HOSPITALITY ENTREPRENEUR CREATES A HAVEN FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN NEED

The pandemic has seen a rainstorm of hard times and bad news pouring down on us. People have been losing their livelihoods, loved ones and their sense of normality. Kim Whitaker contracted COVID-19 in early March after returning from a business trip in Germany. A few months later her 89-year-old grandmother succumbed to the virus. Due to her Corona antibodies, Kim was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to say goodbye to her grandmother at an old age home in Cape Town, something few family members are able to do during this time.

While Kim was self-isolating with her husband and two children (aged four and seven) in Tulbagh, she was on a Zoom call with a medical doctor in Lombardy, Italy, which was under tremendous pressure and healthcare workers were suffering from burnout and exhaustion. At that stage Kim wasn’t just thinking about herself and her family, but about the challenges the tourism industry and her colleagues throughout the country were facing as well. Everyone was anxious and uncertain about the future and she also considered the pressure our healthcare system and healthcare workers were under. This concern for others sparked an idea for a new business venture which inspired the creation of the Ubuntu Beds platform.

Saving South African one free bed at a time.

Ubuntu Beds is a digital accommodation platform for healthcare workers who live far away from home, want to protect their families while serving their communities or have contracted Covid-19 but are not sick enough to need hospital admittance. The platform matches healthcare workers with guest houses, hotels and rental properties located near their workplace. They provide them with a place to rest free of charge and this is made possible through donations and sponsors. Covid-19 positive Healthcare workers are offered three nutricious meals a day, as well as transport and hygiene cleaning for the venue. This supports small businesses in hospitality, food industries, transport and hygiene – who are all reeling after the collapse of the tourism industry,

When Kim first shared the wonderful idea on Cape Talk in March, the spirit of ubuntu spread like wildfire and she received initial donations from FirstRand Bank and Booking.com, as well as smaller companies, individuals and even golfing four-balls to start the new venture. The most common amount pledged is only R100 – but it goes a long way! The average cost per night per healthcare worker is around R300. Ordinary people volunteered their skills to help make the idea of a resting place for frontline heroes come to fruition.

Today, 1,824 healthcare workers and 1,128 hospitality providers have signed-up on the platform. A total of 25,991 bed nights are organised for the workers. In Cape Town Ubuntu Beds has placed healthcare workers from Grooteschuur Level 3 Hospital (97), Somerset Hospital (31), Victoria Hospital (26), Life Kingsbury Private Hospital (26), Christiaan Barnard Memorial Private Hospital (20) as well as Mitchell’s Plain Hospital,  Life Vincent Pallotti Private Hospital , Tygerberg Hospital, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, CTICC Hospital of Hope and Brackengate Hospital.

While the platform remains active through the second wave, and into the third and further waves, the Ubuntu Beds team have collaborated with other non-profits to help find safe spaces for people in natural or humanitarian disasters. To date they have already assisted in a case of gender-based violence, as well as a devastating fire in Guguletu which saw 10 families displaced, and placed in a guesthouse for a week while the cities disaster management re-built the structures.

Help heroes save lives.

To become a donor or sponsor as little as R100, all you have to do is visit https://www.ubuntubeds.org/ and make a contribution, no amount is too small. Other channels include: Snapscan, FNB eBucks and Woolworths MySchool. All the funds received go towards helping healthcare heroes find a place to rest, helping them recharge and rejuvenate and giving them peace of mind so they can continue to save lives through the next waves of Covid-19 infections.

Healthcare worker testimonial:

“My biggest concern was my cousins’ husband, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was exceptionally devastating, more so, since I am a radiation therapist. My family tried to do supper every night, but unfortunately, I had to have limited contact with him since I work at the hospital. I was very stressed as I knew his time was limited and so was I in terms of visiting him …When he had passed on, it had hit myself and the whole family quite hard, I was allowed to attend part of the funeral and as soon as I informed Ubuntu beds they immediately started working on accommodation for me, as I had to be booked in the same day… by the end of the day I was in a lovely apartment, very closed to work. It was comfy, safe and very cozy. I have been so thankful towards them as they had been able to accommodate me at a drop of a hat’s notice. The way they spoke to me and cared about me, was beyond words, I truly felt appreciated as a Healthcare hero and will forever be grateful.” – Nurse Nazeefah – Radiation Therapist – Cape Town inner City