PICS, VIDEO: Muldersdrift’s Logwood Village loses its lifeline

Two months ago, the workshop on the grounds of Logwood Village in Muldersdrift outside Johannesburg was filled with more than 100 workers five days a week and manufactured between 500 000 and a million plugs and electrical fittings per month.

The facility had a fully-functioning production line, quality control procedures and a truck to deliver the products.

Today that workshop stands abandoned, with only stacks of chairs, a few brooms and an old foosball table in a corner.

It’s been this way since the warehouse’s biggest client had to terminate its contract due to financial constraints, which rendered the factory’s staff unemployed.

It’s a story that’s been heard time and again in recent years, but what makes this particularly sad is that almost all the workers at the Logwood factory were also residents of the home for intellectually disabled adults and, as such, would probably struggle to find employment anywhere else.

A general view of the old thatch house that was renovated. Picture: Refilwe Modise

Logwood Village provides accommodation, care and daycare programmes for about 105 intellectually impaired people over 18 years of age. The goal is to allow them to live “as normal a life as possible within a protective environment”.

The facility was founded in 1954 and its residents, whose ailments span the gamut of intellectual impairments, have access to individual counselling, family therapy, life skills training and relationship counselling.

Logwood’s Peter de Smidt, left and Jean Wolhuter are pictured at the facility in Muldersdrift, 28 June 2019. Picture: Refilwe Modise

The electrical fitting contract, which was the cornerstone of their work programme, was especially suited to the facility since it required repetitive work, which centre director Jean Wolhuter said was perfect for their residents.

“We’re talking about labour intensive work. It’s manual work, repetitive work.

“It’s work that other people would probably get bored with, but our residents take pride in it, and quality control is their main feature,” Wolhuter explained. “Our residents love to check each other and make sure that their friends are doing everything properly.”

She said each resident earned a monthly salary and received a payslip. The centre helped them to bank and manage their income.

Logwood resident 80-year-old Marlene Green is pictured in one of the several day rooms at the facility in Muldersdrift, 28 June 2019. Marlene has lived at Logwood for 30 years. Picture: Refilwe Modise

And for those residents whose families could not afford the specialised care offered at the facility, the salary also helped to offset some of the costs.

According to centre social worker Lennon Chikumbirike, beside providing the residents with a means to earn an income, the work also served a far greater purpose, and despite the repetitiveness of the jobs the centre was by no means a mere sweatshop.

“People think that if you are impaired or disabled you can’t do anything for yourself and you have to wait for handouts, while people actually have to do everything for you.

“Over the years that has been the perception in people’s minds, but with the programme we have here at Logwood Village, giving these people the opportunity to work has given them the confidence to say ‘I can do things for myself’,” Chikumbirike said.

A general view of the workshop at Logwood.

One resident who definitely misses the income is 26-year-old Jason Gaum, who said he had enjoyed the freedom of being able to to spend his money on snacks, and binge-watching his favourite televisions shows.

Gaum said that before he came to Logwood he was unable to get a job.

His friend, 28-year-old Mark Kauffman, who is also the resident DJ, agreed that life prior to coming to the centre wasn’t all that pleasant.

“I got picked on in most schools. That’s part of life … I was always bullied by other kids,” said Kauffman.

This story was shared by a number of others, which means Logwood not only provided jobs, but it was a safe haven, too.

Wolhuter said there were no plans to stop caring for or accommodating those who could not afford to pay for the services without their jobs.

While it had taken some juggling, they had managed to find other ways for their residents to use their time, working in other areas of the facility, gardening and participating in the various programmes on offer.

They also planned to forge ahead with their smaller, less lucrative contracts, while hoping that some company would in time provide them with a way to put their whole workforce back on the job and ensure that the centre could continue its work.

‘Sport instils discipline’

Logwood has a fully equipped gym and personalised exercise plans, diets and trainers for each resident.

The centre also has a swimming pool and sports coaches, to ensure their residents stay fit.

Logwood’s sports coordinator Bonita Bondesio said sport was an important way to allow residents to feel included. Some of them have recently competed in the 2019 Abu Dhabi Special Olympics World Summer Games, in swimming and golf.

“Sport teaches them discipline and to work hard, and that nothing is easy.

“And when we do sport, they’re not treated differently.

“If you don’t come to practice you’re off the team, so everyone gets treated the same and it teaches them discipline,” Bondesio said. “It definitely develops them as people and makes them more confident.”

The centre boasts a Paralympic Gold medallist in Andrew White, who started playing golf when he was 10 and he’s been going at it for the past 40 years.

“I’ve been here for nearly 20 years now, and I practise once a week,” he said, when asked how he managed to stay in winning form.

Another sporting star is Rory Whitecross, who despite suffering from both intellectual and physical impairments which force him to use a walking aid, has completed the Ironman Triathlon twice.

“It wasn’t easy, hey” he said of his first success in the grueling race. “Everyone was emotional when we came over the finish line.”

Cash shortfall rising

The centre has several housing units ranging from regular three-bedroomed homes for residents who can take care of themselves and need minimal care, to a high-care facility for residents who need 24-hour monitoring.

There are nurses and other professionals on site, and caregivers who help prepare meals and oversee daily activities.

Logwood is partially subsidised by the department of social development, with monthly fees from families and the income-producing workshops making up the shortfall.

With the cancellation of their biggest contract this shortfall was growing daily. Nearly half the residents were unable to afford the full fee and 20% relied fully on the centre for care and accommodation.

– earlc@citizen.co.za

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