Projects

KHATALA – DARE TO CARE

A team of social workers and social auxiliary workers provide specialised social work services to persons with a psychosocial / intellectual disability and their families – primarily from disadvantaged areas – through the following programmes:

1. Specialist counselling for children, youth and adults with an intellectual / psychosocial disability and their families.  Our social workers also work with families to identify and harness the inherent assets within the family, focussing on addressing all social problems impacting on independent living within the community.  
2. Crisis intervention services for children, youth and adults with an intellectual / psychosocial disability and their families.  
3. Trauma counselling for individuals / groups, who have been exposed to a traumatic incident.
4. We have a programme called BRAVE – designed to support children with an intellectual disability and their families :

• Social security services focus on basic needs being met.  This includes assisting children, youth and adults with an intellectual / psychosocial disability in accessing care dependency or disability grants.  Social workers also investigate and assist in cases where grants are mismanaged or abused and help with budgeting. Assistance is also provided in the form of clothing or food parcels – in the event a family with children has no income.  

• Referrals are made for other specialist services to ensure access to all resources and opportunities.

B  (Bringing families together + encouraging mutual support)

R  (Advocating for Rights)

A (Achieving optimal independence )

V (Valuing the assets within the family)

E (Educational programmes to improve knowledge insight and coping )

PREVENTION AND AWARENESS SERVICES – PROMOTING MENTAL WELLBEING AND RESILIENCE

Our social workers and social auxiliary workers also focus on prevention, awareness and capacity building programmes – promoting optimal mental wellbeing for all – through the following services :                                                                                                                        

1. 1. KHANYISA (ENLIGHTEN) – Promoting advocacy skills among learning partners with intellectual disability and psychosocial disability with an emphasis on generating awareness of the rights of persons with mental disabilities in the communities of Port Elizabeth as well as nationally through participation in the national advocacy group.  Representation on the Board of Port Elizabeth Mental Health ensures participation in decision-making regarding the Organisation and services provided.
   2. Building community support networks for parents or caregivers who have a child with an intellectual disability and for persons with a psychosocial disability.  We identify and train persons affected in the community to be an accessible resource. These networks connect caregivers and persons with a psychosocial disability, who provide one another with much needed mutual support.  Mutual assistance is provided to ensure each caregiver is able to provide the best care possible for their child with special needs and each person diagnosed with a mental disability is able to manage their illness as best possible – with a focus on optimal wellness and coping in the community.
   3. Peer Buddy lifeskills programmes at schools are designed to build the resilience of learners and improve their coping skills.  Learners with leadership skills are identified and are equipped to identify and assist other students who are struggling to cope with the challenges and stressors life presents.  This programme addresses the increase in the number of teen suicides and targets primarily schools from disadvantaged communities. Some issues addressed include strategies to cope with exam stress, building resilience, saying no to substances, teen suicide and teen depression etc
   4. Lifeskills programmes to youth with intellectual disability – these programmes include abet trainings (basic reading and writing), work readiness trainings and lifeskills trainings with a focus also on the rights of persons with intellectual disability.  These programmes complement the practical work trainings at the Skills Training Centres and hold the youth with intellectual disability in good stead to find employment or improved livelihoods.
   5. Employee assistance programmes (EAP) are offered to the corporate and public sector – employees benefit from on-site counselling, assistance with social problems and wellness programmes – encouraging optimal wellness among employees and impacting positively on absenteeism and productivity.

• Awareness initiatives are critical in generating insight into the abilities and rights of persons with mental disabilities and the detrimental effects of stigma.  In line with national initiatives, we celebrate intellectual disability in March, psychosocial disability in July and mental health in October of every year.  Awareness events include information sharing through media, hosting seminars and workshops on topical issues and using social media to highlight issues impacting our communities.

Strategic Objective

“To enhance mental wellbeing and independence through education and skills development.”

In our quest for holistic development, Masakhane Child and Youth Development Centres will endeavour to promote the following activities:

• Co-ordinate eight existing Children and Youth Development Centres.

• Accreditation of all our Learning Programmes.

Masakhane facilitates the development of children (between the ages of 6 and 18) with severe to profound disabilities and youth (between the ages of 18 and 35) with intellectual disabilities. Statistics indicate that 4 out of every 100 South Africans are affected by some level of intellectual disability and that a staggering 75% will not have access to resources (https://www.sacap.edu.za/blog/counselling/what-is-intellectual-disability/). As in many low and middle-income countries, health, education and social services for persons with disabilities remain grossly inadequate, under-developed and under-funded.  

Children and youth with intellectual disabilities are unable to access mainstream schooling due to their disabilities and a lack of facilities. This results in them being vulnerable to abuse and misdirected influences in the communities.

Masakhane Child & Youth Development Centres aims to enhance mental wellbeing through education and skills development by facilitating programmes which will enable the individual growth of our learning partners to achieve their milestones and ultimately reach self-actualization.

QAQAMBA Special Education and Care Centres (SECC)

This service grew out of a great need for children with severe/profound Intellectual Disabilities to access stimulation programmes. We have established 5 Neighbourhood Units – in the communities of Gelvandale, New Brighton, Zwide and Motherwell in Port Elizabeth. These small groups of 6 to 8 children per unit are facilitated by volunteers specially trained to run effective stimulation programmes, including: skills for daily living (including self-feeding, dressing and toilet training) / basic numeracy and literacy / fine and gross motor skills, using a multi-sensory approach to all learning and using play as the primary tool to reinforce skills learned.
The children are offered 2 nutritional meals daily – including breakfast and lunch.

The SECC’s are operational from Monday to Thursday from 08.00 until 14.00.

YOUTH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT CENTRES

Originally known as “protective workshops” – our 3 centres: Inkqubela 1 in New Brighton, Inkqubela 2 in Zwide and Sikhulile in Motherwell – have transformed into skills training facilities, accommodating a total of 140 youth with intellectual disabilities.

The physical locations and contact details of the Centres are as follows:

Inkqubela 1 – Corner Madala Street & Ferguson Road, New Brighton, Port Elizabeth.

Inkqubela 2 – Johnson Road, Zwide, Port Elizabeth.

Sikhulile – Tyinira Road, NU2, Motherwell, Port Elizabeth.

Youth with intellectual disabilities have been and still are marginalized and discriminated against.

Our programmes focus on practical skills training programmes such as grass cutting, block making, sewing, catering, subsistence gardening, beadwork and carwash services.  These practical training courses are supplemented by lifeskills trainings, work readiness trainings, ABET trainings and programmes designed to encourage optimal wellness.

We also provide safe care our learning partners with severe/profound intellectual disability as there is no other organisation that provides this service in our township areas. We further encourage all our youth to participate in a weekly health and wellness programme which encompasses physical exercises and various sporting activities as well as group discussions which focus on stimulating healthy living.

The outcome of the practical skills programme is to enable Youth with intellectual to be employable. We are proud of each and every job placement / new entrepreneur who leaves our programme – fully integrated within their community.

THE ENGINE

VISION:

To be a united, professional and committed team, striving to provide an organised and dynamic support service to Port Elizabeth Mental Health

SERVICES PROVIDED:

• Financial Services
  • Conduit to organisations
  • Mentoring
  • Financial Training
  • Support
• Front Office Support
  • Reception
  • Filing
  • Designing Brochures
• Administration
  • Data Capturing
  • Statistic
• Fundraising Events
  • Casual Day
  • Gift wrap

Not only is this done for Port Elizabeth Mental Health but for other organisations requiring  the professional service that we can offer.

CAPRICORN AND HERBERG PSYCHOSOCIAL REHABILITATION CENTRE

The centres provide an  affordable in—house service for a  maximum period of 2 years. The emphasis of the rehabilitation programme is on skills training towards optimal coping, facilitating  re-integration into the community. The  programme addresses the needs of the  patient as well as their chief support structure in the community.

REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

• SOCIAL WORK SERVICES

• Individual counseling
• Assistance with any social problems which may hinder re-integration into the community.
• Screening and assessment of potential residents.

• DOMESTIC SKILLS PROGRAMME

Equipping residents with practical skills   towards independent living:

• Housework and cleaning
• Washing and ironing
• Making beds
• Cooking skills

• LIFE – SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMMES

• Communication skills
• Stress management
• Assertiveness
• Conflict management
• Domestic violence—with emphasis on prevention.
• HIV / AIDS—with emphasis on prevention.
• Budgeting skills
• Safeguarding against various forms of abuse.
• Peer counselling by an identified

• FAMILY PRESERVATION

Two family meetings are held per year to encourage family  preservation in the lives of the residents.

Regular contact is encouraged  between residents and their families.

• OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

A structured programme re-enforcing training around stress management.

• Outings
• Handcrafts
• Gardening
• Physical exercise

WHO DOES THIS FACILITY CATER FOR?

• Individuals who suffer from a psychiatric / emotional problem / intellectual disability, who are not functioning on an optimal level.
• Applicants must be between ages 18 to 57 years of age.
• Applicants must have a fixed address to which they can be discharged.

COST

• NB Monthly payments include full board and lodging as well as access to the services provided.
• Individuals contribute up to two thirds of their disability grant.
• Where individuals do not receive a disability grant, the  individual or family have to pay the same amount as for grantee.

Click here to download the Herberg – Capricorn – admission form

Qaqamba Community Support Networks

For children with intellectual disabilities

Children with disabilities by large remain isolated with extremely limited access to educational simulation within their communities.

Qaqamba Community Support Networks for children with severe/profound disabilities is the very first of its kind in Port Elizabeth. It is a unique, innovative development approach to a deeply entrenched culture of hand-outs and dependency. PEMH is using its strengths and capacity to ensure mental health services are far reaching and driven by communities for communities. Through lessons learnt from service delivery approaches, we position ourselves to support and capacitate communities that have strengths and capabilities to unlock its own abilities and strength.

Transformed from the previously known ‘neighbourhood unit model’ to independent specialist community based hubs delivering a programme of care and stimulation for children with disabilities, the hubs serve as a beacon in the broader community of Zwide, New Brighton, Helenvale and Motherwell.

PEMH offers support and capacity building for the community based structures that take on a commitment to provide community care for children with intellectual disabilities. Our key role is to facilitate and promote adequate skills, systems and resource mobilization capacity through:

• Governance training and development
• Building a stimulation programme in order to enable the children to develop to their full potential
• Professional social work support promoting family preservation – using ABCD activities to get families to improve stress management and problem solve using inherent assets, promoting insight into the child’s disability and how best to manage it – psycho-education, introducing familes whose child with ID has no access to formal schooling, to developmental tools and home-based care kits to ensure stimulation within the home and facilitating access to available resources and advocating for best results
• Community networks, formed by ‘Wellness Warriors’ who are active in addressing the day-to-day challenges of households affected by disability.