Thembani Special Day Care Centre was established in the early 1990’s in the Black Bedford township, when Louise Nxele, a minister’s wife, felt something needed to be done about the many children with mental and physical handicaps in Bedford. These handicapped children are often left with grandparents or distant family members while their parents look for employment in larger centres. The grandparents are usually disadvantaged and the burden of an extra child is heavy, and if the degree of disability is severe, care of the child can be a physical strain.
The centre is situated in a small house on the premises of the Congregational Church in Bedford township. The small rural town of Bedford has a large disadvantaged population in the township areas with most people dependent on state pensions, either for old age or disability. Thembani Special Day Care Centre is unable to raise sufficient funds from the impoverished rural town of Bedford. Funding from the Department of Social Development is currently just enough to keep the doors open.
Thembani used to be under the auspices of P E Mental Health, but because of logistical and financial constraints the P E Mental Health Board decided that all rural centres should go independent. This is also in line with Department of Social Development’s policies regarding community involvement and as from 1 March 2009 the centre started to operate as an independent NPO. The problems which disabled people face are caused not primarily by their impairment, but by the way society is organized to meet the needs of non-disabled people. Disabled people are as a result unnecessarily excluded and segregated because of a badly designed built environment, inaccessible public transport, and discriminatory attitudes and practices.
The aims and objectives of the organisation according to our constitution are:
- To provide a day care and stimulation programme to children with intellectual and / or multiple disabilities with the aim of promoting self reliance.
- To work with the families of the learners / vulnerable children with disabilities living in disadvantaged areas, with the focus on enhancing quality of life and improved coping with their child’s special needs.
- To try to empower the mothers / caregivers and / or other struggling community members (mostly women) through the provision of training and creating flexitime work opportunities in our handcraft / garden project. This will enable them not only to earn some money but to acquire skills to improve their way of life and have some small organic gardens where they live where they can grow fresh and healthy vegetables for their families.
- To increase the levels of awareness within the community regarding prevention of intellectual disability, effects of stigma, rights of persons with intellectual disability, women’s rights, domestic violence and HIV / AIDS.
- To provide a home-based care service to children with disabilities living in the community and not able to access special schooling.
Activities and fundraising will be divided into 3 broad categories:
- Care and stimulation program to children with disabilities attending the centre
- Awareness, preventative and supportive activities in the community
- Empowering of mothers / caregivers and struggling households through developing small organic vegetable gardens in the township – linking it up with a special township garden route over our very popular yearly October Garden Festival as an eco-tourism pilot project. We work closely with our main supporters, the Thembani Sindawonye Bedford Project – winners of the Jet Community Award for Environmental Waste Management 2009 and a Imupumelelo Silver Award in 2010.
Because we, as an organization, cannot exist without community goodwill and assistance, we need to give something back to the community that will ensure the sustainability of the special day care centre in years to come. Creating a greener and healthier environment could achieve this crucial balance.
Operates in: Bedford, Eastern Cape
Established in: February 2009
Non-Profit Organisation Number: 066-800
Public Benefit Organisation Number:
Section 21 Company Number:
Trust Number:
Contact person: Dr Lana-Lorraine Blom
Phone: 046 685 0994
Fax: 086 554 3743
Email:
Website: www.charitysa.co.za/thembani-special-day-care-centre.html
Physical address: 6 Short Road, Bedford
Postal address: P O Box 197, Bedford, 5780
