Africa-Press – South-Africa. Sicelo Mkhwanazi, 35, was only 10 years old when his mother – who worked as a nurse in KwaZulu-Natal – died.
Inspired by her dedication to their community, he decided to follow in her footsteps.
Today he is carrying out his community service in dentistry at Hlabisa District Hospital.
However, he worries about his future because posts are not guaranteed for junior doctors, dentists and other health professionals who have to complete community service.
Mkhwanazi is one of the 575 beneficiaries of the Umthombo Youth Development Foundation (UYDF), which is funded by Discovery and invests in rural youth who have an interest in and ability to study health sciences and agree to work at a rural hospital after graduation.
The foundation seeks to address the shortage of qualified healthcare staff at rural hospitals.
The interviewer met Mkwanazi at Hlabisa District Hospital, which was renovated recently.
One would be forgiven for mistaking it for a private hospital. It was clean from the entrance to the wards, and the smell of polish lingered in the air.
Patients were few and queues were flowing.
The hospital began as a health post established by the American Lutheran Mission in 1932.
Mkhwanazi said:
He said he was introduced to the UYDF in his second year and the foundation managed to cover his fees from the previous year.
“Ever since then, I have never looked back, and I am truly grateful to them for changing my life for the better. I am happy that I am working for the community that raised me.
However, it’s not easy to work in a rural hospital because we do not have resources,” he added.
He said they had to refer people to a hospital an hour away, sometimes resulting in the loss of teeth that could have been saved.
Thembinkosi Nkosi, 30, an audiologist at the same hospital, is another UYDF beneficiary.
Nkosi said:
Nkosi said he loved working in the community hospital because it was easy for people to relate to him.
“I am worried about the staff shortage, and we have to service seven clinics in this district. We are also dealing with a backlog of costly hearing aids. As a result, we are still working on people who were here in November last year,” he said.
Dr Thulani Ngwenya, a medical manager at Bethesda District Hospital, three hours away from Hlabisa District Hospital, is also a UYDF beneficiary.
“It was a little bit traumatic to come from a place where you had never seen a computer, and you get to university and are forced to use one. Worst of all, my parents did not motivate me to do better. I had no support from home. Luckily the UYDF came into the picture and didn’t just give me money, they had regular support programmes, and I could discuss my challenges with them,” he said.
UYDF director Gavin MacGregor said the foundation invested in rural youth because they were more likely to live and work in a rural area than their urban counterparts.
“They understand the language and culture of their patients and thus are better able to communicate with and understand the community’s healthcare needs. Rural students face many challenges at university as they are academically and socially poorly prepared. We provide academic and social mentoring support to all our students across sixteen university campuses,” he said.
He added that all students were required to complete four weeks per annum of work exposure at a local hospital.
This allows them to complement the theory part of their studies and improve their competency.
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