The Epilepsy South Africa Centre in Geduld offers refuge and opportunity for residents suffering from epilepsy and intellectual disabilities.
Social worker Michelle Matsolo is part of a dedicated team that strives to ensure the centre’s residents enjoy a high quality of life.
For whom does the centre cater?
We cater for people with severe epilepsy, as well as people who suffer from intellectual disabilities.
They live in residential homes where they are well taken care of.
What services are offered?
We have a sick bay staff for any emergency.
There are also many nurses here who distribute medication in a very disciplined and careful way.
Residents are also offered counselling services to help them cope with stress.
The aim for us for them is to have a sense of normality in their lives.
Their is a little workshop where they can do tasks to keep them busy and occupied, and we also allow them to work in the gardens if they want to.
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What are some of your duties?
I make sure our residents are safe and free from stress.
What are some of the challenges you face?
Sometimes, especially when I first started working here, it is difficult to accommodate different people of different levels of disability in the same house.
It takes a while for them to work together and understand one another because they are so different from each other in some cases.
We encourage them to be sensitive to each other and over time they eventually learn to adapt.
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What are some misconceptions people have of people with intellectual disabilities?
I have witnessed so many of our residents cope wonderfully.
They work incredibly hard with the capabilities they have.
Unfortunately many people in our society think they are useless, but if you put them in the right environment they can flourish in the most amazing way.
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