Last week I accompanied the home nursing team in their work in the townships and informal settlements around Mandeni. I am always impressed by how carefully Sindi steers the ambulance to the most remote huts.
Our patient was in a half-destroyed hut, a small room without windows, a second room with only half a roof. The corrugated iron rattled loudly in the wind.
Fred shuffled very slowly out of his hut and sat down on a chair, the only piece of furniture in this hut.
He was obviously in a lot of pain.
A few days ago he had been handling an electrical appliance that had caught fire and set his shirt on fire. Fred's upper body was badly burnt. His wounds were treated at the clinic but then he was sent home.
The neighbours asked our hospice for help because there was no one to take care of his wounds, which need special care.
We visit him every day, clean and dress his wounds and see if he is well cared for by his neighbours, gets enough to eat and recovers.