Russell will travel through France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey, before catching a ferry to Africa. He will land at Port Said, Egypt, before travelling through Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and finally arriving in South Africa and making his way to the most southerly tip of the continent near Cape Town.
In every country he visits in Africa, Russell will be spending time at a local hospice to see how they operate in very different conditions to their European counterparts, in an attempt to raise awareness of the fledgling hospice movement in Africa.
Russell said, “I think having wonderful hospices is something we almost take for granted in the UK, so I wanted to see how hospices in Africa care for those with cancer, HIV and other life-limiting illnesses. We have worked hard to make a link with hospices across 10 African countries and I will be visiting each of them to learn more about what they do”
ehospice caught up with Jessica Lonngren, who helped to organize the trip. Jessica will continue to provide logistical support to Russell as he completes this epic mission.
You seem to have a key role in actually operationalizing this trip and making it happen. Can you tell me about what you have been doing?
Well I can say that it has been a crash course in everything!
I’ve been helping Russell to organize all of his visas through Africa, and trying to plan his route to get over to Egypt, as he couldn’t go through Libya.
I have been finding and contacting local hospices in each country in Africa, writing up partnership agreements for them to complete and send back to me. The partnership agreements confirm that they would like to become a part of this venture and agreeing for Russell to come and visit their hospice for a day or two, teaching him how they run the hospice, who works and helps run them, meet the patients they care for and how they are treated. This will help Russell to inform the public in the UK how hospice care is provided in Africa.
While doing this, I’ve been finding out about how each hospice is funded and how they are run. I’ve then created profiles for each hospice including photos they have provided to the official website and Facebook page we have set up so people over here can see and read what care they provide.
Throughout the trip, I’ll be the point of contact for Russ while he is traveling, making last-minute travel arrangements for him such as ferry bookings and hotel bookings along the way. Russell will be sending me videos/photos and daily blogs so I can update the website, Facebook group page and various other blogs of the trips progress and what he has learnt along the way.
What has it been like to work with the partner hospices?
They have all been very forthcoming and we have had a really good response. They’ll all be doing what they can to get exposure, and organizing events and meetings with patients and hospice staff for Russell to learn what they do as he visits each hospice. I’ve been learning about their day-to-day working environment and how the hospices help the people in their local areas.
Have you noticed any differences in the approaches of the hospices in the different countries? Or has there been a common spirit to the hospices’ responses?
I think what I have noticed is a common spirit. Most of the work that the hospices do has been aimed more at people with HIV/AIDS, which is different to hospice care in Britain, which has a focus on other diseases, and I think particularly on cancer. In all the hospices, I’ve found that their work is aimed more at people with HIV/AIDS and providing education to the local people so they understand the nature of the illness and how it can prevented or treated and how they can be cared for. Most of it is aimed at adults, but some of the hospices work with pediatric HIV care.
For instance, The Holy Cross Hospice in Botswana has a pre-school which opened shortly after the hospice as a response to the many orphaned children. The pre-school operates a few km from the hospice and cares for 55 children aged between 3 – 6. This was to help shoulder the burden of childcare and education. Their website states that “this is because care of children by parents and guardians who are afflicted with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other terminal illnesses can be compromised by their own difficulties.”
The other thing that I noticed is that most of the people who work for these hospices are volunteers. I found it really admirable that people will go out and volunteer when they themselves have so little. It is amazing what the hospices are doing on so little. They work with such little resources and funds and are in my eyes just fantastic people doing what they can.
The other day we had the bike and camping equipment on display along with materials from the hospices that we were going to visit. Getting the younger people to stop and talk and donate was quite difficult as they don’t think anything will happen to them, that they might need hospice one day. Its not a reality to them but it’s important to get them to understand and educate them about this service as it affects every household is some way or other.
One thing that I have learnt from working with the hospices is that disease or illnesses do not discriminate, it does not choose who you are, what kind of background you come from or which part of the world you live in, rich or poor it can happen to anyone. That’s why it is so important to raise awareness and to bring exposure to show people that there are such organisations and charities who can help and provide a care service to the person it is happening to as well as the carers and family of that person.
These services are essential, not just to the patient, but also to their families and carers. If they don’t know or are not made aware that there is support and help out there then they too will suffer under the stress of caring for their loved one. It can help lessen the suffering they are going through and hopefully a peaceful passing, and provide caregivers with help and support if they need it.
In many of the African countries that we have been involved with, there are not as many hospices as there are in the UK and in some cases there are only one or two in the whole country. It is important that we help these organizations access funds and gain exposure, so that they can expand and help as many people as possible. Hopefully by getting the exposure that we can, people will know that places like that exist and are there to help them.
Each hospice that Russell will be visiting have been in contact with the local media. We hope that they can use this trip to promote hospice care in their country.
Finally, how did the idea of trip come about?
Well, it was not actually a personal note. Unklike many people who get involved with hospice, Russ has never had a close friend or family member cared for by a hospice, but through his business he has been donating to the local North Devon hospice for the last year.
The idea to ride a motorcycle through Africa has been a childhood dream for Russ, and now that he is in a position to make the trip, he thought that it would be a great opportunity to bring the two ideas together and not only to help raise hospice awareness in the UK but to link it across two continents and help raise the profile for both.
This is a good way to show examples of how hospice care works in one country compared to another and to show that with the help of funding the same level of care can be improved and expanded to help and support more people in need of this service.
Russell will be regularly blogging on his website throughout the trip; giving updates on miles covered, countries travelled through and the hospices he has visited. To keep up to date with where he is on his journey, and also to make a donation to the cause, visit: www.hospiceafricanadventure.co.uk or www.justgiving.com/hospiceafricanadventure.
Read more about the trip and watch out for profiles of the hospices Russell visits on the Africa edition of ehospice.
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