Rian Venter and South Africa's small corps of palliative caregivers ease the emotional, spiritual and physical pain of dying. They administer drugs, hold hands and listen to last stories.
Witness to the Final Hour
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In the dusty alleyways of Soweto's beauty salons and barber shops, the subject of death is taboo, said a barber who serves patients at Diepkloof Hospice. (VOA / D. Taylor)
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Caregivers find a child's death the hardest. Venter says the children remain alive in his dreams. “I can sit there for hours and I can silently cry if it’s necessary, if I feel that need." (VOA / D. Taylor)
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A Deipkloof staff member silently passes rooms where small changes occur in a patient's breathing as death approaches. "That is the death rattle," said one caregiver. (VOA / D. Taylor)
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Benches in a garden of remembrance are warmed by the afternoon sun. Plaques have turned them into memorials to some of those who have died at Johannesburg's Wits Hospice. (VOA / D. Taylor)