MEET ZUKISWA NGETU

Zukiswa Ngetu, Mentor Mother:

When you think about being a Mentor Mother – what is the one word that describes how you feel about it?

I feel joyful to be a Mentor Mother because I care about people in my community mostly children.

What is the most important piece of equipment you carry with you in your backpack?

 The most important tool in my backpack is the scale, with the scale I am able to do growth monitoring to see if the child’s weight is improving and the child is physically growing well. With the scale, I can also weigh pregnant women and monitor her pregnancy through her weight.

What is the most important thing you have learned as a Mentor Mother?

As a Mentor Mother, I have learnt to respect people and to love them unconditionally, being a Mentor Mother helped me to learn patience.

What is your proudest moment as a Mentor Mother?

My proudest moment is to see clients opening up about their problems knowing that I will help them.

What has surprised you about being a Mentor Mother?

 What has surprised me is the trust people have in me through the relationship I have built.

What is the biggest change you have seen in your community since becoming a Mentor Mother?

The big change that I have seen in my community is the decrease in deaths of babies between the age of 0-6 years.

What do you enjoy speaking to your clients about and why?

I enjoy speaking about infant care simply because I love children.

What do you do when a client isn’t following your advice?

When the client does not follow my advised I always try to probe more to understand the resistance then seek support from my supervisors.

If you could ask for one thing that would assist you in your job during the COVID pandemic, what would it be?

Getting enough PPEs for our clinics.

What is the biggest impact COVID has had in your community thus far?

The biggest impact of COVID-19 in my community is poverty as people have been retrenched and businesses closed down.

How many mothers and children do you look after in a year?

Estimated number of mothers and children I work with is around 50