Meeting Siphile Makore is like walking into a pool of sunlight on a chilly day. I felt an array of emotions characterized by a strange elation and familiarity although it was my first time to meet her.

Her life story and even her demeanor brought to life words from Scottish author and dramatist James M. Barrie when he wrote, "Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves". I basked in her sunshine.

One cannot tell even from a lengthy interaction whether Siphile has acquired her motherly quality by being a Care Facilitator in the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society's (ZRCS) Home-based Care (HBC) programme for the last 10 years, or if it is simply her nature.

The soft spoken, matronly Siphile (51) is one of the Care Facilitators for the HBC project site in the Zvishavane district in the Midlands province which started in 1997, and reaches a total of 10 wards.

There are 39 Care Facilitators within the programme who work tirelessly to deliver quality care and service to the 315 HBC clients and 771 Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) in the district.

Siphile has under her wing ten clients and 32 orphans and she visits them more than twelve times a given month per client.

In a day, she makes an effort to visit at least two clients, having to walk a distance of more that two kilometers, and then works with orphans in the garden where they get vegetables.

As at the other 26 project sites of the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society in the country, a range of services is offered to clients who are referred to local clinics and hospitals by the Red Cross care facilitators.

According to Siphile, the work of a Care Facilitator on a given day varies from feeding and bathing a client and changing bed linen, administering medication and referring them to the clinic when the situation demands.

"In a day I visit bed ridden clients first, because these are the most vulnerable to neglect, even where there are care givers within the family. It breaks my heart that because of the stigma still associated with HIV and AIDS, a person can still suffer, often going without food whilst living in a house full of people."

However, Siphile also gives clients and care givers counseling where appropriate, especially in situations where there are conflicts in the family.

Inevitably, due to the nature of HIV and AIDS, the sad reality is that one day, the bond formed between the client and the Care Facilitator has to be broken.

"In all my ten years of experience I have never been able to come to terms with the death of a client. Over time, you become good friends. You cannot stop your heart from caring for the person you are taking care of. That is human nature," says Siphile.

Another dimension to Siphile's work is taking care of orphans. She also takes them through drama and songs as part of psycho-social support, as well as talking to them about desisting from sexual activities, pregnancy and abuse.

"I teach these young children to listen to their grandparents and obey them. Because of their circumstances, some of the children end up being abused by relatives, so it is important for me to use the time I get to teach them what I can for them to become good citizens. My burning desire is for the Red Cross to mobilize funds to start income generating activities to support these children."

According to Siphile, where grandparents or other relations are present, this safety net is often subsisting in squalid conditions, leaving the orphans exposed to the ravages of poverty at times coupled with emotional, physical or sexual abuse.

The absence of parents has also led to the rise of child-headed households in Zimbabwe. In this set up, the children are usually deprived of their basic rights such as access to food, shelter, clothing, and education, hence the intervention by the Red Cross.

Currently, 45 183 OVC are catered for within the Red Cross's integrated home based care programme, although there are about 1 050 000 children orphaned through HIV and AIDS and 115, 182 children who are living with HIV.

Whilst these figures may show that the Red Cross has biggest and most comprehensive home based care programme which is operational at 27 project sites in 54 districts of the 8 out of 10 provinces in the country, its efforts are only a drop in the ocean if one looks at the national figures and the needs of the children.

According to the National AIDS Council of Zimbabwe, there are currently 1 610 000 adults and children living with HIV, and about 600 000 in need of varying degrees of treatment and care.

Due to this high demand for the service in the country, home based care has thus become the flagship of the ZRCS integrated community-based HIV and AIDS programme, which incorporates the food security and livelihoods programme, orphans and other vulnerable children, and water and sanitation.

As the entry point of all programming, HBC has about 1 321 Care Facilitators who are committed to "Keep the Promise".

For Siphile, keeping the promise has entailed often juggling farming activities at her homestead, time with her husband and seven children, and the time she spends with clients and orphans.

For the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, such dedication from individuals willing to forego personal gains and glory has been instrumental in ensuring the success of the home based care programme, which has been replicated in many other countries in southern Africa and beyond.

This amount of effort and commitment from Red Cross volunteers, and Siphile in particular, have made the words "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" my life's creed.

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