Winnie Mabaso with some of the kids enjoying a meal.

TO a passer-by, there is nothing really fine about Finetown, south of Johannesburg, only a series of makeshift dwellings - an array of splendidly but haphazardly done corrugated iron houses, with equally tiny windows.

But drawing closer to 1865 Phillip Street, that perception is automatically erased as one scrutinises the impeccably-built house and marvellous deeds of 62-year-old Winnie Mabaso, devoting her time caring for the HIV/Aids sufferers in her impoverished area - proving that the place is a typical fine town.

What prompted this woman - earning her daily bread through selling live chickens and running a dry cleaning agency - to embark on such a mission? "I saw people suffering and no one helping the infected and affected and the abuse of kids orphaned by Aids forced me to do something," she says.

Describing the Aids situation in her area as bad, she said her sympathy for Aids sufferers drove her to embark on her present mission. "Aids is bad. At times I am in the street at night helping people," she says. And "if I don't do it, nobody could. This has got to start somewhere."

With the help of 20 volunteers, both men and women, Mabaso's daily chores include a house-to-house call, feeding and bathing the infected, now unable to help themselves as a result of the deadly disease. "Some come to the house wanting help in the form of food and counselling as well as clothing and others are referred to us by the clinic," she adds.

Her counselling is not only confined to the infected. She says at times when an Aids sufferer is about to pass on, family members are also counselled regarding the problem they will be faced with.

To supplement her efforts, churches around the area help with food and clothing. Fridays are usually days when Mabaso's house is a typical mini-community centre as both infected and affected as well as the less fortunate who cannot afford a decent meal stream to her place to receive food. And at this "mini-community centre", a soup kitchen also entices people on a daily basis. Food is cooked and later taken to the bedridden who are unable to make it to Mabaso's "feeding centre".

Young and old queue for food at Mabaso's house

Caring for people with HIV/Aids has had a spin-off; Mabaso has been playing a pivotal role in linking people to the Home Affairs Department. She has arranged for some people to get grants from the government, though this in itself has its own obstacles. "Others don't have identity documents, and they cannot receive grants," she says.

In her community, riddled with illiteracy, Mabaso - aside from providing care for people with HIV and Aids - also wears a different hat, educating people about who qualifies for grants and how to go about applying for them.

To facilitate the issuing of grants, she is now linking some of the people without identity documents to the Home Affairs Department. Clutching a file packed with names of people wanting identity documents, Mabaso relates how difficult it is for some of them to get grants, as they do not have proper documentation.

To date she has compiled a list of all those without identity documents and has gone an extra mile to negotiate and invite the Home Affairs officials to come to her community to help. She says she did this as most people are not able to keep going to the department to apply for their documents due to financial constraints. Because of her efforts, the officials from the department will be descending on her premises in March to assess the situation, she says.

From her commendable deeds, it appears Mabaso has set a trend in her community. Since she started her mission in April 2000, she says other members of the community have been coming to volunteer. "They see a good thing and are prepared to do likewise," she says.

Food is carefully distributed to cater for all hungry souls

But her efforts are plagued with an assortment of impediments. Food is a problem, though the Hindu temple from nearby Zacharia Park supplies some, especially on Fridays. "I'm always up and down begging companies especially for food and clothes," she adds.

At times a family does not have money to bury a relative, says Mabaso, and she has to liaise with the South African Council of Churches to help with burial arrangements. Usually the Council of Churches provides money to cater for everything. And well-wishers often come to her rescue.

To enhance efficiency on the part of the volunteers, the tireless Mabaso further organises training for them. Ten of the volunteers are undergoing government-funded training in basic nursing and home-based care.

But this community mother is not ending there. Soon an ambitious sewing project for HIV/Aids sufferers will be up and running. To be held twice a week, Mabaso says this project will help people meet others, share experiences and, further, help them not to think of their sickness all the time. "This is better than if people are alone home thinking of their illnesses," she reasons. She has already started looking for people to donate the sewing material.

And the Aids orphans do not go unnoticed. With the help of other volunteers, they help put some of them into foster care.