KNYSNA NEWS - There are not many upcoming cyclists like Avela Mpongo, an aspiring Momentum Cycle Tour participant who intends raising funds for Knysna Sedgefield Hospice. The 28-year-old man works for Hospice as a home-based carer and truly loves what he does.
“This is my community,” he says. “I love the people here.”
He cycles to about six homes a day to patients with chronic, debilitating illnesses and/or in need of palliative (end of life) care. He visits them to provide health care that has been agreed upon between families and Hospice.
Donations the lifeblood
“Because we do not charge for the services offered, we rely on donations and the income generated by our charity shops to run. Mpongo is acutely aware of this and has offered to ride his new bike, donated by the Knysna Rotary Anns in the Momentum Cycle Knysna Tour 2018, to raise much-needed funds for Knysna Sedgefield Hospice,” reads a statement from Hospice.
Mpongo has been sponsored an entry into the 50km road race on Sunday 1 July by Knysna Rotary, and he asks people to donate towards his activist project to help him raise money.
Invaluable service
His duties as a home-based carer include offering the male patients bed baths; personal grooming which includes cutting fingernails and toenails as well as shaving and/or hair trimming where needed; packing their medications for them; educating his patients and their families about the illness affecting them, the medications needed, the possible side-effects of the medication and how to handle them.
A large part of the service offered is teaching the family how to care for the ill family member themselves. Patients may also need wounds to be cared for and dressed, which Mpongo is well trained to do.
Mpongo believes that what he does on a daily basis while working for Knysna Sedgefield Hospice makes a big impact on those who need it the most.
Join the community as we encourage this enthusiastic, fit young man to beat his time from last year while raising money for the priceless services that Hospice offers to the local community, spanning from Wilderness right up to Harkerville. Like and follow his Facebook page Avela Mpongo Hospice Activist and share it, particularly with cycling enthusiasts.
Would you like to contribute?
To make a direct deposit towards his fundraising project, the bank details are as follows: Knysna Sedgefield Hospice, Nedbank, current acc no. 1089003145, Knysna branch, SWIFT Code: NEDSZAJJ, Ref: Avela Donor’s name.
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