Celebrating Mandela Day at Inqolobane Home

Taking a page out Mandela’s book, a number of employees from corporate companies in the Kwadukuza district met at the Inqolobane home for children with physical challenges on Mandela Day, July 18.

Equipped with necessary donations and tons of energy, sponsors from Hesto Harness, Unitrade, Sewja, NzamRamps, Coastal Farmers, Enterprise Ilembe and the KwaDukuza mayor’s office joined hands and assisted with cutting the grass, painting the home as well as donating much needed non-perishable items.

The Inqolbane organisation provides shelter and care for children who are severely physically disabled. Since it’s opening, almost two years ago, the organisation has survived on donations.

The founder of the house Bheki Thusi said almost half of the children in their care had been abandoned.

“We currently have 25 children who live here, all of whom are severely disabled and can not do even the basic things like eat on their own. The children are brought to us by social workers and sometimes by parents. Some children are left here by parents who often don’t have the time or money to care for the children on their own,” said Thusi.

Thusi, who is a professional nurse, founded the organisation alongside Kenneth Mthunzi. He said the idea came to him when he saw first hand how badly they were treated in other homes.

“My relative was in one of the homes in Durban. I visited one day and I was deeply saddened by what I saw. The children were not being cared for with love and the facilities were dirty. I thought that I could do a much better job. The land was donated to us by Chief Dube and started off with just 11 children. Our capacity is 30.”

He said many facilities turn away these children as they require nappies, because it makes their care difficult and costly.

“We have a good relationship with Stanger hospital and they donate diapers to us. Almost all our children use diapers and many are epileptic.”

Speaking at the Mandela day event, Kwadukuza Mayor, Ricardo Mthembu said the home was a Mandela-worthy care centre.

“We all enjoy being citizens of this country because of the vision that Nelson Mandela had. He loved children and this is the kind of organisation that he would have loved.”

Thusi, thanked the sponsors for the much needed contribution and pleaded with the community to assist.

“It costs about R25 000 a month to run our operation. Groceries alone are about R11 000. We are also in desperately in need of mattresses as well as non-perishable food items.”

To donate contact Kenneth Mthunzi at 073 484 0441.

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