned and vulnerable children, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS.  Interventions are made at specific “œpoints of vulnerability” in the life space of the child; these include abandonment, institutionalisation, terminal illness and disease.  Interventions are made through medical care, training and advocacy. Currently based predominantly in Gauteng, the organisation has recently expanded its services nationally, with branches open in Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape.

Medical clinics and outreach

Free specialist paediatric services are provided for orphaned and vulnerable children, including:

• HIV testing;
• Age assessments;
• Medical reports for adoption; and
• Anti-retroviral treatment.

Children are seen at the Bigshoes clinic in Braamfontein and in the paediatric out-patient department at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto.  Three paediatric clinics are run each week at these locations, two in Braamfontein and one at Baragwanath.  Bigshoes doctors also do house calls at four “œhigh need” children’s homes situated in Johannesburg:  St. Francis Care Centre, Boksburg; The Love of Christ Ministries, Eikenhof; and  Cotlands, Turfontein and Lambano, Wychwood.  In addition, the doctors assist the homes in running medical outreach services for orphaned and vulnerable children living in the community.

Paediatric Palliative Care

The Bigshoes Foundation provides a palliative care consultative service for two hospitals: the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto and the Coronation hospital on the West Rand of Johannesburg. Additionally, the team of medical doctors also help to run a hospice in Soweto.

During the hospital visits, the doctors see children with non-curable conditions and advise on aspects of palliative care related to pain and other distressing symptoms, terminal care, ethical issues and psycho social problems.  Advice is also offered for placements into children’s homes whenever necessary.  A Bigshoes social work assistant collaborates with hospital social workers on cases involving social problems, conducts home visits and provides emotional support to parents of ill hospitalised children.  She also does some bereavement counselling.

Local supporters of the Bigshoes Foundation currently include the Anglo American’s Chairman Fund, Momentum and the Discovery Foundation.