Cape Town - More than 1 000 health-care workers and patients in four hospitals around the city experienced the joy of song through the HOPEtober bus, an initiative that shows appreciation and care while also extending the message of hope to patients, staff and visitors to the hospitals.
The Brave HOPEtober21 campaign began with performances from prominent artists such as Vicky Sampson, Craig Urbani, Leah and Lelo Ramasimong at the Khayelitsha District Hospital, Tygerberg Hospital, Groote Schuur and Somerset Hospital before concluding at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital.
HOPEtober co-producer Matthew Counihan said the response to last year’s debut campaign was overwhelming and had urged them to once again dedicate the month of October to hope in the form of HOPEtober.
“We are taking this to more than 20 hospitals in the country to basically salute and acknowledge the bravery that the people behind the hospital windows and doors do that we often don’t see and we say we see and salute them.
“The initiative was born out of the fact that artists were not performing and had been shut down since the pandemic. The thought was about how we get employment in the arts sector again and how we at the same time take positive messages to people during this trying time.
“There is so much that has been happening behind hospital doors that we have not seen and what we want to show is that we acknowledge and realise that they are carrying us through the pandemic and we want them to break away from the reality of surgery and wards and to remember what it feels like to smile and have joy in their lives – even if it is for a few minutes,” said Counihan.
HOPEtober bus musical director Wessel Odendaal said the entertainment industry had also been hit hard by the impact of audience capacity owing to Covid-19 regulations.
“We know what enjoyment of music can do for the healing process and the relief for all the hardship that we are going through. Hopefully this will be an annual event and we are expecting to reach more people and hoping that more hospitals will come on board,” he said.
Groote Schuur spokesperson Alaric Jacobs said this was a well-deserved moment for health-care workers who had been working around the clock since the outbreak of Covid-19.
“This is something that the people needed, especially during the stressful third wave that we had, and to come out of it and just for them to show their appreciation and recognition of the work that is being done by the staff is heartfelt. It’s been very tough. We have had days when the hospital was full and there was a time when even the staff were sick but we stood strong, came through and were still able to make a difference,” he said.