CHOICE stands for ‘Choosing to Help Others In our Community and Environment’.
The CHOICE Foundation’s objectives are simply to:
- Help end the cycle of violence against women and children
- Work towards bringing hope, opportunity and financial help to societies most vulnerable
- Highlight the struggles of unemployed mothers who have no means to adequately support their children
- Empower individuals to become self-sufficient by increasing their self-esteem and self respect
Our work at the West Rand School:
The West Rand School is a government school situated in Krugersdorp and has been in existence for 43 years. The school accommodates learners between the ages of 3 and 18 years of age who have various special learning needs and varying degrees of disabilities. As a state subsidized facility, the school’s budget has been drastically reduced during the past ten years causing major restraints to the school’s multi-disciplined approach to working with the community’s most vulnerable children.
The Choice Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, has adopted The West Rand School’s Clinic Project and is endeavouring to make a huge difference in the lives of incontinent learners. Learners who suffer from Spina Bifida, Spastic Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy as well as Paraplegic learners. Unfortunately all these learners have no control over their bowel and bladder functions. The nursing staff have introduced bowel training programs which have taught learners how to insert a catheter on their own and can now change them on their own as well.
These precious children also need to take enemas at least 3 times a week in order to clean their bowels in order to try and prevent accidents from happening in class. Unfortunately bowel movements still accidentally happen in class and then learners have to be assisted by the nursing staff to clean themselves.
A major concern is that they do not have a sterile environment in which to change their catheters as they are forced to use the same facilities as the able-bodied learners. Sadly these learners are often teased and embarrassed, as they tend to ‘smell’ as they constantly have mishaps even though they wear nappies and / or a catheter. Another problem is that because the facility isn’t a sterile one, the children are constantly re-infected with urinary tract infections, which leave learners feeling sick and feverish needing to take further medication and then take further time off of school. Certain learners develop pressure sores and skin rashes on their private parts which just compounds their discomfort and embarrassment.
In order to help our children improve their self esteem and sense of independence we are raising funds to have one of the school’s existing toilet facility renovated into a sterile facility where only wheelchairs bound learners can move around freely and hoist themselves onto and off of the toilet and also help clean up their ‘accidents’ with the help of an assistant (instead of all the other learners watching them being cleaned up and changed).
The entire project has been estimated to cost R200 000. This includes materials and labour. This amount can be reduced by professional people donating their time and expertise and building supply companies granting us discount on goods bought in order to build this clinic.
Included in our wish list are the following items:
- Height adjustable washbasins to be wheelchair friendly – in other words have no pedestals
- Toilets fixed to walls (not standard on pedestal, as wheelchairs cannot turn underneath toilet) – we have place for 5 toilets
- Two sit showers with hand held showers to enable learners to clean themselves
- Adjustable toilet handrails
- A single hoist to lift learners out of wheel chairs and transfer them onto and off the toilet
- Curtains rather than doors to allow more space to move on wheel chairs
- Vinyl covered surfaces – height of wheelchairs to enable assistants to clean and redress learners
- Floor and walls to be tiled to ceiling height
- Counter height cupboards for storing of equipment e.g. gloves, hand towels, hand sanitizers etc.
Operates in: Roodepoort, Gauteng
Established in: July 2010
Non-Profit Organisation Number: 081-185
Public Benefit Organisation Number:
Section 21 Company Number:
Trust Number:
Contact person: Tracey Wise
Phone: 079 522 8953
Fax: 086 664 1521
Email:
Website: www.choicefoundation.co.za
Physical address: 8 Heron Ridge, During Road, Honeydew
Postal address: P O Box 879, Honeydew, 2040
