COLUMBIA, Mo. – Compassus recently sent a team of 12 volunteers, including Monica Korba of Columbia, Missouri, to assist Living Hope, the company’s sister hospice program in Cape Town, South Africa. The Compassus interdisciplinary team, which included registered nurses, hospice aides, a social worker, volunteer coordinator, chaplain and other colleagues, spent a week in Cape Town working side by side with Living Hope clinicians and administrators.
“The trip was truly life changing,” said Korba, hospice liaison for Compassus – Columbia. “I haven’t been able to find the right words to describe what I experienced. The Compassus partnership with Living Hope has a new meaning to me.”
Through an international partnership formed in 2011, Compassus donates monetary aid, medical supplies and health care expertise to support Living Hope’s health care and hospice services in the impoverished township communities of Cape Town. Compassus matches voluntary employee donations dollar for dollar for total donations in 2018 of more than $123,000 to the ministry-based nonprofit.
“We witnessed Living Hope making a huge impact on the community,” continued Korba. “They really do bring hope and break despair for the residents of Cape Town who feel lost. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have been a part of this trip.”
Living Hope offers health care services, counseling and education to more than 200,000 underprivileged residents in Cape Town. Its programs focus on improving general health and hospice care, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, and economic empowerment. Living Hope provides health care for more than 36,000 South Africans annually through in-home visits, medical clinics and a 22-bed inpatient hospice center.
“Compassion is at the heart of everything we do, and our compassion has an even broader impact when we have the opportunity to serve alongside Living Hope,” said Karen Duncan, executive director for Compassus – Columbia. “We are proud of our team and their work with the people of South Africa, and I hope it inspires others to join the effort to advance the well-being of those facing life-limiting illnesses.”
For more information, visit our Columbia page or call (573) 443-8360.
