25 Apr 2016

Former vice president, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe opened the Cheshire Foundation regional centre in Palapye recently.

Dr Kedikilwe said the centre would benefit a number of people in Palapye and the surrounding villages.

He said people living with disabilities would use the centre for rehabilitation purposes, adding that they would also be treated for physical, mental and behavioral problems to enable them to do activities which people without disabilities could do.

He said the mission of the foundation was to voluntarily give people living with disabilities dignity and hope through training and therapy, as well as to make them understand that people living without disabilities were kind, loving and caring.

He urged the Palapye community not to stigmatise people living with disabilities and also encouraged families that have people living with disabilities to treat them well and not to be embarrassed by living with such people.  

He said it was important for everybody to accept people living with disabilities so that they could also accept themselves and perform chores without depending on anybody.

He said the responsibility of caring for people living with disabilities should not solely be the government, but also individuals,  the private secor and non-governmental organisations.He said one of the challenges facing people living with disabilities was that they were afraid of how people look at them and interact with them, adding that they were not afraid of their disabilities, but were afraid that they were not accepted by other people.

He said there were improvements in the acceptance of people living with disabilities through government programmes and other non-governmental organisations such as Cheshire, adding that people now comprehend the situation of disability and socially support the disabled.

He noted that there was an office at the Office of the President that aims at teaching the nation to accept people living with disabilities and to avoid discriminating them.

Dr Kedikilwe said challenges facing Botswana concerning issues dealing with people living with disabilities was inclusiveness and access to buildings to give them equal opportunities.

The executive director of Cheshire Foundation Botswana, Mr Billy Masebola said the foundation was founded by Mr Leonard Cheshire and his friend in Britain and proposed to Queen Elizabeth who was the head of the Commonwealth countries.

He said Queen Elizabeth found it to be a good initiative to inspire all the Commonwealth countries to adopt the foundation and establish it in their countries to help people living with disabilities.He noted that the foundation started in Botswana in 1988 with only one vehicle.

For his part, Cheshire Foundation of Botswana chairperson, Mr Manhar Mooney said the opening of the regional centre in Palapye was promoted by the demand for their services in the area and the surrounding villages.

He said their statistics show that from August 2015 to date, they have held over 2 173 therapy sessions and helped over 821 clients. He added that they still have 357 active cases.

He said people who have been discharged from hospitals but require long term rehabilitative care would now have the option of using the rehabilitation centre in Palapye.

He noted that the centre was equipped to handle post-operative fractures and amputations, and to rehabilitate those who suffer from stroke, Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis, cervical/lumber spondylosis and for those who have undergone total hip replacement.

Mr Mooney also said the foundation runs other programmes and services such as inclusive and special education, job placement, training on disability and rehabilitation, social services and family support, training on disability and rehabilitation as well as the formation of disability people’s organisations.

Mr Mooney acknowledged Stanbic Bank Botswana for sponsoring the purchase of therapeutic equipment and some furniture for the Palapye centre as well as the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund and Sefalana wholesalers for sponsoring the kitchen and scullery equipment.

He also appreciated the support they received from different people, institutions and government departments for being able to establish the Palapye regional centre.ENDS