Thembalethu Care Organization - Our Hope South Africa

16/07/2026

Held, Taught, and Never Alone: Supporting Gogo Mpembe's last days

In January, Thembalethu received a call from Gogo Mpembe’s family. She was 70, newly discharged from hospital, and her care was now far beyond what they could manage alone. With high blood pressure, dementia, quadriplegia, and selective mutism—most of them new and overwhelming—Gogo lay mostly in bed. She was barely coherent, struggling to eat on her own, and her family faced an exhausting reality: limited resources, no clear “what next,” and heavy uncertainty about how to support her final days.

But for Gogo Mpembe’s family, help arrived with clarity.

Thembalethu’s nurse, MaShabalala, stepped in—not only with nursing support, but with practical confidence for the whole household. She taught Gogo’s daughter how to turn her safely in bed, how to give bed baths with dignity, and how to provide the care Gogo needed. Through every stage of decline, the family also had something just as vital: a listening ear as they grieved and held on.

Thembalethu’s team also arranged an occupational therapy visit, where exercises were shared to help reduce her pain and discomfort. These weren’t just “services”—they were small acts of compassion that eased suffering and steadied the people caring for her.

In early March, Gogo Mpembe deteriorated again and bedsores began to develop. Once more, MaShabalala took action, arranging clinic support. Her pastor came to pray with her, and as her final days drew near, Thembalethu’s team prayed with the family—urging them to stay close, sit by her, and stay close by.

When it was time, Thembalethu’s team encouraged the family to call Gogo’s son in Johannesburg. Gogo Mpembe passed peacefully, surrounded by the people who loved her most—comforted, supported, and never alone.

Instead of facing her final moments in confusion, uncertainty, and fear, her family cared for her with confidence—knowing they were doing what love requires, one step at a time.

Thank you to our palliative care staff and the donors who make our work possible.

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Learn more: ourhope.org.za/hospice-care

22/04/2026

Little Simanje has beaten the odds not once but twice in her short life. - https://mailchi.mp/05e60320953e/when-advocacy-and-support-save-a-life-5864164

31/03/2026

When Advocacy and Support Save a Life - https://mailchi.mp/6ebbbe60a17e/when-advocacy-and-support-save-a-life

12/03/2026

See what your support made possible last year!

Thembalethu Care Organization is a non-profit organization in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

04/03/2026

The cost of UNAIDS cuts on South Africa:
In the past year, UNAIDS reported that nearly 15,375 staff had been affected by the USAID cuts, disrupting HIV services for an estimated 222,000 people across South Africa. Those are doctors, nurses, caregivers who used to reduce the burden of a high HIV rate on South African government hospitals and clinics. Now the clinics and hospitals are struggling to cover the gap and vulnerable people are at higher risk of developing full-blown AIDS.

The withdrawal of U.S. support has shuttered community clinics, strained public hospitals, and forced South Africa to rethink how it funds HIV care. But one year after USAID's collapse, South Africa is beginning to pick up the pieces.

07/02/2026

We’ve earned our Gold Seal of Transparency
with ! Get updates on our impact through our
https://app.candid.org/profile/9917475/our-hope-south-africa-85-2109002

29/12/2025

Only days left for a year-end gift! - https://mailchi.mp/946a35c4697c/onlydaysleft-5861643 www.ourhope.org.za/give

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas from the Meyer Family - https://mailchi.mp/5547e2b91ad4/adventimpact-5861729

20/12/2025

She Protected her Child. You Helped Make it Possible.
Click to read the story. https://mailchi.mp/35422f18aad2/she-protected-her-child-you-helped-make-it-possible

Thembalethu Care Organization is a non-profit organization in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

08/12/2025

A recent South African Department of Health study estimates that USAID and other funding cuts will result in as many as 296,000 additional HIV infections and 65,000 additional HIV-related deaths by the end of 2028.

While some local funders have rallied resources and South Africa’s Treasury mobilized around $43.8 million to plug gaps, the future of HIV in South Africa remains precarious.

Help Thembalethu to continue to provide care to the Amangwe community and beyond. Give at www.ourhope.org.za/give