Rehab Skills Lab will present up to 12 Basic wheelchair seating courses to industry professionals in rural KwaZulu-Natal on behalf of the Rachel Swart Fund.
The NGO approached RSL in June last year to provide the applicable training to occupational and physical therapists working across the province.
The RSF had signed a memorandum of understanding with the KZN Health Department to deliver a CPD-accredited Basic-level seating course to its practitioners to improve its wheelchair services.
“Personally, I have known the fund since I started working in wheelchair service delivery in 2006,” RSL co-director Dietlind Gouws said.
“It was known as the go-to funder when the state was unable to provide a motorised wheelchair to a user who desperately needed one to be reintegrated into society.”
Another example, Gouws said, was when the state had run out of funds or did not have a large enough budget to supply wheelchairs – and motorised ones in particular.
“Then the therapist can approach the Fund with a motivation,” she explained.
Courses usually take place in larger centres but this project is earmarked for all 12 districts in the province.
“It is a great model,” Gouws said. “It allows you to address challenges specific to service provision in rural settings and to that district.”
To date, RSL has rolled out courses in Ixopo, Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone.
Gouws said it was evident that the participants were eager to learn.
“They seem to understand the importance of providing comprehensive wheelchair services along with appropriate wheelchairs to improve their clients’ quality of life.”
The factors that are currently inhibiting service delivery are a shortage of human resources and limited budgets.
“This causes large backlogs and, unfortunately, users have to wait for extended periods of time to receive a wheelchair,” Gouws said.
Rehab managers, one of whom attended one of the KZN courses, are aware of the challenges and trying their utmost to invest resources into improving the speed of service delivery.
Gouws said their interaction with the fund had been “great” and believed that the “tri-party” project was a huge step in the right direction.
“Eloi (RSF project manager Elroi Shelley) is efficient and has invested a lot into this project so that it can have a positive outcome.”
The RSF was established in 1960 by British philanthropist Sir John Ellermans, who befriended Bredasdorp local Rachel Swart during his time in South Africa.
The latter was born with congenital deformity of the arms and legs but never let her condition dampen her spirit. Her death deeply saddened Ellermans and his friend Piet Beukes, a well-known newspaper editor.
Together they decided to form the Fund to honour her name while helping others like her.
The organisation began life as a wheelchair supplier to those who could not afford them or were unable to access them through the state. However, over the years it has grown to offer a broader range of services.
Shelley, for example, runs the above-mentioned rural community outreach initiative where therapists are trained in wheelchair service provision.
The ultimate goal is to establish disability centres in these areas, Elroi said.
Travelling to district hospitals is an expensive undertaking for these people so having trained therapists who can make house calls removes this cost.
Another exciting project is the creation of devices from cardboard, water and flour through what is termed advanced paper-based technology. Once the chipboard-like substance has hardened, patterns are cut out and assembled to produce devices to assist people with disabilities.
The RSF also works with the Association for the Physically Disabled in the Western Cape, where it trains community development workers.