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South Africa: Elim Home
South Africa: Elim Home for Children With Disabilities
"Every step forwards and each smile makes all our efforts more than worthwhile," says Lesinda Cunningham, head of Elim Home. Since 1963, Elim Home in South Africa has provided a place to live for children with disabilities.
Elim Home is a residential special care facility in South Africa for children and young adults with severe intellectual and physical disabilities. The home believes that “every life has a meaning” and is dedicated to providing optimal care and maximising the potential of its residents. For the families affected, the help and support that the home provides is a huge relief. The girls and boys often come from disadvantaged families and have barely any access to medical care.
Full service: 24-hour care and home visits
Lesinda Cunningham and her nursing staff provide their residents with intensive care that is supplemented by other therapies, such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy aimed at enhancing the level of independence of each child. The home has also developed new ideas and concepts, such as teaching the children to help in the home’s gardens. The freshly harvested vegetables land on the table or are sold to generate a small additional income.
Since 2013, there have been two additional outside care groups, each about 40 kilometres from Elim Home. The groups support more than 30 children with the care and therapy they need as their families live too far from Elim. It also helps to integrate the parents better into the project and strengthens community awareness. Over 30 disabled children aged between four and 18 attend the two outside facilities.
South Adrica
56.5 million inhabitants, of which 2.9 million have disabilities
Elim Home is the largest local employer
In the town of Elim, a missionary settlement which started in 1825, Elim Home is the largest employer providing jobs for a total of 47 women from the surrounding area. The home was founded in 1963 and was the first and only home for coloured children with disabilities in the Western Cape.
Elim Home is part of the diaconal programme of the Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA). Many congregations of the MCSA have become godparents for individual children and make collections for them at worship services. The money helps the girls and boys, for example to purchase a new wheelchair or a birthday surprise. Since the South African Department of Health funds only 40% of the home’s costs, Elim Home needs our and your support.
Project goals
Elim Home is a home for children and young adults with severe intellectual and physical disabilities and is run by the Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA). The residents of Elim Home come almost without exception from poor backgrounds with no access to proper medical care. The diaconal facility offers its residents professional and loving all-day care. The home supports children and young adults in their physical and intellectual development and allows them to live a life in dignity and to participate in society.
Project work
Elim Home accommodates more than 50 children and young adults with severe intellectual and physical disabilities. The home in also one of the largest employers in the region with a staff of about 50 people. The children and young adults are supported by modern therapies such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy so that they can develop as much independence as they are capable of. Besides all-round care at Elim Home there are two outside day care centres where children are looked after during the day but live with their families.
Project partner
The Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA) has around 45,000 members and 85 congregations. It is one of the largest provinces in the worldwide "Unitas Fratrum" (Unity of the Brethren). The church is fighting against racism and faces up to social challenges. The church lives off the associations for men's work and gender work, Sunday school and youth organised by the church as a whole. Important welfare and social institutions and programmes by the church include the "Elim Home" in the Western Cape and the "Masangane AIDS Programme" with locations in Shiloh and Matatiele.
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