A former Life Healthcare Esidimeni professional mental healthcare nurse has taken it upon herself to open her own adult disability daycare in her own home.
Her non-governmental organisation (NGO), Agakitso Mental Health, was founded in 2015 in Bekkersdal, but has since moved out of the proverbial basement to bigger premises.
Adolphina Ntswaki Putu (Maluleke) worked at Esidimeni years ago, and left to work at the Bekkersdal Clinic where she assisted persons with disabilities through support groups.
She said she found the support groups greatly assisted the patients and later she started the daycare centre at the clinic.
“I would see people with disabilities come in and get their medication but then they leave, have nothing to do and relapse or get into trouble,” she said.
Her patient numbers grew to 26, so she began to organise activities to stimulate her patients and supplied meals for them every day. Adolphina said she later realised that she wanted to help disabled adults full-time and moved her daycare to Finsbury, on her own property.
“I just have a passion for looking after people. It’s what I do and have always done,” she explained.
She said she built a centre in her yard, equipped with everything needed to look after her patients, and is going strong.
After leaving Bekkersdal, her patient numbers dropped but the move was necessary to ensure a more comfortable environment and to become more central, in order to serve both the Westonaria and Randfontein communities.
She is now calling on the community to reach out to her should they have disabled relatives, asking them to leave these patients in her care, as the kind of stimulation provided is good for their development and keeps them from ending up in unfavourable situations.
The daycare centre runs from 8am to 2.30pm and offers daily exercises, heath talks, group discussions, basic literacy training, arts and crafts, indoor games, sports activities and music practise.
Adolphina can be reached on 083 380 4416 or 073 154 0461 for more information about the daycare centre. Alternatively, she can be reached on ntso.maluleke@yahoo.com.
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