{"id":46794,"date":"2021-09-17T17:51:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T15:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=46794"},"modified":"2021-09-17T17:48:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T15:48:45","slug":"older-people-sent-to-homes-amid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/older-people-sent-to-homes-amid-pandemic","title":{"rendered":"Older People Sent To Homes Amid Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>AP<\/b> – BANANA bread was served at a recent birthday party at Melfort Old People\u2019s home, where a group of residents mustered a raspy happy birthday tune.<\/p>\n

Just a week after arriving at the facility, Rodrick Bhatare, in his 90s, said he felt a bittersweet moment at the celebration for a 103-year-old fellow resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been this happy in a very long time,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wished I was doing it with my family.\u201d Hard-hit by the pandemic, his family could no longer provide for him, he said.<\/p>\n

The economic ravages of COVID-19 are forcing some families in Zimbabwe to abandon the age-old tradition of taking care of older people.<\/p>\n

Some roam the streets. The lucky ones end up at facilities for older people\u2014 once widely viewed by many Zimbabweans as \u201cun-African\u201d and against the social bonds that have held extended families together for generations.<\/p>\n

Rarely talked about, older people are \u201csilent victims\u201d of the pandemic, said Priscilla Gavi, executive director of HelpAge Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents or elderly relatives have become an extra strain in this pandemic so although it goes against our culture, many people are finding old people\u2019s homes as the only option,\u201d Gavi said.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe\u2019s care homes have experienced a 60% increase in admissions since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in March 2020, and most of the country\u2019s more than 170 facilities for older people are full, she said.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 has increased the risk of abuse and neglect of older people across Africa and around the world, according to a report by HelpAge International.<\/p>\n

In addition to being one of the groups most at risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, older people are chronically neglected in response and recovery efforts, especially in lower-income countries, according to the report, \u201cBearing the Brunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the older people in care institutions, the experience is both a saving grace and a source of anguish.<\/p>\n

Bhatare said that after he retired from work as a quarry miner about two decades ago \u201call was well\u201d as he alternately stayed with his two daughters and other relatives.<\/p>\n

He was living with a married niece and four of her children when COVID-19 hit and their income from selling goods on the street dropped. Food in the home became scarce, tensions rose, and to survive Bhatare began foraging for meals on the streets until concerned neighbors alerted HelpAge, which found him a place in the Melfort home, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Harare, the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughters are married but they are also struggling. I had become a strain to everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe\u2019s economy was already battered before the pandemic and now more than 80% of urban households are struggling to buy basic food supplies, while large numbers of rural families are also sinking into hunger, according to the World Food Program.<\/p>\n

People age 70 and above make up less than 3% of Zimbabwe\u2019s population of about 15 million and often became casualties of belt-tightening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not bringing in any income in an environment where even young children are working to contribute towards household incomes. The elderly are becoming the sacrificial lambs. COVID-19 has really knocked them down,\u201d said Phillip Pasirayi, a sociologist and director of the Center for Community Development in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

Feeling \u201cabandoned\u201d by their families can be a shock for many older people at care facilities, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t really resonate with what we are accustomed to as Africans. You want to spend your last days surrounded by family. That is the tradition,\u201d Pasirayi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they are forced into old people\u2019s homes, many go into depression, into dementia \u2026 they are confused that their children or relatives have abandoned them,\u201d said Daniel Francis, the administrator at Melfort Old People\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Some families resort to tricks to remove their older relatives, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the pandemic, some people take an elderly relative to a faraway place. They buy them a drink at the shops, tell them \u2018We are coming back,\u2019 and they go for good. Elderly persons are being dumped and they are forgotten,\u201d Francis said. Police take such people to the social welfare department.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe social welfare department doesn\u2019t have a home so they come to us,\u201d said Francis, whose facility has a capacity for 40 residents. But in the pandemic, it limits numbers to 22 to allow more physical distance between residents.<\/p>\n

The care homes that don\u2019t charge their residents, and are funded by charities and churches, are under strain.<\/p>\n

The Melfort home would find it difficult to return to full capacity, he said, as its donations have dropped by more than 60% in the pandemic, he said.<\/p>\n

Times are even tougher at the Society for the Destitute Aged\u2019s care home in Harare\u2019s Highfield township. Princess Diana opened an accommodation wing amid much fanfare in 1993. But today paint is peeling off the walls, ceilings are falling in and bees have taken over the out-of-service 200-liter (53-gallon) water heater.<\/p>\n

The home has no vehicle so when a resident needs medical care, manager Emilia Mukaratirwa must risk crowded public taxis or, when money permits, hire a small car to rush a retiree to a hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole place needs a makeover, but for now just getting bread is like Christmas. That\u2019s how desperately we need help,\u201d Mukaratirwa said.<\/p>\n

Despite the disappointment of not being with family, Bhatare at the Melfort Old People\u2019s home is adjusting to his new reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese strangers have become my family, they treat me well,\u201d he said. \u201cI still love my real family but I don\u2019t want to be a burden to them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. AP – BANANA bread was served at a recent birthday party at Melfort Old People\u2019s home, where a group of residents mustered a raspy happy birthday tune. Just a week after arriving at the facility, Rodrick Bhatare, in his 90s, said he felt a bittersweet moment at the celebration for a 103-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":46793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,35,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-46794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"category-homepage-english","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","13":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\nOlder People Sent To Homes Amid Pandemic - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AP - BANANA bread was served at a recent birthday party at Melfort Old People\u2019s home, where a group of residents ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/older-people-sent-to-homes-amid-pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Older People Sent To Homes Amid Pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AP - 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