BY PHUMELELE GAMEDZE
MBABANE— Ka Thandi Community Clinic is turning healthcare, disability inclusion and economic empowerment into a family centred mission, supporting children with disabilities while helping their families build stronger and more self sustaining lives.
The clinic is the first born project of the Childcare and Disability Initiative, a registered NGO which initially worked through outreach programmes across Eswatini’s four regions. Its approach is rooted in the belief that supporting a child with a disability also means supporting the entire family.
One of its programmes focuses on siblings of children with disabilities. Through specially designed inclusive games, siblings learn how to communicate, play and build friendships with brothers and sisters who may have limited mobility, severe or multiple disabilities, or different ways of communicating.
The initiative views siblings as children in their own right rather than caregivers or “second parents”, while recognising the important role they can play in creating loving and inclusive family relationships.
The need for the clinic became clearer through home visits, where the organisation encountered families struggling to identify health problems among children who could not easily communicate their pain or discomfort.
This experience highlighted the importance of accessible and understanding healthcare, particularly for non verbal children. It also contributed to the clinic offering primary dental services for people with disabilities.
The clinic aims to provide a safe environment where families can receive care while their children’s individual needs are understood and respected.
But Ka Thandi’s vision extends beyond healthcare.
The organisation runs self help, livelihood and income-generation support programmes designed to help beneficiaries build their capacity to start income-generating projects. Beneficiaries also receive basic financial literacy knowledge to help them manage resources and work towards becoming more self sustaining.
This approach places empowerment alongside support, giving families an opportunity to strengthen their livelihoods rather than depending solely on assistance.
Recently, the organisation hosted its first Parent and Child Fun Day, bringing families together for recreation, connection and shared learning.
The event created an opportunity for children with disabilities to enjoy activities while parents met other families, shared experiences, exchanged resources and built a support network.
The organisation also provides disability inclusion and child protection training to other organisations, extending its work beyond the clinic. Its partnerships include Young Heroes, Young Workers in Water, Akt Lima, Swagger and the Bay Like to Rent Foundation.
At the heart of the clinic is a personal legacy.
Ka Thandi Community Clinic is named after the founder’s mother, who passed away in 2017 and lived with a physical disability. She was a teacher who headed a school for children with intellectual disabilities and was deeply committed to supporting children with disabilities and their families.
She demonstrated through her own life that disability does not have to limit a person’s potential. Children were naturally drawn to her, and her compassion left a lasting impression on those around her.
Today, her legacy continues through the clinic.
For its founder, Ka Thandi is more than a healthcare facility. It represents an unfinished dream carried forward through action creating a space where families feel supported, children are included and people with disabilities are given opportunities to participate fully in society.
Through healthcare, inclusive play, family support, livelihoods and financial literacy, Ka Thandi Community Clinic is showing that inclusion is not simply about providing services. It is about helping families discover their strengths, build independence and know that they belong.
#DisabilityInclusion #KaThandiCommunityClinic #EmpoweringFamilies #Eswatini
(Courtesy Pic)
