Thursday: 12 June  2003

This site will be updated on: 19 June 2003 at 17:00

Lifestyle - Leefstyl

• Goats roam Africa
• Beroerte kom ongesiens
• New approach to HIV/Aids in the work place

OVER the past two years the famous milk-goats of Fairview in Paarl have started moving into Africa.

The latest batch is heading for the Caprivi border town of Katima Mulilo, to help start a stud to sustain HIV/Aids orphans and children orphaned by the pandemic.

A plea from an independent missionary couple, who are in the process of setting up a village to house 50 of these children, triggered this exercise. 

Rebecca Mink, who together with her husband Gary and their two children whom they adopted while working in Ghana for seven years, sent letters to 20 farmers and organisations and the only response she received was from Charles Back, who owns a leading cheese and wine farm in the Cape.

 A British Alpine billy, five British Alpine does and two Saanen does have just been safely delivered to their new home in the far reaches of Namibia.

Fairview farm manager, Donald Mouton, set the wheels in motion organising all the permits, inoculations and other red tape, while a local transport company, Besfeld Transport, contributed by safely ferrying the goats as far as Windhoek for free.

Gary Mink collected them for the second half of the journey to their new home, attracting comments whenever he stopped for fuel along the way from locals marvelling at the small size of the imported animals.

It was also a learning experience for the 12 toddlers and children of employees who daily attend a créche on Fairview. They were taught about where the goats were going to and how they would be helping the children who needed the milk from the goats.

The Minks, who have been operating in Katima Mulilo for nearly two years, already have 24 children in their Children of Zion Village and are expecting another three or four in the next week.

They have unfortunately also lost two to Aids already and feel the problems were exacerbated by malnutrition.

They also provide a meal a day for 100 children in Katima Mulilo, which is a drop in the ocean. There are an estimated 4000 orphaned children in the Caprivi as a result of this HIV/Aids pandemic.

Establishing a good goat milk herd is a major priority in the attempts to overcome malnutrition.

Rebecca, who bred Angora goats in the USA, said they started a similar exercise in Ghana with goats imported from the USA and had learned a great deal about operating in primitive tropical conditions.

"It was not like raising goats back home. Here you have a whole range of different problems to consider such as inoculating against diseases we would not have dreamed about, as well as goats dying from snake bites and scorpion stings.

"We want to use these goats as part of a breeding programme using the hardy local goats, together with these high production animals, to create a viable herd," said Rebecca.

During the past two years about 140 goats from Fairview, which has the largest Saanen herd outside of Switzerland, have also been sold to commercial farming operations in Uganda and Zambia.

MENSE besef dikwels nie as hulle 'n beroerte gehad het nie, waarsku Paarl Medi-Clinic tydens Beroerte Week. Die simptome kan byvoorbeeld net dubbelvisie of 'n hoofpyn wees.

Medici is van mening dat, in die geval van sekere soorte beroertes, spoedige mediese sorg die pasiënt se kanse tot 'n beter herstel aansienlik kan verhoog. 

Die brein is, soos die hart, vol bloedvate wat voedsel en suurstof aan die breinselle voorsien. Enige voorval wat die bloedtoevloei na die brein belemmer kan 'n beroerte veroorsaak, byvoorbeeld wanneer een van hierdie bloedvate bars of blokkeer word met 'n bloedklont. 

In geselekteerde gevalle word medikasie toegedien wat hierdie klont opbreek en gevolglik die impak van die beroerte kan verminder.

Een of meer van die volgende tekens kan moontlik simptome van 'n beroerte wees;

* Skielike lamheid of swakheid aan die een kant, of dele van een kant van die liggaam.

* Visuele steurings, byvoorbeeld swak fokus of dubbele visie in een of albei oë.

* Skielike intense hoofpyn waarvan die oorsaak onbekend is.

* Onverklaarbare duiseligheid en swak balans.

* Die persoon praat moeisaam en vind dit ook moeilik om te kommunikeer en te verstaan.

Risikogevalle

Enigeen wat bekommerd is dat hy/sy 'n hoë risiko vir 'n beroerte mag wees, moet 'n mediese dokter besoek om moontlike voorkomingsmaatreëls met hom of haar te bespreek.

Vir meer inligting kontak u plaaslike geneesheer of Paarl Medi-Clinic 24-uur Noodeenheid, 807-8000.

THE Department of Labour guidelines on HIV/Aids released recently  by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has forecast that 3% of the SA workforce could have full-blown Aids by 2010.

Men's life expectancy is expected to drop to 43 years in 2005, and 38 years in 2010 from 49 years in 2001 if there is no HIV/Aids related intervention.

Similarly life expectancy of women was 52 years in 2001 but is likely to drop to 43 years in 2005, and 37 years in 2010.

Paarl and its environs relies partially on a migratory workforce and it can be safely assumed that its HIV infection rate would be greater than in more stable communities, says Nicolene Rose-Innes, presenter of a  training programme for HIV/Aids in the workplace.

She has found that when employees understand that this disease affects not only themselves, but also the survival of their families, they then only realise the impact that HIV/Aids will have.

This programme consists of a well-designed kit containing the training material.

One or more storytellers are selected from the company employees. They then have an intensive training session of ten hours, trained by Nicolene to facilitate the One Bokkie Story.

The storytellers pass a written and oral test.

They are also given enough support material to handle most questions and advise employees to seek counselling services.

When a fellow employee and not a so-called expert in the field of HIV/Aids conveys this heart knowledge, in a non-judgmental way, into a story dical funds, it has been her experience that employees are quite prepared to consider changing their sexual behaviour.

There is minimal production time lost as it takes only 20 minutes to tell the story to a group of eight employees.

Trained storytellers are supported for two years after their basic training.

They receive regular newsletters and their company is invited to an Imbizo. An Imbizo is a Xhosa word for gathering of like minded people.

To know more about this exciting, unique approach, and learn about the results already achieved, call Ute Gass Human Resources at 872-8552.