The 1000 Hills Community Helpers project was established in 1989 by starting up a community feeding programme, which took place under a tree. Now through the hard work and dedication of the founder, Dawn Leppan, and her supporters, 1000 Hills Community Helpers has established a community centre which offers medical support, education to young and old, employment, a full tummy and a safe place to be for hundreds of thousands of people. 1000 Hills Community Helpers is a beacon to many and an example to others of how it should be done. www.1000hch.co.za
In partnership with Citadel Re-insurance GAGA support the free clinic at 1000 Hills Community Helpers.
The 1000 Hills Community Helpers project was established in 1989. In response to the needs of the community, they constructed their own community care centre in 2008 comprising a health and wellness clinic, children's infirmary, Pre-school and other development facilities.
The centre was named by the local community members as 'Ikhaya Lo Thando' ("Home of Love") they care for the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children and the wider community, supporting them with food, clothing, medication and other necessities.
The founder, Dawn was moved to action, after seeing the political strife and devastation of families in the local community of the Valley of 1000 Hills. Caused during the political unrest post independence. In 1989 this heart breaking scenario inspired Alan Paton (author of 'Cry the beloved country') and Dawn to start up a community feeding programme. This was first held in the open air under the trees in the Inchanga area, and then moved from there into St. Theresa's Catholic Church.
In 1990 it was realised that community members were in need of medical assistance due to the impact of HIV/Aids related illnesses. It was then decided to start up a basic clinic and an infant nutritional programme. Medical volunteers were then sought to assist in carrying this burden. They were fortunate to gain the assistance of some eminent medical professionals including Prof. Mickle, a Paediatrician, who joined the work of 1000 Hills Community Helpers, along with 5 registered nursing sisters. From that first project, this vision has grown to provide essential services to the people in the form of health care, education, infant care and HIV/AIDS awareness, henceforth, the 1000 Hills Community Helpers Community Centre was opened in 2008.
Many local residents are in need of primary health care on a day-to-day basis. Most of these people are also in a position where they are unable to travel to their local medical facility for treatment. This is largely due to the fact that they are immobile because of HIV/AIDS related illnesses.
The need for Care Givers in a Home Based Care environment has become a vital cog in the fight against HIV/AIDS within recent years. With the correct training and education, these Care Givers fulfil an important role in the fragile healthcare system as they are usually the first to detect and treat secondary infections and illness related to HIV/AIDS.
A huge portion of the Care Givers duties is to educate local residents on the HIV/AIDS virus, especially with regard to prevention. Infected residents are encouraged to join a support group where counselling and post infection education can take place, teaching them how to live healthy lives while infected with the virus and to prevent as well as treat secondary infections such as T.B. and the flu virus. Failure to treat these secondary illnesses correctly will result in certain death for infected residents.
HIV/AIDS infected patients are counselled by Care Givers, and bedridden patients are very often taken care of by the Care Givers themselves as they are still prone to become victims of discrimination and are stigmatized by their local communities. Over 1000+ community leaders, volunteers and resource centre staff have been trained as 'barefoot' social workers to help provide assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC's) in conjunction with Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity (NOAH).
Clinic
1000 Hills Community Helpers primary healthcare clinic runs five days a week, from 7am to 4pm. They are fortunate enough to have a resident Sister and Doctor (which is a voluntary position) available at the clinic during the week and in case of emergencies during the week and weekends. Mondays and Wednesdays are clinic days for the elderly. Tuesdays are Infant/children nutrition and clinic days. Thursdays are open clinic days when the entire medical volunteer staff come up to the centre and give a helping hand. Fridays is when the HIV/AIDS support group gather and receive medication and spiritual counselling.
To date the clinic has seen thousands of patients from the local community. This includes infants, children, men, women, and the elderly. Much emphasis has been placed on education, especially regarding issues related to HIV/AIDS such as nutrition, hygiene, STD's, family planning, etc.
1000 Hills Community Helpers has a fully equipped 4x4 rural ambulance, donated by Rotary International, manned by qualified medical staff and ready 24 hours/7 days a week for emergency callouts.
Feeding Scheme
1000 Hills Community Helper’s kitchen is open five days a week, Monday to Friday, and serves two meals a day - breakfast and lunch. Over the year (July 2008-July 2009) approximately 133,728 plates of food were served to those who are either in need or destitute, and this number is rising. The monthly number of these plates served has doubled within the last six months due to economic hardships and recession. This has put a strain on already stretched resources.
A well organised and tended vegetable garden within the community centre's premises supplies the kitchen with fresh green vegetables on a daily basis. Local community members are also taught the value of self-sustainability and are always encouraged to start and maintain their own vegetable gardens. Community members on medication are also in need of a meal when they visit our clinic as some medication can't be digested on an empty stomach.
Pre-school and Creche
The pre-school operates five days a week, Monday to Friday. The pre-school and crèche now caters for a combined number of 85+ children. The baby’s room looks after (+/-) 15 babies and the Toddlers Inn has (+/-) 13 toddlers in its care. The children's development facility with its extensive bathrooms and educational amenities provides food, clothing, respite and coaching to these children who are currently living with caregivers or Grannies. Not all of the children are infected with HIV/AIDS; many are affected by its consequences as well as other social issues such as disadvantaged backgrounds, and poverty. The preschool and crèche all collaborate together with a unified purpose: To provide an educational foundation that will prepare them for life.
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