Over the last 3 months, the Epicentre Hillcrest team has been visiting KZN’s flood victims in 4 community halls across the province to test the sick and provide much needed warm clothing. We did this because it is part of our ethos to make a positive impact.

It has been over 3 months since the rain washed away 7 286 homes and left 12 062 other houses partially damaged, but many people are still living in community halls waiting for the chance to rebuild their lives.

South Africans, and especially those in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, are highly aware of these disastrous floods that destroyed homes and lives in April 2022.

For those based overseas, days of heavy rain across KwaZulu-Natal in south-eastern South Africa led to deadly floods. Particularly hard-hit areas were in and around Durban. At least 435 people died across the province, and it is still unknown how many people are still missing.

All Photos were taken with written permission and with the aim of both Epicentre and those photographed to bring awareness of the difficult conditions victims of the flood are battling with

Community members have been supplied with food and water, and a roof over their heads, but this arrangement is far from ideal.

Photos were taken at: Wyebank community hall, Kwadebaka community hall, Impola community hall, Embo community hall

Men, women and children have been forced to live shoulder to shoulder in drafty halls as winter truly sets in. This is causing diseases to spread, worsening the situation in an already vulnerable community.

To help prevent the spread of COVID, which is highly contagious and dangerous for the many elders living in these centres, Epicentre has been providing our 3 in 1 COVID, flu and RSV tests free of charge to these vulnerable community members.

So far, the Epicentre team has not found any positive COVID infections. Although we have found many cases of influenza (the flu) which can be very dangerous for the elderly and young children (CDC, 2022; NFID, 2022).

The halls are very close to the clinic, so once they received the results, they went to the clinic to get treatment. It would be a very difficult situation though if a patient were to test positive for COVID, as they wouldn’t have a place to isolate.

If you would like to donate, or help these communities, please take a look at the Gift of the Givers Foundation. We have worked with them a number of times and have always been impressed. There are also a number of other charities doing great work.

Epicentre has an extensive walk-in testing centre for both rapid and lab tests. Learn more here.

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