Disability centre makes a difference in community

Jennifer Malatjie from Acornhoek is a mother of five and two of her children were born with disabilities, one with CP and the other suffers intellectual disability.

CP is congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture. Cerebral palsy is due to abnormal brain development, often before birth.

She is the co-founder of Rethabile Disabled Centre named after her daughter, Rethabile Malatji.

“We do not only cater for children with cerebral palsy, we also help parents who have children with other disabilities,” she said.

She told Herald that she knows how difficult it is to raise a child with a disability and said support from family is vital. She took advantage of the CP service at Tintswalo Hospital for a number of years to learn how to take care of her child.

She was then sent to Malamulele Onward in Braamfontein where she was trained as a parent facilitator in June 2014 as part of the Carer-2-Carer Training Programme along with her co-facilitator Princess Singini.

Singini also has a child with CP and the two women have dedicated their time in helping other mothers and caregivers by running workshops on CP.

They both also played a huge role in the CP service at Tintswalo Hospital through teaching practical skills to other parents as well as helping to lead the monthly support group.

After completing her training in January 2016 at Malamulele Onward as a parent facilitator, she started her daycare centre for children with disabilities.

From June 2016 they have been operating from a local school in the village. “We now have a land of our own, however we are unable to start the construction process on our land, because we are not funded by any entity we only rely on donations,” she said.

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She has established herself as a leader in her community and is managing to make her centre work with minimal resources.

They have 31 children and receive full support from the local community, the caregivers, hospital staff and other parents.

They have also received donations from Old Mutual. Despite them being very busy at the centre Jennifer and Princess are still actively running workshops, and all parents involved with the centre attend their monthly appointments with their children.

The children also receive therapy once a month at the centre provided by a therapist from Tintswalo Hospital.

Jeniffer said they also do home-based care and advise parents not to lock their children indoors. To know more about the centre or make a donation visit their website on www. rethabiledisabledcentre.co.za