As we continue our focus on HOPE to Home, today we meet Sonia Daniels, Care & Support Coordinator for HOPE Cape Town. Sonia is well known for her bubbly and friendly personality and is no stranger to Tygerberg Hospital, in fact she has been part of the HOPE Cape Town family for 10 years!
Growing up in Bokmakierie, a small suburb in Cape Town, Sonia spent 27 years of her life working at a German textile factory where she played a pivotal role in designing various garments and liaising with international clients. She absolutely loved her work and expresses that everyone was close. From management, cleaners and general workers – everyone was like one big happy family. Unfortunately, with the economy taking a plunge and not being able to sustain itself, after 60 years of being in operation, they decided to close the factory. For Sonia, this was a very sad moment in her life because that once upon “family unit” was no longer there.
Although being unemployed, Sonia was still very much active in the church she belonged. She enjoyed lending a helping hand where she could and simply loved the interaction with the elderly, children and youth. It was at this stage in her life that she started to develop a passion for people and wanted to make a difference in their lives. In fact, she told herself that one day she would love to work in a hospital and help people – who would of thought that this dream would turn out to be a reality.
In 2007, Sonia underwent a minor operation and during this time while recovering, her surgeon asked her if she had any plans once she has been discharged (knowing she was unemployed). He then asked if she would be keen to work with children at the hospital and although Sonia was passionate, she was reluctant at the beginning but was willing to reconsider. She then applied for a position at HOPE Cape Town as a team secretary and over the years she further developed herself by attending various HIV programmes and courses, resulting in her blossoming into the role of Care & Support Coordinator.
Sonia’s role is to ensure that mothers are provided with the necessary support and that their concerns are communicated to the doctor in charge. Doctors at the hospitals are mainly there to attend to the babies (patients) needs although it is important for these mothers to speak on behalf of their child –in some cases this is not possible due to language barriers. HOPE staff however is equipped to address these barriers and can communicate and establish the underlying issues with mothers and report to the doctor for further intervention. In some cases, if the situation is too complicated or out of their scope, it will then be referred to a social worker for further intervention. It is important that doctors have this information, and we ensure that it happens.
Some of the challenges I do encounter is being able to deal with children who are terminally ill and who have no chance of survival, but the rewarding part is seeing people’s lives change through our passion and dedication.