“I dreaded visiting the hospice. I was afraid of how I would endure the suffering and meeting people whose faces showed fading life.

“I felt slightly stressed. Having experience with hospices in Poland, I was worried about what it would be like there….

Marta and Marcin, our “High-Fivers”, visited a hospice in Rwanda yesterday. It is run by the Sisters of the Angels, which the Good Factory has been supporting for years. It is the only facility of its kind in the country and in this part of Africa. What they experienced there was exactly what made us stay here for GOOD 10 years ago.

Our patients are people whose lives and illness have put them through a regular hell on earth. Many have survived the genocide. They come to us sometimes for several months, more often for a few days, several hours. This is the priceless time we get to show them that death can be experienced with dignity, without pain, hunger, blows from machetes, rejection and loneliness.

The patients themselves speak of the hospice as Home. When Sr Maria appears on the doorstep, one hears the cry of “mamapapa” – parent. That is what she is to them. With great gratitude, sometimes with the last of their strength, they hug her as if to thank her for the fact that they no longer have to worry about anything before the most important journey of their lives.

The fact that Mr Marcel (83), in the terminal stage of cancer, eats the food he orders without pain, sipping his favourite banana beer from time to time. That Virigina, who is over 100 years old and has suffered a severe stroke, still asks Emmanuel, our rehabilitator, to get her back on her feet. That Louise (30 years old), completely paralysed after a fall from a cliff, now happily weaves baskets and tries to prove, in spite of her diagnosis, that she will not spend the rest of her life bedridden: these are all thanks to you.

We don’t even want to think where all these people would be if it wasn’t for you. If you hadn’t high-fived us every week. It is your 5 zloty, multiplied by a few, a dozen or a few hundred, that make it possible for the hospice to safely accommodate patients. We provide them with three meals a day, a second breakfast, an afternoon snack, nutritious juices and nutridrinks, and care from a physiotherapist, nurses and doctors. We ease the pain. Here, everyone whose life has placed them in a defining situation finds peace, joy and people who love and care about them.

“Upon entering the hospice, it became apparent that this is a place where you feel life, not dying. It was an amazing experience – to see how happy you can be in the last moments of life,” Marcin shared with emotion.

“I saw wonderful staff – open, joyful. And the guests who feel comfortable and happy here. I am happy to support such a place. Give a high-five, it really works and creates miracles!” – Marta encourages.

Thank you for this hospice that we create TOGETHER!