What is Mandela Day?

Nelson Mandela International Day was launched in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s birthday on 18 July, 2009 via a unanimous decision of the UN General Assembly.

It was inspired by a call Nelson Mandela made a year earlier, for the next generation to take on the burden of leadership in addressing the world’s social injustices when he said that “it is in your hands now”.

It is more than a celebration of Madiba’s life and legacy. It is a global movement to honour his life’s work and to act to change the world for the better.

Woodside Special Care Centre

Woodside Special Care Centre is a residential home caring for 90 profoundly intellectually and physically disabled residents and is situated in Rondebosch East, Cape Town, South Africa. Since its inception in 1976, Woodside has worked diligently towards building a home of safety and security for its residents, all of whom require specialized care and who are unable to remain within their family units.

Woodside also fosters children who are wards of the court – these are children who have been neglected or abandoned by their families.

The key services that they provide at Woodside are:

• 24 hour professional nursing care

• Physiotherapy

• Occupational therapy

• Speech and language therapy

• Respite care (daily or hourly relief care to families with multi-disabled children)

Their main aim is to provide holistic care and stimulation to profoundly multi-disabled residents and offer hope and help to discouraged families. They also aim to equip the Centre with the necessary materials and equipment which will enable their staff to operate at a high level of professionalism in all spheres of the services they offer to their residents.

Woodside is a place of encouragement, inspiration and constant training for its dedicated staff. With continuous training the staff will be able to provide up-to-date care and stimulation to the residents that they serve.

The service levels at Woodside are of a very high standard and comprise professional administration under the guidance of a general manager, a professional nursing sister and qualified staff nurses, a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist and a fundraising and public relations department.

HPCA’s involvement

Petra Burger (HPCA’s Disability Coordinator) made us all aware of Woodside last year and the fantastic work that they do. We had a fantastic time last year and we knew that this year we just had to spend our #MandelaDay day with them again.

The primary focus for this year’s Mandela Day initiative was to purely focus on the carers of Woodside who work so hard and long hours. We presented the 60 carers with a wonderful gift which included a chocolate, wristband & a Wimpy breakfast meal voucher. For most of them, visiting a Wimpy would be a first.

HPCA staff members were split into various activities to spend their 67 minutes which included the garden initiative, painting the pause area, packing laundry and lastly helping in the kitchen.

We would like to thank the following people and organisations for their time, effort and valuable contribution to making the day such a success!

• Wimpy – Kenilworth
• Paintworld – Lansdowne
• Starke Ayres – Rondebosch

To find out more about Woodside Special Care Centre and how you can get involved, click here.

#MandelaDay2017